Syllabus for Psyc 220, Spring 2005

Walter vom Saal

SYLLABUS Part I: Requirements and General Information

Course: Psyc 220, Section 03. Spring 2005. Dr. vom Saal. CRN #803.

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 have passed the college writing exam.

Class meeting times: TuTh 10:00 - 11:40 am, Fitzelle 218 219.

Final examination: Thursday, 5/12/05, 8:00 - 10:30 am.

Do not register for this course if you cannot make the final exam time!

Required Text: Graveter, F. J., & Forzano, L. B.(2003). Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. In addition, since the class website will be heavily used throughout this course, students also should plan for expenses associated with printing material from the website, including the syllabus and dates, demonstrations, study guides, homework assignments, handouts, materials for research projects, and other materials.

Instructor:

Office hours are posted on the home page of my website.

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 you get a C- or below in this course, 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. 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 at 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.

For this course in particular, several of the above items are especially relevant, and each of them will be evaluated in quizzes, homework, and/or exams: proficiency in writing; knowledge and correct use of spelling and grammar; and proficiency with numbers and numerical analysis. I will offer specific guidelines and assistance in these areas during the course.

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. If you cannot attend the final examination for this course at the scheduled time, 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 appropriate documentation 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: http://employees.oneonta.edu/vomsaaw; OR
-- go to Oneonta home page, click Academics, click Faculty Web Pages, scroll down to Psychology, click Walter vom Saal; OR
-- do a Google search for Walter vom Saal (spelled correctly!)

Because this course will include information and assignments presented on my website, you should be prepared to print material from the web, and you should anticipate that there may be expenses associated with that printing.

Departmental Core Concept Examination:

The Psychology Department requires that all students in Psyc 220 master a set of core concepts, in order to receive a grade of C or better in the course. As described above, a grade of C or better in Psyc 220 is a prerequisite for admittance to any 300-level Psychology course, and thus, is required for completion of the major.

Three versions of a multiple-choice core concept exam have been prepared by the department: a practice test, the Core Concept Examination I, and a “second chance” test, the Core Concept Examination II. The criterion for “mastery” on each of these tests is determined by a department committee and is approximately 90% correct answers.

The practice test will be given in class on the date shown on the class dates sheet. Upon completion, it will be graded and discussed.

The Core Concept Examination I will be given in class the date shown on the class dates sheet. Students who achieve mastery on this test will receive the grade they have earned in the course by virtue of their performance on all course components as stipulated in the Course Outline. Students who fail to achieve mastery on this test will be required to take the Core Concept Examination II.

The Core Concept Examination II will be given during the final examination period. Students who achieve mastery will receive the grade they earned in the course by virtue of their performance on all course components as stipulated in the Course Outline. Students who fail to achieve mastery on this examination will receive a grade in the course no higher than C-.

Written quizzes: There will be announced and unannounced brief written quizzes throughout the semester.

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 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.

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.

Final conference-style oral presentation: Student teams will give a conference-style presentation of research they have carried out. There will be coaching and discussion about how to do this.

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:

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:

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:

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! Materials submitted should be high in quality. Read the handout on Guidelines for Writing Papers and the handout on Writing and Grammar, and be sure your written work follows those guidelines. If a paper returned to you has "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.

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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, and there may be adjustments in these dates. You are responsible for any changes announced in class.

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS. A list of key terms is available separately. This list includes many of the major concepts to be covered in the course, and all of the required concepts for the Departmental Core Concepts Examination.

1/19/05