PSYCHOLOGY 201G INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY FALL 2015
Science Hall 102, Sects. 1 & 2: MWF 10:30-11:20; 12:30-1:20; 3 credits
Instructor
Laura Madson
Office: Science Hall 342
Email: lmadson@nmsu.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Teaching Assistants
Sect 1: John Dennem
(jdennem@nmsu.edu)
Sect 1: Alexandra Smith
(alexsmth@nmsu.edu)
Sect 2: Hunter Myüz
(hamz@nmsu.edu)
Sect 2: Summer Lileck
(sjlwood@nmsu.edu)
Peer Learning Assistants
Sect 1: Alyssa Fernandez
alyssa12@nmsu.edu
Sect 2: Matt Oberdorfer
mro17@nmsu.edu
The Invitation
Are you happy? Would you like to be happier? Would you like to live around other happy people?
Have you ever thought something might make you happy, like a person, an object or an opportunity,
only to discover that you were wrong?
Join me this semester in exploring what psychology tells us about how to be happy. Along the way,
we’ll discover a variety of important principles in psychology that you can use to create a Personal
Happiness Plan. I also hope you will rediscover that learning is fun, psychology is useful, and that
working in a team can be effective and enjoyable.
The Menu (AKA Course Objectives)
This course explores seven characteristics of happy people. Happy people have:
1. Enough safe air, land, water, and food
2. Enough money
3. Meaningful relationships
4. Meaningful work
5. Good physical health
6. Good mental health
7. Avoid happiness imposters (AKA recreational drugs)
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to apply the characteristics of happy people to
their lives (i.e., reduce their carbon footprint, manage their personal finances, establish meaningful
relationships, identify work they will perceive as meaningful, maintain good physical and mental
health). More specifically, in the modules specified below, students will:
Module
Module Learning Objective
#
1
Identify tools and techniques psychologists use to answer questions about human
behavior
2
Apply principles of attitude change to persuade others to reduce their carbon footprint
3
Create a budget applying relevant psychological principles (e.g., prospective memory,
short-term vs. long-term gratification)
4
Use skills that can be applied to their relationships, including friends, family, co-workers,
1
5
6
7
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and sexual partners (e.g., communication, stages of team development, operant
conditioning)
Use principles of personality and occupational psychology to evaluate a career of their
choice
Evaluate how Alzheimer’s disease may affect their lives
Evaluate the effects of psychological disorders on human behavior
Evaluate the effects of recreational drugs on human behavior
How is class content organized?
Course content is divided into eight modules. A module is like a unit that lists all the assignments
and activities in the order in which we will complete them. Each module corresponds to one
characteristic of happy people that we will be discussing in depth during the semester. Consequently,
the modules vary in length somewhat ranging from less than 2 weeks to more than five weeks.
The tentative schedule shows all the due dates and a complete schedule of course activities
throughout the semester.
How will we be using technology in this class?
This class is "web-facilitated." That means we will use Canvas and the Internet as tools to enhance
your learning. We will also use Canvas to simplify some logistical elements of the course, namely
submitting assignments, communicating feedback about your performance, and communicating
about new or revised aspects of the course. Our use of Canvas and other online resources will not
replace traditional "seat time" in class. Thus, you will be expected to attend class in person three
times/week.
As a web-facilitated class, you must have access to specific hardware, specific software, and must be
able to perform specific technical skills to succeed in this class. Each of these requirements is
described in more detail below.
Required Hardware: You will need regular access to a web-enabled device and a reliable
Internet connection. You can use one of several on-campus computer labs or use your own device.
Required Software: You must have an updated version of a web-browser (e.g., Chrome,
Firefox, Safari) and Microsoft Word. If you use an on-campus computer lab, you will already have
access to this software. If you use your own device, you will need to make sure you have updated
versions of a web-browser and Microsoft Word. More information about which browsers work on
Canvas is at http://guides.instructure.com. Students can purchase Microsoft Word at a discounted
rate through Student Technology (http://studenttech.nmsu.edu).
Minimum technical skills: You must be able to create, edit, and save a Microsoft Word
document. You must also be able to navigate Canvas and upload assignments to Canvas. If you are
unfamiliar with Canvas, more information can be found in the Canvas Student Guide
(http://guides.instructure.com).
What types of assignments are included in the class?
This class includes assignments you will complete on your own and assignments you will complete
with your team. There are four types of individual assignments:
1. Exploratory Writing/Reading Comprehension Questions - Answers to these questions are
worth 4-6 points. They are graded by the TAs using the rubric found on the assignment, usually
within 2-4 days of the due date.
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2. In-class Activities - These activities are worth 2 points each using the rubric found on the
assignment. Scores on in-class activities are recorded by the T.A.s, usually within 2-4 days of the
due date.
3. Writing Assignments - Writing assignments are worth 100 points each. They are graded by the
T.A.s using the rubric found on the assignment usually within 7 days of the due date.
4. Personal Happiness Plan - The PHP is worth 100 points; it will be graded by the TA.s using the
rubric found on the assignment within 7 days of the due date.
Students must earn at least 70% of the points on the individual assignments during the
semester in order to have their team's performance included in their final grade.
There are three types of team assignments
1. Team Quizzes - quizzes are worth 6 points each; scores are recorded by the TAs usually within
2-4 days of the due date.
2. End-of-Unit Team Activities - These activities are worth 100 points each; Dr. Madson grades
them using the rubric found on the assignment, usually within 7 days of the due date.
3. Team Processing Activities - These activities are worth 4 points each; the TAs grade them using
the rubric found on the assignment, usually within 2-4 days of the due date.
The Instruction Manual
How will I acquire the knowledge and skills I will need to create and implement a Personal
Happiness Plan?
1. Read the textbook before class
2. Turn in your answers to the exploratory writing and reading comprehension questions on
Canvas before class
3. Participate actively and constructively in team activities, including team daily quizzes, in-class
activities, culminating team activities, and team processing activities
4. Complete three writing assignments that will help you explore happiness in more depth
5. Draft and revise a Personal Happiness Plan
6. Provide your teammates feedback on their performance as teammates
7. Learn how psychologists study human behavior
Each of these tasks is described in more detail below.
1. Read the textbook before class. The required textbook is:
Madson, L (2013). Psychology for Everyday Life (3rd Ed). Kendall Hunt Publishers: Dubuque,
IA. ISBN: 978-1-4652-2573-3.
Please bring the book to class every day. It includes all the activities we will do in class. All royalties
from the book go to the NMSU Department of Psychology to support student teaching & research.
You may purchase the textbook from the NMSU bookstore or from the publisher’s website
(http://www.kendallhunt.com/madson/). The print version of the book is approximately $85 when
purchased from the publisher. You may purchase the electronic version of the book for
approximately $67 although I do not recommend it. We will be writing on and ripping out
approximately half of the textbook during daily in-class activities. If you purchase the ebook, you
will need to print these pages in advance and bring them to class.
2. Answer the exploratory writing & reading comprehension questions before class.
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Each reading assignment begins with two sets of questions that will prepare you to participate
knowledgeably and enthusiastically in class activities: Exploratory Writing questions and Reading
Comprehension questions. Exploratory Writing questions will whet your appetite for the topics in
the reading assignment. Some of these questions will motivate you to think about what you already
know or believe about the topic. Others will motivate you to speculate on the importance of the
topics in the reading assignment. In order to get the most enjoyment and learning from the reading
assignments, answer the exploratory writing questions before you start each reading assignment.
The second set of questions is Reading Comprehension questions. These questions will help you
identify the important information in each reading assignment. They will be most helpful to you if
you answer them during or after completing the reading assignment.
Both sets of questions are in the textbook at the beginning of each reading assignment. They will
also be set up as assignments on Canvas. You should answer all the exploratory writing and the
reading comprehension questions by 30 minutes prior to class time (i.e., 10:00am or 12:00pm)
on the due date and upload your answers on Canvas as Microsoft Word files (.docx or .doc files).
Text entries are not allowed because assignments entered in this fashion can be inadvertently
skipped by the SpeedGrader utility in Canvas. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, contact
Student Technology (http://studenttech.nmsu.edu/).
The primary purpose of the Exploratory Writing/Reading Comprehension questions is to hold
students accountable for deriving a basic understanding of the material from the reading assignment
before class. The grading procedure reflects these goals. The teaching assistants will select two or
three questions from each reading assignment for evaluation. The selected questions may come from
the Exploratory Writing questions or the Reading Comprehension questions or both. If your answer
to a given question is in your own words, turned in on time, and indicates that you have read and
thought about the reading assignment, you will earn two points. Answers that are not in your own
words or not turned in on time will earn zero points. Consequently, each set of questions will be
worth a total of 4-6 points. Note: late work will not be accepted nor will we assign partial
credit for late work.
3. Participate actively and constructively in team activities.
When asked, employers report that the ability to work in teams is one of the two most important
characteristics they look for in future employees (Hart report, 2006). Unfortunately, you likely have
either had no experience or negative experiences working with other people on a common task. You
also may be far more comfortable texting than speaking. These characteristics put you at a
disadvantage on the job market.
To succeed as an adult, you must be able to work collaboratively with others and communicate
clearly. To help you develop these skills, I will assign you to a permanent learning team. Teams will
do four kinds of tasks that will create an environment that will facilitate your learning.
i.
Team daily quizzes: Most class periods will begin with a closed-book, two-item, multiplechoice quiz over the reading assignment. You will take the quiz as a team using an answer
sheet that I provide. Everyone who is present and on time for the quiz will earn the same
score on this quiz. Because these quizzes hold students accountable for being prepared for
and present in class, no make-up quizzes will be given for any reason. Students who miss
a quiz due to absence or tardiness will earn a zero on the team portion of the TQ. Students
who arrive after the quiz has begun will be asked by the TAs to present an ID to verify their
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name for the latecomer sheet. If you know in advance that you will need to miss class, you
may arrange with your TA to take the quiz early (without your teammates). In this situation,
your score on the quiz will be the score you earn on your own, not the score your team earns
on the quiz.
ii.
In-class activities: The purpose of these activities is to help you think more deeply about the
information in the reading, to begin applying it to issues you will encounter in everyday life,
and to give you practice working with your teammates on shared tasks. During class
activities, please give others and their ideas the attention and respect you expect to receive.
Most of these activities will be submitted at the end of class for individual participation
points. If you participate in the activity and turn it in on time, you will earn two points that
will go toward the individual portion of your grade. Because you must be present to
participate meaningfully in these activities, they cannot be “made up.” If you know in
advance that you must miss class, you may be able to complete the day’s activity early. Talk
to Dr. Madson ASAP about this option.
iii.
Culminating team activities: Instead of traditional exams, each unit will end with a team
activity that will give you and your teammates the opportunity to apply the information in
the unit to authentic and/or interesting problems. These activities are denoted on the
tentative course schedule in ALL CAPS. As with the team daily quizzes, everyone in your
team will earn the same score on these activities.
iv.
Team processing activities: The ability to critically evaluate one’s own effectiveness and the
effectiveness of one’s team is key to one’s ability to work effectively with others. To give you
practice evaluating your own and your team’s effectiveness, each team activity will conclude
with an activity that will help you discuss your team’s approach to and performance on the
preceding team activity (the activity is in Psychology for Everyday Life). The purpose of this
discussion is to identify ways in which your team worked together effectively and ways in
which your team’s interactions could be improved. Because I want you to focus on the
process your team used on the activity (and not on the grade your team receives), this
evaluation will be conducted before your team receives feedback on the preceding team
activity. Your team’s performance on these evaluation activities will be based on the quality
and depth of the identified areas in which your team worked together effectively and the
ways in which your team’s interactions could be improved. Each of these processing
activities is worth four points toward the team portion of your final grade.
4. Complete three writing assignments that will help you explore happiness in more depth
Students will write three papers (as individuals, not teams). The assignments and the evaluative
criteria for these papers are in Psychology for Everyday Life. Due dates are listed on the tentative
schedule in the syllabus. Students are encouraged to consult the NMSU Writing Center
(http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/resources/writingcenter/) or the Purdue Online Writing Center
(owl.english.purdue.edu) for help with these assignments. Note: late work will not be accepted nor
will we assign partial credit for late work.
5. Draft and revise a Personal Happiness Plan
In lieu of a final exam to assess your success at achieving the course objectives, students will create a
Personal Happiness Plan (as individuals, not teams). The Personal Happiness Plan requires students
to articulate goals that will move them toward each characteristic of happy people. The Personal
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Happiness Plan assignment is posted on Canvas. Completed Personal Happiness Plans are due on
Canvas at the beginning of each section’s final exam period.
6. Provide your teammates feedback on their performance as teammates
This peer evaluation holds team members accountable to their teammates. Your teammates can
become valued friends and a means to success in the course if you give your best contribution to all
team activities. At the end of the term, you will provide each of your teammates with feedback on
their performance as a team member using the questionnaire found on Canvas. The average of these
peer evaluations comprises the third portion of your final grade.
7. Learn how psychologists study human behavior
Along with our exploration of happiness, we will also learn how psychologists study human
behavior. However, our in-class exploration of the tools psychologists use in research will
necessarily be somewhat limited in scope. You can learn about a wider range of psychologists’ tools
by participating in ongoing studies or reading published studies.
Like many things that are good for you, participating in or reading studies may not cut through the
clutter of your daily life without additional motivation. Thus, you will need to earn SIX RESEARCH
CREDITS during the term. There are two ways you can earn these credits: 1) by participating in and
summarizing ongoing studies being conducted by the faculty and graduate students in the NMSU
Psychology Department; or 2) by writing brief (2-3 page) papers describing a research method used
in a research article published in an acceptable psychology journal. Specific instructions for
participating in ongoing studies or summarizing published studies are found on Canvas.
Each hour of experimental participation is worth 1 RESEARCH CREDIT; each acceptable paper is
worth 1 RESEARCH CREDIT.
You may choose to fulfill the research credit requirement by writing papers, participating in ongoing
research conducted by the faculty or graduate students of the NMSU Psychology Department, or
any combination of the two, as long as the total credits equal at least six research credits. Please note
that you must be at least 18 years old to participate in ongoing research studies. If you are not yet 18,
you will need to write summaries of published psychology studies rather than participate in ongoing
studies.
Because your exploration of happiness will be richer if you gain this research experience
earlier in the term, THREE research credits will be due on Canvas by 5:00pm 10/19/15 (i.e.,
participating in three hours of ongoing research and submitting three reports to Canvas or
submitting summaries of three empirical journal articles to Canvas). Students who fail to submit
three research credits by 10/19/15 will be penalized on their final grade. If you submit five research
credits by 10/19/15, you earn the ability to skip the sixth credit. Assuming you do not submit five
research credits by 10/19/15, the final THREE research credits will be due on Canvas by
5:00pm 12/4/15. Late research credits will NOT be accepted.
Each research credit will be worth 2% of your final grade (for a total of 12%). Students who
participate in ongoing research studies but who do not submit a satisfactory report on a given study
will forfeit half of the credit he/she otherwise would have earned.
Occasionally, students may be asked to participate in very brief, in-class studies. Students are not
required to participate in any of these studies nor will they be penalized if they do not participate.
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Students who opt to participate in these studies will not receive research credits or extra credit.
THE FIVE-STAR REVIEW
How will I know if I am being successful in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to
create and implement my Personal Happiness Plan? How will I know if my Personal
Happiness Plan successfully applies my knowledge and skills?
I have very high standards for this course because it is designed to help you learn skills and
information that will make you more successful in life. I am confident you can meet my standards if
you come to class prepared, interact productively with your teammates, and follow the instructions
on assignments carefully.
One key to success in life that is often underappreciated is the habit of showing up for one’s
commitments, on time, and prepared. To help you build this habit in a low risk setting, I set an
uncompromising standard regarding punctuality and late work. Simply put, I do not accept late
work for any reason. I do not award partial credit for late work. Students who arrive late to
class will earn a zero on any team quiz that has already begun. I will not accept corrected
replacements for Canvas submissions that are the incorrect file, a corrupted file, or are attached to
the wrong assignment unless the correction is made prior to the original due date.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that I structure this course such that missing any one or
two assignments over the term will not have a dramatic effect on your final grade. It is natural
to make an occasional mistake or to encounter an occasional life complication. If you miss a
deadline, submit the wrong file, or arrive late to class one day, do not panic. Most assignments are
worth less than 5% of your final grade. As long as the mistakes and complications are infrequent,
there will be little effect on your final grade.
Due to university policy, I am required to reduce my assessment of your learning to the woefully
inadequate representation of a letter grade. I will use four types of evidence to do so:
1. Your performance on individual tasks
2. Your team’s performance
3. Your teammates’ peer evaluations of your performance as a teammate
4. Your earned research credits.
Note that grade reports are not automatically mailed to students. Students can access grades and
credits by the web using my.nmsu.edu. It is the responsibility of the student to provide updated
grade addresses to the Office of the Registrar. At the request of the student, the instructor will
provide information on progress in the course prior to the last day to drop a course.
You will have the opportunity to determine the percentage of the grade that will be determined by
scores in three of these performance areas. We will use the following procedure to do so in class on
the day indicated on the tentative schedule:
a) Teams set preliminary weights & select a member to meet with other teams’ representatives.
b) Team reps from the four quadrants of the room develop a consensus about the grade weights.
c) Everyone votes for one of the four resulting grade weight distributions. The distribution that
gets the most votes will be the distribution for the class as a whole.
d) A minimum of 10% must be assigned to each of the performance areas.
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SOURCE
% WITHIN
AREA
1. Individual Performance
Exploratory Writing and Reading Comprehension
Questions
Writing assignments
In-class activities
Personal Happiness Plan
% OF FINAL
GRADE
_____%
___%
45%
___%
___%
100%
2. Team Performance
_____%
TQ performance
End-of-unit team activities
Team processing activities
___%
___%
15%
100%
3. Peer Evaluation
4. Research Credits
15%
12%
Final grades will be assigned based on the following percentages:
100 %
Grade Percentage of total points earned
A
92-100%
A90-91%
B+
88-89%
B
82-87%
B80-81%
C+
78-79%
C
72-77%
C70-71%
D+
68-69%
D
62-67%
D60-61%
F
< 60%
Our exploration of happiness and psychology is similar to a potluck dinner. At a potluck, everyone
has a better experience if everyone brings a satisfactory dish to the table. If only a fraction of guests
bring a dish or too many people bring easy food, such as Jello, the potluck is unfulfilling.
Similarly, the quality of your learning in and enjoyment of this class depends on the level of
preparation and engagement that you and your teammates bring to our intellectual table.
Consequently, students cannot pass this class solely on the efforts of their teammates. STUDENTS
WHO DO NOT EARN AT LEAST 70% OF THE INDIVIDUAL POINTS WILL NOT
RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THEIR TEAM’S PERFORMANCE. These students’ final grades
will be calculated by weighting their individual performance by 73%, the peer evaluation by 15%,
and the research credits 12%.
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The Insurance Policy (AKA: Extra Credit Opportunities)
Although this class is set up such that missing (or performing terribly) on any one or two
assignments will not have a dramatic effect on your final grade, many students feel less anxious if
they earn extra-credit “just in case.” This desire presents the opportunity to share additional
resources with interested students. However, I do not want to facilitate students cramming hours of
extra-credit into the last days of the semester in a vain attempt to raise your final grade. Thus, the
extra-credit opportunities will be due throughout the semester, yoked to the unit to which they are
relevant. Specific information about these extra-credit opportunities is posted on Canvas.
THE FINE PRINT
NEW MEXICO COMMON CORE COMPETENCIES ADDRESSED:
 Identify, describe, & explain human behaviors & how they are influenced by social
structures, institutions, & processes within the contexts of complex & diverse communities.
 Articulate how beliefs, assumptions, and values are influenced by factors such as politics,
geography, economics, culture, biology, history, and social institutions.
 Describe ongoing reciprocal interactions among self, society, and environment
 Apply the knowledge base of the social and behavioral sciences to identify, describe, explain,
and critically evaluate relevant issues, ethical dilemmas, and arguments.
PREREQUISITES: None. However, students who are currently enrolled in CCDE
(Developmental English) or CCDM (Developmental Math) or who are required to enroll in either of
these courses prior to graduation are strongly advised against enrolling in PSY201G until they have
successfully completed both CCDE and CCDM.
EMAIL: Official communication from NMSU to you will come only through your NMSU e-mail
box. Please access it regularly, or forward it to your current use address, as your success in college
may depend on your ability to respond quickly. I will communicate with you using NMSU email and
Canvas.
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY POLICY:
As adults, you should know that using a digital device during class for purposes unrelated to class
activities is unacceptable. Unfortunately, in the last decade, you have also observed virtually every
other adult using digital technology at inappropriate times. Thus, the following clarification is
necessary.
Except on days when I instruct you to bring a web-enabled device to class for use during an in-class
activity, the use of computers, iPads, netbooks, cell phones or other electronic devices is NOT
allowed. Put simply, if you are using a digital device, you are not participating fully in the day’s
activity. If the teaching assistants or I observe you using a digital device in an unauthorized way, we
will confiscate it for the remainder of the class period. I hold myself accountable to this standard as
well. I pledge not to use my laptop for purposes unrelated to class during all class meetings.
CIVILITY AND PROFESSIONALISM:
Learning new ideas or encountering new situations can sometimes trigger emotions ranging from
delight to frustration. Please feel free to share positive emotions with me and your teammates early
and often. You are also free to share negative emotions with me and your teammates provided you
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do so civilly (e.g., you don’t pass judgment, you refrain from using obscenities). I am happy to
answer your questions and/or to help you identify ways to improve your performance in
class. However, I will not respond to written or verbal communications that fail to uphold this
standard of civility.
I will hold your written work to a similar standard of professionalism. I expect that all written work
students submit for this class will use standard, edited English and observe professional standards
regarding content. Put simply, I expect you to use full English sentences, proof read and spell check
your work, and to remain on topic. In particular, be mindful of what personal information you
choose to disclose in your written work. One guideline for personal disclosure is The Grandmother
Test: If you wouldn't feel comfortable telling your grandmother, don't include it in your assignment
or paper.
HOW WILL WE BE USING CANVAS IN THIS COURSE?
Introduction to Psychology (Sects. 1 & 2) has an associated Canvas course. You will receive an
invitation to the Canvas course in your NMSU email. Canvas works on both Mac and PC platforms.
The privacy policy for Canvas is available at http://www.canvaslms/policies/privacy. Accessibility
information for Canvas is available at http://www.canvaslms/accessibility. Although we will do our
best to update files and due dates on Canvas, do not allow Canvas to think for you. It is your
responsibility to monitor due dates on the tentative schedule on the syllabus and any revised
schedules.
The majority of your interactions with Canvas in this class will be submitting your answers to the
Exploratory Writing and Reading Comprehension questions. You can find the Exploratory Writing
and Reading Comprehension questions in the textbook, and on Canvas in each module or on the
Canvas Assignments page. Because the point of the Exploratory Writing and Reading
Comprehension questions is to hold you accountable for having a basic understanding of the
reading assignment prior to class, your answers are due on Canvas 30 minutes before your scheduled
class time. You must upload your answers as a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx). I don't allow text
entry or other word processing programs for logistical reasons. If you don't have access to
Microsoft Word, it is available at any of the on-campus computers labs or available for purchase at a
discount through Student Technology. Three writing assignments and your research credit reports
will also be submitted on Canvas.
If you are new to Canvas, refer to the Student Quickstart Guide: http://guides.instructure.com/
Logging in to Canvas
1. To log in to Canvas, go to https://learn.nmsu.edu. You can also access Canvas through the
myNMSU portal at http://my.nmsu.edu.
2. Your Canvas username and password are the same username and password you have for
NMSU email and the myNMSU portal. You must activate your myNMSU account from the
myNMSU portal page or the Canvas log-in page in order to access Canvas.
3. At the Canvas log-in page, you should check your web browser for compatibility. To do this,
click on “Student Resources,” then “Getting Started” and follow the testing procedure.
4. Once you have logged in to Canvas, PSY201G (Sect. 1 or Sect. 2) should appear on your
menu of courses. Click on the course name to enter the course. If PSY 201G does not
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appear on your Canvas course menu, contact your advisor ASAP. There may be a
problem with your registration that must be addressed.
The syllabus, tentative schedule, Exploratory Writing/Reading Comprehension Questions, the three
writing assignments, team processing activities, Experimental Participation Report template, and the
Peer Evaluation are available on Canvas. You will upload these completed assignments to Canvas as
Microsoft Word files (e.g., .docx or .doc). If you don’t have access to Microsoft Word or would like
to rent a laptop, contact Student Technology (http://studenttech.nmsu.edu/).
Note: Students are responsible for submitting the correct and viable file(s) with the correct
assignments. Files that are submitted to the wrong assignment or assignments that are submitted
with an incorrect or corrupt file can be replaced with corrected files only if the correction is made
prior to the original due date. Corrected files or submissions that occur after the original due
date will be considered late and will not be accepted for any reason nor will partial credit be
assigned.
If you experience any problems with Canvas, Student Technology is the best resource to contact for
help. Keep in mind that Canvas records the time and date each student visits any page on Canvas
but it does not record specific error messages students may receive. The more information you can
provide Student Tech with the situation in which you encountered the problem, including any error
messages you received, the more able they will be to help you.
WITHDRAWALS: To withdraw from this class, you must turn in a signed withdrawal form by
close of business on 10/19/15. I will not automatically drop you for any reason.
INCOMPLETES: The University catalog states, “Instructors may assign I grades only if the
student is unable to complete the course due to circumstances beyond the student’s control that
develop after the last day to withdraw from the course. Examples of appropriate circumstances
include documented illness, documented death or crisis in the student’s immediate family, and
similar circumstances. Job related circumstances are generally not appropriate grounds for assigning
an I grade. In no case is an I grade to be used to avoid the assigning of D, F, U , or RR grades for
marginal or failing work.” If something arises in your life that interferes with your ability to do your
best in this class, talk to me ASAP. The sooner you do so, the more options I have to help.
NMSU is a recipient of federal funds and the following notice to students must be included
on the class syllabus:
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments
Act (ADAAA) covers issues relating to disability and accommodations. If a student has questions or
needs an accommodation in the classroom (all medical information is treated confidentially),
contact:
Trudy Luken, Director
Student Accessibility Services (SAS) - Corbett Center, Rm. 208
Phone: (575) 646-6840 E-mail: sas@nmsu.edu
Website: http://sas.nmsu.edu/
NMSU policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity,
genetic information, national origin, race, religion, retaliation, serious medical condition, sex, sexual
orientation, spousal affiliation and protected veterans status.
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Furthermore, Title IX prohibits sex discrimination to include sexual misconduct: sexual violence
(sexual assault, rape), sexual harassment and retaliation.
For more information on discrimination issues, Title IX, Campus SaVE Act, NMSU Policy Chapter
3.25, NMSU's complaint process, or to file a complaint contact:
Gerard Nevarez, Title IX Coordinator
Agustin Diaz, Title IX Deputy Coordinator
Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) - O'Loughlin House, 1130 University Avenue
Phone: (575) 646-3635 E-mail: equity@nmsu.edu
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~eeo/
Other NMSU Resources:
NMSU Police Department:
NMSU Police Victim Services:
NMSU Counseling Center:
NMSU Dean of Students:
For Any On-campus Emergencies:
(575) 646-3311 www.nmsupolice.com
(575) 646-3424
(575) 646-2731
(575) 646-1722
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ACADEMIC HONESTY: Acknowledging that the vast majority of NMSU students do not
engage in dishonest behavior, the university's policy regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism
will be upheld in this class. Plagiarism is using another person’s work without acknowledgment,
making it appear to be one’s own. Any ideas, words, pictures, or other intellectual content taken
from another source must be acknowledged in a citation that gives credit to the source. This is
irrespective of the origin of the material, including the Internet, other students’ work, unpublished
materials, or oral sources. Intentional and unintentional instances of plagiarism are considered
instances of academic misconduct and are subject to disciplinary action such as failure on the
assignment, failure of the course or dismissal from the university. The NMSU Library has more
information and help on how to avoid plagiarism at http://lib.nmsu.edu/plagiarism/. It is the
responsibility of the student submitting the work in question to know, understand, and comply with
this policy.
Even with a citation, failure to put quotation marks around direct quotations also constitutes
plagiarism, because it implies that the writing is your own. Material should either be paraphrased or
clearly designated as a quotation. Note that replacing words with synonyms, changing verb tense or
other minor alterations do not qualify as paraphrasing.
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