Course Syllabus

Welcome to the Class Overview!

Please watch the video below before proceeding to the syllabus or modules.

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General Psychology                                                 

Instructor: Nick Tuttle

Foothill College

PSYC 1, General Psychology PSYC F001.04Z 20129

Fridays on Zoom from 11:00AM-12:50PM

Fall 2023

 

Course Syllabus

 

Instructor: Nick Tuttle

Telephone: N/A. Please message on Canvas

Email: I prefer that you use Canvas in-class messaging to contact me (called "Inbox"). If needed, my email is tuttlenick@fhda.edu. Response time is 24-48 hours via a Canvas message, excluding weekends and holidays

Course Dates: Starts on 9/25/23 and ends on 12/15/23

Office: (I am off campus this term)

Office Hours: Office Hours: Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:00-10:00 AM. Please use this Calendly link to schedule a time.

 

General Psychology Course Description

An exploration of the major perspectives, concepts, and theories in psychology and the factors that influence human behavior. Topics include: research methodology, biological psychology, perception, sleep and dreaming, learning, cognitive processes, developmental psychology, motivation and emotion, sexuality and gender, stress and health, social psychology, theories of personality, psychological disorders and psychological therapies.

 

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to have:

1. A successful student will be able to identify the reasons why psychology is a science.
2. A successful student will be able to identify the major theoretical perspectives in psychology.

 

Required Textbook

We use a free, Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook for this class. The textbook itself is Psychology 2e, Spielman, OpenStax, 2020. You can access the textbook pdf here or within the Canvas course itself. If you would like to purchase a paperback copy yourself online, the ISBN-13 is 978-1-975076-44-3.

Course Requirements and Grading

The following sections describe the reading, quiz, exam, and final research project requirements of the course. To avoid problems, it is important that you invest time carefully reading this information.

 

Reading

The reading assignments are a critical element of this course. You are expected to read all reading assignments. You should begin each week by reading from the assigned textbook, the online lectures, and any articles that may be assigned. On average, you will be reading 30-35 pages from the text each week. This amounts to a lot of reading, and this is why reading and studying the course text make up the bulk of the work.

In order to do well on the quizzes and exams, you must read and actively study all reading assignments. This means, while you read the textbook, take notes on it...like you might in a lecture class. Or, if it works better for you, prepare an outline of the chapter or make flash cards of the main terms. Or, try to apply the information to your life so that you can more easily remember it. Find some way to do something active with the material that you are trying to learn. Students are most successful when they space out study sessions rather than cramming, experience the new material in multiple modalities, test themselves on the material, and elaborate on the material to make meaningful connections.

I have set up a course schedule with reading assignment due dates. I highly recommend that you follow my schedule. Otherwise, you will be faced with the overwhelming task of trying to master a large amount of information at the last minute for each exam. Create a course reading and study schedule for yourself and follow the course schedule I have provided to avoid falling behind.

 

Online Quizzes

The quizzes are designed to help you keep on track with your reading. The reading makes up the bulk of your homework each week. Fortunately, the reading is super interesting!

Weekly quizzes will effectively help you keep up with the reading. Quizzes are a critical motivator for getting the reading assignments done on time and helped them master the course material. Plus, studying for and taking the quizzes is excellent preparation for the exams. The quizzes are not timed.

The quizzes will correspond to each of the chapters we cover in the textbook. These quizzes are worth 15 points each and will consist of 10-15 multiple-choice questions. They will be available for 7 days, and are due on the last day of each week in our course: Sundays by 11:59pm (PST). However, once they are available to you, you can complete them earlier than Sunday. Your first attempt at the quiz is the only attempt that will be graded, and you have one attempt at each quiz. Do not begin a quiz until you are ready to take it and submit your answers for grading. Once the due date and time for each quiz have passed, you will be able to access the entire quiz (questions and answers) to review it.

You are required to complete all but two of the assigned quizzes. The two lowest quiz scores will be dropped from your final grade. If you miss a quiz, you may not make it up. That quiz will be recorded as a “0” and will automatically be one of your lowest scores. If you prefer, you can simply skip a total of 2 quizzes over the course of the semester. Or, you can choose to take them all, keeping in mind that your 2 lowest scores will be dropped at the end of the semester. Extra quizzes taken beyond the required 13 are not counted as extra credit.

 

Zoom Meeting Quizzes

Same deal as above, but you will take a quiz each week following our Zoom meetings. Canvas will drop your two lowest scores here as well!

Exams and Final

The exams will consist of multiple choice questions. They are not timed. You will have two exams and one final. While the final is assigned during finals week at the end of the semester, it will not be comprehensive. There are between 30 questions on each exam depending on the number of chapters upon which the exam is based. Your first attempt on each is the only attempt that will be graded. You can access the exams the same way you can access the quizzes, once the availability period is over. All of the exams are required (in other words, I do not drop any scores). Except for the final exam, which may be available for less days, exams will be available to you for a total of 7 days. You can decide what day within this 7 day period you want to take the exam.

Even though you will have access to your textbook and any notes you take, the exams are not meant to be open book exams. Therefore, you should plan to study for them as you would for any closed book exam.

If you miss an exam, there are no exam makeups unless you can send me official documentation on letterhead (e.g., a doctor’s note) that indicates that you were unable to take the exam during the availability period (see section “Late Assignments & Missed Exams” for more information).

 

Writing Assignment 

This assignment is required of everyone. The assignment is called “The World’s Shortest Research Paper.” More detailed information on this assignment will be presented later in the semester.

 

Your final course grade will be based on the following:

Assessment Type	Points	Percentage of Grade
Module Quizzes (15 x 15 points each)	225	28.7%
Zoom Meeting Quizzes (7 x 40 points each)	280	35.7%
Writing Assignment “The World’s Shortest Research Paper” (60 points)	100	12.7%
Exams (2 x 60 points) and Final Exam (60 points)	180	22.9%
Total Points	785	100%

 

Letter Grade for Class

% Material	Grade
93-100%	A
90-92.9%	A-
86-89.9%	B+
83-85.9%	B
80-82.9%	B-
76-79.9%	C+
70-55.9%	C
66-69.9%	D+
63-65.9%	D
60-62.9%	D-
Below 59.9%	F

You can view your grades for assignments and quizzes over the course of the semester by clicking on the "Grades" link that you will find in the left navigational menu in our course. Assignments that are not due yet (or I haven't graded yet) will have blank grades. Assignments that are not turned in will be assigned a 0 score. 

You can view my comments on your assignments from within the Grades page. Look for the assignment in the grades listing, and then click the comments icon all the way over to the right of the assignment listing. If you click the assignment link on the Grades page, it will take you to a page where you can see comments I’ve left in the comments sidebar.

 

Attendance, Participation and Withdrawal/Drop Policies

Successful online learning requires active participation and the ability to follow deadlines and work independently. Skips are not time off from class; they are simply time off from that task. You may need to log in more frequently depending on how long you spend logged in each time. You should know that I am able to track your participation and see what you spend your time doing while "in class" or logged in. I check in regularly to assess your participation.

For absence due to prolonged serious illness, personal emergency, or technical problems you are expected to let me know as soon as possible. You may be withdrawn from the course for excessive absence; “excessive absence” is defined by a total of two or more full weeks of absence from the online course in Canvas. To be clear, this means that except for when excused by me or during a college designated break, I should see that you are consistently logging in and participating in class weekly. If you go without logging in for 2 or more weeks in a row or during two or more separate but full weeks during the semester, you may be withdrawn from the course.

However, please be aware that withdrawal is not automatic. Since there are important withdrawal deadlines set by the college, do not assume that I will drop you from the class if you stop attending; it is ultimately your responsibility to formally drop the class by the appropriate deadlines if you cannot complete the course. I recommend that if you drop the class that you print up verification of the drop. Your claim that you dropped the course will not be enough to retroactively drop the class once the last date to drop has passed. If your name is on my final grade sheet, I will be forced to submit a final grade for you. If you stop attending the class after the last day to withdraw, and you have not achieved a final passing grade, a final grade of FW (rather than F) will be recorded.

If I do withdraw you from the course, and this results in problems with financial aid, GI benefits, health insurance, scholarships, visa status, etc., I cannot reinstate you just to preserve your benefits. 

As students participating in my course, respect for one another is critical. I expect everyone to follow the standards of the Student Code of Conduct as described in the Student Handbook. Inappropriate language, such as offensive slang or put-downs, swearing, or hateful speech, will not be tolerated. Please treat others in this course with the same level of respect that you would like to be treated. Again, I expect you to use proper netiquette in this course.

 

Your Canvas Inbox

As a student using Canvas, you have the ability to send messages to me and to your classmates within the class using Canvas messaging. Canvas messaging provides a closed email system that only allows the sending and receiving of emails within our course. Look for the Inbox link in the left navigational menu.

This is my preferred method of being contacted. Please only message other students in an appropriate manner as detailed above, and any issues in this area may be escalated to the Dean.

 

Late Assignments and Missed Quizzes/Exams

This online course is not a self-paced course; we will all move through the course together. Accordingly, there are due dates and set weekly tasks. Assignments are due by the listed due date and time. If you know you will not be able to log in or have access to a computer on the day something is due, submit it early or plan to use one of your skips. To be clear, submitting something “early” means submitting it once the assignment is available (open) and before it closes. I cannot open or post assignments, quizzes, or exams ahead of the schedule.

Quizzes can be turned in late, but at a 15% penalty per day. This means that after a week late, no points are available for quizzes, so submit at or as close to the deadline as possible to avoid missing too many points.

Missed exams may not be made up unless you have official documentation (e.g., a doctor’s note on letterhead) describing why it was impossible for you to take your exam on time. Be prepared to email me a copy of the documentation if you contact me for a makeup.

There are always students who ask if I can make an exception to this policy just for them just this once. I really care about my students and want everyone to do well, and I will want to make an exception. With that said, I cannot and will not make exceptions to this policy. This is not to punish anyone. It is about fairness and protecting the academic integrity of this online class.

If you realize you have to miss an exam, then just be sure to obtain the proper documentation as described here before contacting me for a makeup. If a makeup is to occur because you have the required documentation, you must contact me on or before the due date and time of the exam; if you contact me once the exam is over, you cannot make it up even if you have the required documentation.

Remember, all quizzes and exams are untimed, so do not message me about technical issues around submissions. You have seven days to completed these assignments from when they are opened to you, so you have plenty of time to finish your work.

 

Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism

Academic dishonesty (i.e., cheating) in this course will not be tolerated. This includes sharing quiz and exam questions and answers, copying someone else's answers during a quiz or exam, searching for and using quiz/exam questions and answers on the internet during a quiz or exam, and getting papers off the Internet to submit for credit, having another person complete your assignments, cutting and pasting information from another source online and presenting it as your own work (i.e., plagiarism), etc.

To plagiarize is to steal and use the ideas and writings of another as one’s own. Foothill College requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student, and as outlined in the Academic Integrity Preface, plagiarism will not be tolerated. Potential problems can be avoided by documenting all sources used (whether directly quoted or paraphrased) with references or citations. Cheating of any kind will result in a failing grade on that assignment, documentation of the incident, and possible referral to the Dean of Student Affairs & Activities.

 

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

If you are a student with a disability and you require accommodations, please let me know right away so that I can be sure you have what you need. Remember, we have no timed assignments in this class. Students who need academic accommodations should request them from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) located in Building 5400. DRC is the campus office responsible for verifying disability-related need for academic accommodations, assessing that need, and for planning accommodations in cooperation with students and instructors as needed and consistent with course requirements. You can reach DRC at: 650.949.7017

Thank you!

And, finally, thank you! Thank you for reading this syllabus! I know it is long! If you have any questions about the information here, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know there is a lot to remember, but over time, the course policies and procedures will feel like second nature. And, thank you for registering for my course in General Psychology! I feel very fortunate to be a part of your educational journey!

 

Course Calendar

Week	Monday Date	Topic of Week
1	9/25	Chapter 1  Introduction to Psychology
2	10/2	Chapter 2  Psychological Research and Chapter 3  Biopsychology
3	10/9	Chapter 4  States of Consciousness
4	10/16	Chapter 5  Sensation and Perception and Exam 1
5	10/23	Chapter 6  Learning
6	10/30/23	Chapter 7  Thinking and Intelligence and Chapter 8  Memory
7	11/6/23	Chapter 9  Lifespan Development (No Zoom class, Veteran's Day)
8	11/13/23	Chapter 10  Emotion and Motivation and Exam 2 (Research Assignment assigned)
9	11/20/23	Chapter 11  Personality and Chapter 12  Social Psychology (No Zoom class, Thanksgiving)
10	11/27/23	Chapter 14  Stress, Lifestyle, and Health and Chapter 15 Psychological Disorders
11	12/4/23	Chapter 16  Therapy and Treatment
12	12/11/23	Finals Week (Exam 3) and Research Paper Due (No Class, Final week)