American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.). American Psychological Association: Washington, D.C.

 

There are 3 copies of this book available in the library (2 in reference, 1 in the stacks). Students are encouraged to purchase their own copy as it will be very useful in future classes and grad school.

 

Writing Portfolio. For those of you who have completed PSYC 1005/1006, your portfolio from that class is required for this course as well. I will not be going into detail about APA formatting and scientific writing as you already covered that in that course.

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Additional readings may be provided and required throughout the semester.

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Proctoring Software: In this class, LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor will be used to facilitate the online proctoring of assessments (such as quizzes or exams). Students will be able to download LockDown Browser from a link provided from within our course on Connect and will incur a one-time, $15.00 fee (payable only by credit card) for the use of Respondus Monitor. This one-time fee will entitle a student to unlimited use of Respondus Monitor for this course and any other on at LaGrange College for the time period of one year.

 

These pieces of software work only with a reliable desktop or laptop computers running Windows or Mac OS as well as modern iPads.  Devices used for testing must be equipped with a functional webcam and must have access to a stable, high-speed internet connection. LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor will not function with smartphones, tablets that are not iPads, or Chromebooks. 

 

If you do not have access to a personal computer that meets these specifications, laptops are available for checkout in Lewis Library. Campus Wi-Fi is robust and will satisfy your internet connectivity requirements.

 

Students having difficulties with the functionality of these tools should contact IT (support@lagrange.edu, 8049) for assistance.

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Statistical Software: Students will need JASP downloaded onto their computers to be able to analyze data. A link to this free download can be found on Connect.

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Course Objectives

The primary objectives of the course are as follows:​

• Gain an understanding of how psychologists strictly scrutinize each others' research.

• Gain knowledge of the proper use of statistical tests on various types of research.

• Gain knowledge on the use of specific methods to make specific claims.

• Gain a comprehensive knowledge of research methods and design.

• To provide students with the tools that they need to become sophisticated research consumers by thinking critically about claims based on research.

• To understand the role and importance of research in social sciences and everyday life.

• To provide students with the experience of conducting an independent research project.

• To gain an understanding of how to properly structure a scientific research report according to APA format.

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Course Requirements

All graded activities should follow the LaGrange College Honor Code and should be your own work. Unless otherwise noted, all work receives an individual grade; thus graded items cannot be completed with the input of others.

 

Exams and Quizzes

There will be 5 exams during the regular term and a final exam, each covering about two-three chapters of course material. The exams will entail multiple choice and short answer questions. These exams will be based on lessons, exercises, film clips, and outside readings and assignments including material covered in the textbook and online assignments. It is very important to complete each lesson and to take good notes. A good portion of the material that I will cover in lessons will not be found in the readings. In addition, there will be at least one quiz given at some point during the semester which may contain multiple choice and short essay questions. To see actual dates for all exams, please see the course calendar at the bottom of this page (found here).

To do well on the exams: you will need to regularly complete lessons, take good notes, keep up with the reading material and study both this material and the notes with the aim of fully understanding it (not just memorizing it). The exam questions will emphasize understanding and mastery of concepts and theories rather than memorization of information. Completion of the LearnSmart modules (see later section) and online study aids are also good ways to study and test understanding. However, these should not be your ONLY method of study, as stated, the exams will focus more on understanding than memorization. I will focus mainly on questions that assess whether you have a thorough understanding of these concepts and theories and whether you can apply this understanding to new situations.

 

The material in this course builds on itself so information from previous exams is still pertinent for later exams. So while exams are not necessarily comprehensive, you do need to still understand previous information to do well on them and previous information may show up on exam questions.

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Exam policy for Spring 2021: For Spring 2021, exams will change slightly to accommodate the changes due to COVID-19. All exams will be administered through Connect using Respondus. To use Respondus, students will be required to purchase access (a year subscription to the service is $15 and one subscription can be used for all of your courses that require Respondus). In addition, all students will need a working webcam and a computer (please note: Chromebooks will NOT work with Respondus). All students will complete their exams at the same time.

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Final exam: The final exam will take place starting on Thursday, May 6th at 8 am. The final exam will contain 2 chapters' worth of new material as well as a comprehensive section. There will be no make-ups or early exams given for the final exam.

 

Quizzes: There will be at least one planned quiz given throughout the course of the semester. This quiz will cover the information covered in the syllabus. The instructor reserves the right to give pop quizzes in class at any time.
 

Absence during exam: Please notify the instructor on the day of your absence from a test by phone or e-mail. To make up an exam, a student must have an excused absence. An excused absence is determined by the instructor and may include an illness that requires the student to remain at home/in their dorm room, a death of someone close to the student, court date during class time, school-sponsored event that occurs during class time, or other events at the discretion of the instructor. To notify the instructor of an excused absence, the student must complete an electronic absence form (this can be found on Connect). If documentation is available, that should be submitted along with the form. Only one undocumented exam absence will be counted as excused per student. After that one, all exam absences must be accompanied by written documentation to count as excused. To designate a missed exam as excused (whether it has documentation or not), the student must submit an absence form no later than the day they return to class to be able to make up the exam and receive full credit; 20% will be deducted from the exam grade if the student turns in the absence form after this date. The student must then arrange to make up the exam as soon as it is convenient, but definitely within 1 week of the original exam date. If more than one student needs to make up the exam, one common time may be arranged for all makeup exams to be given. If no absence form is turned in, the exam cannot be made up and the student will receive a grade of "0" for that exam. If the exam has not been made up within one week of the original exam date (unless prior approval has been obtained by the instructor), the exam cannot be made up and the student will receive a grade of "0" for that exam. The instructor will not contact the student to determine if a missed exam is excused. If no contact is made by the student, it is assumed the missed exam is unexcused. Zeros will be given for exams when it is determined that the absence is unexcused. Please note the following examples of unexcused absences: absences due to vacations or leaving early before a scheduled break, except under extenuating circumstances, work schedules are not considered an excuse for missing an exam. 
 

Attendance & Class Participation

Attendance is crucial to be successful in this course. Missing just one day can put you far behind on material. Thus, attending class is a required component of this course and will contribute to your grade. Being on time is also important in order to not disrupt the class and ensure you have received all of the information. Therefore, students that are 15 minutes or later for the class will be counted as absent for the day and will not receive attendance points.

 

If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed from a classmate. I am happy to answer specific questions about the material after you have obtained materials from a classmate, but I will not re-give lectures to students who missed class. I do not send slides to students by email. Recordings of class sessions will only be accessible to students who have an excused absence for the corresponding course.

 

Early in the semester, you should get contact information from one or more of your classmates and set up a "buddy system" for the purposes of letting you know what was covered in class and any changes to the course outline (including information regarding deadlines for various assignments).

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If you are absent, you must fill out an absence form (found on Connect) and turn it into me ASAP, and at least by the next day you are in class. For an absence to be excused, an absence form must be completed. After receiving your absence form I will email you indicating what specific work you should complete to make up for your absence. If a graded assignment or exam is missed due to absence, it may only be made up if the absence is deemed excused. 

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If you have three or more unexcused and/or unmade-up absences during the course, you will fail the course. In addition, if more than 1 unexcused absence accumulates in lab, you will fail the course. Absences that you have been made-up will not be counted towards this total. In addition, only 2 undocumented excused absence will be accepted during the course. After that, all other absences require documentation to be considered excused.

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Students who achieve perfect attendance for the whole semester will earn extra credit towards their participation grade. If a student is absent and completes the required steps to make up their absence, this absence will not count against their perfect attendance.

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If a student has a chronic illness, are on an LC sponsored sports team, or have other situations that may cause the student to miss a class or to cause the student to fall behind in classwork, it is the student's responsibility to notify the instructor at the beginning of the semester or as soon as the conflict arises. Students should not wait until an assignment deadline or exam day to let the instructor know that of an ongoing problem that is interfering with the student's ability to keep up in the course.

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Another contribution to your overall grade will be your participation in active learning exercises such as activities, discussion forums, completion of personality scales, doing fun field experiments outside of class, tweeting about class topics, and so on. These activities are designed to help you learn concepts in an active and memorable manner. By participating in these active learning exercises, you will learn much more (and have more fun) than would be possible if this class consisted solely of lectures and multiple-choice tests. These activities will not be announced in advance.

Twitter: For the majority of the in-class assignments we will be using Twitter. Therefore, students should set up a Twitter account if they do not already have one. Students will also need to approve follow requests from the instructor for this course; if students would prefer to set up an account specifically for this course (instead of using their personal account), that is perfectly acceptable. To get credit for these activities, students must fill out the survey (linked at the beginning of the syllabus) in which they provide the Twitter handle that they will be using for the course.
 

In addition, I will use Twitter to send out additional reminders and announcements (in addition to what I post on Connect). Students are strongly encouraged to follow me to easily receive this information. When I post information relevant to our class, I will use #PSYC2299. I encourage students that have questions or comments related to class to post using this # as well or send me a direct tweet. I will also post a list of all students' Twitter handles on Connect (for those students who have indicated they are willing to share this information) so that students may connect using Twitter. This offers an easy way to ask questions of other students, post information relevant to the class, or set up group study sessions.

 

Missed Participation: To make up a graded assignment that was due on the day a student was absent, a student must have an excused absence. An excused absence is determined by the instructor and may include an illness that requires the student to remain at home/in their dorm room, a death of someone close to the student, court date during class time, school-sponsored event that occurs during class time, or other events at the discretion of the instructor. To notify the instructor of an excused absence, the student must turn in an absence form (this can be found on Connect). If documentation is available, that should be submitted along with the form. This form will not be accepted electronically. Only two total undocumented absences will be counted as excused per student (an undocumented exam absence is counted in these two). After two, all missed participation must be accompanied by written documentation to count as excused. To designate a missed participation as excused (whether it has documentation or not), the student must submit an absence form on the day they return to class to be able to make up the exam and receive full credit; half credit will be given if the student turns in the absence form after the day they return to class. The student must then arrange to make up the missed participation as soon as it is convenient, but definitely within 1 week of the original participation date. If no absence form is turned in, the participation cannot be made up and the student will receive a grade of "0" for that participation. If the participation has not been made up within one week of the original participation date (unless prior approval has been obtained by the instructor), the participation cannot be made up and the student will receive a grade of "0" for that participation. The instructor will not contact the student to determine if a missed participation is excused. If no contact is made by the student, it is assumed the missed participation is unexcused. Zeros will be given for participation when it is determined that the absence is unexcused. Please note the following examples of unexcused absences: absences due to vacations or leaving early before a scheduled break, except under extenuating circumstances, work schedules are not considered an excuse for missing a class. Once answers to a graded item have been distributed in any format (orally, online, returned work, etc.) the graded item may no longer be made up and the instructor will provide the student with other options to make up the missing grade. Twitter participation cannot be made up as these assignments involve reflecting on class discussion. However, students may drop two excused Twitter assignments from their grade. Absence forms are still required for a missed Twitter participation. If an assignment is assigned on a day that a student is absent but is not due until a later date, the student is still responsible for completing this assignment on time unless prior approval has been obtained by the professor. There will be opportunities throughout the semester for students to earn extra credit toward their participation grade. Students are encouraged to complete these opportunities as much as possible to help in case of more than two missed Twitter assignments, less than ideal performance on a graded participation assignment, etc.