Psyc 1315 – 007 Spring 2008 Syllabus Page 1 Introduction to Psychology Psyc 1315 Section 007 Spring 2008 T/TH 7:00-8:20pm Instructor: Melisa Holovics Office: LS 430 Office Hours: Tuesday 5:30-6:30pm Email: [email protected] Required text: Psychology, 4th Edition, James S. Nairne Website: http://www.uta.edu/webct/ Book Website: http://psychology.wadsworth.com/nairne4e/ Course Description & Goals As a survey in psychology, this course will teach students contemporary psychological principles, theories, and approaches. Specifically, students will be exposed to various psychological approaches, including social, personality, neurological, cognitive, developmental, and clinical psychology via class lectures, guest speakers’ presentations, audio/visual media, class discussions, activities, homework, and/or handouts. Upon completion of this course, students will have a fundamental knowledge of principles and approaches related to human and animal psychology. Additionally, students will be able to apply psychological principles to their everyday lives. Attendance and Participation Class attendance and participation are vital to grasping the course content. Students who miss class are required to find out what they missed and to acquire class notes, assignments, and missed material from another student prior to the next class period. I encourage you to exchange emails and/or phone numbers with at least two others students in this section. Research has clearly demonstrated that students involved in the learning process are more likely to retain the information and have greater success than those who do not. Students should participate in class discussions and respect other students’ opinions and contributions, regardless of whether these beliefs are contrary to their own beliefs. I expect you to be on time for all class meetings. If you are late, you risk missing important, announcements, directions, discussions, and extra credit opportunities. You are still responsible for any information that is covered and I will not spend time repeating information. Be courteous, be on time, and do not socialize during class. Be prepared by completing the assigned readings and assignments prior to class. I will be operating on the assumptions that students completed the assigned readings prior to class. Drop Policy No grade will be assigned if students drop before the census date, January 30th. Students may drop the course with a grade of “W” until March 28th.Psyc 1315 – 007 Spring 2008 Syllabus Page 2 Examinations Students will have four formal opportunities throughout the semester to demonstrate their knowledge and their ability to critically think about and apply class material. Students will take three non-comprehensive examinations and a non-comprehensive final examination. Examinations will cover information from the text, class lectures, audio/visual media, exercises, guest speakers’ presentations, class discussions, homework, and handouts. Students may drop the lowest grade of the first THREE exams (the final exam MUST be taken). Students who wish to find out what questions they missed on examinations may meet with me in my office up to one week after the examination. In the event students wish to dispute their exam grades, they may do so in my office for one week only after that examination. However, once the week after the exam has passed, examination grades will be final and will not be changed. Tardy or Absent on Exam Day If students are tardy the day of an examination, they will not be permitted to take the exam if any class member has already turned in a completed exam. Please be sure to arrive on time. If students miss an examination due to a university-approved absence of which they provide written approval to the instructor, they will be given a make-up and will be required to take it at a time approved by the instructor (not during class time). If students miss an examination due to unapproved reasons per UTA’s absence policy, they will not be able to make up the examination and will receive a zero on the examination missed. Extra Credit There will be extra credit opportunities throughout the semester. I will discuss these opportunities in the beginning of class. You will need to be at class in order to hear about extra credit opportunities. As it will be extra credit, I will not go out of my way to ensure that you have heard about such opportunities. Be sure to be on time for class so you can hear announcements regarding extra credit. You can earn up to 4 extra credit points added to your final grade. Grading Distribution Final grades will be computed by averaging the highest two scores out of the first three exams, along with the grade on the final exam. Again, the lowest score will be dropped out of the first three exams, and the final MUST be taken. A = 90-100% D = 60-69% B = 80-89% F = 59% and below C = 70-79% Other Graded Assignments Departmental Research Requirement: Completion of six experimental credit hours or completion of a series of short papers based on research articles is a departmental requirement for this class. The Subject Pool Coordinator will describe this requirement. FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE REQUIREMENT WILL RESULT IN AN INCOMPLETE FOR THE CLASS. You will then need to complete your requirement during the next semester or the incomplete will turn into an F regardless of your academic standing. In order to satisfy this requirement, you MUST have an account in Sona REGARDLESS if you participate in research or write reviews. Any questions: contact [email protected] 1315 – 007 Spring 2008 Syllabus Page 3 Beepers & Cell Phones Please turn off (not just vibrate) all pagers, beepers, and cell phones during class as these devices are disruptive to other students and to me. Communication and Email For anyone having a difficult time comprehending reading material or any other course content, please meet with me to discuss strategies on how to succeed in this course. I also welcome student feedback and suggestions as to ways to improve this course. All students are assigned an email account and information about activating and using it is available at www.uta.edu/email. New students (first semester at UTA) are able to activate their email account 24 hours after registering for courses. There is no additional charge to students for using this account, and it remains active as long as a student is enrolled at
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