Purdue North Central Honors Course Proposal Submission Date: (Date sent to Honors Program
Subcommittee)
6/10/13
Document No: 13-H-01
(Leave blank)
Submitting Dept: Course number and title:
PSY 120: Elementary
Psychology
Reviewed by Department: (Date reviewed by
department)
Reviewed by Honors Subcommittee: (Leave blank) 5/31/2013
(Name of
dept/pgm)
Course instructor: (Name & Title)
8/23/2013
Social Sciences (Psychology)
Cynthia L. Zdanczyk
Continuing Lecturer of Psychology
Approval by Faculty Senate: (Leave blank) Unless marked “Leave blank” all parts of this form must be filled in before sending to the Honors Program Subcommittee.
Current catalog description of course. (For new courses, or changes to current catalog descriptions or course objectives, a
curriculum document must also be submitted)
Catalog Description: Introduction to the fundamental principles of psychology, covering particularly the topics of personality, intelligence, emotion, abnormal behavior, attention, perception, learning, memory, and thinking. Course Description and Goal: This course surveys the science of psychology. The primary goal is for students to demonstrate an understanding of theories, research methods, and major concepts of the subject. To meet this goal, the following topics are addressed: historical overview, biological basis of behavior and emotion, sensation and perception, consciousness, learning, memory, intelligence, human development, motivation and emotion, sexuality, stress and health, social psychology, personality, psychological disorders, and psychological therapies. There is no prerequisite for this course. Current course objectives. Upon completion of this course students will: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of theories, major concepts, and content knowledge of the subject. 2. Demonstrate familiarity with research methods that currently exist in the field. 3. Further develop and use analytical and critical thinking skills to solve problems related to the field. 4. Understand and apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues. Provide a description of the honors component of the course, showing how the course will meet PNC’s definition of an honors course. Based on discussions with the professor, the honors students will select one (1) topic from each of the four (4) major divisions of the course to further explore and investigate. This topic will be selected according to what most interests the student in line with the main divisions outlined on the PSY 120 syllabus: 1. History of Psychology, Research Methods, Biological Foundations, Sensation/Perception 2. Consciousness, Learning, Memory, Cognition 3. Development, Motivation/Emotion, Sexuality/Gender, Personality 4. Stress/Health, Social Psychology, Psychological Disorders, Psychological Treatments They will survey the field of scientific research addressing each specific topic, and in collaboration with the professor, select a set of four (4) primary sources (i.e., journal articles) to review and critique. The students will then design an experiment to test a question that arose from their examinations on one (1) of the selected topics. Students will showcase this research proposal in a poster presentation. Describe how the honors version of the course will meet course objectives in a more complex, challenging, or enriching way.
The field of Psychology is fueled by scientific exploration, designed to give insight into many intriguing questions about the mind and behavior. Honors students will critically examine and evaluate the application of the scientific method as it applies to psychological research in an area that is intriguing to them. This will enable them to further explore these topics in more depth than is expected in the standard version of the course. Based on their analysis, they will be further challenged to generate their own research ideas and questions, which will guide them in their future endeavors as behavioral scientists. Describe how honors students’ work will be evaluated.
Based on discussions with the professor, the honors students will select four (4) research articles to further explore (from each main division of the course). For each, the students will write a summary of the research study that outlines the main theory, rationale, research questions, tested variables, methods, and analysis of results and further directions. These summaries will be evaluated by the professor and be worth five (5) points each (total of 80 points). At the end of the semester, the student will prepare a poster presentation outlining their specific, experimental proposal. This poster will be evaluated according to the accompanying rubric and be worth a total of fifty (50) points. Please also submit a syllabus for the non-honors version of this course.
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