AP Psychology 5275
Course Description
The AP Psychology Course will introduce students to the systematic study of the behavior and mental processes of human
means and other animals. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles and phenomena associated with the
major fields within psychology. Students will also learn about the methods psychologists use in their science and practice.
The major aim of this course is to provide each student with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most
introductory college psychology courses. In addition, this course has been designed to help students successfully achieve a
passing score on the AP Exam.
Course Objectives
Students should be able to demonstrate:
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Comprehension of psychology as a broad field of study and the ability to identify the major subdivisions in
the field as they facilitate our understanding of human behavior, cooperation, and conflict in human
relationships.
Understanding of the main theories and concepts of psychology such as the biological perspective, the
psychosocial theories and the scientific method.
An increased understanding of the self and others and how the self functions in an Interdependent world.
An analysis of the nature of being human and examining relationships, both individually and collectively,
from a psychological point of view.
Course Textbook and Resources:
Weiten, Wayne. (2006) Themes and Variations, 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Hock, Roger, ed. (2005) 40 Studies, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Discovering Psychology, Updated Edition. Annenberg Media/Learner.org
http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html
The Brain: Teaching Modules. Updated Edition, Annenberg/Lerner
http://www.learner.org/resources/series142.html
Course Textbook and Resources:
Barron’s How to Prepare for the AP Psychology Exam. (2004). Haupauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.
5 Steps to a 5: AP Psychology. (2004). NY: McGrawHill.
Scope and Sequence
When you log into the Virtual Classroom, you can view the entire course map, which provides a scope and sequence of all
topics you will study. Clicking a lesson’s link in the course map leads to a page listing instructional activities,
assignments, and learning objectives specific to that lesson. The units of study are summarized below.
Unit 1:
History and Research Methods
Unit 2:
Biological Bases of Behavior
Unit 3:
Sense and Perception
Unit 4:
States of Consciousness
Unit 5:
Learning
Unit 6:
Cognition
Unit 7:
Testing and Individual Differences
Unit 8:
Motivation and Emotion
Unit 9:
Developmental Psychology
Unit 10: Personality
Unit 11: Abnormal Psychology
Unit 12: Social Psychology
Unit 13: AP Exam Review
Summer Work
Your summer work must be completed by 7AM on the 1st day of school or else you will be removed from the course. I
will work on correcting your work throughout the month of August. Your course will be enabled on August 3, 2015. I
will be available through Edgenuity email should you have questions. Your summer course + your 1st nine weeks
grade = your 1st nine weeks overall grade.
This requirement is designed to familiarize you with the format and requirements of the course. Additionally, there is
more work contained in the first nine weeks than the others. This is to compensate for the early May AP testing date. The
weeks you are ‘missing’ in May are to be completed this August, before you return to school.
A research paper is required for the summer work grading period. Information detailing this assignment will appear
during the last assignment of your summer work (depending on your progress). Your paper, however, is not due on the
first day of school. The due date for your first nine weeks research paper is Friday, August 28th, 2015 at 7AM. You
will email your research paper to me in a Word document to henrymg@svsd.net.
A dream log and writing assignment is also required for the first nine weeks grading period. I will forward you additional
information regarding this assignment and the due date in September.
Proctoring – for Seneca Valley Students ONLY
You are required to obtain a signature of a proctor when completing all Unit Exams, Cumulative Exams, Final Exams
and AP Prep Exams during the course of your AP Psychology class. A proctor should be an employee of the School
District (teacher, guidance counselor, administrator). The proctor forms must be dropped off to the Cyber Teacher Center
at the end of the nine weeks grading period. For Summer Work – proctor forms must be signed by a parent/guardian.
Proctors are responsible for assuring that students do not log on to any other site or utilize any notes during the unit,
cumulative, mid-term, final and AP prep assessments. Failure to obtain proctor signatures will result in a 10% grade
penalty for each non-proctored assessment. Proctor forms are collected at the end of each nine week grading period.
Your assessment scores will change at the end of the nine weeks if proctoring protocol was not followed. Failure to return
the proctor form by the assigned deadline will result in a 10% decline for each proctored assessment assigned during that
grading period.
Please be aware that there are timed components to these exams; care should be exercised to ensure that you have time to
complete the entire assessment. Proctor forms will be sent to you through the Edgenuity communications system and SV
school email.
Grading
Vocabulary and Lecture Notes
Vocabulary and lecture notes are not counted toward the grade, even though students will see a score of 100% in the
Virtual Classroom upon completing the activity.
Lesson Activity
When you arrive at "Lesson Activity" assignments, it asks you to open a pdf file and post your response in your e-notes or
deliver it to your teacher. Please type the document in Microsoft Word and email the document to (henrymg@svsd.net).
Do not post lesson activities in your e-notes for me to grade. Depending on the type of assignment, you can cut/paste the
document and send it to me with your answers, or you can send along a list of your answers to me. I'm not so concerned
about the format you send it to me, but rather that you send me the answers. Please be sure to include your name, school
district, and a title of the assignment, should you send it in an answer only format. Only use e-notes as a reference for
yourself. If you move two sections beyond the section that the lesson activity was in, without turning in the assignment to
me, you will earn a zero on that activity.
Writing Response and Online Content
The writing-response and online-content activities are system-graded based on a keyword check of responses. If the
keywords are spelled incorrectly they will not be counted, and the student’s grade will be lower. The grade is not final for
writing-response and online-content activities until student’s answers are reviewed by the teacher. Students will lose
points for misspelled words. Students will receive a 0% if the online content response is just cut and pasted from the
online source.
Projects and Free-Response Writing and Essays
Students will be expected to complete projects and essays in the AP course. Students receive a score of 0% until the
teacher reads and scores the essay. The score is not factored into the student’s grade until it has been entered into the
system by the teacher. ALL SHORT ANSWERS NEED TO BE ANSWERED IN COMPLETE SENTENCES WITH A CAPITAL LETTER
AND PUNCTUATION! Be sure to check your typing. For all projects and essays, you should cite your sources within your writing
and include a works cited page at the end of your document. Remember that this is an AP course and that you are expected to
have higher level responses. For all projects and essays, you should cite your sources within your writing and include a works
cited page at the end of your document. At least 3 sources should be used. For an AP course, higher level writing skills are
expected.
System-Graded Assessments
Quizzes, tests, and cumulative exams are graded by the system. For example, if a student answers eight out of ten
questions correctly, the recorded score is 80%. If you discover that a link is broken to a picture on a test, make note of the
question and I will check into that particular question for credit.
WEIGHTS
Quiz
Test
Essay
Assignment
Additional
5276 AP* HUMAN
GEOG 1ST 9 WKS
25
25
5
35
10
2ND 9 WKS
3RD 9 WKS
4TH 9 WKS
25
25
5
40
5
25
25
5
45
0
25
25
5
40
5
Collaboration Corner
Make sure to check the collaboration corner daily once I send an email posting the 1st unit question. There will be one
question for each unit. Your responses to those questions will make up the “Additional” grade.
Higher level responses that show knowledge in the content area are expected.
When you arrive at "Collaboration Corner" assignments, you will find this under the "Communications" category. Open
the "Corner" and find the title that reflects the question you are on. Since everyone is working at a different pace, post
your answer based upon the posts that precede you. If you are the first one to the corner, post your answer. If you are the
second, post your answer and respond to the first. If you are the third person, post your answer and respond to the two
preceding you. You only need to comment on two other posts. Depending on when you reach that section, will
indicate how many you have to choose from. Should you be the third post and above, you will need to address two other
posts in your response to earn full credit.
Please answer the collaboration corner questions as you arrive at that question in your course. Do not go back after
completing several sections to answer the collaboration corner questions. If you do not answer the question at that point,
and have moved to the next assignment in the course, you will earn a 0% on that assignment.
You get to the Collaboration Corner by selecting
then
then
.
Inaccuracies
If you believe a test or quiz answer has been scored incorrectly (ex: you believe the answer Edgenuity has given is
incorrect and the answer you have given is correct) you can bring this to my attention. However, please list for me as
much information as you can about the specific question and why you think your answer is right and Edgenuity is wrong.
You must include in your email what specific section you were working on so that I know where to look in your course
outline. Please be specific in highlighting what test/quiz you are questioning (ex: History of Psychology Quiz).
If you discover that a link is missing, please let me know so that I can contact Edgenuity. If you find that on a test that a
picture or link is missing, please make note of which question it was (ie #9) and I will see if you got the question correct
or incorrect. If the answer was incorrect, I will give you credit and contact Edgenuity about the test issue.