Industrial & Organizational
Psychology
PSY 255 (Online)
Summer Session I
May 16 – June 30, 2011
Syllabus
Instructor Information
Instructor
Heng Chen Xie
Supervising Faculty
Cathleen McGreal, Ph.D
e-mail: xieheng@msu.edu
e-mail: mcgreal@msu.edu
Hello! My name is Heng Chen Xie, a graduate
student in the Organizational Psychology program.
I will be your instructor for the PSY 255 summer
online course and am in charge of managing,
organizing, and grading the course content.
Additionally, I will serve as the primary contact
point for all specific questions about the course
topics, assignments, and grades.
Dr. Cathleen McGreal is the MSU faculty of record
for this course. Dr. McGreal oversees online
courses in the MSU Psychology Department and
acts only as a course supervisor. She is NOT to
be contacted with questions about this
course’s content, assignments, grades, etc.
Please contact Heng if you have any questions or
concerns about those matters.
Virtual Office Hours: Wednesdays 3:00-5:00pm and by appointment
E-mail policy: E-mail is the absolute best way to get in contact with me. I will do my best to respond to
your e-mails within 24 hours, but an immediate response is not guaranteed; NOTE that I may not reply
to e-mails sent after 5pm until the next day.
ANGEL Troubleshooting:
MSU Help Line: 517-355-2345
ANGEL Help Line: 1-800-500-1554
Course Description
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (American Time Use Survey, 2009),
the average American will spend over 104,000 hours performing work-related activities by the
time they reach the age of 65. Over the course of an average lifetime, that amounts to over
15% of our entire lives and almost 25% of our waking hours spent at work!
Clearly, work holds an important role in the daily lives of people everywhere and represents a
unique domain of psychological experience. Psychology 255: Industrial & Organizational
Psychology is designed to introduce you to major areas relevant to the behavior of people at
work from the time they enter the labor force until retirement. This course focuses both on
understanding the psychological bases of work behavior and on the organizational practices
used to create a good fit between people’s characteristics and work’s demands. During this
course, we will cover a number of topics including personnel selection, placement, training, work
motivation, job satisfaction, leadership, teamwork, and work-family balance.
Course Goals
The field of Industrial & Organizational Psychology is a unique discipline that blends rigorous
research methodologies and practical applications towards one basic focus:
“How do the emotions, behaviors, thoughts, and motivations of individuals at work contribute to
their overall performance and quality of life as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the
organizations they work for?”
Perceptions about work are an undeniable part of our cultural fabric, and treatments, opinions,
and insights into this fundamental question are rife in popular literature, media, and
entertainment. However, many of these depictions are not scientifically justified or misinterpret
basic findings from the field of I/O psychology. To this end, I have two goals for this course:
1. I want to introduce you to the concepts, methodologies, and relevant findings that
describe the manner by which I/O psychologists approach the psychological
experiences of individuals in organizations. We will accomplish this by covering a
broad range of topics that I/O psychology has traditionally researched and what we know
about those areas as they pertain to both individuals at work and organizations.
2. I want to improve your capability to think about organizations and employees
scientifically and critically. We will accomplish this by applying principles of I/O
psychology to learning activities and participating in discussions designed to provide you
with the opportunity to try out concepts covered in this course.
Course Objectives and Example Learning Objectives

You will learn about the major content areas and foundational components of
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
a. Given a term or question about a concept area, empirical finding, or methodological
application/technique relevant to the study of I/O psychology, such as “Which of the following
describes a task-oriented approach to conducting a job analysis?” you will be able to choose
the most accurate definition or factual statement.
b. Given the name of any I/O-related theory we study, you will be able to identify the major
elements of the theory, compare and contrast the theory with competing theories, and choose
a practical application of the theory

You will learn how to critically evaluate and apply scientifically supported solutions to an
original problem relevant to Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
a. Given an empirical article pertaining to I/O psychology, you will be able to translate those
findings into a practical application that directly addresses a specific, work-relevant problem
or area of interest
Course Information: Online Nature of the Course

Overview
This course will be held entirely online through the ANGEL class system at MSU. There will
be no classes or tests at any physical location on campus. All lectures will be available
through the course web page posted on ANGEL and all graded work will be submitted
through the systems that exist on ANGEL (i.e., drop box, discussion forums, etc.). Each
assignment will tell you the ANGEL method it uses for submission.
Since this course is completely online, you will need to make sure that you have consistent
access to the Internet throughout the duration of the course. Additionally, a high speed
Internet connection is required for this course; this is especially important for quizzes and
the final exam because these assessments are timed. High-speed connections will minimize
the loading times between test questions and therefore maximize the amount of time you
have to actually answer the questions. In addition, the lecture materials using PowerPoint
slides and voice will be very slow on dial-up connections.
The lectures used in this course were developed and narrated by Prof. Dan Ilgen and Prof.
Cathleen McGreal.

Course Management System: ANGEL
The ANGEL website for our course can be accessed through https://angel.msu.edu. You will
need to use your MSU NetID and password to enter the site. If you do not already have
these, please contact the MSU Registrar’s Office (517-432-3952) and one will be assigned
to you. A brief orientation to ANGEL is described later in this syllabus. Note that I will be
unable to assist you with technical or troubleshooting problems associated with using
ANGEL; if you have questions or need assistance with technical aspects of the course
such as using/accessing online content on ANGEL, troubleshooting problems with
the ANGEL system, or listening to the recorded lectures using Breeze, PLEASE CALL
THE MSU HELP LINE at (517) 355-2345 or the ANGEL HELP LINE at 1-800-500-1554.
ANGEL support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Instructor Contact
E-mail and the scheduled “virtual” office hours through the ANGEL chat room will serve as
our primary avenues of contact and interaction throughout the course. I will hold office hours
both through the course chat room and e-mail on Wednesday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm
each week during the course of the term from May 16th through June 30th. I will do my best
to respond to your e-mails within 24 hours of receiving them, but an immediate response is
not guaranteed. NOTE that I may not reply to e-mails sent after 5pm until the next day.
Please be advised that e-mails sent through means other than ANGEL e-mail may not be
monitored regularly; your best bet for communicating with me during this course is through
ANGEL.
Course Resources

Required Text
Landy, F. J., & Conte, J. M. (2010). Work in the 21st century: An introduction to industrial and
organizational psychology (3rd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
This book is one of the most popular and established texts on Industrial/Organizational
Psychology for undergraduate students in the social sciences and both authors are among
the most well-known and respected I/O Psychologists today.
My one-time only disclaimer about purchasing the textbook for this course:
It has not been so long ago that I have forgotten how much of a pain it was to buy course
textbooks, especially when it seems many instructors never use them for anything. As a
result—probably like you—there were times when I decided not buy the textbook for a
course and ended up doing just fine. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE CLASSES—YOU
NEED TO HAVE THE TEXTBOOK. Because of the online nature of this course and our
relatively limited interaction through virtual means, having access to and reading the course
textbook is CRUCIAL to your success in the course. Questions from the quizzes and final
exam will be drawn from the text, and it is your responsibility to have read and learned that
information. The book is available through the bookstore on the campus at Michigan State
University, http://www.spartanbook.com (go to secure online ordering), the Student Book
Store (http://www.sbsmsu.com) and other area bookstores such as Ned’s and The College
Store. Note that this course uses the 3rd edition text: make sure your book has a picture of a
wind turbine on the cover! (The second edition has a different cover).

Course Website
All lectures, quizzes, assignments, and other materials needed to
complete this course will be stored and accessed through the
ANGEL course website. The course materials will be gated on
ANGEL so that they open and close at specified dates according to
the course schedule (more on this below). The website will also be
used to turn in all assignments and participate in the discussion
questions

Other Resources
If you are near the MSU campus, below is a list of resources outside of this course that you
may also find useful:
o
Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. If you need special assistance for this
course because of a disability, please contact the Resource Center for Persons with
Disabilities to establish reasonable accommodations. More information can be found
at http://www.rcpd.msu.edu or by calling (517) 884-7273 (TTY: 517-353-1293).
o
Learning Resource Center. The Learning Resource Center (LRC) is a self-paced
individualized learning center that assists MSU students who want to improve their
academic performance. Its goal is to help students develop the strategies and
techniques to become successful students. The LRC uses three unites to deliver its
services: a professional staff located in the main office, an interactive learning lab,
and tutoring services. More information can be found at http://lrc.msu.edu.
o
Writing Center. Assists students in person and online with brainstorming, drafting,
revising, and editing writing for courses across multiple disciplines. More information
about services and scheduling appointments can be found at http://writing.msu.edu.
Course Expectations

Instructor Responsibilities
As your instructor, my responsibilities to you are to:
o
Help you learn definitions, concepts, and techniques relevant to the field of
Industrial/Organizational Psychology through lecture and course assignments.
o
Provide accurate information and elaborate on topics relevant to the field of
Industrial/Organizational Psychology and how it applies to real-world situations and
problems.
o
Help you succeed and achieve your goals in this class by providing timely feedback
and guidance through the course materials.
I believe that every student can learn, but I’m aware that everyone has different goals and
learning styles. Unfortunately, the nature of learning and interaction with online courses makes it
difficult for me to easily adapt the presentation of materials to accommodate our class. As a
result, you bear much more responsibility in the course for structuring and
accomplishing your learning goals. Nevertheless, I will do my best to assist you in learning
the material in any reasonable manner.

Student Responsibilities
As a participative learner in this class, I expect you to:
o
Always complete the weekly readings, lectures, learning activities, and
assignments. More so than perhaps any other courses you take at MSU, your
ability to succeed in this online course is directly related to your ability to schedule
your time wisely and keep up with the course material as it is presented. Following
the lectures, keeping up with the readings, participating in the discussion forums, and
completing the class exercises are NOT OPTIONAL.
o
Plan to spend at least 15-20 hours every week on course-related work (though
you may need to spend more than that!). Summer classes are short, condensed,
and go by quick, but there is still a significant amount of material to keep up with. Any
time commitment less than that and I’ve found that students are likely to fall behind
quickly.
o
Be courteous and respectful to your classmates and me. Showing respect for all
people in our class promotes a scholarly environment. I encourage you (and you are
required) to actively participate in this class and as such, many people will be making
comments related to the material. At no time is it acceptable for anyone to be
mimicked, embarrassed, intimidated, or mistreated by anybody in this class for any
reason.
o
Ask questions and/or for help when you need it. Send me your questions! I think
this course is very interesting, but I understand it can be a little dense at times. If
you’re confused by something that you read or see on the lectures, chances are that
other people are too and you will be doing us all a favor by bringing it to my attention.
Remember that I will hold weekly virtual office hour sessions and can be reached
through e-mail.
o
Talk to me if you feel that I am being unfair in my expectations, policies, or
grading. You may wish to refer to your rights and responsibilities as a student
should a conflict occur (online at http://www.vps.msu.edu/SpLife). However, I think
that you will find that I do my best to be fair and reasonable if you come to me with a
legitimate complaint or problem.
o
Let me know as soon as possible if outside circumstances are impacting your
participation in class. Life happens! If you become seriously ill, experience the
death of a loved one, or have a life altering experience that is negatively influencing
your participation in our class, please contact me as soon as possible so we can
discuss your options.
The course rules and my expectations for you are non-negotiable. The rules as laid out in this
syllabus, the content of the exams, the content of the lectures, and the calculation of the grade
you earn are not a starting point for negotiations. While I am always willing to work with you on
an individual basis, I cannot negotiate individual terms with each person in the class.
Keys to Success in this Course
1. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you set a weekly/daily schedule for
yourself and stick to it for the seven weeks we are together. As this is
an online course, your learning is almost entirely self-paced. If you need
help or advice on what sort of schedule you should set, please contact
me and we can try to work one out together!
2. Approach this course in the same way you would approach an inperson course at MSU. Establish a routine for listening/watching the lectures, taking
quizzes/exams, and completing your class exercises. Find a place and time that you can
“come to class” that is quiet and free from distractions and use it over and over again.
Research shows that people tend to learn better in more familiar and comfortable (i.e.,
comfortable as in safe, not comfortable as in sleeping on your bed...) environments. If you
are living with roommates or taking this course from your family home, try to pick a
time/place where you know nobody else will disturb you and you can focus entirely on the
course materials.
3. Print or save the lecture handouts from every Unit and take notes as you read and
follow along with the lectures. I appreciate and understand that it can be extremely boring
to sit in front of a computer screen and listen/watch a PowerPoint presentation; however,
you will be much more engaged and will learn and retain much more of the information if
you take notes as you do so. I believe that you will find that your understanding of lectures
and your performance in the class will be greatly improved if you take the time to jot down
notes as you complete the lectures.
4. Pay close attention to the Learning Objectives presented for each Unit. They will help
orient you to the material and outline what information you should know for the tests.
5. Get to know your team members for the Work Exercises and establish how you will
complete team assignments as early as possible. Just like in a real work place, your
ability to work effectively and efficiently with others will affect your performance in this
course. As such, it is in your best interest to get to know and communicate with your team
members early and often throughout the semester—use them as study partners, ask them
questions about the material, etc. If possible, you may even consider trying to meet together
a few times in person.
6. The time to be concerned about your grade is in the first six weeks of this course, not
in the last week. Your grades will always be accessible to you through the ANGEL website,
but it is your responsibility to monitor them. If you feel like you are falling behind, the sooner
you talk with me the better!
Course Details/Structure

Day 1 Orientation: ANGEL Technology Walk Through
When you first enter the course, you will see a “Day 1 Orientation” folder – start there. This
folder contains a short tutorial/quiz titled “Course Orientation” that covers certain basic
requirements related to the operation of ANGEL and your computer for this course.
Completion of this tutorial is required—YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BEGIN THE
COURSE AND/OR ACCESS ANY OF THE COURSE CONTENT UNTIL YOU COMPLETE
IT! This tutorial/quiz is a requirement for unlocking the course content because if you do not
make sure you have the basic course requirements, you may come across many problems
during the course that could have easily been avoided.
(Note to those reading the syllabus: the word you will need to enter during your course
orientation is “training.”)

Course Materials
The materials for this course are divided into 13 Units that will be covered during the sevenweek semester. Initially, only the course materials for Week 1 (covering Units 1 and 2) will
be visible to you. The remainder of the course materials will not be visible until they are
unlocked according to the Course Schedule provided at the end of this syllabus. As course
content is unlocked, you will begin to see new folders appear in ANGEL with various labels.
The most important folders are those labeled by week. Each weekly folder contains
TWO Units (except for Week 7, which covers only one Unit) that must be completed
by the end of that week. The folders also contain the Work Exercise for that week.
Note that once a weekly folder has opened, it will remain open until the end of the semester.
HOWEVER, the Work Exercises and tests for that week
will only remain available for completion until their
associated due date (see Course Schedule).
Each Unit folder (remember there are TWO units in each
week) contains:
1. Learning Objectives: These objectives outline the
topics you should pay close attention to in the lecture and
text. Additionally, these are the topics that will be covered
most heavily in your quizzes and final exam.
2. Unit Readings: In this folder you will see a page that tells you the assigned readings
from the textbook for that Unit. There will also be a link to the student companion site
where you can go for additional resources such as practice quizzes. Finally, there will be
a PowerPoint presentation based on the textbook, which you can choose to review if you
wish—viewing this PowerPoint is optional.
3. Unit Lecture: In this folder you will find the audio lecture (first link) for the unit and a
handout with the lecture slides which you can print or save. When you go into this folder
and click on the first link, a page with the audio lecture will open. You will hear the
lecture while watching the screen (Be sure to take notes!). The audio text is linked to
each PowerPoint slide. If you go back to a slide earlier in the presentation, the audio will
begin with that slide.
4. Unit Quiz: When you have mastered the material in a unit, take the unit quiz. A link to
the quiz will be at the end of the unit folder. Read the directions carefully as the quizzes
are timed.
IMPORTANT: A Note on the Quiz/Exam Assessment Method
The assessment method used in the Department of Psychology is one that enhances test
security during online testing. It is called “Single-question, no backtrack.” In this type of
assessment only one question is delivered at a time. You will make a decision about that
question, select the desired answer/response option, and submit your answer. After doing
so, the next question will be presented. Once you have submitted an answer to a question,
it is not possible to go back to previous questions. In this way, instructors can ask questions
knowing that a question “gives away” the answer to a previous question. (Of course, this
could never happen on a regular paper-and-pencil test.)
This method may require you adopt a different strategy for test taking. For example, you
may have learned to first answer all the questions that you know and then go back to others
you did not. This strategy is not possible in a single-question, no backtrack testing method.
On the other hand, since this course uses open-book testing, you are able to look up
answers to those questions about which you have doubts before proceeding. Thus, many
students find that after a quick look at the book to refresh their memories, they can proceed
with confidence.
If single-question, no backtrack (and open book testing) sounds like a method with which
you will be comfortable then this online class is probably a good fit for your assessment
style.

Work Teams and Teamwork
During this course you will be required to work as part of a virtual team to complete three of
the Work Exercises. Everyone in the course will be assigned to a team with approximately
five members. Team rosters will be listed in ANGEL and e-mail communication with your
team members will be useful for completing your team activities. It is important that you
communicate with your team members very soon after the course begins. The first team
exercise (Work Exercise 3) will open on Monday, May 28th. For optimal use of your team
time, it is suggested that your team schedule a time to hold a chat room discussion of that
exercise as soon as possible after the exercise opens to organize how to work on the
exercise. I STRONGLY recommend that you introduce yourselves and schedule when you
will first “meet” to go over Work Exercise 3 before May 28th.
o
Chat Rooms and Discussion Forums: Your team will also be assigned a Team
Chat Room and a Team Discussion Forum (identified by your team number) that can
only be accessed by myself and the members of your team. Both are provided as a
means for getting to know your team members and for organizing your efforts to
complete the Work Exercises. Since experience shows that chat rooms and
discussion rooms often become cluttered with a large number of messages, three
separate chat rooms/discussion forums have been created for your team:
1. Team Lounge: The Team Lounge Chat Room and the Team Lounge
Discussion forum are available to you and your team members as general
meeting place for the duration of the course after you have been assigned to
your teams. Once opened, you will be able to access these areas at any time.
2.
SME (Subject Matter Experts): The SME Chat Room and Discussion Forum
should be reserved for work on the Subject Matter Experts team project
(Work Exercise 3). These spaces will open at 9:00am on Monday, May 30th
and will close at 2:00pm on Monday June 6th when Work Exercise 3 is due.
The areas close so that people do not inadvertently leave messages in this
space when working on later exercises.
3. HR Newsletter: The HR Newsletter Chat Room and Discussion Forum should
be used for work on the newsletter (Work Exercises 4 and 5). These spaces
will open on Monday June 6th when Work Exercise 4 opens and will close
when the newsletter is to be completed, June 20th.
Course Work

Tests
Two types of tests will be administered in this course—quizzes and a final exam. Quizzes
will cover material from the lecture and the text assignments for each specific Unit. The final
exam will also cover readings and lectures and will be cumulative (that is, it will include
material from the whole course).
All quizzes and the final exam have strict time limits, but both are open book. Because of
their timed nature, it is required that you take the tests using a high-speed Internet
connection. For both the quizzes and the final exam, your questions will be randomly drawn
from a large question pool at the time that you begin the exam; as such, you will likely not
receive the exact same questions in the same order as other students in the class.
However, the questions in the pool have been designed so as to be similar in difficulty level.
When you begin the exam, questions will be presented one at a time, with the next question
appearing only after you have submitted your answer to the previous one. Once an answer
is submitted for a question, that question cannot be revisited. Thus, there is one chance and
one chance only to answer each question. The random selection of questions, presenting
questions sequentially without the chance to return to them, and the time limits are all used
to reduce cheating.
o
Quizzes
There are 13 graded quizzes, one for each course Unit. There are two quizzes per
week for Weeks 1 through 6 and one quiz during Week 7. Your two lowest quiz
grades of the semester will be dropped when computing the overall quiz
component of your grade. Thus your quiz grade will be based on your 11 highest
quiz scores. The quizzes will test your knowledge of both the lectures and the
readings assigned for the Unit on which the quiz is based. All due date information
for the quizzes can be found on the Course Schedule in the syllabus.
Each quiz will consist of 10 questions (multiple choice and fill in the blank). Once you
open a quiz, you will have exactly 15 minutes to complete it. If you do not complete it
within 15 minutes, the quiz will close and any items not yet completed will be
considered wrong. The questions for the quizzes will be randomly selected from a
large test bank for each student in the class. Therefore, the same quiz will contain
different questions for different students depending on which questions are drawn
from the test bank.
The quizzes for a week’s units will be available to you on ANGEL beginning at
9:00am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Monday of that week until Friday
2:00pm EST of that week and can be taken at any point during that time frame.
Once the deadline has passed, all further access to the week’s quiz will be denied.
Note that if you begin a quiz less than 15 minutes before it is due to close (i.e., later
than 1:45pm EST on the Friday it is due) you will NOT receive the full 15 minutes to
complete the quiz. Quizzes not taken before Friday at 2:00pm will be given a grade
of 0.0 for all but the rare cases in which there is a personal emergency. In cases of
emergencies, the instructor must be notified PRIOR to the due date and time if there
are extenuating circumstances requiring exceptions to be made.
o
Final Exam
The final exam will consist of 75 multiple-choice questions and will draw on
information from all 13 course Units. Once you begin the final exam, you will have
exactly 2 hours to complete it.
The final exam will take place during Week 7 on Thursday June 28th, the traditional
day for Summer Session One final exams. The test will be open for you to take at
exactly 9:00am on Thursday June 28th and will close at 9:00pm on the same day.
The final exam MUST be taken during this time frame—you will be able to choose
the two-hour block within the time period that best fits your schedule but you must
be finished on or before 9:00 p.m. Therefore, if you want the full two hours for the
exam, you must access it by 7:00 p.m. on June 28th.
IMPORTANT: A Note on Technical Concerns with Tests
In order to prevent the loss of your answers in case of a computer or Internet malfunction,
the final exam has an autosave feature that allows you to save your responses every 30
minutes. In the past, students have noticed that after saving the exam, exam items appear
to have been deleted from the screen—that is not the case. Your answers are still saved
even though they do not appear on the screen. Since your original responses will be
saved, please do not waste your limited time going back and trying to complete those
questions again.
Occasionally, students will experience technical difficulties with ANGEL during tests. These
difficulties are greatly reduced if a high speed Internet connection is used. Dial-up
connections lead to difficulties because of the timed nature of testing. Please make every
effort to use a high-speed connection during the final exam.
If you do experience technical problems with ANGEL during the exam, please contact
the MSU helpline (1-800-500-1554) and me (Heng C. Xie, xieheng@msu.edu)
immediately. On rare occasions, due to technical problems, I may need to reset your exam.
In these cases, you must still complete the exam on the originally scheduled exam day
before the exam deadline. Students whose exams are reset will receive a 0.0 on the exam if
it is not completed by the deadline.

Work Exercises
During this course you will complete several applied exercises to help illustrate the concepts
that you learn in lecture and in the textbook. Over the course of Weeks 1 through 6, you will
do several tasks related to being an employee in a newspaper office. Some tasks are for
individual “employees” and others will be completed by your work team. Your experience will
culminate in the creation of an HR Newsletter, which will be built during Weeks 4 and 5 in
groups of four or five. The Work Exercises are described below and more detailed
information is provided in the instructions for each specific exercise in the appropriate
week’s folder on ANGEL.
New Work Exercises will open on Monday at 9:00am and will usually be due at 2:00pm
EST on the following Monday (because of Memorial Day on Monday May 28th, Work
Exercise 2 will be due on Tuesday May 29st instead). This will allow you and your team to
work on the Work Exercises over the weekend if needed.
Work Exercise Descriptions
Week
Name
Description
1
Demographic
Data
You will be asked to fill out a form with several demographic questions as
well as questions about your experience with online courses in the past.
These questions will be similar to demographic questions that are often
asked by employers. All information that you provide will be kept confidential.
2
Selection
Battery
3
4
5
6
You will take a selection battery that contains several types of questions
often used in real employee selection tests that companies give, as well as
some questions that assess skills that are specifically newspaper-related.
Subject Matter
Expert (SME)
Prior to Week 3, you will be assigned to your work team and asked to
develop a plan for interviewing a subject matter expert in the newspaper
field. This includes structuring the interview, making a list of needed
questions and deciding who will ask what questions. You will be working with
these same individuals for the Human Resource Newsletter group exercises.
HR Newsletter
Subject
Your team will be asked to begin to develop a Human Resource Newsletter.
You will develop an HR newsletter on a topic in I/O psychology chosen by
your group. Your team will have to make a decision on the overall topic area
and write an introductory letter explaining the importance of the topic for
business and describing how each article fits that topic. You will need to
submit to the instructor what your general topic area will be and which article
each group member will be summarizing. Your group’s topic and each
member’s chosen article will be submitted to fulfill Work Exercise 4.
HR Newsletter
Your group will finish the HR newsletter exercise it began in Week 4. Your
group will have to make an introductory letter explaining the importance of
the topic for business and how each article fits that topic. You want to make
a coherent and informative newsletter. Each team member will need to write
an article summary.
Group
Reflection
With the HR Newsletter finished you will be asked to reflect on your group
experiences. You will first be asked to fill out a typical work survey of
satisfaction. You will then be asked to reflect on your team experience in
response to some short answer questions that will tie your experiences to
concepts that have been discussed in lecture and the textbook. This
exercise is graded only in terms of whether or not it is completed with some
effort put in to reflecting on the team process. It is an individual exercise.

Discussion Questions
Every week (except for Week 7) a discussion forum will open in the weekly folder with a
question based on the readings/lectures from the week (from one of the two units). The
question is designed to give you and your classmates the opportunity to think critically and
reflect on new concepts. For each discussion question, you will have until Sunday
5:00pm EST to post a response to the question AND reply to two other students’
posts. Each discussion question will be worth 5 points. You must post something of
substance for your post and the responses to other students to receive the full 5 points.
Saying only “I agree” or “I disagree” is not substantive; do you best to contribute to the
discussion by letting us know your opinion and why you feel the way you do about
something.
Course Grading
Your grade is calculated based on the total number of points you earn on the quizzes, final
exam, work exercises, and discussion questions as shown in the following table:
Assignment
Total Points Percentage of Final Grade
Quizzes (11 x 30 points each)
330
33%
Final Exam (75 items)
450
45%
Work Exercises
190
19%
WE1: Demographic Data
(10)
WE2: Selection Battery
(10)
WE3: Subject Matter Expert (SME) Interview*
(40)
WE4: HR Newsletter Subject*
(10)
WE5: HR Newsletter
Team score*
Individual score
(25)
(75)
WE6: Group Reflection
(20)
Discussion Participation (6 x 5 points each)
Total
30
3%
1000
100%
*Note that three of the items above are starred. These involve work by your team, and
EVERYONE on the team will receive the same score for these assignments. Thus,
teamwork will comprise 7.5 % of your total grade.

Extra Credit
You also have the opportunity to receive up to 10 extra credit points in the class by
participating in 5 hours’ worth of research studies through the MSU Psychology
Department's HPR system. Alternatively, you may also complete an additional written
assignment chosen by me (however, if you wish to write the paper, you must let me know by
Monday, June 11th). The last day to earn extra credit through research participation (or turn
in the written assignment) for this course is Monday, June 25th. More information about
earning extra credit through research participation is available through the course website.
Your final grade in the course will be assigned based on the 1000 point maximum according to
the table below. If you accumulate the total points listed below, you are guaranteed that grade in
the course. Note that total points get rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g., 849.4999 is
849 but 849.5000 is 850). Imagine you are the professor assigning grades—you have to draw
the lines somewhere, and someone is always going to be just below the lines. The final
semester grade may be curved if necessary; however, in no case will your curved grade be
lower than that based on the total points you earned in the course.
Final Grade Conversions
Number of points
Percentage
Grade
900 or above
850 – 899
90%-100%
85%-89.9%
4.0
800 – 849
80%-84.9%
3.0
750 – 799
700 – 749
75%-79.9%
70%-74.9%
2.5
650 – 699
600 – 649
550 – 599
549 or less
65%-69.9%
60%-64.9%
55%-59.9%
0%-54.9%
1.5
3.5
2.0
1.0
0.5
0.0
Course Rules and Policies

Academic Honesty:
Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states: “The student shares with the faculty the
responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards.” In
addition, the Department of Psychology adheres to the policies on academic honesty specified in
General Student Regulation 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all-University Policy
onIntegrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. (See Spartan Life:
Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web site www.msu.edu.)
Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all course
assignments, including quizzes, exams, work exercises, and discussion posts without assistance
from any source not indicated in this syllabus. You are expected to develop original work for this
course; therefore, you may not submit course work you completed for another course to satisfy the
requirements for this course. Also, you are not authorized to use the www.allmsu.com Web site to
complete any course work in this course. Students who violate MSU rules may receive a penalty
grade, including but not limited to a failing grade on the assignment or in the course.
Examples of cheating in this course include:
1. Having another student provide academic assistance or coaching during an online quiz or
test
2. Having another person take a quiz or test for you
3. Copying questions or answers from your online quiz or test and sharing them with another
student
4. Copying questions or answers from your online quiz or test and posting them on a website for
others to view
5. Getting questions and/or answers from students who have already taken a quiz or exam you
are scheduled to take
6. Collaborating with other students on projects or assignments when collaboration is not part of
the assignment or when you do not have your instructor’s permission to collaborate
I apologize for dwelling on cheating; however, cheating in online courses occurs and is attempted
unsuccessfully far too often. There are student-based websites that seem to promote academic
dishonesty. Please be advised that these sites are known to faculty members who are updated on
their contents by honest students and others on a regular basis. Specifically, you are not authorized
to use the http://www.allmsu.com website to complete any course work.
Please be aware that ANGEL tracks all student login information. For example, it tracks when you
have logged into ANGEL and when you have logged out. It also tracks when you begin your quiz and
when your quiz is submitted. This is helpful for instructors because it allows us to resolve issues if
there is a problem with the ANGEL system in terms of logging on and/or gaining access to the various
sections of the site. Tracking can also help us resolve disputes about exams and assignments,
particularly those that are timed. ANGEL tracking can also reveal academic misconduct.
Ignorance or misunderstanding of the honesty policy will not serve as an excuse for academic
dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty will be prosecuted to the fullest extent in this class. Please note
that the general penalty grade policy at MSU has changed and become more strict and punitive
toward cheaters. If you are found to have cheated, you will get a grade of 0.0 in the class, and a letter
about the incident will be sent to the dean of your college and to the dean of the College of Social
Sciences at MSU. A description of the incident will be added to the student’s academic record, where
it will remain, unless the student successfully grieves the allegation. Thus, cheating has a significant
impact on your current grade and your student permanent record. The majority of students work hard
to earn good grades. It isn't fair to honest students to give cheaters the same grade.

Disruptive Behavior:
Article 2.3.5 of the Academic Freedom Report (AFR) for students at Michigan State University states:
"The student's behavior in the classroom shall be conducive to the teaching and learning process for
all concerned." Article 2.3.10 of the AFR states that, "The student has a right to scholarly
relationships with faculty based on mutual trust and civility." General Student Regulation 5.02 states:
"No student shall . . . interfere with the functions and services of the University (for example, but not
limited to, classes . . .) such that the function or service is obstructed or disrupted. Students whose
conduct adversely affects the learning environment in this classroom may be subject to disciplinary
action through the Student Faculty Judiciary process. These same policies apply to this online course
as well.

Commercialized Lecture Notes:
Commercialization of lecture notes and university-provided course materials is not permitted in this
course

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
Students with disabilities should contact the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities to establish
reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a disability specialist, call 353-9642 (voice),
355-1293 (TTY), or visit http://rcpd.msu.edu.

Drops and Adds:
The last day to add this course is May 16, 2011. The last day to drop this course with a 100 percent
refund and no grade reported is May 24, 2011. The last day to drop this course with no refund and no
grade reported is June 6, 2011. You should immediately make a copy of your amended schedule to
verify you have added or dropped this course.
Course Schedule (Subject to Change)
Week 1 (May 14 – May 20)
Unit 1: World View of an I-O Psychologist
Reading: Text Ch. 1
Unit 2: Basic Research Methods in I-O Psychology
Assignments
Opens
Quizzes 1 and 2
Monday, May 14th, 9:00am
Discussion Question 1
Monday, May 14th, 9:00am
Work Exercise 1
Monday, May 14th, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 2.1-2.3
Due/Closes
Friday, May 18th, 2:00pm
Sunday, May 20nd, 5:00pm
Monday, May 21rd, 2:00pm
Week 2 (May 21 – May 7)
Unit 3: Industrial Psychology: Individual Differences in Mental Abilities,
Physical Abilities and Personality
Reading: Text Ch. 3.1-3.2
Unit 4: Industrial Psychology: Assessing Individuals
Assignments
Opens
Quizzes 3 and 4
Monday, May 21rd, 9:00am
Discussion Question 2
Monday, May 21rd, 9:00am
Work Exercise 2
Monday, May 21rd, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 2.4 & 3.3-3.5
Due/Closes
Friday, May 25th, 2:00pm
Sunday, May 27rd, 5:00pm
Tuesday, May 29st, 2:00pm
Week 3 (May 28 – June 3)
Unit 5: Industrial Psychology: Performance and Performance
Measurement
Unit 6: Industrial Psychology: Job Analysis and Evaluation
Assignments
Quizzes 5 and 6
Discussion Question 3
Work Exercise 3
Opens
Monday, May 28th, 9:00am
Monday, May 28th, 9:00am
Monday, May 28th, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 4.1-4.2 & 5
Reading: Text Ch. 4.3-4.5 &
p. 430-434
Due/Closes
Friday, June 1rd, 2:00pm
Sunday, June 3th, 5:00pm
Monday, June 4th, 2:00pm
Week 4 (June 4 – June 10)
Unit 7: Industrial Psychology: Staffing Decisions
Reading: Text Ch. 6
Unit 8: Industrial Psychology: Training and Development
Assignments
Opens
Quizzes 7 and 8
Monday, June 4th, 9:00am
Discussion Question 4
Monday, June 4th, 9:00am
Work Exercise 4
Monday, June 4th, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 7
Due/Closes
Friday, June 8th, 2:00pm
Sunday, June 10th, 5:00pm
Monday, June 11th, 2:00pm
Week 5 (June 11 – June 17)
Unit 9 : Organizational Psychology: Work Motivation
Reading: Text Ch. 8
Unit 10: Organizational Psychology: Attitudes, Emotions and Work
Assignments
Opens
Quizzes 9 and 10
Monday, June 11th, 9:00am
Discussion Question 5
Monday, June 11th, 9:00am
Work Exercise 5
Monday, June 11th, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 9 & 10.4
Due/Closes
Friday, June 15th, 2:00pm
Sunday, June 17th, 5:00pm
Monday, June 18th, 2:00pm
Week 6 (June 18 – June 24)
Unit 11: Organizational Psychology: Leadership and Teams in the
Workplace
Unit 12: Organizational Psychology: Fairness and Diversity in the
Workplace
Assignments
Opens
Quizzes 11 and 12
Monday, June 18th, 9:00am
Discussion Question 6
Monday, June 18th, 9:00am
Work Exercise 6
Monday, June 18th, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 12 & 13
Reading: Text Ch. 11
Due/Closes
Friday, June 22th, 2:00pm
Sunday, June 24th, 5:00pm
Monday, June 25th, 2:00m
Week 7 (June 25 – June 28)
Unit 13: Organizational Psychology: Organization of Work Behavior
Assignments
Opens
Quiz 13
Monday, June 25th, 9:00am
Final Exam
Thursday, June 28th, 9:00am
Reading: Text Ch. 14
Due/Closes
Thursday, June 28th, 2:00pm
Thursday, June 28th, 9:00pm