Syllabus

UNE Summer Session

PSYO 1010 Introduction to Psychology – 6 weeks

Credits - 3

Description

PSYO 1010 provides a general introduction to the concepts and theories of psychology. Emphasis will be placed on thinking critically about psychology and applying its principles to life situations. Classical approaches will be tied in with current research to provide a holistic understanding of human behaviors.

Materials

Textbook

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/

Hardware

An external webcam is required for proctored exams. If you do not have one, you may order one here: External Webcam.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

  • Evaluate basic psychological research
  • Identify how ethics, cultural and social diversity, variations in human functioning, and real-world application impact basic concepts of psychology
  • Draw logical, well-grounded conclusions about behavior and mental processes from empirical evidence
  • Evaluate misconceptions or erroneous behavioral claims based on evidence from psychological science
  • Apply psychological principles to personal, social, and professional life

Assignments

Students will engage with the course concepts via discussions, weekly papers, and practice knowledge checks. The final assessment will also include a proctored exam.

Discussions: students will respond to prompts related to the weekly topic through an initial post and responses to two peers.

Papers include

  • Thinking Critically About Social Media
  • How Social Media Affects the Brain
  • Application of Lifespan Development Theories
  • Applying Social Psychology: Create an Anti-Vaping Campaign
  • Applying Personality Theory – Criminal Analysis
  • Diagnosis and Treatment of a Mental Disorder

Weekly Knowledge Checks are ungraded practice quizzes, allowing students to check their understanding of course concepts that will be assessed in the final exam. 

Final Proctored Exam: this is an 80-item, multiple-choice exam. Students will have 90 minutes and 2 attempts to complete the exam. This exam will allow 1 page of notes, front, and back. See UNE’s ProctorU page for information about signing up and scheduling your exam.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

WeekAssignmentPoints
1Intro Discussion4
1Paper – Thinking Critically About Psychology8
1Discussion4
2Brain Worksheet4
2Discussion4
2Paper – Social Media and the Brain8
3Discussion4
3Paper – Application of Lifespan Theories8
4Discussion4
4Paper - Anti-Vaping Campaign8
5Discussion4
5Paper –  Applying Personality Theory6
6Discussion4
6Paper – Diagnosing and Treating Mental Illness10
6Final Exam20
Total100

Schedule

Week Topic Assignments Due Dates
1 What is Psychology?

Discussion 1: Introductions

Discussion 2: What is Psychology and How is it Used?

Paper: Thinking Critically About Psychology 

Knowledge Check 1 (ungraded): practice for Final Exam

Practice Proctored Test

Initial Post – Thursday, 11:59pm ET

Response Posts – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

Assignments – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

2 Biology of Behaviors and the Conscious Mind

Discussion: What is Consciousness?

Paper: How Social Media Affects the Brain

Worksheet: Functions of the Brain

Knowledge Check 2 (ungraded): practice for the Final Exam

Initial Post – Thursday 11:59pm ET

Response Posts – Sunday 11:59pm ET

Assignments – Sunday 11:59pm ET

3 Developmental Psychology and Learning

Discussion: What are the Impacts of Social Media?

Paper: Application of Lifespan Development Theories

Knowledge Check 3 (ungraded): practice for the Final Exam

 

Initial Post – Thursday, 11:59pm ET

Response Posts – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

Assignments – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

4 Social Psychology

Discussion: How Does the Presence of Others Influence Behaviors?

Paper: Applying Social Psychology- Create an Anti-Vaping Campaign

Knowledge Check 4 (ungraded): practice for the Final Exam

Initial Post – Thursday, 11:59pm ET

Response Posts – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

Assignments – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

5 Psychology of Personality

Discussion: Personality Tests

Paper: Applying Personality Theory – Criminal Analysis

Knowledge Check 5 (ungraded): practice for the Final Exam

Initial Post – Thursday, 11:59pm ET

Response Posts – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

Assignments – Sunday, 11:59pm ET

6 Diagnosing and Treating Mental Disorders

Discussion: Reflection on Learning

Paper: Diagnosis and Treatment of a Mental Disorder

Knowledge Check 6 (ungraded) practice for the Final Exam

Final Exam

Short Week:

Discussion initial post due Wednesday, 11:59pm ET

Response Posts due Friday, 11:59pm ET

Paper and Final Exam due Friday, 11:59pm ET

Student Resources

Summer Session Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Email: summersessiononline@une.edu.

Instructor and Support Contact Information

Check Brightspace for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.

UNE Libraries

Further Assistance

Your student support specialist monitors course progression and provides assistance or guidance when needed. They can assist questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Brightspace, and more.

To request an accommodation a student needs to go through the process with our UNE office. If the student has a current/already established accommodation in place with UNE it is the responsibility of the student to notify the program at summersessiononline@une.edu to ensure it is applied properly.

If you need to inquire about a possible accommodation, please reach out to the Student Access Center by calling 207-221-4418 or send an email to pcstudentaccess@une.edu.

Policies

Summer Session & Academic Engagement Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm EDT of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion by 11:59 pm EDT on Sunday of the first week, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the Student Summer Session Manual for full details.

Proctored Examinations

The University of New England has contracted with ProctorU to provide students with the most convenient online exam proctoring system. This system provides a simple, no cost to the student, secure, online proctor for exams and allows the student to take all the exams at home and on their own schedule.

Upon enrollment into the course, if the course has proctored exams, each student will register with ProctorU and establish a login name and password. This will give the student access to all of ProctorU's services. When ready, students will schedule each of their proctored exams with ProctorU. Exams must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance to avoid fees. Prior to taking their exams, students must be sure that they have downloaded the ProctorU Chrome or Firefox extension and are using the most current version of Chrome or Firefox. They must also be sure their testing site's connection meets the minimum requirements by using ProctorU's "Test It Out" utility.

Upon the exam day and hour, students will log in to ProctorU and click on "exams". After following the procedures outlined at ProctorU's website, the student will log in to Brightspace and locate their correct exam. The proctor will then allow student access to that exam.

Students must use ProctorU and must follow all proctoring requirements for their exams to be credited.

Information about exam attempts can be found in your course.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Programs: Technical Requirements.

Course Length

A schedule of lectures and assignments is included in this syllabus.

Courses in the program are equivalent to one-semester courses designed to be completed in 6 or 12 weeks.

  1. Enrollment in the course begins the day your section opens which is listed in the Academic Calendar.
  2. Course due dates, start and end dates are in respect to Eastern Time.

Withdrawal and Refund Policies

Please review the policies in your confirmation email. Contact summersessiononline@une.edu with any questions.

Grade Policy

Students are expected to attempt and complete all graded assignments and proctored exams by the end date of the course.

Transcripts

Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, only the student may request official transcripts. This may be done online by going to the University of New England Registrar website and following the directions on the page.

To view your unofficial UNE student transcript:

  1. Log into uonline at http://uonline.une.edu
  2. Select Student Services
  3. Select Student Records
  4. Select Academic Transcript

To request your official UNE student transcript:

Please review your Unofficial Transcript prior to requesting an Official Transcript.

  1. Log into uonline at http://uonline.une.edu
  2. Select Student Services
  3. Select Student Records
  4. Select Request Printed/Official Transcript
  5. Follow the prompts

After you click Submit Request, your official transcript will be put into the queue to be processed in the Registrar's Office.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submission of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the College. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.