Course: Psyc 220, Section 03. Fall 2002. Dr. vom
Saal. CRN #723.
Catalog Description: PSYC 220. Introduction to Psychological
Research (4 s.h.). Introduces research
methods of psychology, with emphasis on conceptual problems in research,
experimental design, analysis, and interpretation of results. Students engage in all phases of the
research enterprise, including writing reports formatted according to the APA
(American Psychological Association) guidelines. (LA, CW, S). Prerequisites:
"C" or better in PSYC 100, and "C" or better in PSYC
110, and passed writing exam.
Class
meeting times: TuTh
10:00-11:40 AM, Fitzelle 103 318.
Final
examination: Thursday, 12/12/02, 8:00-10:30.
Do not register for this course if you cannot make the
final exam time!
Required Text: Smith, R. A., &
Davis, S. F. (2001). The
Psychologist as Detective: An Introduction to Conducting Research in Psychology. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall..
Instructor:
|
Walter vom Saal, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology 502 Fitzelle Hall State University of New
York, College at Oneonta Oneonta, NY 13820-4015 |
office phone: Psyc. dept. office: home phone: |
607-436-3704 607-436-3223 607-432-1316 |
|
e-mail: vomsaaw@oneonta.edu website:
www.oneonta.edu/faculty/vomsaaw |
||
Office hours: to be announced.
Reminder on Psychology Department policy: All Psychology majors should be aware that
Psychology Department policy now requires that course prerequisites be passed
with a grade of C or better. This means
that if you do not get a C or better in this course (i.e., if your get a C- or
below), you may not use this course to meet prerequisite requirements for other
Psychology Department courses, including the required 300-level courses that
are necessary to graduate with a major in psychology.
Course description: The
purposes of this course are:
- to help you learn the central concepts about how
research is conducted in psychology;
- to allow you to have a hands-on experience
designing and conducting research;
- to help you learn how to describe research to
others, both orally and through the formal written research report; and
- to help you become an "informed
consumer" of psychological research - that is, to be able to understand
and critically evaluate the research of others that you read or hear about.
To accomplish these goals, we will work as a class
to read and understand portions of a textbook on psychological research
methods, and we also will work as a class and in small teams to design and
carry out original research. We will
carry out at least one example of each of three kinds of research: a
naturalistic observation, a survey/questionnaire study that uses correlational
analysis, and a controlled experiment.
Each of you also will write a comprehensive APA-style report on research
you have conducted, and each of you will participate in a team that will give
an oral presentation in a mock research conference.
A word about the class structure: The class
will be designed to minimize lecturing and to maximize hands-on learning and
discovery. I will try to lecture as
little as possible, and to foster independent inquiry. That means students will be working in
teams, sharing written work, and making oral presentations. We will strive to create an atmosphere that
is supportive and non-critical, while at the same time giving helpful feedback.
Finally, students should note that this course, the course in Research Methods, is considered by most psychology departments to be perhaps the most important course in the major. It is a required course in virtually all psychology departments, as it is here at SUNY Oneonta. Beyond that, it a writing intensive course, and it is a four-credit course, which means it is expected to be 33% more work than a standard 3-credit course. I will expect you to consider this course the central focus of your academic experience this semester.
Course goals and meta-goals: The primary goal of the course
is to offer you the opportunity to learn basic information about research
methods in psychology as described above.
A secondary but important set of goals are what I term meta-goals, by
which I mean goals that go beyond the subject matter of this particular
course. My meta-goals for you include
learning the following skills: listening, note-taking, reading, and studying;
writing well (including correct grammar and spelling); becoming more
comfortable with and more proficient with numbers and numerical analysis;
thinking critically; challenging assumptions; reading and following
instructions; becoming aware of cultural variations; becoming aware of (and
sympathetic to) human weaknesses; and increasing your own personal
self-awareness. These may be evaluated
during quizzes, exams, or by other means and may form part of your grades.
Course Requirements and Grading:
Attendance policy: Students are expected to attend all
classes. If you miss a class, even
if excused, you are responsible for
finding out about any class announcements, including those about changed
requirements or due dates. If you miss
a class, please contact a classmate or the teaching assistant regarding
material you missed.
Final examination period: Final
examination times for all courses are printed in the college course
schedules. You should plan for these
when you register for a course. We will meet as a class during the final
examination period, and this will be an important class meeting that you will
be expected to attend. If this is not
acceptable to you, drop the course now.
Attendance and class participation: Much of the learning in this course will
occur in the classroom. There will be
class activities, in-class assignments, and homework assignments in preparation
for class. Attendance is expected at
all classes. A grade for class
attendance and participation will be assigned, based on attendance, homework,
and my judgment regarding the quality and quantity of involvement in class
activities and discussions. In order
for me to consider whether an absence may be excused, a written explanation
with documentation as appropriate must be submitted within one week of the
absence. Absence from the final exam
period counts as THREE absences.
Web page:
You are responsible for checking the course web page for announcements and
assignments. You should check the web
page on a regular basis as described in class.
To see the web page, go to: www.oneonta.edu/faculty/vomsaaw
OR go
to Oneonta home page, click Academics, click Academic Departments, click
Psychology, click Faculty, click Walter vom Saal home page.
In
order to get a C or better in this course, students must pass a Departmental
Core Concept Examination. This examination will be created and graded
by a team of faculty from the department (normally composed of several faculty
members who teach Psych 220). It will
cover a set of basic concepts in Research Methods that the departmental faculty
expect all students to know. We will
provide you with a list of these concepts near the beginning of the semester,
and refer to it frequently during the semester. It should be noted that this is not a standard examination graded
on a scale of A to E. This examination
tests basic core concepts that ALL students are expected to FULLY
UNDERSTAND. The exam will be
graded on a Pass/Fail basis, and a passing grade will be given only if students
know essentially 100% of the material on the examination.
The
Core Concept Examination will be given near the end of the course. It will be graded “blind” – that is, graders
will not know the name of the students when the exam is being graded. Students who do not pass the Core
Concept Examination cannot receive a grade higher than C- in the course.
Written quizzes and mini-examinations: There will be announced and unannounced
brief written quizzes. There will also
be several slightly longer mini-examinations that will be announced in advance. Some of the quizzes will not be graded, but
will serve only to give feedback to students.
Comprehensive final examination: There will be a comprehensive final
examination on the concepts covered in the course. Material covered will include all required reading in the text,
plus material from class lectures and discussions.
Written
work throughout the semester: There will be brief written in-class assignments and homework
assignments throughout the semester.
Group work: Much of the work in this class will be done
in pairs or small groups. You should be
prepared for group work, and understand that some portion of your grade for the
course will depend on the quality of work produced by the group or groups that
you work with.
Oral
presentations: Teams of two or
more students will be assigned to make class presentations on various concepts
throughout the semester.
Final
conference-style oral presentation: Student teams will give a
conference-style presentation of research they have carried out. There will be considerable coaching and discussion
about how to do this.
Final written APA report: Each student will spend
much of the last part of the semester preparing a comprehensive APA-format
written report of research he or she has conducted. Drafts of sections of the report will be submitted with an
opportunity for resubmission following feedback.
Additional options: Students desiring to replace or supplement
the standard course requirements or to submit additional evidence of learning
may submit a written proposal before the due date shown on the schedule of
dates. Proposals will not be accepted
past the due date. Approval of
proposals will be based on the quality of the written proposal (including
quality of presentation, neatness, style, grammar, etc.) and evidence that the
student is capable of independent work.
Grading procedure: The grade will be based roughly on the
following weightings:
|
course component: |
points: |
|
Departmental core concept examination. Must pass to get grade of C or above in
the course. Grade of 100% is expected
(see above). Contributes 15% to
course grade. |
15 |
|
written quizzes and mini examinations |
10 |
|
comprehensive final examination |
20 |
|
written in-class assignments and homework
assignments |
10 |
|
final conference style oral presentation |
10 |
|
final written APA report (including drafts) |
25 |
|
attendance and class participation (incl. oral
presentations throughout the semester) |
10 |
|
TOTAL… |
100 |
The
"points" shown for each component are a rough approximation of the
relative weightings to be given to various course requirements. The final course grade will be based on my
best overall professional judgment about how you performed in the course and
what you learned, and will not be bound by a rigid weighting of individual
components. In particular, unusually
good or unusually poor performance in any component may increase the weighting
of that component.
Grading
Scale:
|
Points to letter
grade: |
Letter grade to
points: |
||||||||||||
|
0.0 |
- |
59.9 |
=E |
80.0 |
- |
82.9 |
=B- |
|
E |
=0 |
|
B- |
=82 |
|
60.0 |
- |
62.9 |
=D- |
83.0 |
- |
86.9 |
=B |
|
D- |
=62 |
|
B |
=85 |
|
63.0 |
- |
66.9 |
=D |
87.0 |
- |
89.9 |
=B+ |
|
D |
=65 |
|
B+ |
=88 |
|
67.0 |
- |
69.9 |
=D+ |
90.0 |
- |
92.9 |
=A- |
|
D+ |
=68 |
|
A- |
=92 |
|
70.0 |
- |
72.9 |
=C- |
93.0 |
- |
96.9 |
=A |
|
C- |
=72 |
|
A |
=95 |
|
73.0 |
- |
76.9 |
=C |
97.0 |
- |
99.9 |
=A+ |
|
C |
=75 |
|
A+ |
=98 |
|
77.0 |
- |
79.9 |
=C+ |
|
|
|
|
|
C+ |
=78 |
|
|
|
Lateness policy: Except in the case of excused absences, late
homework assigned in preparation for specific classes will not be accepted and
will receive a failing grade; missed quizzes will receive a failing grade; and
all other work will receive a penalty of one letter grade for each calendar day
late. In the case of excused absences,
homework may be submitted late, quizzes will be omitted, and exams must be made
up or replaced with an alternative at the discretion of the instructor.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL WORK SUBMITTED: All work submitted for this course must be stapled (not paper-clipped) and must have the following information as high
as possible at the top of the first sheet:
|
Psyc
220/03 |
[Your
name] |
|
[Title
of project or requirement] |
[date] |
Failure
to follow this requirement will result in a grade penalty and return of your
work for correction and resubmission.
In
addition, I will expect you to keep a copy of everything you
submit, and also keep all drafts used in preparation for papers or other
work submitted. Back up your
computer files on a regular basis. This is an important habit to
develop. Loss of computer files will
not be an acceptable justification for failure to complete assignments on time.
PROOFREAD YOUR WORK! Papers returned with "C+R" written
on top mean you should correct errors and resubmit. Correct the errors by writing over the original; do not rewrite or retype the
whole paper. The grade for the work
will be “E” until the work is resubmitted with errors corrected.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
Related
documents:
SYLLABUS Part II: DATES. A list of tentative dates for covering the
material is available separately. Note,
however, that due to the highly experiential and interactive nature of this
course, we will not necessarily cover terms sequentially. This will be described further in class.
KEY
TERMS AND CONCEPTS. A list
of key terms is available separately, along with reference to appropriate
readings in the text.