Psychology, most broadly defined, is the scientific study of behavior. This course provides a broad overview of this field of science. (For a more detailed look at this course please see the course schedule below). This course fulfills the Social and Behavioral Sciences General Education requirement. As such, it is designed not only to teach the information and skills required by the discipline, but also to teach strategies and skills that can be used for life-long learning. Regardless of your major, General Education courses build a foundation of broad knowledge and skills that help you in your further career and life.

For more information about General Education: https://catalog.suu.edu/content.php?catoid=22&navoid=3773

Required Materials

• Psychology 2e (2020) by R. Spielman, W. Jenkins, and M. Lovett

  To help reduce the economic burden my students face, I have chosen a textbook that is available to you for free online. Visit https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e (Links to an external site.) to access your book. Then, choose your preferred format under “Get the book.”

  If you prefer, you can also get a print version at a very low cost (from the campus bookstore or from OpenStax on Amazon.com). You can use whichever format you prefer. Web view is recommended. If you buy on Amazon, make sure you use the link on your book page on openstax.org so you get the official OpenStax print version. (Simple printouts sold by third parties on Amazon are not verifiable and not as high quality.)

Social and Behavioral Sciences Objectives

Students will be able to: (1) Demonstrate understanding of relevant social and behavioral science methodologies and how they are used to understand or explain human relations or interactions; (2) Identify general principles of behavioral and social functioning; (3) Connect those questions and issues to the students’ own experiences; and (4) Demonstrate a critically reasoned understanding of social patterns and individual variation congruent with and divergent from those patterns.

More specifically:

• 1. You should be able to describe key psychological concepts across multiple theoretical perspectives within the field of psychology.
• 2. By the end of this course, you should be able to explain how psychology as a field connects with and complements other disciplines.
• 3. You will be asked to recognize cultural and individual differences that underlie the complexities of your own, and others’, behavioral and mental processes.
• 4. You will be asked to apply psychological concepts to develop yourself and improve society in a professional and constructive manner.
• 5. You will use scientific reasoning and critical thinking to interpret psychological phenomena and identify credible sources of psychological research.
• 6. By the end of this course, you should be able to describe the various types of research methods used by psychologists, with particular consideration of various research designs, limitations, and ethical principles.

Essential Learning Outcomes

• Critical Thinking: Students demonstrate disciplined processes of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
• Information Literacy: Students identify, locate, evaluate, attribute, and share information effectively and ethically.
• Integrative learning: Students make connections among ideas and experiences and can synthesize and transfer their learning to new, complex situations within and beyond the campus.

Evaluation Methods

Your grade in this course will be based on your performance on weekly in-class attendance assignments, 2 short reflection papers, a final project, 3 exams, research participation, and extra credit (optional). Please note that all assignment rubric will be available in Canvas.

• 1. In-Class Attendance Assignments: Throughout the course, there will be 24 in-class assignments (ICAs) for attendance credit. These will be short answer format and will be administered during class. Each assignment should be submitted through Canvas or by paper submitted at the end of class. Four of these, constituted by your lowest-scored assignments, will be dropped at the end of the semester.

• 2. Reflection Papers: An important aspect of any psychological principle is how it relates to your life. You will have the opportunity to complete two double-spaced, two page reflection papers. Specifically, take an idea, concept, or psychological principle that you recently learned about and explain its applicability to your life. Give at least three specific examples describing how you have seen the psychological concept reflected in your life. Each paper will be worth 20 points for a total of 40 points and will be graded on format, depth of thought, citations/references, the examples provided, and originality.

• 3. Final Project: You will have the opportunity to complete a final project on a relevant topic in psychology of your choosing. I want you to get creative with this – your final project may take the format of a research paper/essay, PowerPoint presentation, song, poem, skit, or art piece. I am open to any formats other than the examples listed, but the presentation topic and format must be approved beforehand by me. Midway through the semester, you will submit your topic and format proposal via Canvas for me to approve. Those who elect to submit a research paper/essay or PowerPoint presentation will be provided with specific rubric, which can be found on Canvas. Please note that you will not be required to present your project in class. This project will be worth 100 points and should be submitted by December 2nd.

• 4. Exams: Throughout the course, you will be required to complete three 50 question exams (worth 100 points each) to evaluate your knowledge of the material being covered. Each exam will consist of matching, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank questions based on the course readings, lectures, and assignments. Exams will be administered in-person during a designated class period (see ‘Course Schedule’ for dates). These will be closed book exams, but I will allow you to bring a 3x5 index card for your reference (front and back), and this must be submitted to me after each exam.

• 5. Research Participation: Given that the topics we will be covering in psychology often stem directly from research studies, it is important to understand how this information is collected firsthand. To meet this objective, this course requires that you participate in research occurring here in our department by signing up for studies. This is done through the online research system SONA, a software tool that connects students to faculty and graduate students who need participants for their research. A total of 6 credits will be required for this class. Please note that you do not have to turn in anything to receive credit for research participation as SONA will send me a report of credits completed. Additionally, I will offer extra credit for going over the minimum 6 required credits. Extra credit will be worth 2 points for each SONA credit over your initial 6. Please note that it is your responsibility to monitor whether studies are recruiting participants as this is not a guarantee throughout the semester. More information on how to register for SONA will be posted to Canvas. If you are unable or choose not to participate in research, please contact me as soon as possible and an alternative assignment will be provided.

Points

Grading

The following reflects the performance standards I will use:

A: 94% and above | A-: 93.9-90% | B+: 89.9-87% | B: 86.9-84% | B-: 83.9-80% | C+: 79.9-77% | C: 76.9-74% | C-: 73.9-70% | D+: 69.9-67% | D: 66.9-64% | D-: 63.9-60% | F: 59.9% and below

Note: A UW will be given if two or more exams are missing, or one exam in combination with the final project.

PSY 1010-06 Course Schedule (Fall 2025)

Late Work and Makeup Policies

• In-Class Attendance Assignments: There will be no opportunities to make up these assignments as they reflect your attendance and are designed to award those who regularly attend class.
• Reflection Papers: Late work will have 10% marked off for each day submitted after the due date with a maximum 50% deduction.
• Research Participation: No late participation will be accepted.

Makeup Exams

Makeup exams will only be granted to students who have requested them 2 weeks in advance or contact me within 24 hours of the exam with a documented emergency that clearly prevented them from making it to the exam. Makeup exams are not a right and are not guaranteed. It is up to my discretion to approve all makeup exams and I reserve the right to deny a makeup exam request for any reason. Therefore, it is strongly recommended you do not miss any exams.

Communication

You are welcome and encouraged to contact me regarding any questions or comments you may have about the course materials or assignments. The best ways to get in touch with me are staying after class, messaging me on Canvas, or emailing me. If you would like to email me, please include ‘PSY 1010’ in the subject line. I will usually respond to all messages and emails within 2 business days Monday through Friday. Please keep in mind that I do not check my email on the weekends or on holidays, and I will answer messages in the order I received them.

I encourage you to consult the syllabus, class announcements, and assignment details for questions that have already been answered for you, such as the due dates for assignments, late submission policies, and what to do if you miss an exam.

This is an in-person course. Classes will not be recorded and there will not be a Zoom link for you to access. Attendance is required and will be recorded via in-class assignments (see ‘Evaluation Methods’ for more information). Aside from receiving credit for attendance assignments that will make up a portion of your grade, attendance is required for you to succeed in this course. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the topics covered (i.e., reading the textbook, reviewing the slides posted to Canvas, asking your classmates for notes, and/or attending office hours with specific questions regarding material you missed in class).

For those of you who are just beginning your college education or who are new to SUU, welcome and congratulations on starting your college career! For those of you who are returning students, welcome back and congratulations on continuing your college career! First and foremost, I am thrilled to welcome you all to study General Psychology with me this semester. Throughout this course, my hope is that we will all come to better understand ourselves and one another as we learn about different perspectives and theories across the field of psychology.

We will discuss a lot of difficult and mature topics throughout this course. It is imperative that you are respectful in how you communicate your own ideas and respond to your classmates’ comments. Just because someone’s ideas are different from yours does not mean they deserve any less respect. You are ALL welcome here. You are ALL worthy of respect. You are ALL worthy of kindness.

I recognize that there are a variety of AI programs available to assist with writing, idea generation, content generation, etc. AI can be a useful tool, but is not a replacement for human creativity, originality, and critical thinking. Critical thinking is a craft that you must develop over time to construct your own individual ideas and ability to articulate ideas. I do not want you to use AI to generate content solely for the purpose of completing assignments without any effort put forth on your part. AI does have weaknesses and it is quite obvious when used. AI is also especially bad at trying to relate experiences, as is asked for in reflection papers for this course. However, within limited circumstances, if you consult with me FIRST, AI programs may be used as an idea generation tool in this class.

If you disagree with your grade on an exam or assignment, you may submit a written dispute by email to the instructor within one week of receiving your grade. Grade disputes will not be considered after this one-week window or if submitted to anyone other than the instructor via Canvas message or email. If applicable, include in your written dispute a reference to a page in the textbook that pertains to your rationale.

Please take the commenced attendance survey by September 4th. This brief survey will be utilized to establish your attendance in this course per regulations from the U.S. Department of Education. Not completing this survey could impact your financial aid.

Disclaimer: Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.