This course is an overview of the methods used in the study of psychology.  You will learn how to do a literature search for published articles and how to write a literature review using APA writing style. You will also be introduced to current research methods, including basic principles of research design, data collection, and data analysis. Throughout the semester, you will conduct two research studies and write-up the results in empirical APA formatted manuscripts.

Success in this course requires regular class participation in activities, the timely reading of class material, and the timely completion of assignments. Readings are from the required textbook, which you should read by the dates specified in the schedule (see last page below).

Upon completion of this course, students will:

1. Know how to find published scientific articles on a topic in psychology.
2. Be able to write a literature review, methods section, results section, discussion section, and a references section using APA style.
3. Have an overall understanding of the research process, including: development of hypotheses, selection of research designs, and use and interpretation of appropriate statistical tests.
4. Be able to identify the distinguishing features of different research designs and understand the strengths and limitations of each one.
5. Know which type of statistical analysis should be used to analyze data in each design.
6. Understand which types of information are provided by descriptive and inferential data analysis methods and understand the assumptions of each.
7. Be able to write up the methods of a research study and report the results of statistical analyses using APA style.
8. Be able to interpret the results of data analyses and discuss their meaning (using APA style) with regard to the hypotheses they are designed to test.
9. Be able to identify threats to the validity of research inferences.

Please review the policies page as it contains essential information regarding guidelines relevant to all courses at FIU and additional information on the standards for acceptable netiquette important for online courses.

One of the greatest barriers to taking an online course is a lack of basic computer literacy. By computer literacy we mean being able to manage and organize computer files efficiently, and learning to use your computer's operating system and software quickly and easily. Keep in mind that this is not a computer literacy course; but students enrolled in online courses are expected to have moderate proficiency using a computer. Please go to the "What's Required" page to find out more information on this subject.

For detailed information about the technical requirements, please click here.

This is a fully online course. As such, this course relies extensively on Blackboard. Blackboard provides you with quizzes and exams, assignment instructions, a place to turn in your written assignments, a place to find your grades, and a place where you will find required resource materials for this course (such as powerpoint slides, required readings, and film clips). It is important that you become familiar with this software.

Technical help is available through the university if needed (click here).

For detailed information about the specific limitations with the technologies used in this course, please click here.

For more information about Blackboard's Accessibility Commitment, click here.

For additional assistance please contact our Disability Resource Center.

Students must complete:

• STA 3111 (Introduction to statistics I)
• And either STA 3123 (Introduction to Statistics II) OR STA 3112 (Statistics II).

For more information about prerequisites, click here.

Please note that the information contained in this section applies only if your course requires a proctored exam.

It is the student’s responsibility to determine whether this online course requires proctored exams by carefully reviewing this syllabus. For detailed instructions please visit our Proctored Exam Resources page on the FIU Online website.

First Week Expectations:

• View my welcome message or read the transcript, both of which are located on the main course page.
• Review the course policies page 
• Introduce yourself to your assigned discussion group.
• During the first day, you will post a self-introduction as you get to know some of your fellow class members. You can find this forum by clicking on the “Discussion Group” menu on the left side of the course homepage.
• Find your group name (Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, or whichever group you have been assigned to – only one discussion group will show up for you), click the link, and follow the instructions in the discussion forum. You will repeat this process for all discussions in this course 
• Take the practice quiz, which you can find either in the assessments menu on the right side of the homepage or in the First Day material folder on the homepage. This will help to ensure that your computer is compatible with Blackboard
• Review the syllabus and course calendar
• View the lecture presentations in the introduction week folder

General Class Expectations:

• Read my weekly announcements to find out any important class updates
• Interact and participate with your peers through group discussions
• Keep up with all writing assignments and assigned readings
• Complete quizzes at the conclusion of each course module
• Meet performance standards relevant to all FIU classes (live or online)
• Online courses require a degree of self-motivation, self-discipline, and technology skills that can make them especially demanding for some students. This is especially true for my course, since my lecture powerpoint slides do get lengthy and present a lot of information. The textbook in this course is required, and although it overlaps with the lecture material, there are different examples and concepts unique to each.

If you have a question, please consult your syllabus and check the FAQs first to see if it has been answered already. If not, feel free to ask questions of me through Blackboard e-mail if you are confused about something. Chances are, if you have a question, several other students will have the same question. If I think your question is of general class interest, I will post it (without mentioning you) on the FAQs.

The Email feature is an external communication tool that allows users to send emails to users enrolled within the course including the instructor and other students. Emails are sent to the students' FIU email on record. The Email tool is located on the left side Course Menu (Blackboard user interface).

For more information on professional writing and technical communication click here.

Keep in mind that forum discussions are public, and care should be taken when determining what to post.

Eight times this semester, you will have a short discussion with group members.  At the beginning of the term, I will group you into teams of approximately 7-8 students. This will be your group for the duration of the class. Throughout the semester, I will upload a discussion topic, question, or task for you and your group to ponder. Each discussion is worth 5 points, for an additional 40 points that are very easy to earn. Sometimes the discussion will ask you to reflect on some methodology principles. Other times, it will be geared more toward creating ideas for your hypotheses or materials to test your hypothesis. All discussion are due on the Monday night (by 10:00 pm) of the week in which they are assigned.

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the "Practice Quiz" from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes and exams. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

Please note assessments in this course are not compatible with mobile devices and should not be taken through a mobile phone or a tablet. If you need further assistance please contact FIU Online Support Services.

More than any other course, you need to be continually engaged in the material to do well in this class. Asking questions about points you do not understand is welcome, especially since other students may have the same questions. During the semester, there will be several quizzes intended to encourage you to interact with the material or, in some cases, to assess your progress in the course. These quizzes are already announced on the syllabus and cannot be made up if miss one. You may need your calculator for these quizzes, so make sure you have one with you before you start a quiz.

Quizzes will be accessible for a 48 hour time window (see course schedule for the specific quiz dates), but your access ends 50 minutes after you first access the quiz. Once you begin, you will not be able to pause and resume the quiz later. The questions you receive will be randomly selected from a larger pool of quiz items, so other students will not necessarily receive the same items. If you have a technical glitch, you cannot make up the quiz unless the FIU online support center sends me an e-mail addressing your problem. Therefore, contact them as soon as you detect a problem. Do not wait until the last moment to start the quiz just in case there is a problem! I will allow makeup exams if needed for medical reasons or other documented excuses, but I must receive an electronic copy of the doctor note before I allow a makeup. Your other option is explained below:

If you miss a quiz or do very poorly on one, there is a chance to nullify that grade! You will have the chance to take seven quizzes this term, but only your highest six grades count. If you score better on the seventh quiz than on a quiz that came before it, I will drop the prior low quiz score and replace it with the grade you earned on quiz seven. If the seventh quiz is your lowest quiz grade (or if you do not take the seventh quiz), then the seventh quiz grade will be dropped. My recommendation is to do very well on quizzes 1 through 6 so you can skip the seventh quiz! However, taking the seventh quiz cannot lower your grade.

Each quiz will consist of a combination of 20 multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions. Although the final (seventh) quiz will not be explicitly cumulative, the material covered later in the semester will build on previously learned material. In other words, the topics and exam questions on the final quiz may necessarily imply a degree of working knowledge throughout the semester. Questions will be based on assigned readings and lectures covering two to three chapters.

Papers

Article Critique Paper: Each student is required to write one article critique paper, which will be based on one of several research articles posted on Blackboard. The critique paper will count for 25 points. In addition to deepening your understanding of many of the conceptual issues discussed in lectures, this assignment is designed to improve critical thinking and writing skills.  Please follow the instructions and guidelines posted on Blackboard and consult with your lab instructor. You can also find example papers and grade rubrics online. If you are unclear about any of this information, please ask. Due on Monday, Feb. 4th online by 10:00 pm.

Experimental Paper I: The first experimental paper will be based on a short survey study of your instructors’ choosing (in the Spring semester, 2013, we will focus on learned helplessness). Students will interview other FIU students (not from our class), friends, or family and collect data. You will then enter the data into SPSS, analyze the data, and write a research paper that incorporates a title page, literature review, methods section, results, discussion, and references. This paper will be 6 to 10 pages long. Due on Monday, Feb. 25th online by 10:00 pm.

Experimental Paper II: In the second experimental paper, students will conduct a larger study relying on data collected online (via Qualtrics) using students’ family and friends as research participants. This paper is a more detailed and complicated version of paper one, and will consist of a title page, an abstract, a literature review, a methodology section, a data analysis section, a discussion section, and references. Tables and figures may also be included. Students will have a more direct hand in the creation of materials for this study. Please follow the instructions and guidelines on Blackboard. If you are unclear about any of this information, ask. This paper will be 10 to 20 pages long.    

Experimental Paper II is broken into the following three smaller assignments:

• Part A – Literature Review – Worth 25 Points – Due Monday, Mar. 18th
• Part B – Methods & Results – Worth 25 Points – Due Monday, Apr. 8th
• Part C – The Final Paper – Worth 75 Points – Due Monday, Apr. 22nd   

Specific instructions for each paper are posted on Blackboard along with examples. ALL papers are due online by 10:00 pm. Late papers will not be graded.

Short lab Assignments

Eight short assignments factor into your lab assignments grade. You will turn in these assignments electronically via Blackboard. Check below (and on the course schedule at the end of this syllabus) for due dates. It is your responsibility to make sure assignments are submitted on time. Assignments help you apply material covered from the lectures. Each assignment is worth 5 points, or 40 points total

To turn in assignments on blackboard, go into the assignment dropbox. Find and then click the appropriate assignment name. In the “Preview Upload” page that follows, upload your assignment as an attachment. Point structure and grade rubrics are available for most of these assignments, but others will earn you all five points if you simply complete them.  I include these assignments to make sure  that you are understanding the material covered in the lectures and labs, and they provide some easy points as long as you are paying attention!

Late assignments will NOT be accepted in this course without a medical excuse. Although all assignments are due online by 10:00  pm on the date indicated in the course schedule, I encourage you to turn them in well ahead of the deadline (around 6:00 pm is a good timeframe) just in case you have trouble with copying and pasting your assignments into the text box and need to contact technical support.
If you have trouble uploading an assignment through turn-it-in.com on Blackboard and you cannot resolve the problem before the deadline, e-mail me BEFORE the assignment deadline using my Blackboard e-mail address. Do NOT use my FIU e-mail unless it is the last option available to you (if that is the only option you have, send it to me at Maria.Reid1@fiu.edu. I prefer that you submit through the assignment dropbox, but you may attach your paper and e-mail it to me using my blackboard e-mail account as a last resort. Make sure to put 1). the name of the assignment and 2). the date and time you are e-mailing it to me in the subject line. Again, you MUST get it to me BEFORE the midnight deadline, or you will not receive any credit for your assignment. No exceptions.

I will grant up to twenty (20) extra credit points to each student, which you can gain by participating in research experiments via Sona Systems. Normally, Sona gives you 1 credit point per hour of participation, but I will give you 4 class points for each hour of Sona credit (a total of 20 points for 5 hours of research participation). If you do not wish to participate in research or are unable to participate in a total of 5 hours, you have the option of writing up to two additional critique papers based on the format for the article critique paper (and using the same instructions and available article selections for that assignment). Each additional paper you write is worth 10 points up to a maximum of 20 points. It is, of course, easier to participate in research, so I recommend that route.

This course will require knowledge of library resources, and several labs will be devoted to library research. The FIU library provides a number of services to online students. For example:

• You can visit the FIU library at http://library.fiu.edu/
• Students can request a chat session in Blackboard for an explanation on how to access library resources.
• Students can request detailed instructions on how to access library resources.
• One-on-one assistance is available from the Distance Learning Librarian
• Don't struggle through your library research alone! Help is available. For further information, contact Sarah Hammill, Distance Learning Librarian (hammills@fiu.edu) or call 305-919-5604.

Accommodations for students with disabilities
It is my policy, as well as that of FIU, to provide individualized accommodations to students who have disabilities that may affect their ability to participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact either me within the first week of class to discuss their individual needs. These conversations will be held in strict confidence.

Contacting me
The best way to contact me is by e-mail or stop by to see me during my office hours. If you need to meet with me outside my scheduled office hours, I would be happy to set up an appointment, or you may contact your lab TA. Please e-mail me using blackboard, as I keep all course related e-mails within the blackboard system, and you have less of a chance of me losing your e-mail (I give my fiu e-mail address only for emergency cases). For emergencies, contact me at Maria.Reid1@fiu.edu. IMPORTANT: If it is not an emergency, then I will not respond to e-mails sent to my FIU account, and I will not grade any assignments submitted to that account.

Feedback from you is welcome and appreciated! If you have any ideas for how I can make this class the best it can be, let me know by setting up a meeting or sending me a note or email.

Academic misconduct
Academic misconduct in any form is a very serious matter, and will not be tolerated in this class. The term academic misconduct includes (but is not limited to) the following acts: cheating on examinations, turning in another person’s work as your own, turning in the same paper in more than one course, including another person’s words or ideas in your writing without crediting the source, or engaging in behaviors that prevent other students in the class from succeeding.

Students who engage in academic misconduct will be sanctioned. At a minimum, you will receive a grade of zero for the exam or assignment; in all likelihood, you will receive a grade of “F” for the course. All cases of academic misconduct will be reported to the Student Judicial Affairs office, which may impose additional penalties.

In order to avoid unintentional plagiarism, you are encouraged to consult a style manual (such as the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual) to make sure that you are citing others’ work appropriately. You also are encouraged to see either your lecture instructor or lab instructor if you have questions about plagiarism or other issues related to academic misconduct.

IMPORTANT: This class will use Turn-it-in software to check on plagiarism, and you will be able to check your plagiarism levels before turning in your papers. Acceptable plagiarism for this course is 30% overlap or less (I really, really prefer less, like 10%!). If you have 31% to 40% plagiarism, you have the option of redoing the assignment or taking a zero on the assignment. Please note that 20% will be deducted off the final grade for a “redo” assignment (so if you “redo” experimental paper #1, which is worth 50 points, the most you can get is 40 points for a perfect paper). If you have over 40% plagiarism on your original paper, you will receive an automatic F on the assignment and cannot make it up. Since I encourage some direct quoting in papers (where you acknowledge the source you are citing), paper elements based on direct quotes are not counted in the plagiarism total. Nevertheless, direct quotes should be kept to a minimum (roughly one per page, if that, and no more than FIVE per paper), so make sure your papers do not overlap with other published work, and DON’T plagiarize! Turning in a paper you have turned in for another course is still plagiarism, and you will receive an F if you turn in the same paper twice.

Many students who cheat do so because they feel they are unable to complete assignments due to unforeseeable emergencies, health problems, etc. If you are unable to complete an assignment on time due to a problem like this, do not cheat! Come talk to me and I will try to help you.