NOTE: There may be adjustments and changes in this syllabus. You are responsible for any changes announced in class (even if you miss a class for an excused absence).
[Please note that this syllabus has been prepared for my website (noted below) and contains links to other handouts on the website. These handouts are indicated in boldface italics. To see the handouts, click on the links at the end of this document or go to the website and find the list of handouts for this course.]
Catalog number and title: Psyc 345. Psychology of Adulthood and Aging. Spring 2003. Dr. vom Saal.
Catalog Description: The study of adult development and change, with particular focus on the last third of life. Topics include challenges and changes in the areas of biology, cognition, memory, work and leisure, personality, mental health, families, and relationships.
Class meeting times and CRN numbers for each section:
Section 01 (CRN 1118): TuTh 8:30am - 9:45am, Fitzelle 319. Final examination period: Tues May 13, 8:00am - 10:30am.
Section 02 (CRN 1119): TuTh 12:00 noon - 1:15pm, Fitzelle 310. Final examination period: Thu May 8, 2:00pm - 4:30pm.
Do not register for this course if you cannot make the final exam time!
Required Texts:
Hayslip, B. & Panek, P. E. (2002). Adult Development and Aging (3d edition). Malabar, FL: Krieger.
Albom, M. (1997), Tuesdays with Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson. New York: Doubleday (OR Broadway books paperback edition).
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: 607-436-3704 Psyc. dept. office: 607-436-3223 e-mail: vomsaaw@oneonta.edu Office hours: MW 1:15-2:45 additional hours by appointment. |
| Website: http://employees.oneonta.edu/vomsaaw |
|
Prerequisites. Psychology Department policy now requires that course prerequisites be passed with a grade of C or better. Prerequisites for this course are Psyc 100, Psyc 240 or equivalent, and Psyc 220 (except for majors in Adulthood and Aging or Child and Family Studies) or instructor's permission. If you do not meet the prerequisite requirement for the course you must drop the course or get a written exemption from the instructor. If you do not do this, you may be dropped involuntarily from the course at a later time.
Final examination period. The final examination period is a required class meeting. Final exam times for each course are printed in the college course schedules. You should plan for these when you register for a course, so there should never be a need to request adjustments or changes in final exam times for any course! In this course I will make no adjustments in final exam times except for truly unpredictable emergencies. If this is not acceptable to you, drop the course now.
Attendance policy: Students are expected to attend all classes. If you miss a class, even for an excused absence, you are responsible for finding out about any class announcements, including those about changed requirements or due dates.
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; 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, and exams must be made up or replaced with an alternative at the discretion of the instructor.
Course goals and meta-goals: The primary goal of the course is to offer you the opportunity to learn basic information about adulthood and aging as described in the catalog description. Another 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: writing well (including correct grammar and spelling); thinking critically; challenging assumptions; reading and following instructions; developing listening skills, note-taking skills, reading skills, and study skills; becoming aware of cultural variations; becoming aware of (and sympathetic to) human weaknesses; and increasing your own personal self-awareness. Any or all of these may be evaluated during quizzes, exams, or by other means and may form part of your course grade.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:
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 plus the instructor’s judgment regarding the quality and quantity of involvement in class activities and discussions. In order for the instructor 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.
Exams: There are two examinations. See the Schedule of Topics for dates. See the Reading Guidelines and Schedule of Readings [not yet available] for material to be covered on each examination. Exams will include material drawn from the text and lectures.
Facility Visit and Report. Visit one living facility or agency for the elderly and submit a one- or two-page Facility Visit Report based on the handout on Questions about Living Facilities and Agencies. As part of your visit, meet with a representative of the facility or agency to find out about it, using the handout as a guide. The facility you visit can be the one where you conduct your interviews, but to avoid having too many students interview the same person, I encourage you to visit a living facility or agency in your home community.
Soup Kitchen Activity and Soup Kitchen Report. Volunteer to spend one afternoon or evening at a local soup kitchen in Oneonta or in your home community. Write a Soup Kitchen Report.
Website reviews: Each student must prepare reviews of 2 websites related to aging, using the format described in the handout on Website Review Form and Guidelines.
Event attendance. During the semester students are expected to attend two on-campus or off-campus events relevant to the course, such as lectures, presentations, or relevant films (no more than one may be a movie). For each, submit an Event Attendance Report as described on the website, and be prepared to describe the event in class if requested. One additional event may be attended and reported for extra credit. Click here for possible on-campus events.
Interview and Interview Report. Conduct three interviews with a single person aged 60 years or older. This can be a relative, but only with my permission. Guidelines for interviews will be discussed in class. Write a five to ten page Interview Report and Reflection Paper that describes your interviews, summarizes your other experiential learning in the class, integrates your experiences with course concepts, and reflects on what you have learned about both course concepts and yourself.
Group presentation: Each student must participate in one group presentation during the last four weeks of the semester. Detailed requirements for group presentations and criteria for grading will be described in class and distributed during the presentation planning process. The initial expectation is that there will be approximately 6 groups of four or five students each, making group presentations for one class period each. Topics will be selected by the class.
Reaction paper on Tuesdays with Morrie. Read this book and write a reaction paper on it based on guidelines given in class.
Homework: occasional homework assignments will be given. Since these will be in preparation for class discussion, late homework will not be accepted except for official approved absences.
Oral presentations. There may be oral presentations regarding your soup kitchen experience, your agency visit, and/or your interviews. Each student must be prepared to present a brief oral report to classmates about these activities.
Class participation: Students who engage actively in class discussion and class activities may be awarded extra credit at the discretion of the instructor. Quality of contributions, including fostering an atmosphere that facilitates further productive discussion, is critical.
Optional study cards: Students may earn credit by preparing study cards for each examination as described in class. Bring the study cards to each examination.
Optional study partner project: Students are urged to study with a study partner and may earn credit for doing this. To get full credit, meet at least 6 times with a study partner and submit 6 separate one-page reports, one on each meeting. Ideally 3 meetings will be in preparation for the first exam and three for the second exam. Each report must state who met, when and where you met, what you did, and it was helpful. Each report must be submitted within one week of the meeting, and meetings must be spread across at least two different weeks.
Additional options: Students desiring to replace or supplement the above requirements or to submit additional evidence of learning may submit a written proposal before the due date shown on the topic outline. 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.
| 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 |
Grading procedure: The grade will be based roughly on the following weightings.
| Course component | points | date due |
| Exam #1 |
30 pts |
Thu 2/20 |
| Exam #2 |
30 pts |
Thu 4/3 |
| Facility visit report |
3 pts |
Thu 3/13 |
| (First interview must be completed by:) | Thu 3/20 | |
| Soup kitchen report | 3 pts | Thu 3/27 |
| Website reviews (two reviews, 1 point each) | 2 pts | Tues 4/15 |
| Event attendance reports (two events, one point each) | 2 pts | Tues 4/29 |
| Interview report and reflection paper | 8 pts | Tues 4/22 |
| Group presentation at end of course | 12 pts | 4/17 - 5/6 |
| Reaction paper on Tuesdays with Morrie | 2 pts | Tues 5/6 |
| Homework assignments: total of 3 points if all assignments are submitted by the due dates and graded “acceptable.” | 3 pts | various |
| Oral presentations: oral presentation on facility visit oral presentation on soup kitchen visit first oral presentation on initial interview(s) final oral presentation on all interviews |
(points are included below) |
Thu 3/13 Thu 3/27 Thu 3/20 Tues 4/15 |
| Attendance and class participation |
5 pts |
|
| TOTAL: |
100 pts |
|
| Optional extra credit: 2 points for submission of study cards as described in class. |
||
| Optional extra credit: 2 points for study partner project. |
||
Note: The "points" shown above for each component are only 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.
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 345/01 (or Psyc 345/02) [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, keep all returned work, and also keep all drafts used in preparation for papers or other work submitted.
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.
CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, AND COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS:
I will try to post major announcements on the website under “ANNOUNCEMENTS.” However, I am not always able to do that. For this reason, you must make arrangements to find out about any announcements in classes you miss, as described above and in the first class of the semester.
LINKS TO RELATED DOCUMENTS:
See the separate handout with the planned Schedule of Topics. The schedule may be changed as the semester progresses. Changes will be announced in class and MAY also be posted on the website. You are responsible for changes announced in class, even if you are not present.
See the separate handout with the preliminary Reading Guidelines and Schedule of Readings [not yet available]. The readings required and the due dates for readings may be changed as the semester progresses. Changes will be announced in class and MAY also be posted on the website. You are responsible for changes announced in class, even if you are not present.
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS CITED ABOVE:
Questions about Agencies and Living Facilities
link to SUNY Oneonta on-campus events.