PSYC 1 - General Psychology

Course Description

Basic psychological concepts underlying human and animal behavior in such areas as learning, motivation, perception, personality and social behavior. Strongly recommended: eligibility for English 1A.

To take this class, you must have daily access to a computer with an Internet connection and experience using a web browser. You will also need to utilize your college Zonemail account. Learn more about Zonemail.

Check the college catalog for CSU/UC transferability and to see if this course meets AA/AS degree requirements.

The instructor may drop students who miss the first meeting of a course. The first meeting of online or hybrid Distance Education courses is the first day of the class as specified in the class schedule listing. For these courses, instructors may drop students who do not log into their Blackboard course and/or complete indicated activities by the third day of classes.

This class begins June 14 and ends July 23.

On-Campus Meetings

There are no required on-campus meetings for this class. You can attend an OPTIONAL, on-campus orientation to Online Learning on June 10 from 6:30-8 p.m. It will be in room 2420 on campus. A virtual session will be offered on the Internet on June 15 from 5:30-7 p.m. Learn more about these orientations, which are NOT course-specific.

How This Class Operates

This is not a self-paced class; there are due dates throughout the semester that you are expected to meet, just like in a traditional, face-to-face class. Some assignments will be done on your own, others will be done in groups. Active participation is required.

Communications will take place primarily via email and the class discussion board.

This class is divided into 16 Topics, and each Topic contains an activity to supplement the reading. All the Topics will be accessible from the Course Materials area for one week, but students will only be able to access currently active and open Topics. All Topics open at 8:00 a.m. on a Monday and close at 8:00 a.m. the following Monday.

Topic 1 is designed to help you become familiar with the technological aspects of taking an online course and the syllabus. Topics 2-16 cover course content from the required textbook. Each Topic covers 2-3 modules (chapters) from your text. You have 7 days to complete each Topic.

Class Activities

Each of the 16 Topics have assignments to supplement the reading. The assignments include keeping journals about your behavior, class discussions, and short essays about content. Students earn a maximum of 160 points for assignments.

Class Project(s)

There are two major projects where students will create an informational web page or presentation about a topic of their choice in the course. Students may work alone or in pairs for these projects. Students earn a maximum of 80 points for projects.

How Students are Graded

All of your assignments will be graded according to criteria established and published in the course. In addition, each Topic will contain a multiple-choice quiz that is open-book. Students have multiple attempts to take quizzes while the Topic is open. Each quiz will cover material from 2-3 modules (chapters) in the textbook. Students earn a maximum of 160 points for quizzes.

Succeeding in an Online Course

Students who succeed in online courses tend to be independent, self-motivated learners with good computer skills. If you are a procrastinator who relies heavily on the instructor for motivation, can't use a computer too well, have taken less than 21 units of college credit in your lifetime, and/or have a grade-point-average under 2.0, you should probably consider enrolling in a face-to-face course instead.

Also, don't enroll in this class if you believe the myth that learning online requires less effort than learning face-to-face. This course covers the same content and has similar activities as the face-to-face version of the course; only the method of delivery changes.

LPC offers a tutorial called "Succeeding in an online course" that will not only tell you if you are a good fit for online learning, but it also offers many strategies -- among other pertinent information -- that will help you succeed online. Please complete the tutorial.

Blackboard

This course will use the Blackboard course management system as its virtual classroom. To learn how to log in to Blackboard, go to the Blackboard Login Procedures page. Once you enroll, you will not be able to log in until the first day of class.