LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY
Psychology 3811 – Forensic Psychology
Winter 2014
Dr. E. St-Pierre
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. READ THIS SYLLABUS AND ALL POSTINGS MADE BY THE PROFESSOR.
The professor will not answer questions for which the answers are already provided in the syllabus or
in a posting made by the professor. Discussion postings made by the professor are to be considered
required reading for the course and the content of those postings might be asked about on an exam.
There will be a discussion forum opened for each module within which you can ask questions about
or make comments about the material in that module or the exam for that module. The professor will
monitor those forums and will respond to those postings but students are also encouraged to respond
to each other. Feel free to post in an attempt to generate some discussion on topics relevant to the
course.
If you have a general question or comment post it in the "General Questions and Discussion" forum. If
you have a question that you feel hesitant to post in the discussion forums, because it is of a personal
nature, and not about course content, you may send it to the professor directly. If the question is
about course content then your question should be asked in the relevant module discussion forum.
With respect to discussion forum postings - people are invited to provide their opinions on issues and
to discuss how certain issues make them feel. BUT as scientists we have to recognize that opinions
and feelings are often extremely biased and hence we should yield to empirical evidence when that
evidence exists. Also, there will be no tolerance in the discussion groups for comments that are
deliberately hurtful or incite hate or aggression.
2. THREE MODULES.
The course is arranged into 3 Modules. Each module will require the completion of an exam. There
are no required assignments in this course. The modules will be released one at a time. You will be
responsible (i.e. it may be covered on the exams) for all readings, lecture notes, and videos that are
presented with each module. You may feel that there is a lot of material (e.g. reading) but that is the
nature of online courses. Readings that are not from the textbook will be made available in .pdf format
and will be released along with the module. The links for any required videos will also be made
available with each module.
The required textbook for this course is available in the bookstore and is titled:
Forensic Psychology (Second Canadian Edition) (2014) – by Porter & Wrightsman
3. THREE ONLINE EXAMS.
There is an exam for each module. The exams will be open book. The exams will be multiple choice
and they will not be cumulative. You might want to ask, “There is a lot of readings and materials in
each module, what should I focus on for the exam?” The answer is “everything". The exams are
essentially testing whether you did the readings and watched the videos. My advice is that you
become very familiar with the materials prior to the exam because you will not have much time during
the exam to “look things up”.
With respect to the videos - exam questions will be based on the audio of the video (i.e. what is said
in the video) rather than what you can see in the video. So in some cases (e.g the “TED” videos) you
could if you want, download the audio, which is available online, and listen to the audio anywhere you
want (e.g. burn to disk for your car or put it on your IPod).
You are to write exams alone and without ANY form of assistance from ANY other person. If the
professor suspects you have cheated, he will contact you, and there will be repercussions. The
University takes a most serious view of academic dishonesty such as plagiarism, cheating and
impersonation. Penalties for dealing with such offences will be strictly enforced. A copy of the "Code
of Student Behaviour and Disciplinary Procedures" including sections on plagiarism and other forms
of misconduct may be obtained from the Office of the Registrar.
4. EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WILL NOT BE RELEASED.
You will not be able to view the exam questions after the exams. This is for test security reasons. I
am careful to check “test item statistics” to weed out unfair questions (e.g. questions that few people
got correct or questions that are poorly worded). If while you are writing an exam you discover a
question that seems to have an error then make note of the question number. Once the exam has
been declared “officially closed” by the professor you will be able to post those question numbers in a
discussion group (do not email them to the professor) and I will then check those questions for
accuracy and validity.
5. THERE WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NO LATE OR EARLY EXAM SCHEDULING PERMITTED – A
MISSED EXAM WILL RESULT IN A GRADE OF ZERO.
The fact that the exams are scheduled to take place over a range of time will make it very difficult to
demonstrate that any circumstance prevented you from completing an exam. For example, if a
student were to put off completing an exam till the last available day and get sick or experience a
computer crash that day the professor will argue that the student should have written the exam at an
earlier time – therefore leaving it until the day it was scheduled to close was a risk that the student
took. I am not being harsh – I am in fact trying to be fair with this rule. The rule is in place not to
punish those students who meet misfortune but rather to protect those students who work hard and
never request or require “undue” accommodations. Certainly, if a student encounters an unfortunate
circumstance over a long duration and cannot legitimately complete a course requirement then
accommodations will be possible but the student will be required to provide documentation (e.g.
medical note) demonstrating the duration and nature of the circumstance. In other words, the student
would have to demonstrate that they were incapacitated for the duration of the time that exam was
available - obviously that is a fairly difficult criterion to satisfy. My advice is to reduce the stress in
your life and complete the exams within the pre-allotted time frames.
6. THERE WILL BE NO REWEIGHTING OF ANY GRADES FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL STUDENT.
THERE WILL BE NO EXTRA ASSIGNMENTS OFFERED FOR THE PURPOSES OF INCREASING
GRADES. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THE PROFESSOR ASKING FOR SUCH CONCESSIONS.
7. PLEASE CONTACT THE PROFESSOR USING THE IN-COURSE EMAIL.
For the purposes of this course I will only be responding to contact made via this course website.
Please do not phone me or email me to other addresses that you may find. I am not a full time
Lakehead professor and hence I do not have an office or phone number at Lakehead University. If
you are unsure how to use the in-course email then please post your question in the general
questions forum or contact CEDL and ask for help. Please do not email the professor asking him to
phone you, if you have an issue please express it via email.
8. IT IS THE STUDENT’S RESPONSIBILITY TO LEARN HOW TO USE AND NAVIGATE THE
“DESIRE 2 LEARN” WEBSITE.
If a student fails to complete a course requirement because they do not know how to use the “Desire
2 Learn” website no accommodation will be made. If a student is unsure how to use the site in any
regard, or if the student is encountering technical difficulties with the site, it is the student’s
responsibility to rectify the situation or to contact CEDL technical support for assistance. Students are
welcome to post their concerns in the “General Questions and Discussion” forum in the hopes that a
fellow student can help them. The professor will not act as “technical support”.
COURSE SCHEDULE
MODULE 1
Module 1 Exam (25%) - 75 multiple-choice questions (90 Minutes).
Opens – February 4, 2014 - 6 pm
Closes – February 6, 2014 – 11 pm
MODULE 2 - Available February 3, 2014 – 12 pm
Module 2 Exam (35%) - 125 multiple-choice questions (150 Minutes).
Opens – March 11, 2014 - 6 pm
Closes – March 13, 2014 – 11 pm.
MODULE 3 - Available March 10, 2014 – 12 pm
Module 3 Exam (40%) - 150 multiple-choice questions (180 minutes).
Opens – April 10, 2014 - 6 pm
Closes – April 12, 2014 – 11 pm
ABOUT THE PROFESSOR
Dr. E.S. St-Pierre
I am an adjunct professor in the psychology department at Lakehead University and a Clinical
Psychologist working in private practice and for the St. Joseph’s Care Group in Thunder Bay. I am a
scientist-practitioner with experience in forensic and correctional settings as well as long-term
psychiatric rehabilitation. My present role is psychologist for St. Joseph’s Care Groups Integrated
Seniors Programs. My duties involve the cognitive, personality, and mental health assessment of
older adults as well as individual and group therapy with older adults. My clients face the full spectrum
of mental disorders. I have taught many courses at Lakehead University and I have conducted
research in the areas of evolutionary psychology, personality, interpersonal communication, and
gerontology.
FOR A PDF VERSION OF THIS SYLLABUS - CLICK HERE