Lake-Sumter Community College Course Syllabus
Course / Prefix Number
PSY 2012
Course Title:
Introduction to Psychology
CRN:
30228, 30229
Credit:
3
Course Catalog
Description:
An introduction to the scientific study of human behavior with emphasis on the history of
psychology, physiology, perception, learning, intelligence/testing, emotions/motivations,
personality formation, mental disorders, therapy, and social interaction.
Beth McNulty
Instructor:
Office Location:
Distance
Learning –
N/A
Term:
Summer AE 2011
Contact Information:
mcnultyb@lscc.edu or via
Blackboard Mail Mode
Office Hours: N/A
Phone contact as needed; leave
message with Faculty Staff
Assistant ( Ms. Donna Glover)
All students are required to use LakerMail for official college e-mail communications.
See the college webpage for instructions on activating LakerMail.
Prerequisites:
Textbook and Other
Course Materials:
Technology and Online
Computer Access
Requirements:
Successful completion of all college preparatory composition and reading courses indicated
through placement testing
Psychology Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner
Publisher: Worth ISBN 13-978-7167-5215-8 and student resources as published within Bb
Regular, reliable high speed internet access on a daily basis. Use of text based Student
Resources available via Blackboard on course home page. All material in the text may appear
on assessments. Students are required to read the text book. Access Bb on a daily basis for
announcements/ mail from the professor or your peers. Please be aware of the time frames
where maintenance occurs on the system. Waiting to the last hour to complete work for the
week is not advisable.
Provide an introduction to the science of Psychology including its major
areas, terms and contributions.
Develop an understanding of the scientific methods and research in the
Discipline of Psychology.
Course Objectives:
(what the course will do)
Foster a critical attitude toward behavior and an understanding of the
Importance regarding the influence of individual differences in behavior.
Help students discriminate facts from misconceptions about the field of
Psychology via critical thinking skills.
The successful student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate ability to research related topics via internet access.
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2. Identify the individuals who have made major contributions to the field of
psychology.
3. Define (including all relevant terms), compare and contrast the research methods
used in psychology.
4. Compare and contrast the following perspectives; biological (medical),
psychoanalytic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive and sociocultural.
5. Describe the function and location the parts of the brain and other areas of the
nervous system.
6. Describe the various procedures used to study the brain; describe the synapse and
the various neurotransmitters; the relationship between sensation and perception.
7. Describe the various motivational processes; describe the physiological component
of emotions and relevant theories of emotions.
8. Describe the levels of consciousness, the stages of sleep, and the research on sleep,
and sleep disorders; understand the effects of psychoactive drugs.
9. Describe the processes of classical and operant conditioning, define all relevant
terms, show the various ways in which they can occur, and be able to name the
individuals most closely connected to each.
10. Describe parts of memory, their duration, and capacity.
11. Define and describe the use of standardization, reliability, and validity in test
construction; describe the concept of IQ and theories concerning intelligence, and the
impact of hereditary and environment on the development of intelligence.
12. Describe several key developmental theorists and their contributions.
13. Describe major theories of personality, and how they are used in the diagnosis and
treatment of mental disorder; use of psychoactive drugs.
14. Describe the conditions that lead to stress, how an individual determines whether
an event is stressful, and the physical and emotional reactions to stress, including the
general adaptation syndrome and the various methods of coping with stress.
15.Describe abnormal behavior, use of the DSM-IV; describe the major symptoms ,
category, causes of mental disorders; describe the disorders
Student Learning
Outcomes (SLOs)
Assessed in this Course:
(what the students take
with them beyond this
course)
Academic Integrity:
Important Information
General Education Competency – Social Responsibility: Demonstrates understanding of the
breadth and variety of human culture and/or the complex interrelationships between humans
and the environment.
The successful functioning of the academic community demands honesty, which is the basis
of respect for both ideas and persons. In the academic community, there is an ongoing
assumption of academic integrity at all levels. There is the expectation that work will be
independently thoughtful and responsible as to its sources of information and inspiration.
Honesty is an appropriate consideration in other ways as well, including but not limited to the
responsible use of library resources, responsible conduct in examinations, and the responsible
use of the Internet. (See college catalog for complete statement.)
Any student with a documented disability who requires assistance or academic
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for Students with
Disabilities:
accommodations should contact the Office for Students with Disabilities immediately to
discuss eligibility. The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is located on the Leesburg
Campus, but arrangements can be made to meet with a student on any campus. An
appointment can be made by calling 352-365-3574 and specific information about the OSD
and potential services can be found at www.lscc.edu, then go to “Quick Links” and click on
Disability Services.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR
Part99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of a student’s education records. In order for
Privacy Policy (FERPA): your information to be released, a form must be signed and in your records located in the
Admissions/Registrar’s Office.
Attendance / Withdrawal
Policies:
Withdrawal Deadline:
Methods of Evaluation:
Grading Scale:
Course Calendar:
Classroom Rules and
Policies:
Students are expected to participate in the virtual classroom 5-7 days per week. If a student
misses more than two assessments or assignments, the student may be dropped from the class.
Regular and reliable internet access is required for success in this class.
Last date to withdraw without a penalty is Friday, March 25th
Quizzes, Unit Tests, Assignments. Total opportunity points to be earned over the semester are
one thousand (1,000).
Students may be evaluated on a variety of assessments, assignments, group discussions, and
group projects. There are no dropped grades, make –up work, no late work accepted, or extra
credit opportunities during the semester. See grading section below. The textbook must be
read. You are responsible for all material in the text, and all text material may appear on
exams. Course quiz schedule may be revised through the term.
900 – 1,000 A
800 - 899 B
700 - 799 C
600 - 699 D
To be distributed via BlackBoard Mail mode May 9th 2011
Professional and academically centered communication a regular basis with professor and
fellow student learners is required. Missing more than two assignments or assessments may
subject student to withdrawal by the professor. All student communications will receive a
response within 48 hours.
Full participation is expected and is essential for success in the course.
Less than full participation and incomplete assignments will diminish your grade.
On line etiquette and class participation is required. Students may turn in work no less than 48
hours ahead of a due date in “DRAFT” form, with the title of the assignment in the reference
line. The professor will review the material and provide feedback in order to maximize point
value. Please be sure to use complete sentences when using email. Please
address the professor and each other in a professional manner. This is not a social
networking site.
All assignments must be submitted using APA guidelines/format. If you are unfamiliar
with this approach, reference material is available in the LSCC library, from one of the staff
Librarians and on the APA web site. (APA.org) Any paper submitted with five or
More grammar, spelling, syntax or punctuation errors will be returned with a “0” grade.
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All work must be submitted as a “doc”, “rtf” or “docx” file. Word Perfect format is not
acceptable and will not be graded. Computer literacy and efficiency is essential. You are
required to use Internet access for research on specific assignments. You must have regular
and reliable Internet access. If your online connection is not reliable, you may want to
utilize computers at the college or use a computer that will not disconnect or “time-out”.
Beginning the first week of the term, the instructor will assume that students are well
acquainted with the Blackboard environment and have become proficient at the
following:
 navigating through Blackboard;
 emailing through Blackboard;
 attaching documents;
 creating discussion postings;
 submitting assignments to the Assignments section;
 browsing the Internet;
 creating and formatting documents in a standard word-processing application;
saving documents in rtf or "rich text format" or as a “compatible” WORD
document
 All documents submitted must be in a DOC, DOCX, or RTF format
By the second week of the term, all students should have resolved all technical issues
with the Lake Sumter Community College Helpdesk and be ready to fulfill the
requirements of the course. No exceptions will be made; no excuses will be accepted.
Violence Statement:
Syllabus Disclaimer:
A USB Drive is REQUIRED: Do not count upon the stability of any online environment or
of your computer’s hard drive All materials for submission online should be FIRST saved on
a USB/Flash Drive and submitted by using the upload or cut and paste feature of your
computer. Portable drive back up files is a course requirement.
Lake-Sumter Community College has a policy of zero tolerance for violence as stated in
College Board Rule 2.17. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with
Board Rule 2.17.
Information contained in this syllabus is, to the best knowledge of this instructor, considered
correct and complete when distributed to the student. The instructor reserves the right, acting
within policies and procedures of Lake-Sumter Community College, to make necessary
changes in course content or instructional techniques without prior notice or obligation to the
student.
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Distance Learning Orientation
The following instructions are intended to familiarize you with the course and to provide some direction in how to access
the course tools within the Blackboard system of course management.
The log-in is your XID, starting with a capital X. Your password is your birth date written as a six digit number. For
example, if your birthday is May 7th, 1983, then your password would be 050783.
After logging in, if you have disabled all of the pop up blockers, you will be viewing the homepage. You should see a
large LSCC, and you may see some directions on how to proceed or a welcome message from your instructor. To the left
is the listing of “Course Tools” that will provide access to all of the features and content of the course.
The Announcements function is a place for the instructor to place information about the course. These messages will
usually be brief postings reminding you of the coming week’s material. They may not be frequent, but you can always
check to see if there is a new posting when you log in each time. Often, the instructor will inform you that a new posting
has been added. This function is read-only, so it is to provide information, but it does not allow student postings or
conversations about the content.
The Modules function is a place where you will find the weekly material for which you are responsible. These modules
generally include web links for you to review, the assessments for the chapter material, Unit tests, and assignments related
to the material. There is generally one Module for each week/chapter in the semester. The Professor reserves the right to
modify Chapter material.
The Assessments section of the course tools is where you will find quizzes and Unit tests. These quizzes are due at
intervals given in the course agenda. They are timed, so do not begin a quiz until you have read the material and you are
ready to select the answers. The time limit varies, so have your text ready with your notes to begin the quiz. Be sure to
read the instructions before you begin the first quiz. Quizzes are graded immediately. If your online connection is not
reliable, then you may want to take quizzes at the college or from a computer that will not disconnect or “time-out” in the
middle of your test. There is no “resetting” or make up of quizzes or unit tests. Be cautious, and do not select the
assessment until you are ready to begin.
The Assignments section is where you can read the requirements for the assignment, where you can view the due date (the
same one that is given in the syllabus), and where you submit your assignment. Fragmented sentences, spelling errors,
grammatical errors, or non-responses will not receive full credit. This function allows you to write a note with your
assignment and to read the instructor’s comments after the assignment is graded. To submit an assignment, use the
following steps:
 Select assignments from the course tools
 Click on the name of the assignment
 Click the “add attachments” button
 Click on the “my computer” icon
 Select the file on your computer where your file is saved
 Press the “Open” button
 You can add a comment for the instructor if you wish
 Press “Submit”
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The Calendar function is something that you can refer to for reminders of important dates. The instructor will post some
reminders and you can add dates for your own purposes.
The Chat function is a communication tool that you can use when others are online at the same time that you are. For now, the
instructor will not be assigning chat groups or requiring members to be in the course at a prescribed time, but if you refer to
“who’s online” you can send them an invitation to chat. Many in the class are working professionals, so don’t be concerned if
your chat invitation is refused. Sometimes people are taking tests or are otherwise occupied.
The Discussions function may be a graded exercise to encourage you to communicate with your classmates. This is a public
communication, so be aware that anything you post on the discussion board can be read by anyone in our class or anyone who
has been given access to the course. This is not a social networking site, so please use your best language skills,
The Learning Modules function is sectioned into units. We may cover more than one Chapter/Module per week, in some
instances. This Learning Module supplies additional information to use with your text for each of the reading assignments.
Information and additional links to information related to course content are located within this function. Links for interesting
websites and biographical summaries are presented as well as some links for articles of specific psychological interest. It also
includes the Chapter assessments, Unit tests, and Assignments. Use the Course Calendar ( sent to you the first day of class,
within Bb) to determine what material is due during the week.
The Mail function is for private, non-public communication. You may select the entire class or individuals from the class or
the instructor as the recipient of your message. You also may add attachments to mail messages. You might note that the mail
function is the method to use for submissions of revised quizzes or written assignments because after the deadline for
submissions has passed, the assignments and assessments sections will no longer accept late work. Make sure that you use
complete sentences and your best English when communicating with the instructor.
The Syllabus function is your access to this document. If a link is given in the syllabus, you will find it is an active link.
The Who’s Online function gives a number of participants in the course, and if you select the function you can see the names
of classmates who are currently active in the course. As the instructor I will sometimes be available and sometimes I will be a
hidden presence in the course.
Research
For the Chapter assignments , Media Assignments , and essays, you need to use academic sources. To meet the minimum
research requirement for each assignment, use the databases available through the library’s databases. For research follow
these steps:
 From the college homepage, http://www.lscc.edu select libraries from the quick links listing.
 Select Databases A-Z
 Select one of the approved databases
 Enter your Borrower Id (your XID)
 Enter your Pin number (the last four numbers of your social security #)
After you have made your minimum research requirement from approved academic sources, you may add reliable sources
from other sources. I advise against any use of wikipedia.com or casual internet searches. Even in the approved sources, you
should be careful to use only critical or analytical information.
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Documenting sources
The best way to document sources is to use APA style. If you need additional help on how to use APA for documenting your
sources, follow the steps listed here:
 From the college homepage http://www.lscc.edu , select “libraries” from the quick link choices.
 Select from the HOW TO menu “How to cite sources” There you will find many links to information.
Be aware that sources that are not documented in the paper and on a work cited page are plagiarized and may not count toward
your grade. The instructor has access to sources that can identify plagiarized sections or whole papers, so don’t be tempted.
The college catalog contains information about the penalties for plagiarism.
After you have read through the orientation and have looked at each of the course tools described in the course, go back to the
beginning of the syllabus and start reading the assignments and completing course requirements. Be sure to communicate
with the instructor frequently and to ask any question that is not already answered by reading this syllabus.
TIME MANAGEMENT: Managing your time is one of the most important elements for determining success in the course.
Some weeks are crowded with reading and assignments. Please plan your time accordingly.
COURSE AGENDA: The Course Agenda will be published the first date that Blackboard is available to students.
It will be in the form of an email to each student via the BB mail function. It is critical you pay close attention to the due
dates in order to manage your time and computer availability/access diligently. Some dates may be revised during the term
at the instructor’s discretion. Please check Bb on a daily basis.
An online student is expected to:
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Participate in the virtual classroom 5-7 days a week
Be able to work with others in completing projects
Be able to use the technology properly
Be able to meet the minimum standards as set forth by the institution
Be able to complete assignments on time
Enjoy communicating in writing.
Stay up with the class and complete all work on time.
Submit all assignments in APA format. No exceptions.
.
The course agenda will be published in an email within Blackboard to the students on the first day of classes. .
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