Course Syllabus
3 Units
Instructor: Joanna Aguirre, M.S. Psy., M.F.T.
Spring 2013
Email: joannaaguirre@rocketmail.com
323-780-6809
Section # 7856 Wednesday 3:10 p.m. - 6: 20 p.m. Room: TBA
Office hours: Wednesday 6: 20 p.m. - 6: 50 p.m. Room: TBA
ELAC Official Course Description/Objective:
“This course explores the scientific principles of psychology, and
applies scientific research to aid the student in understanding the development
of personality and the achievement of a fulfilling life style. Insight is acquired into emotional
patterns, mental health and illness, human relationships, the functioning of
intelligence, learning, problem solving, motivation, and the physiological
basis of behavior.” (ELAC General Catalog).
General
Education Student Learning Objective: "The student will
be able to apply critical thinking methods to the ways that individuals or
societies behave or have behaved, in a particular situation, event, or series
of events, within their own or among other societies."
Student Learning Objectives:
SLO
1: Explain
the steps of the scientific method and how it helps distinguish science from
pseudoscience.
SLO
2: Explain
the major divisions of the nervous system and their basic functions.
SLO 3: Assess
the strengths and weaknesses of Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning,
and Observational Learning.
SLO 4: Identify
and evaluate the major theories of personality and demonstrate how each has
played a role in your life.
Requirements:
Text: Exploring
Psychology by David Myers Eighth Edition ©2011
ISBN-10: 1-4292-1635-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-4292-1635-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-4292-1635-7
Pop quizzes: 4 unwrinkled
scantrons FORM NO. 882-E and a #2 pencil
Daily: Printed
class notes (obtained on ACE)
1
larger Blue Book
Expectations:
Having a college education assists us in developing and
maintaining critical thinking skills. The college experience should nurture,
encourage, and support you as a student to exercise critical thinking as you apply
academic knowledge into practice.
As the instructor, I will encourage critical thinking based
discussions around the self, family, work, politics, neighborhood and worldly
issues as they relate to Psychology.
I encourage the class to be a safe space to discuss your life
experiences as they connect to Psychological theories.
The expectation placed on students is to share their knowledge and
experiences, participate in group activities (i.e. in class assignments and council),
discussions, brainstorming, and to proactively study the material before and
after coming to class. In other words, I will clarify and teach psychological
theory, and you will teach the class about your knowledge and experiences as
you integrate your life and worldly experience with ideas learned in this
Psychology course.
I expect students to be respectful toward one another, as well as
to the process of council. More
information about council will be provided on ACE.
This class
focuses on communal learning, group projects and a great deal of social interaction.
The goal is to help you develop a strong academic community as you learn useful
theories in Psychology. As your Instructor, I hope to facilitate a deeper
understanding of the world, society, culture, family, and yourself. The class
will consist of several activities that focus on use of internet, small group
discussions, class discussion and interactive exercises. I believe learning can be a pleasurable
experience, and aim at creating a class culture that encourages this positivity.
Expect to have tons of fun while learning about Psychology, yourself and your
fellow students.
Please be
advised. I am a mandated reporter when teaching to students under the age of
18. Therefore, if I hear about or suspect a student who may be currently
experiencing abuse (be it emotional, physical, neglect, or witnessing domestic
violence), I am legally required to make a report to the Department of Children
and Family Services.
Blog: Please print your class notes, and bring to class weekly. They
are available at http://elacpsychology.blogspot.com/
Keeping in touch with me: I
encourage you to drop by during my office hours if you have any questions about
the readings or other assignments. The best way to contact me is through
my email address listed at the beginning of this syllabus. I check my email
frequently, and will get back to you as soon as possible. I don not check email
late at night, so if you email me at 10 pm or midnight, I will not respond
until sometime the next day. When you
send me emails, be sure to include your ENTIRE NAME, the course name (e.g. ELAC
Psych 1 @ 3 p.m.) in the subject heading—I will not receive them unless this is
in the subject heading. Always include this if you want me to respond.
Assignments & Exams (refer to course
schedule for due dates):
Pop quizzes: There will be four
non-cumulative pop quizzes consisting of approximately 10-20 questions (these
questions may consist of a mix of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and/or
short essay questions). Each quiz
is worth 10 points. The quiz will be given at the beginning of class. PLEASE
ARRIVE EARLY! You will have 15 minutes to complete each quiz. You Instructor will usually give you an advanced
notice before a pop quiz is given.
Make-up
Quizzes: No make-up
quizzes will be given for unexcused absences. Excused absences will require
appropriate documentation that clearly indicates the reason(s) you were unable
to take the quiz at the scheduled time (e.g., note from emergency room, car
accident report). You must inform your
Instructor about missing a quiz on the date of, the day before or the day after
the quiz. Documentation needs to include
your doctor’s contact information, which will be used to verify your absence.
Make-up quizzes will be different than the missed quiz and must be taken the
following class session; unless the instructor has predetermined a
different day and time for the make up quiz. Failure to follow these procedures
will result in a “0” on the quiz.
Psychology Video Project: This will be a group project consisting
of your council group members. The presentation should total to 6-12 minutes. Each group will create a video
production regarding a Psychological Theory or 3 - 5 psychological ideas, which
will be assigned to your group by your instructor. Students will be creative and develop a skit,
dance, rap, or role-play situation and demonstrate “mastery” as they
demonstrate full competence of the psychological concept via their video
production.
The goal here is to:
A) Clearly define the Psychological theory
and/or idea as the book does (use proper APA citation and spelling).
B) Teach it to your audience as if they
have never learnt this idea.
C) Provide an accurate, clear, creative
and entertaining example of the idea. Please ensure that we do not perpetuate
racist, classist, sexist, and/pr heterosexist ideas. This video should be
consciousness raising - we will perpetuate positive psychology!
In addition, after the
video is shown in class, each group member may be asked to speak about
discussing strengths and weaknesses of their production and demonstrate full
and accurate understanding of their chosen concept.
Be as creative and
professional as possible! It is
recommended that each file be saved to a flash drive, a windows media file,
DVD, or equivalent. Please provide me with a DVD with your groups Video Project
saved onto it on the day your group presents. Each group should test their
video ahead of time to make sure it plays and has sound. All group members should arrive on time
and ready to present!
Psychology Video Projects will be graded on of 0 (low) – 5 (high) for
each areas totaling up to 50 points::
1. quality of video
2. effort
3. teamwork/group cohesion
4. creativity
5. subject mastery & delivery
6. completeness
7. accuracy of concepts
8. consciousness
raising
9. staying within time
10. students self grading
Council Group: There will be 10
council group meetings, and a blue book assignment, totaling to 50 points.
There is no possible way to make-up a council experience. If you were absent on
the day of council, you will not earn points for that missed council. However, if you are absent on the day a
council is held, you will be allowed up to one excused absence with proper
medical documentation. You must provide proper excused absence documentation is
turned in to your instructor within a week of missed class session. Failure
to follow these procedures will result in a “0” on this assignment.
Total breakdown of points:
40 points 4
non-cumulative quizzes
5 points TBA
assignment
5 points TBA
assignment
50 points Video
Project
50 points Council
participation
= 150 points
Grading:
A = 89-100% B
= 77-88% C
= 65-76% D
= 53-64% F
= 52% and lower
Policies:
Attendance: Students are
expected to attend class and be on time.
If a student misses 2 or more class, he/she is risking being dropped
from the class by the instructor. Students must speak with Instructor if issues
with attendance and timeliness become an issue.
ELAC’s Official Policy on Academic Honesty
Students are expected to refrain from engaging in
the following behaviors:
1. Using, receiving, or providing unauthorized information
during tests or on any written assignments.
2. Changing answers on assignments after work has been
graded.
3. Using unauthorized electronic devices, such as cell
phones, PDAs, electronic dictionaries, IPODs, etc.
4. Having another student take an examination for you or
taking an examination for another student. Photo identification may be required
at the first examination.
5. Plagiarizing or presenting someone else’s work as your
own.
6. Forging or altering registration documents, grades, or add
permits.
7. Bribing or attempting to bribe an instructor or other
college official for grade consideration or other special favors.
8. Violating any other standard that an instructor identifies
as cheating in that particular course or subject area.
When there
is evidence of academic dishonesty, the instructor may issue the student a zero
or “F” on that particular assignment or test. The instructor may also initiate
student discipline. Any student concerned about the implementation of this
policy should review the College Catalog Student Information, where he/she will
find references to the Student Grievance Procedure and relevant Board Rules.
Student Resources at
ELAC
A major part of your ability to do well and
succeed in this class, and in all your classes at East Los Angeles College, is
to be aware of and make use of all the resources available to you as students.
The ELAC website (http://www.elac.edu/) is a great place to get information on
all the support, academic counseling, financial assistance, student health
center, and other help available to you. More information on all of these
programs is available on the ELAC website.
Course Schedule:
Chapter Topic Assignment
Due
1 Thinking
Critically With
Psychological Science
15 Social
Psychology Quiz
#1
2 The
Biology of Mind Quiz
#2
12 Personality Quiz
#3
7 Learning
Quiz
#4
10 Motivation
(Focus on sexuality) Group
Video Project due:
Wednesday
3 Consciousness Final
– in class assignment Bring
Blue book
Thursday
May 29, 2013
3:10
p.m. – 5:10 p.m.
Final Exam Schedule:
http://www.elac.edu/schedules/2013/spring/FinalExamSchedule.pdf
*No class: Spring Break March 29, 2013 –
April 5, 2013
*Please be
advised; syllabi changes may be made during the span of this course. Students will be notified during class,
at which point it is the student’s responsibility to make changes to his/her
syllabi.
**I look forward
to facilitate critical thought, mindfulness, and positivity! J
