Syllabus

Most Recent Offering: 2006

View Course Schedule

Course Text   Grading Scale   Cheating and Plagiarism   Instructor Access

return to courses page

Advanced General Psychology is a special-topics course for upper-division majors studying psychology. It requires completion of all Core Requirements in Psychology as a pre-requisite or concurrent enrollment. Topical coverage in this course will typically include conceptual and historical foundations of all the topics normally covered in an Introductory Psychology course, but with emphasis placed on the landmark research, theories, and contributors.

Course Goals

As a result of this course, a successful student will be proficient in identifying appropriate taxonomy for describing the varieties of interest and subects of study in psychology as well as:

 

1) enduring psychological research examples and findings;

2) landmark research programs in psychology and the personal/social factors which gave them prominence;

3) the most influential articles and books in the history of psychology;

4) schools of thought and theories in psychology; and

5) influences of other disciplines on psychological research.

Students will recognize major researchers or theorists and will correctly associate them with their respective contributions, including their research methods and outcomes.

Textbook

All original article readings will be available on BlackBoard as pdfs...no Textbook used

Activities and Their Relevance to Evaluation

1. Classroom activities range from lectures and discussions to "thought" laboratory exercises and workshops. Students will study some of the historically significant research via articles and video archives, and may construct ³conceptual experiments² in various areas of the discipline. Such conceptual experiments may even culminate in simulated data and data analysis to illustrate the principles or phenomena being studied. One in-depth term paper and full-class oral presentation outlining an historically significant idea or trend will also be assigned.
2. Testing and Grading-- We will have three tests and a final of approximately equal value, with the total of the four accounting for approximately 80% of the total final grades. The other 20% will come from the term paper and presentation described above. All tests will be association, essay, and/or oral format. The grading is based on percentage of total points earned divided by total number of points available within the course, with percentages translating into letter grades as follows:

96-100 = A	92-93 = B+	84-86 = C+	71-72 = D+
94-95 = A-	89-91 = B	76-83 = C	67-70 = D
	87-88 = B-	73-75 = C-	65-66 = D-

Our Commitment to Students with Disabilities

Rollins College is committed to equal access and does not discriminate unlawfully against persons with disabilities in its policies, procedures, programs or employment processes. The College recognizes its obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to provide an environment that does not discriminate against persons with disabilities.

If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of academic accommodation in order to participate in this class, please make appropriate arrangements by contacting Lisa Marsh, CRC, Disability Services Coordinator, located in the Thomas P. Johnson Student Resource Center, (407) 646-2354, e-mail lmarsh@rollins.edu

The Honor Code and You

Honest (adj) –     1. Marked by or displaying integrity; upright

2. Not deceptive or fraudulent; genuine

3. Equitable; fair

4. a) Characterized by truth; not false / b) Sincere; frank

5. a) Of good repute; respectable / b) Without affectation; plain

6. Virtuous; chaste

Honor (n) – Principled uprightness of character; personal integrity

Integrity (n) – Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code

Virtue (n) – Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness

Responsible (adj) –     1. Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority

                            2. Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior

                              3. Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.

Definitions Quoted Directly from The American Heritage¬ Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Downloaded from www.dictionary.com on 8/17/06

The Honor Code is About a Culture of Integrity, Not About Rules:

As a student at Rollins College, you belong to a community where the members (i.e., students, faculty, and administration) have agreed to abide by an Academic Honor Code. Although this code includes rules, judicial processes, and sanctions for dishonesty, its primary purpose is not as a system of enforcement and punishment.  At its base, the Rollins College Academic Honor Code recognizes that you are a responsible individual embodying the characteristics of honesty, honor, integrity, and virtue. Because you are this type of individual, we are proud to have you as a member of our community. The Honor Code is not about being a good student, it is about being a good person. We trust that you are a good person and hope that you will never violate this trust.

As an individual of honesty, honor, integrity and virtue, we acknowledge that you would never engage in acts of plagiarism, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, fabrication, or lying, nor would you submit work prepared for another course for a current assignment without the professor's permission, facilitate academic dishonesty, or violate testing conditions (see definitions below). We also acknowledge that, as a responsible style='font-size:10.0pt'> member of your community, you would feel obligated to report an honor code violation if you had knowledge of one occurring.

If you do not think that you can live up to these expectations, if you are not fully committed to the principles of the honor code, or if you simply believe that this whole policy is unrealistic and nonsensical, you do not belong at Rollins College – we wish you well, but please find another school that is better suited to your world view.

 

Definitions from the Rollins College Academic Honor Code:

 

1.   PLAGIARISM.  Offering the words, facts, or ideas of another person as your own in any academic exercise. 

 

2.   CHEATING.  Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in an academic exercise.  This includes sharing knowledge of previously administered or current tests.  The keeping of tests, papers, and other assignments belonging to former students is prohibited.  Use of external assistance (e.g., books, notes, calculators, conversations with others) in completing an "in class" or "take home" examination, unless specifically authorized by the instructor, is prohibited.

 

3.   UNAUTHORIZED COLLABORATION.  Collaboration, without specific authorization by the instructor, on homework assignments, lab reports, exam preparations, research projects, take home exams, essays, or other work for which you will receive academic credit.

4.   SUBMISSION OF WORK PREPARED FOR ANOTHER COURSE.  Turning in the same work, in whole or in part, to two or more instructors, without the consent of the instructors in both courses.

 

5.   FABRICATION.  Misrepresenting, mishandling, or falsifying information in an academic exercise.  For example, creating false information for a bibliography, inventing data for a laboratory assignment, or representing a quotation from a secondary source (such as a book review or a textbook) as if it were a primary source.

 

6.   FACILITATING ACADEMIC DISHONESTY.  Helping another student commit an act of academic dishonesty.

 

7.   VIOLATION OF TESTING CONDITIONS.  Looking at other studentsÍ answers, allowing other students to look at your test, and working past allotted time are just a few examples where test conditions may be considered to be violated.

 

8.   LYING.  Lying is the making of a statement that one knows to be false with the intent to deceive.   It includes actions such as (a) lying to faculty, administrators, or staff; (b) falsifying any college document or record by mutilation, addition, deletion, or forgery; or (c) lying to a member of the Honor Council or judicial affairs officer.

 

9.   FAILURE TO REPORT AN HONOR CODE VIOLATION.  Failure to report occurs when a student has knowledge of or is witness to an act in violation of the Academic Honor Code and does not report it within five class days.

 

Honor Code Statement

Membership in the student body of Rollins College carries with it an obligation, and requires a commitment, to act with honor in all things. Because academic integrity is fundamental to the pursuit of knowledge and truth and is the heart of the academic life of Rollins College, it is the responsibility of all members of the College community to practice it and to report apparent violations.

The following pledge is a binding commitment by the students of Rollins College:

The development of the virtues of Honor and Integrity are integral to a Rollins College education and to membership in the Rollins College community.  Therefore, I, a student of Rollins College, pledge to show my commitment to these virtues by abstaining from any lying, cheating, or plagiarism in my academic endeavors and by behaving responsibly, respectfully and honorably in my social life and in my relationships with others.

This pledge is reinforced every time a student submits work for academic credit as his/her own. Students shall add to all papers, quizzes, tests, lab reports, etc., the following handwritten abbreviated pledge followed by their signature:

"On my honor, I have not given, nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this work."

Material submitted electronically should contain the pledge; submission implies signing the pledge.

Discalimers

This Syllabus is a projection of my best intentions in conducting this course, and circumstances almost always arise which require some alterations of goals, content, assignments or schedule. I, therefore, reserve the right to change any element of this Syllabus at any time by a simple verbal announcement of these changes during class.