COURSE SYLLABUS

Psychology 120

General Points of Interest

It is an academic course – many universities accept it as a grade 12 elective.

UNB offers Psych in the Faculty of Arts, or in the Faculty of Science (Bio-Psych); Dalhousie offers it in the Faculty of Science. Almost all universities and colleges offer Psychology courses.

It is up to you to read the material, to sharpen your knowledge, to participate in class, and to use the many tools that are available.

Format

Often you will be given class time to read the chapter, though sometimes you will have some reading to do at home.

I recommend that you do the end-of-chapter quizzes as well as the online quizzes, to practice.

There will be a combination of lecture, discussion, group activities and videos.

Research is suggesting that taking notes as you listen to a lecture is distracting and interferes with learning. So, this term, I will put the pertinent notes on the wiki page after each lecture, and I want you to focus on paying attention to and engaging in my lectures.

Chapter quizzes are meant to inform your learning, and to give both you and I a gage of your understanding.

My Wiki Page: USE IT!

The easiest way to get there is to go the MHS homework site. You will see the link next to my name.

I post homework, notes, feedback, reminders and hints on this page, fairly regularly.

You will also find my email address, in case you have a question or need some help.

I like to have paper copies of assignments, not emailed assignments.

Units

Unit One: Introduction & Careers; History and Perspectives; Nature / Nurture; Research (quiz, unit test, reflection).

Unit Two: The Nervous System and The Brain (quiz, unit test, reflection)

Unit Three: Stress & Wellness & Sleep(quiz, unit test, wellness challenge (project)

MIDTERM (covers units 1-3)

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (5 days and 10% of your mark)

Unit Four: Drugs & Personality (quizzes, unit test, reflection)

Unit Five: Psychological Disorders (quiz, unit test, movie review)

Unit Six: Social Psychology (quiz, unit test, reflection or social norm experiment)

FINAL (covers units four, five and six)

The Challenge

Stay on track; put in the necessary time at home to ensure you learn the material and can pass the tests.

Submit assignments on time.Request extra help when you need it.The videos and class activities are used to

reinforce the material, so engage.

The Pay-Off

There will be lots of time for fun & interactive activities, experiments & videos.

This is a fascinating & relevant science that you can transfer into your personal life, and possibly into your future studies.

The guarantee: you will learn something about yourself and about others. You will be more well at the end of the course!

Assessment

Unit Tests 30%Midterm 10%Final Exam 20%

Annotated Bibliography 10%Projects 15%Reflections 15%* Chapter quizzes will be formative

and will inform your learning

Figure 1.2: Where Would You Put a Third Eye?

Return

Companion Website

http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/thinkingaboutpsych2e/default.asp?s=&n=&i=&v=&o=&ns=0&uid=0&rau=0

Here, you will find the online quizzes, review, simulations & links.

Go in (this week), register and start to look around. It’s a comprehensive site and should really help you as you

learn the content of each chapter. Use the online quizzes to practice and to test your

knowleged. I expect Enter my email address (heather.gunn@nbed.nb.ca) if you want me to see that you are completing them.

Wiki Page

If you go to my wiki page, you will find up-to-date postings that include PowerPoint presentations, details about assignments and helpful hints. There isn’t an option to chat on this site, so please direct your questions to me during class time.

I expect that you check the site daily.http://hgunnwikimhs.wikispaces.com/

Reflections

Go to http://www.psychologytoday.com/ Go to http://www.pbs.org/saf/previous.htm

These are two excellent sources for students of Psychology. Psychology Today is a well-respected magazine; Scientific American Frontiers, at PBS, is a well-respected program.

After unit one, unit two, Unit four and unit six, you must complete an assignment that is based on one of the following: a) browsing the Psychology Today website and choosing an article or blog to read or b) going to Scientific American Frontiers and choosing an episode to watch (do not choose one that we’ve watched in class). You may vary your approach with each assignment, or use the same site each time. The choice is yours.

The article / video you choose MUST relate to the unit we have just completed.

With your choice, complete the following:

1.If it’s an article, print it (and submit with your assignment).2.If it’s a program, record the name of the episode and provide the link, at the top of the page (http://www.etc)3.Summarize the content in approximately 1 page when double-spaced (use your own words & just hit the highlights: who, what, when, where, why).4.Connect & Reflect: 1) Reflect: What do you think about the content / subject? Was anything surprising? Exciting? Confusing? Controversial? 2) Connect the ideas in this episode or article to things we have either discussed in class, or that you have read in your textbook. Elaborate a little and use page references to the text book when you can. Underline terms that we have learned in class and show that you understand the terms and the connection. This section should be one and a half pages (when double-spaced).

Note: to get great marks, you must work hard at the reflection part of this assignment. The first step is to make a good choice, one that is relevant to what we have studied and discussed.

From American Journal of Psychology. Copyright © 1961 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Used with the permission of the University of Illinois Press

Figure 1.3: Husband and Father-in-Law

What do you see? An elderly father-in-law or a husband?

Return

http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html

“Past, Present and Promise”

Welcome! Tell Me About Yourself (and I promise not to psycho-analyze you!)

Name & GradeInterests, hobbies, strengths, sports, music,

“quirks”, other?Goals you have for this year (personal or

academic)Goals you have for the future Something most people know about youSomething most people don’t know about

youDo you have a job? How many hours?Do you have computer access at home?What interests you most about this course?Are you worried about anything (regarding

the course)?

Five of the following are true; Five are falsehoods.

1. I live in the (self-declared) lobster capital of the world.

2. I went to university with Mrs. Pope, Mrs.Leard & Mr. MacPherson.

3. I am a black belt.4. I have five kids.5. When I was your age, my bangs were 5 inches

high (and heavily back-combed), and I wanted to look like Madonna.

6. I am close friends with Bubbles (from the Trailer Park Boys).

7. I have been teaching for 20 years.8. I have my pilot’s license.9. I used to teach at the Youth Prison.10. I once auditioned for Canadian Idol.

SURVEY: TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF

I’ve Got you figured out