PSY 100, Unit Mastery

Survey of Psychology (Spring, 2011)

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Instructor:   Dale Fryxell, Ph.D 

Office: Krauss Annex, Room 4A,  Phone: 342-8549  e-mail: fryxell@hawaii.edu ,  Website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fryxell

Office Hours:   My office hours will be held on Thursdays from 9:00-11:00; other times are available by appointment. I will usually be in the Quiz Center (Webster 101) for my office hours.

  Graduate Teaching Assistant: Michelle Lopez   (chezmichelle@hawaii.rr.com)

Active Learning Labs:   There are no lectures in this course, only learning labs.  When you enrolled, you enrolled in one of the Active Learning Labs attached to the course.  Please see the Schedule of Classes for the time and day of your section.  Active Learning Labs will begin the week of January 24th. There will be 10 learning labs during the semester. Learning Labs will be held the weeks of 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/28, 3/7, 3/14, 3/28, 4/4 & 4/11. Attendance at e ach of the Active Learning Lab is worth up to 25 points towards the final course grade.  You will need to sign-in at each of the Learning Labs in order to receive any credit for attending.  Each of the Learning Labs is led by an upper class undergraduate psychology student. For questions concerning the Active Learning Labs, please contact the instructor in charge of the labs, Michelle Lopez (chezmichelle@hawaii.rr.com)

Quiz Center and Hours:   The major portion of your work in this course will be done through the Quiz Center, located in Webster Hall, Room 101.  The Quiz Center will be open 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  The Quiz Center will commence operations beginning the second week of class (Tuesday, January 18th) .  Note that the hours are subject to change and will be posted on the doors of the Quiz Center.  The Quiz Center is closed on all UH holidays and study days before finals.   The Quiz Center will be open through the Thursday of finals week (May 12th).   On your initial visit, a sticker will be attached to your U.H. I.D.  You must show your I.D. and sign in every time you visit the Quiz Center; no student will be admitted without a validated I.D.

Tutors:   A group of friendly tutors will be available in the Quiz Center to help you at any time.  These students are both graduate students and undergraduates who have successfully completed PSY 100 in a previous semester, and who are currently serving as Lab Leaders, therefore they are familiar with the course material and procedures.  Remember, however, they are not Ph.D.s in psychology and cannot be expected necessarily to know the answers to all your questions.  See “What Is Unit Mastery Instruction?” for information on how to get more detailed help if needed.

Required Text:   Gerrig, R. J. & Zimbardo, P. G. (2011)  Psychology and Life, ALC Package University of Hawaii . Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. (ISBN – 9780558767563) Packaged with this edition you will be receiving an access code to MyPsychLab, a web-based instructional multimedia resource which will help you engage the course material and will provide the platform for taking your unit mastery quizzes at the Quiz Center.  Before coming to the quiz center to take your first quiz you will need to register on MyPsychLab Course Compass. To do this go to http://www.pearsoncustom.com/hi/uhm_psych . To log on MyPsychLab, you will need the Course ID for this class, which is fryxell08077

 

Course Procedures:   This course will be taught utilizing a unit mastery method of instruction.  A general introduction to this form of instruction can be found on my website.  The course will cover all 16 chapters, as defined in the Table of Contents of the book.  You will be required to take quizzes to determine your mastery of each of the units in the following sequence:  Chapters 1-4, 6-11, 13-16, 5, 12.

Quizzes :  You will take quizzes at the Quiz Center to determine your mastery of each of the units whenever you are prepared on a given chapter.  Quizzes are administered on computer terminals through MyPsychLab in a 10-item multiple choice format similar to the practice quizzes in MyPsychLab.  When you have finished taking a quiz, your score will be entered into a data file and you will have an opportunity to review questions you have answered incorrectly. The computer will provide you with the page of the text from which missed items have been written to help you understand the correct answer.  The Quiz Center computers are to be used only for quiz taking.  No studying on Quiz Center computers.  The quizzes are closed book.  No books, sheets of paper, or writing implements are permitted to be used while taking or reviewing a quiz.  Cell phones, iPods, and other electronic equipment are not permitted to be used in the Quiz Center at any time. Opening another page on the quiz computers (i.e., google, wikipedia, email, etc.) is not allowed in the quiz center and is considered to be cheating. If you are caught with any of these pages open, you will automatically receive an F for the course. It is also considered cheating to open more than one copy of a quiz at a time. The Course Compass system allows us to track when any quiz is opened as well as when it is submitted.

  Mastery Criterion:   The mastery criterion is 90% correct (9 out of 10 quiz items).  Once you have mastered a unit quiz, you will have earned 50 points toward your final grade.  You may move on to the next unit at that time.  It is recommended you take a short break before doing so.  If you obtain a score of 80% (8 correct) or fewer, you must wait at least two hours before taking another quiz on the same unit.  If you receive a score of 4 or less on your first attempt on a unit quiz or if you fail to meet mastery criterion within the first four attempts, you should see a Senior Tutor at the Quiz Center, who will try to determine the problems you are having with your preparation for the unit quizzes.

Bonus Points:   Bonus points are forms of extra credit that can be earned in several ways.  You will earn one bonus point when you attain a perfect score (10 correct) on a unit quiz.  You are awarded a bonus point if you pass a unit on the first attempt.  If you take your first quiz on a chapter and pass that chapter, inform a tutor immediately, and he or she will enter the bonus point for you at that time.  You also earn a bonus point each time you participate in a psychology experiment (opportunities for which will be posted in the Quiz Center or announced in Active Learning Labs).  There may be other opportunities for earning bonus points that will be announced across the semester.  Your bonus points will be recorded in your gradebook and may be used in one of three ways: one bonus point may be turned in to pass any unit on which you have a score of 8, a bonus point may be spent to eliminate the two-hour delay imposed when failing to meet mastery criterion on a quiz, and/or 10 bonus points may be exchanged in lieu of the last assigned unit (Unit 12).  If you use your bonus points in the latter manner, you need to send me an e-mail ( fryxell@hawaii.edu ) informing me of the fact.  In addition, it is recommended you read the chapter anyway—it is one of most fascinating in the text.

  Incentive Points: As an incentive to encourage students to stay on pace and not fall behind, points towards your final grade can be earned by keeping on schedule with the quizzes. Students who have successfully passed the following quizzes by the indicated date will receive 50 points towards their final grade (Remember that the quizzes are to be taken in the following order 1-4, 6-11, 13-16, 5, 12):

Successfully pass Quiz 2 by the end of the day on February 4th = 50 points.

Successfully pass Quiz 10 by the end of the day on March 18th = 50 points.

Successfully pass Quiz 15 by the end of the day on April 22nd = 50 points.

Announcements:  You are responsible for any announcements posted in the Quiz Center and in MyPsychLab throughout the semester.  Some of these may affect your course grade.  Be sure to check for these periodically.

Cheating:   As outlined in the General and Graduate Information Catalog, cheating is an offense that may result in suspension or expulsion from the University.  This course has a zero tolerance policy; at a minimum, any observed instance of cheating will result in an automatic Fail in the course.

Course Grades:   There are no midterms or final examination in this course.  Grades are determined by the number of course points accumulated at the end of the semester.  Grades are determined as follows:

            1.  16 quizzes @ 50 points each            =          800 points

            2.  10 labs @ 25 points each                 =          250 points

            3.  Incentive points @ 150 points          =          150 points

            TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS              =       1200 points

Calculating Final Grades:

            A = 1000+ points                                

            B = 900-999 points                             

            C (or Cr) = 800-899 points                 

            D = 700-799 points

F = 699 or less points

I = An incomplete is not a grade option for this course

(Note: Only straight letter grades will be given for this course, there are no + or – grades.)

The last day for Restricted Withdrawals (with “W”), as set by the University, is March 11th.   No Withdrawals can be given after this date.