This course examines human development from conception through early adulthood with special a special focus on issues related to race, class & gender.  It involves a 12-hour service-learning component in Head Start preschool classroom in Bridgeport CT where you will have the opportunity to act as “participant observers” and learn directly from the children, their teachers, and their families about child development and the complex array of biological, psychological, social, and political issues that impact on the course of healthy development. This course fulfills the U.S. Diversity requirement.

Required Text:

Berk, L.E.  (2012).  Infants, children and adolescents. (7^th Edition).  Boston:  Allyn & Bacon.

For this course we will be using Blackboard for quizzes & videos and access through Mozilla Foxfire works best.

Determination of Final Grade:

20% – 5 online quizzes

20% – Head Start (service learning) journal assignment – there are 3 assignments journals. It is expected that you will integrate your on-site observations with material from your textbook, the class videos, and outside research with your classroom observations.

20%   – essays – You will have a choice of doing 3 of 4 optional assignments.  Late assignments

will not be accepted. If you do all 4 essays, the lowest grade will be dropped.

20% – class research project – we will design the study, collect the data, discuss results as a class but you will write your own individual report

20% – final exam – a take-home written assignment designed to assess your cumulative knowledge of what you have learned this semester.

Class participation & attendance:

This class is designed for active involvement in the learning process; you are expected to participate & contribute to class discussion. This course deals with the development of a person from conception into young adulthood.  Since you are all human beings and since you all have experienced developing into a young adult, I expect that you will have many valuable insights to contribute to our discussions.  However, you have to be there to contribute.  Excessive absences will detract from your final grade.

Course Schedule:

Tues – Friday class @ 10 am – 12:15 pm

Head Start days 9:20-noon

1/18     Introduction to course; Theory & Research   (Chapter 1)

1/21     Overview: Healthy Dev. in Adolescence & Early Adulthood (skim Chap 14, 15, 16 & 17)

1/25     Environmental Foundations  (Chapters 2 & 3)

– a focus on issues of race, class & gender

1/28     Genetics, Biological Foundations; Prenatal Development  (Chapters 2 & 3)

2/1       Head Start staff visit to class to meet us

SERVICE LEARNING JOURNAL #1 due in class Tuesday Feb 1

2/4       Birth & Infancy  (Chapters 4 & 5; skim 6 & 7;

QUIZ 1 on chapters 1 – 4 must be taken by Wednesday night Feb 9 @ midnight

2/8       Infancy (Chapter 6)

2/11     Infancy (Chapters 7)

2/15     first Service Learning trip to Head Start – meet inside Kelley Center at 9:20 am

2/18     Infancy (Chapter 7)

2/22     no class; Monday classes meet on Tuesday

ESSAY #1 due in class Friday Feb 25

2/25     Early Childhood  (chapters 8, 9)

3/1       second Service Learning trip to Head Start – meet inside Kelley Center at 9:20 am

QUIZ 2 on chapters 5 – 7 must be taken by Wednesday night March 2 @ midnight

3/4       Early Childhood  (chapters 9, 10)

3/8       third Service Learning trip to Head Start – meet inside Kelley Center at 9:20 am

ESSAY #2 due in class Friday March 11

3/11     Early Childhood  (chapters 9, 10)

3/15     fourth Service Learning trip to Head Start – meet inside Kelley Center at 9:20 am SERVICE LEARNING JOURNAL, Part 2 due in class Friday March 18

3/18     Early Childhood  (chapters 9, 10) & discuss research paper

spring break

3/29     fifth Service Learning trip to at Head Start – meet inside Kelley Center at 9:20 am

QUIZ 3 on chapters 8 – 10 must be taken by Wednesday night March 30 @ midnight

4/1       Middle Childhood  (Chapters 11, 12)  Seasons of Life Video

4/5       sixth Service Learning trip to Head Start – meet inside Kelley Center at 9:20 am

ESSAY #3 due in class Friday April 8

4/8       Middle Childhood  (Chapters 12, 13)  Mad Hot Ballroom

SERVICE LEARNING JOURNAL #3 due in class Tuesday April  12

4/12     Process Head Start service learning experience

QUIZ 4 on chapters 11 – 13 must be taken by Wednesday night April 20 @ midnight

4/15     Middle Childhood  (Chapters 12, 13)  Middle School Confessions

4/19     Adolescence  (Chapters 14, 15) – Seasons of Life Video

Easter Break

4/26     Adolescence & Young Adulthood  (Chapters 16 & 17)

ESSAY #4 due in class Tuesday April 26

4/29     Adolescence & Young Adulthood  (Chapters 16 & 17) age 21 & up

QUIZ 5 on chapters 14 – 17 must be taken by Monday night May 2 @ midnight

5/3       young adulthood & a look to the future

Final Exam: hand in take home exam (typed) by Wednesday May 11 by 12 noon – Bannow 122

Head Start Service Learning Component:

As a service learning component of PY264, you will be participating in the Adrienne Kirby Family Literacy Project at ABCD Head Start in Bridgeport, CT.   We will be traveling to Head Start together in university vans for 6 visits.  Be in the Kelley Center lobby at 9:20 SHARP!   You will be assigned to work with preschool children in their classrooms in the hopes of enhancing their language and school readiness skills.   There is a Journal assignment worth 20% relating your service learning experiences to your readings and class discussions.  Attendance for labs in Bridgeport are mandatory.  However, if for some good reason, you miss a lab session it is your responsibility to (1) notify me by calling my cell phone BEFORE 9:15 am and (2) to make up the session by arranging transportation to Head Start on your own.  Documentation of the make-up session will be required.

Head Start Journal Project:

PART 1:  Background Information – due 2/1/11

As psychologists from a university about to enter a community agency, it is important that you know something about the community setting you are about to form a partnership with.  On 2/1/11, teachers and site managers from Action for Bridgeport Community Development’s Head Start program will come to our class to meet you and to introduce you to ABCD, to the Head Start model, and to classroom etiquette and expectations.  Before their visit, you will do some research about both ABCD as an agency and about the history of the Head Start program, its original purpose, the controversy over its effectiveness, the research about its long term outcomes, etc.

Answer the following questions:

1. When did Head Start begin?

2. What was its purpose?  What was the rationale for creating Head Start?

3. What types of services did Head Start originally provide?

4. How many children are served today?  What is the family income criteria?

5. Under the Nixon administration there was a controversy over Head Start’s effectiveness – what was it?  What types of research did opponents of Head Start use to try to disband it?  What were the arguments supporters of Head Start used to save funding?

6. What are some of the areas where there have been documented positive long term effects of Head Start?

7. Edward Zigler & others have argued that Head Start is cost effective because it prevents many of the problems faced by low income children & their families … what are those statistics?

8. What are the major challenges Head Start faces today?  What is stopping it from being effective?

9. Look at ABCD’s website:  www.abcd.org ABCD was created in the 1960’s as a part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty, what services does this agency provide to the greater Bridgeport community?  How many people does it serve?

PART 2: First Service Learning Journal – due 3/15/11

Additional Readings for this journal first assignment:

Berk, L.E., Mann, T.D., & Ogan, A.T. (2006). Make-believe play: A wellspring for development of self-regulation. In D.G. Singer et al. (Eds). Play = learning: How play motivates and enhances children’s cognitive and social-emotional growth. NY: Oxford University Press.

Use the notes that you kept from each of your first three sessions at Head Start and respond thoughtfully to each of the following prompts integrating your classroom observations, assigned course readings, assigned course videos, and additional library and internet research.

(1) Observation: social ecology: Your textbook stresses the importance of the social ecology of an individual’s environment.  Do an ecological assessment of the Head Start environment both at the site level and the classroom level. Remember that all environments have positive resources that contribute to a child’s ability to develop resilience as well as risk factors and liabilities that have the potential to detract from optimal development.  For this part of the assignment, you are expected to provide an assessment of two important ecological factors: the school and the individual classroom. Suggest what impact you think this “ecology” might have on the children’s development (positive and/or negative). Consider the following:  the “feel” of the school when you enter, the “feel” of the classroom; its physical lay-out; the quality, quantity, and developmental appropriateness of learning materials available; cleanliness; structure vs. chaos; the behavior of the adults; the noise level, and the “mix” of the children (ask your teacher about this-gender, age, behavior problems, special needs, etc.).  NOTE: You are expected to relate your observations to research/theory in your textbook AND you are expected to do some additional research related to school-classroom factors related to school adjustment/success.

(2) Observation: Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. Your textbook and the reading by Berk, Mann & Ogan (2006) provide you with a good description of how much cognitive development depends on social dialogues & social interaction.  Work with a child – you be the more knowledgeable person and stretch a child’s cognitive development a bit.  Describe one example of a child’s learning being advanced using the zone of proximal development.  Are there instances of children being asked to do things out of their zone of proximal development? Describe one example.  As a developmental psychologist, what is the “take home” lesson you have learned from these observations?

(3) Observation:  make believe play & self regulation Refer to the article by Berk, Mann & Ogan (2006).  Either on your own or with the help of your teachers identify TWO of the youngest children in your classroom and TWO of the oldest children.  Spend time talking to an interacting with these four children, try to engage each of them in make-believe  play.  Use the Berk et al. (2006) article and discuss the differences you see in (a) the children’s language skills and (b) the children’s self-regulation skills. Describe and discuss (using professional psychological terminology) your observations of the connection between make-believe play, language & self- regulation.  As a developmental psychologist, what is the “take home” lesson you have learned from these observations?

(4) Personal reflection: discuss your personal reactions to the experience thus far :

(a) what were some of your thoughts in reaction to your experience?

(b) how do you feel (personally) when you are at Head Start and/or when you leave?

(c) discuss one link/connection to your personal life & experience.

(5) Questions: And, since every experience should generate more questions & encourage you to wonder “why?”   What did your experience at Head Start this week make you wonder about?  What do you want to know more about?  (please do not say “what will happen to these children when they grow up”  -  you are capable of much deeper thinking that that.)

(6) References: give the complete and correct APA style formatted citations for the resources you used.

PART 3: Second Service Learning Journal – due 4/12/11

Additional Readings for this journal second assignment:

Albee, G.W. (1992). Saving children means a social revolution. In G.W. Albee et al. (Eds). Improving children’s lives. Newbury Park: Sage.  Zigler, E.F. & Styfco, S.S. (2007). America’s Head Start program: An effort for social justice. In C. Wainryb (Ed.). Social development, social inequalities, and social justice. Hoboken: Erlbaum.

(1) Observation: discipline style & behavior The preschool years are noted for being a time of “socialization.” Adults “teach” children about how society expects them to behave through discipline.  Similar to what we learned about attachment, the type of discipline style a child is exposed to provides additional information to the child’s “internal working model” about self-worth, how relationships work, and the rules that govern behavior in the world. Do a behavioral assessment of your classroom – what can you say about the relationship between rewards/punishments and the children’s behavior?  Just like families, classrooms can be categorized can according to the predominant discipline style used and there is a rich research literature about the effects of teacher discipline style on children’s behavior.  How would you describe the discipline style in your classroom – authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or neglectful/uninvolved?  Explain your reasons for that classification.  Identify at least one child you know well and evaluate the impact that that discipline style is having on his/her development.  Be sure to consider the bidirectional interaction of child characteristics & discipline style.  [use your textbook; the videos & additional research as resources]

(2) Observation & Reflection: Head Start Social Justice

Read Zigler & Styfco (2007) and Albee (1992). These two readings should encourage us all to think about how we can use our knowledge of psychology to encourage an approach to child development that is truly “socially just.”  Nearly two decades ago, Albee (1992) proclaimed that saving children would require a “social revolution” … Zigler & Styfco’s (2007) tell us that the benefits of a high quality early intervention like Head Start may not level the playing field between the poor children and their middle class counterparts but it is better than having nothing at all.  Here is my question to you:  Is this the best we can do for the children of the poor?  Answer the following questions:

(a) How do you evaluate the children’s preschool experience your Head Start classroom in terms of social justice?  Remember to consider strengths as well as weaknesses

(b) Using your knowledge of developmental psychology (textbook, readings, videos), suggest two policy changes that would help level the playing field and make Head Start a more “socially just” early childhood intervention.

(3) Reflection

Consider the following passage taken from “Ordinary Resurrections” by Jonathan Kozol:

“The lives of children in poor neighborhoods are studied, and their personalities  examined and dissected, often with a good deal of self confidence, by grown-ups far away who do not know them but rely on data generated by researchers to come up with various conclusions that are used to justify political decisions.  This is inevitable, I guess.  Societies and governments need to rely on generalities to organize their understandings and establish policies.  Sometimes, though, these generalities seem much too big, too confident, and too relentless.  It feels at times as if the world of adult expertise is taking hundred-pound cement blocks, labeled “certitude” and “big significance,” and lowered them down onto the shoulders of a [young child], then telling him, “Okay, you carry this for ten years or fifteen years.  Then, if we learn something new, we will come back and give you new labels you can carry.”  Sometimes the size and weight of all this significance make it hard to see if there is still a living body underneath” (Kozol, 2000, p. 14-15).

The children you have gotten to know at Head Start are known by many stereotypes – they are called low income children, children at risk, poor children, disadvantaged children, etc.  The children you have come to know are innocent victims of these stereotypes and many “generalities” researchers report in our professional journals and politicians use to make social policies.  For the past 6 weeks you have been able to see these children for who they really are … With that in mind, answer the following:

What did the children at Head Start teach you about the lives of children (and their families) who researchers “study” and “explain” & who politicians pass policies about that no textbook or published research study ever could tell you? Give two specific examples from your time at Head Start. Use whatever resources you think will help you make your argument.

(4) Personal reflection: How has your time at Head Start affected you?  Consider your personal development and your world view & attitudes.  Explain.  (please give this question some serious thought)

(5) References: give the complete and correct APA style formatted citations for the resources you used.

ESSAYS for PY264:  Spring 2011

You are to do three out of the four essay assignments; anyone wishing to replace a low score can do all 4 and I will take the best 4 scores when determining your assignment/essay grade for the course.  No late essays will be accepted unless you have discussed an important need for an extension with me.

The essays are open book and you are expected to use your textbook, additional library/internet research, the course videos, and your service-learning experiences at Head Start.

NOTE:  For all of you, but especially those of you who are not good multiple choice test takers, these essays are meant to showcase your understanding of the material covered each week.   That is, it will allow you to use a different type of intelligence and academic skill.  So make it good – integrate your thoughts into the best essay possible.  Take the time to think, write & revise before handing it in.

A NOTE ON DOING ADDITIONAL OUTSIDE RESEARCH:  when doing library or internet research for these essays, please be sure that you are using a reputable source.  Avoid people’s personal websites and fringe-group websites.  Try searching the websites of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Children’s Defense Fund, federal websites, AARP, and look at the university’s library’s recommendations:  http://librarybestbets.fairfield.edu/psychology

ESSAY #1 –  due in class Feb 28

For this essay you will need to:

(1) watch the movie “Spellbound”

(2) read the textbook assigned chapters

(3) read the Aber article “The impact of Poverty on the Mental Health and Development of Very Young Children”

Topic:  The Influence of social class

The nature-nurture issue is often debated with regards to how “smart” a person is as measured by intelligence tests and school achievement.  Research has shown that there IS a strong genetic component to intelligence (and thus you cannot deny the role of genetics when it comes to things like  school achievement and excelling in tasks like the National Spelling Bee)…but research also tells us that even a person who is genetically programmed to be intelligent if he/she is being raised in a toxic, chaotic, or otherwise negative environment will have problems living up to his/her potential.  So this essay is about the role of the environment, specifically, the role of social class.

The movie Spellbound follows the lives of students from a variety of different social environments as they prepare for and compete in the National Spelling Bee.

The movie will hopefully provide you with many insights and questions regarding the potential impact of social class as well as other key environmental factors on school achievement.

For your essay:

There are 8 children featured in the film.  All of them are clearly very bright but they live in very different social environments which impact on their motivation to achieve, the strategies they use to achieve success, the resources and opportunities they have access to, and the obstacles/challenges they face in achieving their goals.

(1) choose 3 children, one from each of the three social classes: lower income/working poor (Angela from Texas; Ted from Missouri; Ashley from Washington DC) , middle income/working class (Nupur from Florida; April from Pennsylvania)  & upper income (Emily from Connecticut; Neil from California) – forget about Harry.

(2) using either RESILIENCE research  you are to compare & contrast:  (a) the resources each of the 3 children have available to them and (b) the obstacles/challenges each of the 3 children face in their attempts to develop their competence as a student.

(3) be sure that you use your textbook and the Aber article when you write this paper to formulate your thoughts about how social class affects a person’s achievement.  Be sure to USE APPROPRIATE PSYCHOLOGICAL TERMINIOLOGY. This is a course in psychology and you are expected to talk and write like one.

(4) be sure that you use CITATIONS to reference the ideas and facts that you get from your sources.  DO NOT “cut and paste” material from a source – that is plagiarism!  You are supposed to rephrase what you read in your own words.

NOTE – do not debate nature vs. nurture – this is a paper focused solely on the nurture side, more specifically, social class.

ESSAY  #2 – due in class March 11

For this essay you will need to:

(1)  read the textbook assigned chapters

(2) do additional outside research

(4) consider your Head Start service-learning experiences AND ask the classroom teachers their opinions on the assigned topics

(3) watch Seasons of Life video segment 2

Topic:  School Readiness & Gender

The current trend in educational reform focuses on getting children “ready” for formal schooling by teaching 3 & 4 year olds “academic” skills such as recognizing letters and numbers, writing their name, counting to ten, reading, etc.  Some psychologists are concerned about the negative impact of “hurrying” or “pushing” young children too soon to do tasks that they are not physically or cognitively able to do.  Research & theories of positive child development suggests that there is much more important “readiness” skills that should be developed BEFORE formal academic skills are introduced.  Research also shows that boys are being particularly “hard-hit “ by the imposition of rigorous academic curricula in preschool & kindergarten.  Indeed, as many of them become “school failures” (at worse) or discouraged learners (at best) at the tender age of 5 or 6.

Do some outside research regarding the development of young boys and their readiness for formal school.

For this essay,

(1) discuss 2-3 important NON-ACADEMIC skills/abilities that children need to develop first BEFORE any type of formal instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic can possibly be of any value.

(2) make one specific policy change for preschool and kindergarten education that would help assure that all children have a opportunity to be successful in their first exposure to school.  (I think that you will find that any recommendation you make relevant to boys is also relevant to girls as well)

ESSAY #3 –  due in class April 8

For this essay you will need to:

(1)  read the textbook assigned chapters

(2) watch the videos: Seasons of Life video for middle childhood & adolescence,  Mad Hot Ballroom, Middle School Confessions

(3) do additional library research (if you wish)

Topic: Developing a Sense of Competence in Middle Childhood

In your textbook and in the Seasons of Life video you have learned about Erikson’s tasks of development for middle childhood and adolescence (industry & identity). That is, in middle childhood an individual is supposed to be developing a sense of being good at something, a sense of competence that leads to a positive self concept , positive moral values, the motivation to achieve, and a stable and positive identity that prepares them for a psychologically healthy and productive adult life. In the textbook and in the Seasons of Life video you have also learned about resilience (a person’s ability to successfully cope with life challenges) and the environmental factors that promote the development of resilience.

For this assignment I want to think about Erikson’s “industry” (competence) as the entry point into adolescent identity (how you define “self” in terms of motivation for future success; moral values; etc.) by comparing the children in the movie Mad Hot Ballroom and the young people you meet in two specific segments of Middle School Confessions (the girls in the first segment dealing with sexual behavior and the same girls with their male counterparts in the later segment on drinking and drug use).  According to folklore and even the psychological literature, the children from the winning team in Mad Hot Ballroom are supposed to be the ones at higher risk for negative developmental outcomes (drugs, sex, poor school performance, behavior breaking social norms, etc), yet it is the more privileged youth in Middle School Confessions who seem “lost” in their quest for a sense of industry (competence) and identity.

For your essay, address the following:  What do these two films teach you about resilience and the necessary factors leading to positive outcomes of Erikson’s tasks of industry & identity?  In other words – what do young people need in their lives to achieve a sense of competence and a psychologically healthy adult identity?

While writing this essay, be sure you understand what it meant by resilience. Developing resilience depends on maximizing the presence of positive protective factors and minimizing the potential damage of negative risk factors in a child’s environment

ESSAY # 4 – due in class April 26

For this essay you will need to:

(1)  read the textbook assigned chapters

(2)  do additional library research

(3)  watch Seasons of Life segments 4 & 5; Middle School Confessions

Topic:  Identity formation and gay-lesbian youth

Establishing Identity is the primary task of adolescence and young adulthood.  We know that there are commonalities in the experiences of adolescents of difference races, social class, and genders face the task of identity formation and that there are also unique challenges and opportunities for male versus female, rich versus poor, etc.  The same holds true for sexual orientation.  Like race, class & gender, a person’s sexual orientation offers the gay-lesbian youth a set of unique challenges as well as a set of unique opportunities for psychological growth.  Thus, sexual orientation ( like race, class & gender) is a key factor influencing the outcome of a person’s quest for identity and finding an adult life “niche” that is emotionally satisfying.

For your essay, discuss some of the unique challenges and unique opportunities facing a gay-lesbian individual as he/she grapples with the tasks of adolescence and young adulthood AND how might those unique challenges& opportunities result in an adult who is perhaps psychologically healthier, more skilled, etc. than their heterosexual counterparts?

FINAL EXAM for PY264:  Spring 2011

In 1979, the Carnegie study “Small Futures: Children, Inequalities, and the Limits of Liberal Reform” (Richard de Lone, principle investigator) found that a child’s future was largely determined by social status and not their intelligence, that more than any other factor social class determines where a child ends up in life.  For your final exam you can either agree or disagree with this statement.  It is a very complex issue, so remember that the best answer it “it depends” – be sure that you “chunk off” an interesting subset of development to discuss and that you state your thesis clearly.

What is expected:

FIRST: The word “future” is vague and undefined so you will need to indicate what behaviors or traits you are using to define what a “successful” and “psychologically healthy” person is.  All semester we have looked at the areas of development related to “sense of self,” “relationships,” and “mastery” so that would be a good place to start.

SECOND, once you have chosen your definition of “successful & psychologically healthy,” start with infancy and follow the path of that healthy development through adolescence. Consider the question, “What are the psychological tasks that a child must master at each stage of development to achieve the goal of successful development that you have outlined in step #1 above AND discuss how social class affects those tasks.”  What unique opportunities and obstacles do children face in the lower, middle and upper social classes?  Discuss all three stages: (1) early childhood including infancy through age 5, (2) middle childhood ages 6 to 12, and (3) adolescence.

FINALLY, as a psychology-savvy advocate for social justice, make one social policy suggestion that uses psychological knowledge (what we know in terms of research & theory) with the goal of having greater numbers of children successfully begin their adult life.  [one policy suggestion only, not three]. Be sure that your social policy suggestion reflects the target behaviors you used to define healthy development.

IMPORTANT! The purpose of the essay is for you to show your cumulative knowledge of course material.  You should use your textbook, the assigned readings, the videos, & your service learning experiences.  You should not need to do outside research unless you need to find some statistic to prove a point you are trying to make.  Be sure to use proper psychological terminology — you are trying to prove that you understand the material we covered this semester so speak like a psychologist!   Warning:  think & organize … do not present a host of random or loosely connected ideas.

Health is experienced within a broad psychosocial context. Physical states affect mental states and mental states can and do influence the course of both health and illness. This course investigates the relationship that exists between physical and mental health. Emphasis is placed on the role that psychological and social factors play for both physical health and illness. The course also examines stress and stress management techniques.

Course Objectives:

1. Students will understand how psychologists in the field of Health Psychology study the mind –body interaction.
2. Students will acquire knowledge on the theories and empirical findings linking psychological and social factors to physical health and illness.
3. Students will understand the role of spirituality for health and healing.
4. Students will understand the nature of stress and how stress affects both psychological and physical processes.
5. Students will become aware of their own stress tolerance levels and triggers.
6. Students will become familiar with a number of different stress management techniques.
7. Students will acquire an appreciation for the difference between the biomedical and biopsychosocial models of health and illness.
8. Students will understand the psychological theories behind health promotion.

Course Text:

Brannon, L., Feist, J. (2010) Health Psychology (7th edition). California: Wadsworth

Course and Assignment Schedule

Date -Topic -Assignment

8/30 -Introduction -Getting to know each other

9/1 -History and Methodologies -Goal sheets due Read chapter 1&2

9/8 -Paradigms/film -Team assignment

9/13 -Team meeting with instructor -Reflection paper 1 due by 12:00 Noon. Turn it in Angel

9/15 -Seeking health care -Chapter 3

9/20 -Adhering to Medical Advice -Chapter 4

9/22 -Stress -Chapter 5

9/24 -Stress and Disease -Chapter 6 plus assigned reading

9/29 -Team meetings -Reflection 2 due by 12:00 noon—turn in Angel

10/1 -Exam 1

10/4 -Pain -Chapter 7

10/6 -Stress management -Chapter 8

10/11 -NO CLASS

10/13 -Heart Disease -Chapter 9

10/18 -Cancer -Chapter 10

10/21 -Dr. Felitti -Lecture

10/25 -Team meetings -Reflection 3 plus goal sheet update due by noon. Turn it in Angel.

10/27 -Dealing with Chronic disease -Chapter 11

11/1 -Personality and Health -Assigned readings

11/3 -Exam 2

11/8‐11/22 -Behavioral health -Chapters 12‐15

11/24 -Team meetings

11/26 -Thanksgiving

12/1‐12/3 -Spirituality -Assigned readings

December 8‐10 -Class presentations

Finals week -Exam 3

Course Requirements

1. Three exams worth 60 points
2. Reflection papers worth 30 points
3. Goal reports worth 10 points
4. Semester long major project and oral presentation worth 100 points

Goal Report Card

You will be asked to submit a list of personal goals for this class and report your progress on the goals throughout the course of the term. The goals submission is an attempt to help you maximize your success in this course. They will be judged according to the following criteria:

0‐not submitted

1‐cursory description

2‐ adequate

3‐ Insightful and well developed.

Students receiving 3 on all 3 of their goals submissions will be awarded an additional bonus point.

Reflections

Reflection papers will require you to apply class material to documentaries and or lectures presented in and out of class. Separate postings will be made on Angel for each of the reflections.

Major Project and Oral Presentation

You will have the opportunity to do a traditional project or a service‐based learning project. Details for each of the projects are provided in separate handouts. The nature of these projects will be discussed during the first class meeting.

Grading Criteria

A+= 200points

A= 199‐186

A‐= 185‐180

B+= 179‐177

B=176‐166

B‐ 165—160

C+=159‐157

C= 156‐146

C‐= 140‐145

D= 135‐139

F= 134 points or less

Students are expected to attend class and participate in group discussions. Excessive absences will result in a letter grade penalty. Students are also expected to do their own original work. Plagiarism of any kind will be prosecuted to the fullest extent. The student handbook contains information regarding plagiarism. Please consult the handbook for further information on plagiarism. Any student failing to complete the assignment by the assigned due date will receive a “0” for the assignment.

Health Psychology Service‐based learning and Paper Requirements:

Smoking Cessation Group

Group Project

You have been assigned to a team to promote healthy life style habits. Your team is specifically concerned with tobacco smoking in the college population. You will be working with Amanda Cady from Faxton‐St. Lukes Hospital to design a smoking cessation intervention for the college population. Her contact information will be made available to you. She will be meeting with your group initially during the second week of the semester. You will then meet with her once a week for the duration of the semester. This service‐based learning project will require a minimum of four hours a week. The product you produce will be used on campuses across the State.

As a team, you must design a “product” that will promote your assigned health style area. The “product” may take the form of a promotional video, an educational game, pamphlets, or any other methodology that is appropriate for the target group designated. In designing your “product,” be careful to consider the following points:

Your choice of product and the actual design of the “product” must be based upon the evidence‐based research collected from professional sources. A minimum of ten (10) professional sources are required.

Your “product” design and methodology must be appropriate for the age group targeted. You need to consider the age, socioeconomic and cultural background of your target population as you design the “product.”

Paper Requirements

A separate paper from each participant in the group is also required. The paper must include the following sections.

Part A: Literature review is required. The literature review must include:

a. A discussion of the target behavior or concern you are addressing.

b. Interventions used in the past and the present along with the evidence based research used to assess the intervention efficacy.

c. A discussion of the health promotion models and strategies used to promote health for your target population and problem. Again, you need to research the studies already done in the area to promote health and / or to deter negative health habits for your targeted problem area.

d. A summary that brings together the sections noted above and provides an introduction for rationale portion of the paper.

Part B: A description of the group project along with your own individual contribution to the group project.

Part C: The justification and rationale for the project is presented in this section of the paper. Here you must explain how your “product” meets the objectives stated for health style promotion for the population you have targeted and how the theories of health promotion apply to your “product.”

Part D: A conclusion that describes what you have learned from the project.

Part E: A reference section listing your professional sources.

Your project and paper will be judged on the following criteria:

1. Comprehensiveness and accuracy of the literature review.
2. Appropriateness of the project for the target group.
3. Novelty of the project
4. The general appeal of the project for the target group.
5. The comprehensiveness and accuracy of the application of the health promotion theories to your “product.”
6. The clarity of your oral presentation.
7. The quality of your written paper. Quality is measured by the number of grammatical and spelling errors as well as the organization and transitional flow of the paper.

Description:

This Learning Community Seminar is a 3-credit college level course designed to help incoming students make a successful transition to College. The Seminar enables students to reflect and explore college and career goals; introduce students to a range of college resources aimed at helping them establish academic goals; solve academic, personal and social problems; and overcome potential barriers to success; develop critical thinking, information literacy and communication skills; collaborate in active, diverse learning environments; and make connections between classroom learning and the larger community.

Core Theme:

“What is human nature?”. The seminar will attempt to answer this theme through the examination using the disciplines of psychology, sociology, history and cultural anthropology. How do these social sciences approach the study of man and human nature? In addition to providing an overview these disciplines, the course will explore various careers in these fields. Each student will take on the role as a budding social scientist and will examine this core theme and apply it in the examination of college life through this specific lens.

Description of Activities and Requirements:

In meeting the course outcomes: students will engage in extensive critical reading and writing activities in both assignments and in-class activities. These activities aim to provide opportunities to reflect on the meaning and value of a college education in relation to one’s career goals and aspirations. Personal “motivations” for a college degree and career goals within the context of service to the larger community of Boston will be explored. The class will also utilize cooperative learning strategies, use of online personality and career exploration tools, class trips to museums and a community organization. The observations of college life will be concretely documented through the lens of a camera. Students will be required to take pictures and share their findings. The textbook for this course is both a resource and a workbook to be incorporated into the theme of the course in a non sequential order. The students are expected to bring the textbook to class for in-class reading and activities.

One major requirement of the course is a community service activity. This Spring 2011 semester, the class will volunteer their services helping in the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2011. Most likely we will be working the food distribution at the finish line area from 7:30am – 4pm. The community service activity (Marathon) and tour of the Dudley Square Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI in Roxbury) will provide the class an opportunity to examine how groups in society bring about social change which sometimes lead to social movements.

An ePorfolio will be required of each student to capture the process and product of their work throughout the semester. All the reflections, integrated assignments, in and out of class activities and observations about college life will be included in the student’s personal ePorfolio. Each student will from the beginning of the course will learn the skills in creating an ePorfolio and do an in-class presentation of this ePorflio as part of the culminating class activity.

Another feature of this course is its pairing with PSY 101 taught by Prof. Arai. As a paired course, students of this class will also have the same group of classmates taking PSY 101. These two courses are integrated in several levels. Essay assignments are integrated. The work submitted for the Integrated Essay Assignments are requirements for both classes and are jointly graded by the professors of the course. The class activities in LCS 101 will be used in PSY 101 lessons and vice versa.

Electronic Skills Outcomes : BHCC

• Online Services – account, educational planning tools, BHCC email
• ePorfolio using BHCC Digication
• Career Inventory Assessment : Do What You Are
• Blackboard
• Library Online Database

LCS Outcomes

1. REFLECTION & EXPLORATION
2. GOAL SETTING & PROBLEM SOLVING
3. CRITICAL THINKING & INFORMATION LITERACY
4. COMMUNICATION
5. DIVERSITY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
6. INTEGRATION OF CONTENT

Course Requirements: 200 points

Attendance/ Workbook (15 class meetings ): 30 points

Reflective Essay # 1: Critical Reading and Writing : On Becoming Educated and Reflections on College Goals & Career plans: 20 points (Draft + Proof of Editing Help = 10 pts; Final = 10 pts)

Information Literacy Workshop: Annotated Bibliography on Current Trends /Topics in your field of interest/ discipline (Minimum 3 academic journal sources using APA format and annotation): 10 points

Integrated Assignment # 1 – Do What You Are (Career Inventory) And Psychology 101 (chpts 1-5): 25 points (Draft + Proof of Editing Help = 5 pts; LCS = 10 pts; Psychology 10pts)

Integrated Assignment # 2 – On Service Learning & Psychology 101 (chpts 6-11): 25 points (Draft + Proof of Editing Help = 5 pts; LCS = 10 pts; Psychology 10 pts)

Personality and Career Assessments Print Outs: 10 points

Completion of Educational Planning and Fall 2011 Registration: 10 points

Attendance in two student activity event (proof through pictures uploaded in Digication of your attendance): 10 points

ePorfolio : completion of all uploads & class presentation: 20 points

Exam – multiple choice (based on textbook): 40 points

ASSIGNED READINGS (to be distributed in class)

1. On Becoming Educated
2. The Truth About Grit by J. Lehrer
3. Self Discipline Outdoes IQ.. by A. Duckworth and M. Seligman
4. The Promise by C Wright Mills
5. Boston Massacre and Old State House Museum hand-out
6. From the American Century to the Global Century
7. Invitation to Sociology by Peter Berger
8. The Rennaisance in Dudley Street (DSNI) by Walljasper
9. Selected chapters from The Blank Slate by S. Pinker
10. NACIREMA by Horace Miner

LEARNING COMMUNITY SEMINAR 101-D / PSY 101

INTEGRATED ASSIGNMENT 2 – SERVICE LEARNING

A major requirement of the course is a community service activity. This semester one option is for members of the class to volunteer their time to work during the Boston Marathon. Other options through BHCC Community Engagement office will be available for those unable to attend this activity.

There are several outcomes to be explored with this volunteer activity requirement. The course theme of career exploration in the behavioral and social science specifically looking into personal motivations and social movements are to be addressed. Students who have the chance to volunteer with the marathon event will explore issues on personal motivations of marathon runner (and other sports), psychological issues faced by athletes, the field of sports psychology. Students doing volunteer work with other community organizations will explore the social issues being addressed by their chosen organization with the goal of understanding the role of groups in society that bring about social change.

A second outcome addressed by this activity will be critical thinking and information literacy. The BHCC library will conduct an Information Literacy Workshop where students will learn how to use library information system to find books, journal and newspaper articles that relate to their volunteer experience. The students will learn the APA – American Psychological Association styles guide in doing their annotated bibliography. The librarian, the faculty, student mentors will be at hand to help student evaluate the sources they are producing and collecting.

Students will also be encourage to evaluate and reflect pre- and post activity on their existing values on education and community engagement. Lastly, there will be an essay requirement that aims to integrate personal reflection on the volunteer experience as it relates to motivation and career goals. Students who volunteered during the Boston Marathon will focus on integrating psychology concepts covered in Psychology 101 and its relation to their personal observation and bibliographic sources from the library research findings.

Students who are volunteering with other community organizations will also focus on integrating psychology concepts covered in Psychology 101 and/or the article of C. Wright Mills on the role of sociology and history as well as bibliographic sources from library research. The focus will be on examining the role of groups (community organizations) in helping address social problems and issues and field of social psychology. The student’s personal experience on volunteering will also be explored in relation to their role within the community organization.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

(A) Community Service — Boston Marathon (April 18, 2011) or 8 hours volunteer work with community organization

(B) Integrated Assignment 2 – Forms A, B, C, D (with proof of writing tutor visit and rewrites for Form C)

DUE: Draft 5/2; Final 5/9

FORM A: Pre-Volunteer Activity

Boston Marathon – Boston Athletic Association or Name of Community Organization:

Business Address:

Community Organization’s website:

My Supervisor at the Community Organization will be (Full Name and Job Title):

My Personal Outcomes (Make a list below on what you consider as outcomes–things that you will get out of volunteering–write at least 5 objectives or outcomes from this activity):

FORM B: Community partner acknowledgement form (to be submitted only for volunteer work other than the Boston Marathon)

This is to acknowledge the completion of Mr/Ms. _____________________ volunteering with our organization for a minimum of 5 hours with our organization during the following date(s) and time:

The volunteer work involved the following activities within our organization (please list tasks/jobs to be assigned to volunteer) :

I understand that the volunteer is doing this as part of their Service Learning Project with Bunker Hill Community College, Boston MA.

Site Supervisor Name / Signature : ___________________________________

Organization/Agency: ___________________________________

FORM C: Service Learning Writing Assignment

Draft + Editing Help from TASC, Lang Lab or Writing Center = 5 points ( failure to submit draft + signed tutoring will result in deduction of 5 points).

The essay requirement aims to integrate personal reflection on the volunteer experience as it relates to motivation and career goals. Students who volunteered during the Boston Marathon will focus on integrating psychology concepts covered in Psychology 101 (chapters 5-11) and its relation to their personal observation and bibliographic sources from the library research findings.

Students who are volunteering with other community organizations will also integrate psychology concepts in relation to their personal observation and bibliographic sources as well as the article of C. Wright Mills, “The Promise” on the role of sociology and history (if applicable). The focus will be on examining the role of groups (community organizations) in helping address social problems and social psychological issues. The student’s personal experience on volunteering will also be explored in relation to their role within the community organization.

A. Give a detailed description of the work that your did (and/or continue to do), including a description of those with whom you worked, the actual activities you did, the organization’s goals for your work, its goals for you as an individual and its goal as an agency. What did you learn about the runners/ people with whom you cheered and encouraged (marathon) or worked or served (community organization)? In what ways has your service experience connect with your library research findings. Discuss how your research findings reflect, support, refute, critique your own service experience.

B. In what ways has your service learning placement made the course material relevant (or vice versa)? What core concepts or chapters in the psychology textbook were relevant? (Chapter 5-11) How were these concepts applicable to the runners you cheered and encouraged (marathon) or served in the community organization?

FORM D : Post- Activity Evaluation

How many service hours did you complete through this course assignment? _______

Where did you do your service learning assignment? __________________________

A. On my Personal Values On Education and Community

1. Has your goal of getting an college education been affected as a result of your volunteer experience ? How? If no, why has it remained the same?

2. What did it mean to you to do something for your community?

B. My Personal Outcomes

Given your list of 5 objectives or outcomes listed in Form B (Pre – Activity) :

1. Which of the outcomes were met? Why and how were they met?

2. Which outcomes were not accomplished? What factors or events led to this outcomes not being accomplished?

This course provides an introduction to mental health assessment of older adults with a service learning component.

Course Objectives:

• To arraign knowledge and experience using select assessments to evaluate mental health functioning in older adults.
• To obtain a basic understanding of mental health and ethical concerns in geriatric care.
• To learn about the services provided and mental health issues addressed by a community-based non-profit agency.
• To acquire experience with isolated or homebound elders by providing reassurance and safety telephone calls in a supervised environment.

Required Text:

J. J. Gallo, H. R. Bogner, T. Fulmer, G. J. Paveza (2006) Handbook of Geriatric Assessment. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Online Syllabus and Course Notes

The syllabus and selected notes for the class will be posted online through the University of South Florida BlackBoard system. To access the online syllabus and course notes, go to the My USF webpage (http://my.usf.edu). In order to log into My USF, you must get a Netid account. This is done from the welcome page and requires the identification number on your student id card. In addition to accessing course notes, you can also view your class grades, and send emails about course materials, etc. Course Requirements:

The course grade will be based on the following: Grading Scale:

• ElderNet Service Learning Project 35% A = 94 – 100
• Completion of Values History 15% A- = 90 – 93
• GDS/MMSE Reports 20% B + = 87 – 89
• Final Exam 30% B = 84 – 86
• B- = 80 – 83
• C+ = 77 – 79
• C = 74 – 76
• C- = 70 – 73
• D+ = 67 – 69
• D = 64 – 66
• D- = 60 – 63
• F = below 60

Course Outline:
Date Topic Chapter

Week 1 Course Overview, Service Learning 1, 3
1/15 Introduction to ElderNet and the Crisis Center

Week 2 ElderNet Training
1/22 NOTE: Class this week will be held at One Crisis Center Plaza, Tampa, Florida 33613 (located off of Bearss Avenue)

Week 3 Evaluating and Promoting Cognitive Health 10, 12
1/29 Functional and Behavioral Health 14, 18

Week 4 How to Understand a Neuropsychological Report Handouts
2/5 (Mood, Personality, Cognition)

Week 5 Assessment of Depression 8
2/12 Description of MMSE and GDS Assignment

Week 6 Assessment of Anxiety/Agitation 8
2/19

Week 7 Assessment of Expressive and Receptive Language 9
2/26 Dr. Kathryn Kieffer

Week 8 Assessment of Dementia/Delirium – Part I 7
3/5 (Class Presentations)

Week 9 No Class ******************************Spring Break
3/12

Week 10 Assessment of Dementia – Part II
3/19 GDS/MMSE PAPERS DUE/Class Presentations

Week 11 Screening and Assessment of Alcohol/Drug Problems Handouts
3/26 Dr. Larry Dupree

Week 12 Assessing Suicide Risk, Elder Abuse, and Violence 6
4/2

Week 13 Crisis Assessment and Intervention with Older Adults 2, 20
4/9

Week 14 Driving 4
4/16 Trail Making A & B (Materials supplied in class)

Week 15 Assessment of Capacity 5
4/23 Advance Directives, Competency Discuss Completed Values History on Pages 70 – 75

Week 16 Sleep, Sex, and Final Exam Review page 304
4/30 ELDERNET PAPERS DUE/ Class Presentations pages 339 – 340
5/7 Final Exam (30 multiple choice questions)

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS
1. ElderNet Service Learning Project
Students may elect to serve as an Elder Net telephone caller OR complete a needs assessment for ElderNet. ElderNet assignment options will be discussed in detail the first day of class. ASSIGNMENT OPTION 1: Students will be required to complete a minimum of one 4 hour time block each week at a set time agreed upon between the student and ElderNet staff. Students who provide ElderNet telephone calling services to older adults will be required to write a 2 to 3 page paper describing either their 1) most challenging experience with an ElderNet client and how they resolved or addressed the issue or 2) the most important thing they learned as an ElderNet caller. Students will be required to complete a minimum of one four-hour time block each week at a time agreed upon between the student and ElderNet staff. Students will also present their paper as a class presentation. ASSIGNMENT OPTION 2: Students will be required to conduct a needs assessment for ElderNet. The specific area to be assessed will be determined by ElderNet staff, but project will require a literature search, review of the literature, assessment of community needs, and interviews with key stakeholders. A 10 to 15 page paper will be written that includes a 1 page description of the problem, 1 to 2 page background statement, 1 to 2 page description of the public health significance, 1 to 2 pages description of the methods used to conduct the needs assessment, 2 to 3 pages of results, 4 to 7 pages of recommendations, and a 1 to 2 page conclusion. On the due date, your ElderNet paper must be submitted as a hardcopy in class.

2. GDS Administration and Report
Students will administer the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to two (2) people and write 1 brief report. The report should be 2 to 3 pages in length (1 to 1.5 pages per screened individual) and describe the administration process, items endorsed, interpretation of the cut score, and referral question. This assignment will be discussed in detail during the week four class. On the due date, your GDS paper must be submitted as a hardcopy in class.

3. MMSE Administration and Report
Students will administer the 30-item Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) to two (2) people and write 1 brief report. The report should be 2 to 3 pages in length (1 to 1.5 pages per screened individual) and describe the administration process, items failed, interpretation of the cut score, and referral question. This assignment will be discussed in detail during the week four class. On the due date, your MMSE paper must be submitted as a hardcopy in class.

4. Values History
Students will complete the Values History on pages 70 to 75 in the textbook. Students will discuss the importance of obtaining a values history when competing an advance directive.

USF Criteria for Service Learning:

• Collaborating with the Crisis Center to provide ElderNet support telephone calls will provide students with the opportunity to become knowledgeable of the community needs of older adults as well as the social services available to address their needs. This will also assist the community agency with providing a much needed service within their limited resource base.
• Through partnering with the ElderNet service, students will have the opportunity to interact with older adults, assess the psychosocial issues they face, and address some of the ethical issues that arise when working with older clients. At the start of the semester all students will receive 4 hours of training from ElderNet staff.
• Students will be required to complete either a 1) reflection assignment based on their experience as an ElderNet volunteer who makes weekly reassurance and safety telephone calls to community dwelling elders or 2) a research paper that addresses issues of importance to ElderNet services. If students volunteer at ElderNet, they will complete a reflection assignment. Students who choose not to volunteer will complete an alternative assignment designed to also benefit the ElderNet program.
• Volunteer students who make weekly telephone calls will be asked to complete a block of four hours of time at the ElderNet program each week. This is the standard time shift required weekly for volunteers.
• Student grades will reflect both their required coursework as well as their service-learning at the Crisis Center as outlined in the course syllabus grading requirements.

Work with Community Agency:

• The USF course Mental Health Assessment of Older Adults will work with the Crisis Center of Tampa to provide support calls to older adults through the ElderNet program.

Student Participation:

• Students will have the option to either volunteer four hours each week at the Crisis Center and write a reflection paper about their experience at the end of the semester or write a more comprehensive research paper that will contribute to the goals and mission of the Crisis Center.

This course offers a broad description and examination of the psychology of behavior at work, including the major theories, their applications in the work place, and research investigations of both. The course will examine job analysis, employee selection, employee training, the performance appraisal process, worker motivation, job satisfaction, worker stress, groups and teams, leadership, and human factors. A thorough understanding of social scientific research methods and current psychological research findings are emphasized.

This course requires a service-learning activity. Service-learning is an educational philosophy whose goal is to enhance student learning in a more profound and lasting way by having students engage in experiential learning in a real world context.

Other notable goals of service-learning include:

• Service-learning takes place in the context of charitable community development work or a social change project.
• Service-learning benefits the community and is directly linked to course curriculum, content, and goals, and it entails ongoing self reflection exercises through which students:
• Reflect on the social context of the learning process
• Analyze their own relationships to other people and the world
• Challenge their own assumptions about social problems and issues
• Cultivate a more committed sense of civic responsibility and ethical sense of personal agency.
• This course emphasizes critical thinking and inquiry
• Students who successfully complete all core requirements will have a solid understanding of the issues related to human behavior in the workplace, and the impact of organizations on work life. You will understand how individuals are assessed in organizations, trained, and how their behavior is analyzed. You will learn how to employ the tools associated with successful individual and organizational assessment, from the perspective of psychologists working in/for an organization.

The course is currently structures so you will be involved with Plant City High School (or other approved non-profit entity). You will engage in individual and organizational assessment to help students in the lower 25 percentile on standardized reading assessments to improve their scores. There are three components to this activity.

• Individual Analysis: Utilize focus groups and individual interviews to determine motivational status of each student.
• Organizational Analysis: Evaluate and assess organizational factors that enable or inhibit reading teachers from utilizing on-going testing feedback scores to target student improvement.
• Propose an organizational learning intervention to address the individual and organizational analysis findings from steps one and two.

PREREQUISITE: Introduction to Psychological Science (PSY 2012), Psychological Statistics (PSY 3204), Research Methods (PSY 3213)

REQUIRED TEXT
Spector, P. E. (2009). Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Behavior (5th edition). Wiley.

REQUIRED SOFTWARE
Elluminate Live! This is accessed through Backboard under communications.
Information regarding this software is available at the following web site:

http://www.elluminate.com/support/

All assignments must be uploaded via Blackboard AND a hard copy turned in by the beginning of class.

Follow instructions to test your access in Blackboard prior to the second class.

See the Elluminate live! web site for information and documentation.

Useful websites for the course material:
Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology: http://www.siop.org/
Training and Development: http://www.astd.org/
Occupational Information Network: http://online.onetcenter.org/

About this Course

The course consists of fully integrated parts: independent study, quizzes, lecture, exercises/projects, and exams. Please complete the assigned readings and obtain any relevant materials from the class web site prior to lectures and/or meetings as appropriate. If you are late or fail to attend a lecture you will not be able to make up a missed quiz or exercise. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to this policy. Grades will be based on unit examinations, reciprocal peer tutoring exercises, and out of class quizzes posted on Blackboard. Missing a lecture may prevent you from adequately learning material that will prepare you for taking unit exams. YOU are responsible for obtaining all materials and information presented during any class meeting for which you are not in attendance.

• Attendance is required for lectures and reciprocal peer tutoring. Failure to attend any meeting will incur substantial penalties.
• Cell phones may not be used during class (e.g., no texting).
• Lap top computers may not be used during class.
• Quizzes posted on Blackboard are due according to the schedule posted on the class calendar. Quizzes are timed and you have one attempt. Select a secure connection because once you start a quiz it must be completed. If your connection drops and you fail to complete the quiz, you will receive a zero for that quiz. The only exception to this is if you provide to me a note from academic computing stating there was an unplanned network outage.
• Do not contact academic computing and ask them to reset your quiz. They cannot reset a quiz, only I can and the only justification I will accept is a network outage impacting Blackboard.
• Recordings of any type (e.g., audio, video, photographic) during class are prohibited. If you make a recording of any type you will be referred to the USF Counsel General.
• Recordings that accommodate individual student needs must be approved in advance and may be used for personal use during the semester only; redistribution is prohibited. You must provide me a written note from the Office of Academic Support and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities approving and describing the type of accommodation.

Grading

Let me be very clear on grading. You start the class with zero points and must earn points to achieve a grade other than F.
Points are earned by taking: 1) Service-learning activities, 2) class exercises, and 3) quizzes on BlackBoard. It is important that you take all quizzes and complete all exercises.

When the class is over do not ask me if there is anything you can do to impact your grade. The answer is ‘NO’!

Attendance/Discussion Points: Attendance is mandatory as is participation in class discussions.

Make-up quizzes will NOT be given. If you are late for class in which a quiz has been given, you will receive a zero for that quiz or exam. Do NOT miss a quiz; if you do you will receive zero points for that quiz. Attendance is required and I reserve the right to shade your grade up or down depending on your contributions to class.

Service-learning

• This course requires you to spend time outside of class conducting I/O field research in the context of service-learning with a locally operating nonprofit organization concerned with issues related to industrial/organizational psychology.
• An arrangement currently exists with Plant City High School in Plant City for you to perform your service-learning. If this is impossible for you, contact me by the end of the first class to determine if another site is suitable.
• 15 service-learning hours are required during the semester. A suggested distribution is provided on the course calendar (below).
• Service-learning hours will be logged in Blackboard on a weekly basis. Each hour is worth 10 points for a total of 150 points (10% of your final grade).

I/O Fieldwork Journal Blog

• The purpose of the fieldwork journal blogs are for you to demonstrate how specific topics, issues, and aspects of industrial/organizational psychology that you learn about through service-learning can be understood psychologically by applying some aspect of relevant industrial/organizational psychological knowledge, construct, theory, or method you learned about through course content and readings.
• For the field work journal blogs you will
  • Record descriptive observations about the individual and organizational context in which you conduct your service-learning and research
  • You will write critical reflections about what you learn through interviews, focus observations, and training
  • Analyze the connections between what you learned during your field work activities and the weekly topics and assigned readings.
• Each student will submit 15 blogs during the semester. Blog entries are worth 20 points each, and are 30% of your final grade.

Deliverable to the Community Partner

• At the conclusion of your community based research project, your community partner will be expecting you to deliver a final product (or “deliverable”).
• Around the fourth week of your service-learning you should negotiate with your community partner about what you deliverable will be.
• Agree to a deliverable that is realistic and actually doable within a three month time span. Do not be overly ambitious and do not promise to ‘save their world’. If you work as a student group, you should be able to offer more than if you were working as an individual.
• Your deliverable may take a number of different forms or formats. For example, it may be an action plan, or require that your community partner continue some aspects of the project beyond the end of the semester. I will provide guidance on community partner deliverables throughout the semester.

Course Reflections Final Essay

• The final exam for this course is a self-reflection essay (4-5 double-spaced pages or 1000-1250 words)
• The objective of the final reflective essay are for you to review, summarize, and reflect on what you have learned about industrial/organizational psychology during the course of the semester by doing service-learning based field research.
• The final essay is therefor part course summary and part critical reflection, and its purpose is twofold:
  • It allows you to demonstrate that you comprehend the ‘big picture’ regarding industrial/organizational psychology and how it can be used to help both individuals and organizations.
  • It allows you to demonstrate that you can critically reflect on the significance of the contexts and processes involved in your own experiential learning.
• The course reflections final essay should include a short synopsis of the research findings from your service-learning fieldwork project and explain how what you learned though this course helped you arrive at those results and conclusions.

Reciprocal Peer Tutoring

You will be randomly assigned to work with another student throughout the term. There is to be no changing of partners. Before each exam you will meet, inside and outside of class, and complete certain structured assignments. There are four components to this process.

• Prior to each exam each student must prepare a multiple-choice “practice” exam of 30 items total. You should select an equal number from each chapter based on the information covered in the chapters for that exam. These items must be original; they cannot be taken from the chapter quizzes you will be taking on Blackboard. The exam is administered to your partner during a reciprocal peer tutoring meeting. Each student must also prepare an answer sheet with the right answer for each test item, along with a brief explanation of why the answer is correct. You will meet, take each other’s exams, and review and discuss the correct responses.
• Each student provides a brief constructive “critique” of your partner’s exam (confusing items? Too difficult? Etc.).
• All of these materials-completed practice exams, answer sheets, and test critiques – are to be submitted to me in hard copy and also are to be uploaded to Blackboard. Clearly identify and label the sections as follows:
  • Multiple choice questions
  • Answers to multiple choice questions
  • Critique/Feedback to your peer on his/her test

These are due no later than the start of class on the day indicated on the schedule. Failure to turn in these exercises on time will result in a zero.

• You are to turn in a printed copy to me in class AND upload it to Blackboard.
• Be sure to keep copies of all assignments to guard against loss.
• DO NOT email them to me or place assignments or projects in my mailbox as they will not be accepted.

Grading
The I-grade policy prohibits the assignment of an “incomplete” unless the student is passing the class and has only a small portion of the work to complete. University policies for “I” grades are clear. I can only grant “I” grades that meet the criteria.

This course uses the plus/minus grading policy. Course grades, at a minimum, will be determined as indicated in the table below.

PERCENTAGE LETTER GRADE
97 to 100 A+
94 to 97 A
90 to 94 A-
87 to 90 B+
84 to 87 B
80 to 84 B-
77 to 80 C+
74 to 77 C
70 to 74 C-
67 to 70 D+
64 to 67 D
60 to 64 D-
0 to 60 F

To avoid any omissions, the upper limit of a range must be equal to the lower limit of the range directly above. Thus a range of 87 to 90 includes all grades up to, but not including 90. The highest range, however, includes 100%.

Extra credit points earned during class will be added to the next exam score PRIOR to the score being posted on Blackboard. The score you see on Blackboard includes your test score AND earned extra credit points.

Course Point Allocation Scheme:

Points, Activity, Percent of final grade
150, Attendance and participation, 10
400, Blackboard quizzes, 20
200, Reciprocal Peer Tutoring, 10
150, Service-learning hours, 10
300, Fieldwork Journal blog, 30
250, Deliverable to Community Partner, 10
100, Course reflections final essay, 10

1550 points total 100 Percent