PSY101, Section 730
Introductory Psychology
Summer Session A, 2015
May 18 – July 2, 2015
Instructor: Marissa Mann
Office hours: Marissa is available to talk with you in the discussion section in D2L on Fridays
from 10 AM- 12PM (EDT). This is the easiest and quickest way to get your questions answered.
Contacting Marissa: If you need help with any matter related to the course that CAN NOT wait
till office hours, please send an e‐mail to Marissa at marissamh01@gmail.com with "PSY101" in
the Subject line. Marissa will try to respond to your emails within 24 hours of receiving them
Monday-Friday. On weekends, she will try to respond to your emails by the following Monday.
Please use the following resources if you have any problems with D2L (Desire2Learn):
Call the MSU Help Line: 1‐800‐500‐1554 or 1‐517‐355‐2345
24 hours/7 days a week
Required Textbook
Psychology by David G. Myers, 10th edition, 2013, Worth Publishers. ISBN‐10: 1‐4292‐6178‐1,
ISBN‐13: 978‐1‐4292‐6178‐4
Course Description
This course is intended to provide a broad overview of the field of
psychology. In this ONLINE course, we will address the basic methodology, theories, and
findings in the field. We will cover many of the subfields of psychology, including biological,
cognitive, social, developmental, clinical, and personality psychology.
Learning objectives by the end of this course you should have a basic understanding of the field
of psychology and the various subfields of psychology. You will be able to identify and discuss
the basic terms and concepts that are at the core of psychology.
Note: This course is entirely online. There are no face‐to‐face meetings of any type. Please
read all instructions carefully, particularly those regarding exam procedures and policies. It is
your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the policies and procedures of this course. All
course videos were created by Dr. Zach Hambrick.
Online Course Materials
Online materials are available for each chapter. It is STRONGLY recommended that you use ALL
of the online materials in addition to reading the chapters in your textbook. You are responsible
for all material in the book’s chapters, and the video lectures and accompanying lecture slides.
The course is divided into 5 sections. Within each section, materials for each chapter will be
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available to students according to the course schedule below. Except for Section 1, which will
open on the first day of class, chapters and lectures will be available at 11 PM on the day when
the exam for the previous section closes. Exams will be available for 24 hours starting at 5:00
PM on the day noted on the calendar.
About Online Courses
Since this course is completely online, it is your responsibility to make sure that you will have
consistent access to the Internet throughout the course. Vacations do not fit well with an
accelerated summer course. Remember, each week of an accelerated summer course is equal
to TWO WEEKS of a regular semester! You MUST take each exam during the posted 24‐hour
period for that exam. Accelerated summer courses also do not fit well with Study Abroad
programs. Study Abroad faculty cannot take responsibility to ensure reliable Internet
connections in order to take exams and finals for online classes.
If there is a problem during a test or activity, report it as soon as it occurs to the MSU HELP LINE
at (517) 355‐2345 or 1‐800‐500‐1554. They will log the problem and, in turn, report the details
to us. These technical problems should be reported immediately (maximum 1 hour). If there is
a system problem then hearing about what happens from more than one student will help us to
fix what is wrong. If it is just a problem with your computer, the help desk can help
troubleshoot that issue, too.
Assessment Method
Learning will be assessed in this course through exams. The exam method used in the
Department of Psychology is one that enhances exam security during online testing. It is called
“single‐question, no backtrack.” In this type of exam only one question is delivered at a time. A
student makes a decision about that question, answers the question and submits an answer.
Then the next question is presented. It is not possible to go back to previous questions and
change answers that you already submitted.
IMPORTANT:
Each exam includes 50 multiple‐choice questions, randomly selected from a
larger pool of questions. Thus, no two students will receive the same exam.
Exam questions are presented one at a time. Once you choose and submit an
answer on a question, you CANNOT go back to change your answer.
Upon exam submission, you will receive feedback about your overall score in
the exam and the stems to the questions you answered incorrectly but NOT the correct
answers to the questions you answered incorrectly or the answers to the other exam
questions. Exams, once taken, are NOT available again.
Exams will not be available after 5 PM on the due date, so if you have questions
about your grade on the exam or specific questions on the exam, you must mark down
those questions right when you get your exam feedback.
You will have 1 hour to complete each exam. Once the exam time has
passed, D2L will automatically submit your answers and you will receive a score of 0
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for unanswered questions.
Exams will appear in “Assessments” under Quizzes during the time period
scheduled (see Schedule, below). You may ONLY access the exams during the given 24‐
hour period. Once the 24‐hour period has passed, all exams will close and you will no
longer be able to access the exam. For example, this means that if an exam is scheduled
from 5:00 PM on Wednesday to 5:00 PM on Thursday, and you access the exam at 4:40
PM on Thursday, you WILL NOT have the full allotted exam time to complete the
assessment. It is your responsibility to find adequate time within the 24‐hour testing
period to complete the exam.
THERE ARE NO MAKE‐UP EXAMS. You MUST take each exam within the date
and time period that it is scheduled. The only exception to this rule is if you have a
documented medical illness or documented family emergency. You must present
documentation for an excused absence at least 24 hours before the exam is scheduled
to begin. Forgetting is NOT an acceptable excuse for missing an exam. If you have a
technical problem during an exam, you MUST contact the MSU Help Line within an hour
of experiencing the problem.
Exams are non‐cumulative (including exam 5). Each exam covers only the
chapters covered prior to that exam. If you miss exam 5, you will fail the class.
The exam dates are listed below in the Course Schedule and in D2L on the
Course Calendar. You will NOT receive an e‐mail reminder about the exams. It is your
responsibility to know the exam dates.
NOTE:
‐ Obtaining or sharing exam information from or with other students is
considered cheating.
‐ Collaborating on exams with other students is considered cheating.
Course Requirements
There are 2 major course requirements, described below:
1) 5 Exams (see schedule below).
2) Research Participation. You are required to participate in online psychological research
studies through the psychology department’s Human Participation in Research (HPR) pool from
the MSU Psychology Department website (http://psychology.msu.edu/HPRSystem/).
Participating in research will help you develop a better understanding of psychology and
psychological research findings. Students receive 1 HPR credit for every 30 minutes spent in
research. The research participation requirement for this course is 15 HPR credits
(approximately 7.5 hours of research participation). Research participation must be completed
no later than 5pm (EDT) on July 2, 2015. Instructions for registering as a participating student in
the HPR Subject Pool are posted on D2L.
NOTE: Students under 18 years of age may NOT participate in HPR experiments. Special
options have been created for students under 18 to meet the 14 credit participation. Contact
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Leslie Baldwin (lbaldwin@msu.edu), the HPR Student Coordinator in Room 262, Psychology
Building if you are under 18 and want to learn more about these options.
If you have questions or problems with anything related to research participation, please
contact the HPR Administrator, Leslie Baldwin at lbaldwin@msu.edu.
DO NOT contact Marissa about problems with the HPR system. Course instructors do not have
access to the HPR system and will not be able to assist you.
Individuals who do not wish to participate in psychological research may write seven one‐page
papers instead. Each paper is equivalent to 2 HPR credit hours. Contact Marissa within the first
two weeks of the term for more information about these papers. Please note that all
alternative papers must be submitted to the D2L Dropbox called “Alternative to HPR Dropbox”
by 5 PM, July 2, 2015.
Grading Policy
All of the online exams consist of multiple choice questions. You may access an exam ONLY
ONCE. Once you have accessed an exam you must submit your answers within the allotted time
(1 hour). The course system will automatically SAVE your answers with every question
submission. Grades from research participation will be computed at the end of the semester.
Please note that the course instructor will NOT be able to see your completed credits before
that time. You will be responsible for tracking your completed credits during the semester.
Course grades will be computed as follows:
Exam 1 (50 questions)...........................19%
Exam 2 (50 questions)...........................19%
Exam 3 (50 questions)...........................19%
Exam 4 (50 questions)...........................19%
Exam 5 (50 questions)...........................19%
Research Participation
15 HPR Credits.........................................5%
How do I view my grades in D2L?
1. Select your course.
2. Click the Assessments dropdown.
3. Select Grades.
Percent
90‐100%
85‐89%
Grade
4.0
3.5
4
80‐84%
75‐79%
70‐74%
65‐69%
60‐64%
< 60%
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.0
D2L Recommendations and Requirements
Please follow these suggestions to prevent problems during your participation in this course:
1. Use a recommended browser.
2. Clear your cache and cookies before starting an exam.
3. Have D2L open only to the exam browser. If you have the course open in a second browser
then you may have guest status in the exam browser and be logged in with your NETID in the
other. Your exam could end up with blank sections even after you enter data or it can skip
questions.
Getting Started in the Course
Log into D2L and go through the orientation materials. Once you have gone through those
materials, take the orientation quiz. Once you are done with the quiz, go through the other
materials that will help you with this course such as the “Meet Marissa Mann Your Psychology
101 Course Instructor,” “Need Help with D2L?” and “Research Requirement” tabs. Once you
have looked through those materials, do the prologue and the rest of section 1 and continue
going through the class as listed on the course schedule.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Michigan State University is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all
programs, services and activities. Accommodations for persons with disabilities, with
documentation from the MSU Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, may be requested
by contacting Marissa within the first week of the term. Requests received after this date will
be honored whenever possible.
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Course Schedule
Monday
Week 1
May 18
Tuesday
May 19
May 25
June 1
Chapter 4
May 21
Friday
May 22
Saturday
Sunday
May 23
May 24
May 30
May 31
June 6
June 7
Chapter 2
Office hours 10
AM- 12 PM (EDT)
on D2L
Discussion
May 26
Memorial Day
Week 3
May 20
Thursday
Chapter 1
-Orientation
Materials
-Orientation Quiz
-Prologue
Week 2
Wednesday
May 27
May 28
Chapter 3
Exam 1
Available Tue.
(5/26) 5 PM to
Wed. (5/27) 5
PM
June 2
June 3
Chapter 5
May 29
Office hours 10
AM- 12 PM (EDT)
on D2L
Discussion
June 4
June 5
Exam 2
Available Thur.
(6/4) 5 PM to
Wed. (6/5) 5 PM
Office hours 10
AM- 12 PM (EDT)
on D2L
Discussion
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Week 4
June 8
June 9
Chapter 6
June 10
June 11
Chapter 7
June 12
June 13
June 14
June 20
June 21
June 27
June 28
Chapter 8
Office hours 10
AM- 12 PM (EDT)
on D2L
Discussion
Week 5
June 15
June 16
Exam 3
Available Sun.
(6/14) 5 PM to
Mon. (6/15) 5
PM
Week 6
June 22
June 29
Chapter 15
June 18
Chapter 9
June 19
Chapter 10
Office hours 10
AM- 12 PM (EDT)
on D2L
Discussion
June 23
Chapter 13
Week 7
June 17
June 24
June 25
Exam 4
Available Tue.
(6/23) 5 PM to
Wed. (6/24) 5
PM
June 30
June 26
Chapter 14
Office hours 10
AM- 12 PM (EDT)
on D2L
Discussion
July 1
July 2
July 3
Chapter 16
Exam 5
Available Wed.
(7/1) 5 PM to
Thur. (7/2) 5 PM
Due date to
appeal grades 11
PM
*Social Psychology is covered in Chapter 14 in your book, but the lecture/video cover this topic as Chapter 16. All times are set in Eastern Daylight Time.
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Academic Integrity
Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that, "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 as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades;
the all‐University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00,
Examinations. (See Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web
site: http://www.msu.edu.) Therefore, unless authorized by the instructor, you are expected to
complete all course assignments without assistance from any source other than the course
Web site, textbook, and ancillary materials you may have chosen to purchase from the
publisher when you purchased the textbook (e.g., access to the publishers website).
You MAY NOT use any student‐based websites for completing the work in Psych 101 online.
These sites are known to faculty members who are updated about their contents on a regular
basis by honest students and others concerned with academic integrity. Students who violate
MSU rules may receive a penalty grade of ZERO, applied either to a specific assignment/exam
or to the entire course, the decision to be made by the instructor. In addition, a letter
describing the transgression will be sent to the Dean of you college and the Dean of the Social
Science College.
For more information about permitted and forbidden activities see the very useful web site
prepared by the MSU Ombudsman, https://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/academicintegrity/student-faq.html. When in doubt, contact the course instructor BEFORE engaging in
the activity.
Every student is held responsible for knowing the academic integrity policy at MSU. The policy
can be found at https://ww w.msu.edu/unit/ombud/RegsOrdsPolicies.html.
Here are some examples of academic dishonesty:
• Having another student provide academic assistance or coaching during an online quiz or test.
• Having another person take a quiz or test for you.
• Copying questions or answers from your online quiz or test and sharing them with another
student.
• Copying questions or answers from your online quiz or test and posting them on a website for
others to view.
• Getting questions and/or answers from students who have already taken an exam or quiz you
are scheduled to take.
• Collaborating with other students on projects or assignments without your instructor's
permission.
Please be aware that D2L tracks all student login information. For example, it tracks when you
have logged into D2L and when you have logged out. It also tracks when you begin your quiz
and when your quiz is submitted. This is helpful for the instructors because it allows us to
resolve issues if there is a problem with the D2L system in terms of logging on and/or gaining
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access to the various sections of the site. Tracking can also help us resolve disputes about
exams and assignments, particularly those that are timed. D2L tracking also can reveal
academic misconduct.
Commercialization of any material in this course is not permitted.
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