Course Syllabus

Syllabus

Spring 2016

 

Course Name: Abnormal Psychology

Course ID & Section: CLP3143-0W59

Credit Hours: 3

Semester: Spring 2016

Location: Online

Instructor: Dr. Jessica Waesche

Office: UCF Sanford/Lake Mary Campus, Partnership Building room 4018

Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA): Kellie Kissell

Office Hours: M & TH 11am - noon or by appointment, you may also contact the Instructor and/or GTA through Webcourses mail

 

Course Description

Catalog description: Classification, causation, and treatment of deviant patterns of behavior.

Prerequisites: PSY 2012

 

Course Objectives

• To acquaint students with the history of abnormal psychology, its theoretical conflicts, and its sociocultural contexts
• To educate students about the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of psychological disorders
• To familiarize students with the biopsychosocial model of psychological disorders, focusing on how various psychological disorders emerge from some combination of factors including genetics, neurochemistry, brain abnormalities, social stresses, and dysfunctional cognitive styles
• To stimulate critical and integrative thinking about psychological phenomena
• To provide a foundation for more advanced courses in mental health fields

Required Text

• Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan. (2013).  (Ab)normal Psychology (6th ed.).  McGraw-Hill Publishers.

Course Requirements

Modules

To keep everyone on track and moving through the course, the content is divided into modules.  With the exception of the first and last modules, each module is designed to cover two weeks.  That means you should expect to dedicate a significant amount of time to the completion of each module.  This course contains an introductory module (Module 0) and seven modules of course content.  Modules 1 through 6 will have an assigned reading, a discussion, a participation activity, and a quiz.  You will have two weeks to complete all assignments in each of these module.  Discussion assignments require an initial posting by the first Sunday of the module at 11:59pm and responses by the second Sunday at 11:59pm.  Module 7 will have an assigned reading, a reflection paper, a participation activity, and a quiz.  You will have 9 days to complete this module, as it will close on the last day of classes, Tuesday, April 26.  I recognize that sometimes life gets complicated and you might not be able to complete all assignments during a given module.  For this reason, your lowest participation activity grade and quiz grade will be dropped.  Your lowest discussion grade will NOT be dropped, because it is important for all students to participate in each group discussion. 

Discussions

During each module you will participate in a group discussion/role play about that week's material.  You will be assigned to a group of 10 to 11 students and you will remain in the same group all semester, so get to know your group-mates!  For each module, you will be assigned to play the role of an individual with an interest in Abnormal Psychology.  Some of the roles will be clinicians who take various theoretical perspectives on understanding and treating mental illness, while other roles will be individuals who have a mental illness or individuals who are advocating for people with mental illness.  Individual roles will change with the modules, so you will not have the same role twice.  Your group will be presented with questions to answer or a topic to discuss in each module.  In order to facilitate an active discussion, each group member is required to make an initial post no later than 11:59pm on the first Sunday of the module (one week after the module opens).  You should also make at least two additional posts responding to your group-mates and those posts are due by the close of the module (11:59pm on the second Sunday).  Your discussions will be graded each week based on the quality of your postings.  A grading rubric will be posted with each discussion to further explain the grading policies.  Replies like "I agree", "Ditto", or "LOL" will not receive credit.  You can earn up to 20 points each week for your discussion postings.  During the last module, instead of a group discussion you will complete a Reflection Paper discussing your experience with the roles and group discussions.  Further details will be presented at that time.  Because each of you will have different roles in each discussion, it is important for all group members to participate in all discussions.  Therefore, your lowest discussion posting grade will NOT be dropped, resulting in a maximum of 140 discussion points for the semester.  

Participation

Each module you will be given a Materia activity to help you review the week's material.  You can earn up to 10 participation points for the completion of each activity, and each activity can be repeated an unlimited number of times.  Your lowest participation score will be dropped, resulting in a maximum of 60 participation points for the semester.

Quizzes

Each module contains a quiz that is designed to help further your understanding of the course material.  The quizzes are composed of multiple choice questions drawn from the textbook publisher's test bank.  Each quiz will contain 50 questions and will be worth 50 points.  Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped, resulting in a maximum of 300 points from quizzes.  You will have 1 hour to complete each quiz. That should give you enough time to carefully consider each question, but not enough time to look up the answers in the book. Keep in mind, doing anything to avoid learning the material for the quizzes is going to make your task of preparing for the cumulative final that much more difficult. You are free to use your book or anything else you want when you take the graded quizzes, but the time limit will require you to have committed enough of the material to memory for me to feel confident that you have adequately mastered the material.

Final Exam

At the end of the semester, you will take a comprehensive final exam covering all of the material from this course.  The final exam must be completed during the specified time window.  The final exam will be activated at 12:01am on Thursday, April 28 and remain open until 11:59pm on Saturday, April 30.  It will consist of 100 questions and be worth 200 points.

Extra Credit

There are multiple opportunities to earn extra credit in this course.  First, there are two extra credit options available during the first week, by completing the Student Introductions assignment and the Syllabus Quiz.  You can earn up to 5 points for each.  You can also earn extra credit by participating in research.  Studies are available for you to participate online or in person, but keep in mind, there is a different formula for allocating points for participating based on the format of participation, online or in person. In other words, fully online participation requires more time participating to earn the same amount of extra credit as can be earned by participating in person. Rules and procedures are described in detail on the website used for scheduling participation.  To view the various opportunities and to sign up, visit the website our department uses to manage participation at http://ucf.sona-systems.com/. Each student can participate for up to 5 raw SONA points, and each raw SONA point will translate to one point of extra credit.  Please note that the raw SONA points earned for each study are predetermined by the researchers.  It is also important to note that if you choose to participate in an in-person study on campus and you fail to show for your appointment, there may be consequences.  This is part of the SONA system and is automatic, so don't let it happen.  Always call at least 48 hours in advance if you cannot make your appointment.  If you are unwilling or unable to participate in research, there will be an alternative extra credit assignment posted on Webcourses.  All extra credit is due by 11:59pm on Tuesday, April 26.

Missed Assignments/Make-Ups

Due dates for assignments will be posted along with each assignment.  Late assignments will not be accepted.

 

Evaluation and Grading

Final grades will be calculated by dividing your total number of points by the total points possible:

Assignment	Possible Points
Discussion	140
Participation	60
Quizzes	300
Final Exam	200
Total	700

 

Letter Grade	Percentage
A	93  –  100
A-	90  –  92
B+	87  –  89
B	83  –  86
B-	80  –  82
C+	77  –  79
C	73  –  76
C-	70  –  72
D+	67  –  69
D	63  –  66
D-	60  –  62
F	59 and below

  

Attendance Policy

Because this course is fully online, you are not required to attend class or log into the course at specific times.  I highly recommend logging in to the course at least twice per week to participate in discussions, check for important announcements, check your Webcourses mail (conversations), and keep up with quizzes and participation activities.

As of Fall 2014, all faculty are required to document students’ academic activity at the beginning of each course. In order to document that you began this course, please complete the Syllabus Quiz by 5pm on January 15 or as soon as possible after adding the course, but no later than January 20th. Failure to do so may result in a delay in the disbursement of your financial aid.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism and Cheating of any kind on an examination, quiz, or assignment will result at least in an "F" for that assignment (and may, depending on the severity of the case, lead to an "F" for the entire course) and may be subject to appropriate referral to the Office of Student Conduct for further action. See the UCF Golden Rule for further information. I will assume for this course that you will adhere to the academic creed of this University and will maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. In other words, don't cheat by giving answers to others or taking them from anyone else. I will also adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity, so please do not ask me to change (or expect me to change) your grade illegitimately or to bend or break rules for one person that will not apply to everyone.

Disability Statement

The University of Central Florida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course must contact the professor at the beginning of the semester to discuss needed accommodations. No accommodations will be provided until the student has met with the professor to request accommodations. Students who need accommodations must be registered with Student Disability Services, Student Resource Center Room 132, phone (407) 823-2371, TTY/TDD only phone (407) 823-2116, before requesting accommodations from the professor.

Copyright

This course may contain copyright protected materials such as audio or video clips, images, text materials, etc. These items are being used with regard to the Fair Use doctrine in order to enhance the learning environment. Please do not copy, duplicate, download or distribute these items. The use of these materials is strictly reserved for this online classroom environment and your use only. All copyright materials are credited to the copyright holder.

Third-Party Software and FERPA

During this course you might have the opportunity to use public online services and/or software applications sometimes called third-party software such as a blog or wiki. While some of these could be required assignments, you need not make any personally identifying information on a public site. Do not post or provide any private information about yourself or your classmates. Where appropriate you may use a pseudonym or nickname. Some written assignments posted publicly may require personal reflection/comments, but the assignments will not require you to disclose any personally identity-sensitive information. If you have any concerns about this, please contact your instructor.