Walter vom Saal   home page
fall 2005 courses

This is a copy of the material posted on Blackboard under Course Information as of 9/13/05:

GENERAL INFORMATION

Psyc 294/83: Positive Psychology

Note: this is new material posted 9/7/05. See below for a summary of the BlackBoard Discussion Forums

Structure of BlackBoard Discussion Board Forums

1. The following is from the syllabus:

Readings and activities. Each week we will:

- read one chapter in the text;

- read one (or possibly more) outside reading(s) and/or websites to look at; and

- carry out one activity that involves exploration of one of the issues under discussion in our own personal lives.

Participation in on-line discussion groups using BlackBoard. This course will have a significant on-line component. Each week every student must post three statements on line and three comments on other student's statement using BlackBoard. The mechanics of using BlackBoard, and more detailed requirements and guidelines for good posts, will be discussed in class. The required posts are:

- one post on the required text reading;

- one post on the required outside reading and/or website;

- one post on the activity;

- one comment on someone else's post on the required text reading;

- one comment on someone else's post on the required outside reading/website;

- one comment on someone else's post on the activity

The three initial posts are due Monday 8 am each week.

The three comments are due Wednesday 8 am each week.

Seminar planning and leadership. Each student will participate in two different student teams that will plan and lead two class discussions on chapter topics during the course of the semester. The instructor will provide guidance for how this is to be done. Responsibilities may include some or all of the following:

- select an appropriate outside reading and/or website for the topic;

- write up the class reading/website assignment along with possible thought or discussion questions;

- select an appropriate outside activity for the topic;

- assign other advance homework for that topic if appropriate;

- based on the above, post initial instructions on the topic for the BlackBoard discussion forums;

- plan discussion questions and activities for the day we have our class on that topic;

- lead the class on that topic;

- before or after the class, write an "executive summary" of the class BlackBoard discussion forums on the topic.

2. BlackBoard Discussion Board Forums: In order to do the above things, we will use the following BlackBoard discussion board forums:

a. For each chapter:

Chapter X text reading. This forum will include:

- Assignment: the standard assignment for each chapter is to read the entire chapter and reflect on it. In addition, either the leadership team and/or the instructor may post a specific assignment about pages or issues to focus on in the chapter.

- initial posts: reactions to and reflections on the text chapter.

- comments on other students' posts.

Chapter X activity. This forum will include:

- assignment by the leadership team regarding the activity to be done related to this chapter.

- initial posts: reactions to and reflections on the activity, and/or response to other questions posed by the leadership team regarding the activity.

- comments on other students' posts.

Chapter X outside reading. This forum will include:

- assignment by the leadership team regarding the outside reading to be done related to this chapter. (This could be a web reading, reading distributed in class, or reading put on either electronic reserve or regular reserve at the library).

- initial posts: reactions to and reflections on the outside reading.

- comments on other students' posts.

b. Additional forums for planning teams to use:

Planning team for Chapter 3

Planning team for Chapter 4

Planning team for Chapter 5

... etc....

Using BlackBoard along with the class website

This BlackBoard site will be used in conjunction with my website. There are two ways you can get to my website.

1. You can click here to go to my home page or click here to go directly to the course home page. If you use this route to get to my website, the website will open as a frame within BlackBoard.

2. You can open a second copy of Internet Explorer. (There is probably an icon for it at the bottom of your screen. If there isn't, click Start and see if it is available on the Start Menu. If it's not there, you can try clicking Windows/D [hold the Windows icon key at the bottom left of the keyboard and press D] to get to the desktop, then double-click the Internet Explorer icon if it's on the desktop. If none of these work, ask the person next to you in the computer lab and they might know yet another way to open a second copy of Internet Explorer!) After you have the second copy of Internet Explorer open, you can get to my website the regular way. For example, you can go to the Oneonta home page and choose a Quick Link to Faculty Web Pages. If it's easier for you, can can copy and paste the following url into the address bar in Internet Explorer and then click GO: http://employees.oneonta.edu/vomsaaw/

3. If you follow the procedure in (2) above, you can jump back and forth between the BlackBoard window and my website by using the Alt + Tab key (hold down Alt and press Tab one or more times, then let go). This is a handy way to jump back and forth between programs.

As of 8/22/05 I have posted a tentative syllabus and set of dates and topics on my website. These will be discussed in our first class on Wednesday, and they still may be modified. Please click the links above to see them.

updated 8/24/05