syl_270_010

EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY SYLLABUS - PSY 270
Fall 2008 (20093)
Section 010: M W 9:00 - 10:50; 294 Old Main

Professor: Dr. Robert S. Ryan

Office: 385 Old Main

Office hours: Tues. 9:30 am - 11:00 am; Wed. 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, and Thurs. 9:30 am - 11:00 am. You are welcome to drop in at my office, 385 Old Main, any time to try to catch me. I can usually take a few minutes to help you unless I am tied up with something very important or time sensitive. It doesn't have to be during my office hours. You can drop in any time I'm not teaching or in a meeting (go to my website and use the link to my teaching schedule and to my calendar for the current month to see my classes, meetings, and other commitments - note: the calendar may erroneously show items occurring on holidays - working to fix that). However, if you are going out of your way to see me, whether during my office hours or not, then it is always best to call me at 683-4457 right before you want to come, just in case I am not available because of something unexpected. For example, I could be with another student who just stopped in. If you call or visit my office during a time you thought you could catch me and find that I am not there right at that moment, don't assume I'm not available. I could have just stepped away from the office or my phone for a few minutes. So always wait at least a few minutes and try again.

Phone: (as of 9-12-08 Changed to): 484-646-432

E-mail: rryan@kutztown.edu

Website: http://faculty.kutztown.edu/rryan

Required: Text: McBurney & White (2007). Research Methods (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Course description: Experimental Psychology deals with various aspects of research in the field of psychology. Experience will be provided with the design of research, the collection of data, the analysis of data, and the presentation of results. An individual research project utilizing the theories and methods is required. PREREQUISITES: PSY 011 with a C or better and PSY 200 with a C or better OR permission of instructor.

Course objectives: This course is designed to provide an introduction to the research methods used by psychologists. The general objectives for the course are that the students will:

Identify the basic processes of the scientific approach to knowledge
Identify, organize, and define the basic and advanced terms, concepts, and principles of theoretical and applied research.
Review, organize, and summarize the prior research literature.
Identify and use the various research designs in the field of psychology.
Collect, analyze, and present the results of an investigation.
Evaluate the results of scientific research.

Specific learning objectives for each chapter that we will cover in the McBurney and White text can be found on the website for this course.

Special Considerations:

Network account

This class relies heavily on electronic resources. The class will be conducted in a lab in which students will be able to work on a PC connected to the internet. Every student has a network account that allows them to work on the computers in the computer labs, including our "cubicle lab" in OM 296, next door to the classroom. However, you must set up your account each semester. You can set up you account from any lab computer. At the logon screen, enter the following information:

Username: newaccount
Password: Fall-2008
Domain: (Make sure this is set to STUDENTS)

You will be directed to a web page, from which you can set up your account. After you have set up your account, you should reset your password. Be sure it is secure, but that you can remember it.

Flash drive for saving files

You will need to have a flash drive because you must keep BACKUP COPIES of your assignments and other work. The flash drive is necessary even though every student is provided with some space on the network to save their files because the computers in OM 296 often do not pick up the network. Also, it is often not possible to print in the cubicle lab. That is another reason to have files that might need to be printed on the flash drive so that they can be printed elsewhere.

Using Blackboard to turn in assignments

All assigments are to be turned in as word processor (Word, WordPerfect, or OpenOffice) documents. The word processor file must be named with the name of the student and the assigment. For example, if I were turning in Paper 2, I would name the file "robert_ryan_paper_2.doc".

Free Software

If you need to work at your own computer, rather than a lab computer, and you do not have Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, then there is a free suite of office software, called OpenOffice, that includes a word processor (as well as a spreadsheet (like Excel) and presentation (like PowerPoint) program. All of the products are of excellent quality, as good as or better than Microsoft's, and all of the products work almost identically to the corresponding Microsoft products. You can download a version for virtually any operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux, and others) from http://www.openoffice.org. All of the OpenOffice software is compatible with all of the Microsoft Office software. The Open Office word processor opens Word files and allows you to save your documents as Word files. If you download their products, you may want to consider at some point supporting them with a donation. Although doing so is not required, they certainly deserve it.

Using PsychInfo to do literature searches

You will do a literature search using PsychINFO, a web based database of the psychology literature. It can be accessed when you are on campus by physically going to the library, or by going to the library web site from any computer on the Kutztown network. As long as you are on campus, you can access PsychINFO without any special access code. However, to access it from off campus you need to use your student ID card number as a password, and this will only work if your student ID card has been scanned at the library. So you will need to go to the library one time and have them scan the bar code on your ID into the system, if you have not already done so.

Summary of class policies.
(For complete class policies, see http://faculty.kutztown.edu/rryan/policies.htm)

Academic Honesty: It is my intention to uphold the academic honesty policy of Kutztown University and all other student conduct standards as described in the online student handbook, "The Key". "Academic dishonesty involves any attempt to obtain academic credit or influence the grading process by means unauthorized by the course instructor". It is the responsibility of students to be aware of this policy and abide by it at all times.

Students with Disabilities: The Office of Human Diversity, located in 220 Stratton Administration Center, provides many services for students with disabilities. If you have a documented disability please let me know as soon as possible so that I may provide whatever accommodation you require.

Attendance: Attendance records are kept to help identify students at risk. No points towards your grade are added or subtracted due to attendance, but poor attendance will surely hurt your ability to do well on tests.

If you miss a class: If you miss a class, see me the next day. You may have missed an unannounced quiz or oral quizzing, and it is important to make it up immediately.

Excusable absences: "Excusing" you only means excusing you from missing a test so that you are allowed to make it up. It does not mean excusing you from understanding the material on which you will be graded. It is always your responsibility to make sure you understand the material. Any time you miss a test you are given a grade of zero. To replace the zero with a grade, first, you should make up the test immediately (the next day). Secondly, however, in order to be allowed to have your grade count, you must provide written documentation that your absence was necessary.

Communication: Kutztown email is now the standard means of communication between faculty and students. Email accounts are established for students when they initially register, but they have to be activated. If you have not activated your KU email, then you need to do so by following the instructions at https://secure.kutztown.edu/authentication/ . If I need to contact the whole class (especially important in the winter) I will send an email to the class list. The class list contains the Kutztown email address of everyone registered for the course. You should check your email regularly. If you do not wish to use your Kutztown email, then you need to set it to forward to whatever email you actually use. Go to KU's web based Messenger Express email system at https://mail.kutztown.edu/. Enter your user ID and password for your Kutztown email. Click "Options", then "Settings", then, in the Mail Forwarding box, type your preferred email address, and click "Save Changes".

Grading: The grade for the course comes from the various quizes, tests, exams, presentations, and papers. These may consist of any combination of objective (multiple choice; true/false) and subjective (short answer; essay) questions. They may be oral or written, announced or unannounced. Therefore, you must keep up with learning the material as it is presented. Grades come from these sources only. There is no extra credit beyond the "Research Extra Credit" described below.

The grade on any individual evaluation will be shown as a percentage grade. It can be converted to a letter grade according to the following breakdown:

90% - 100% = A
80% - 89% = B
70% - 79% = C
60% - 69% = D
< 60 = F

Calculating grades: Your grade for the course is a weighted average of the various grades that you will receive. See Class Policies to learn how to work with weighted average grades.

Weight of Grade for Each Assignment

Paper		Tests
Paper 1	5	Test 1 - Ch. 1, 2, and 3	5
Presentation	15	Test 2 - Ch. 9, 10, 5, and 6	10
Paper 2	30	Test 3 - Ch. 7 - 8	15
		Final Exam - Ch. 11, 12	20
	50		50	Total = 100

The papers will be written as if they were a manuscript for a peer reviewed journal article. You will be taught how to write such a manuscript. The papers will be a report of a study that you will conduct. For the first project, everyone will work on the same project which will be assigned to you. Each student will collect part of the data. Then everyone will receive all of the data and will write their own research paper. For the second project you will work in pairs or small groups. Each group will come up with their own research question and they will design and conduct their project as a group. They will also make a presentation as a group. However, each student will write their own paper.

Your writing will be evaluated mainly for clarity of expression, completeness of information, and adherence to APA style in both form and content. All papers must be typed and formatted in the professional manner required for APA manuscripts using a word processing program.

It will be assumed that all spelling and grammar has been proofread by the student (not just by a spellchecker or grammar checker) and is correct. Any paper with more than minor spelling or grammar errors may be returned to you as unacceptable. If so, the paper must be brought up to acceptable standards and resubmitted, but will be considered late. Papers submitted late for any reason may have the grade lowered.

You will receive some help in writing your papers during some of the labs. However, you are encouraged to seek more help in writing your paper before you turn it in. The "office hours" paragraph at the top of this syllabus explains that you are welcome to seek my help at any time you can catch me, not just during office hours. I devote as much time as I am able to helping all my students, but you must take the initiative to see me. Start your writing as early as possible to allow as much time as possible to catch me. My time could become scarce, just depending on how many students seek my help and how much help they need.

Research Extra Credit: Peer reviewed research journals present detailed descriptions of studies that researchers have conducted. Therefore, a good way to learn about how research in psychology is done, and what is learned from it, is to read such an article and to turn in a report summarizing it. The report is to describe the research as if you were a person who had participated in the research as a subject. However, because you will not have experienced what the subjects experienced first hand, you will need to carefully read several sections of the paper, particularly the method section, which will explain in detail the subjects' experience. Some papers are quite readable even for an introductory student, but others are far too technical. You will need to see me for help in selecting a paper that will provide a learning experience equal to that of actual participation, but one that will be appropriate for your ability.

You can earn up to 3 additional percentage points on your final course grade by reading and summarizing research studies. Some journal articles contain reports of more than one study. Therefore, you may be able to earn more than one point from any given journal article. In order to receive the credit, you must turn in the report by the day of the final exam. Be sure to read the information on my web site about writing the report (click here for the information ) before writing it. Each report will be worth one additional percentage point on your final course grade.

Schedule
(Subject to change as needed)