AP Psychology Syllabus
Instructor
Natalie Santiago
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 718-639-1752 ext. 113
Textbook
Myers, D. G. (2014). Myers' Psychology for AP. New York, NY: Worth.
*Additional outside reading may be required at teacher discretion
Course Goal
To learn about the field of psychology through in-depth study, discussion, and hands-on activities
The central question addressed in AP Psychology is “How do psychologists think?”
The psychologist David Myers wrote that to think as a psychologist, one must learn to “restrain intuition with critical thinking, judgmentalism with compassion, and illusion with understanding” (Sternberg 1997). Whether students choose to pursue a career related to psychology or one in some entirely different field, this habit of mind will be of great value.
The AP Psychology course is designed to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings.
- Students learn about some of the explorations and discoveries made by psychologists over the past century.
- Students assess some of the differing approaches adopted by psychologists, including the biological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, and sociocultural perspectives.
- Most important, students come to an appreciation of how psychologists think (or at least an appreciation of the kind of critical analysis that psychologists espouse and hope to model in their words and actions).
Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology. A variety of activities, demonstrations, and projects will be provided to meet this goal of instructing scientific and empirical approaches. (SC17)
Grading Proportions
- Tests: 30%
- Quizzes: 25%
- Projects: 20%
- Classwork/Discussions: 15%
- Homework: 10%
Participation
Class participation grade includes attendance in class. Students are expected to be in class on time (seated in seat at the time of second bell) with all materials that might be needed in class (e.g. Ipad, pen, paper, homework, any other requirements). Additionally, students will have completed the assigned reading and came to class prepared to engage in class discussion and active listening.
Late Work
All assignments should be turned in prior to or on the due date. Should a student be absent from class and the absence is considered excused, according to school policy, work should be emailed to the teacher before the start of the class to be given full marks. It is the student’s responsibility to ask for all missed classroom assignments for all excused absences and to make them up according to school policy. Should a student submit late work a 20% reduction in the overall grade will be subtracted.
Academic Dishonesty
Honesty is a fundamental element that must be a part of any class. Any type of cheating or being an accessory to cheating (including plagiarism) will be treated with zero tolerance by the assignment of a failing grade for the work or test submitted.
Avoiding plagiarism is simple. A paper should never be one long string of quotations after another, however because education is about learning and research it is acceptable and encouraged to quote others in your papers. Simply be sure to use quotes and citations when making a direct quote. Secondly you can paraphrase something you read or something someone else said and then cite the source.
Extra Credit
Extra credit can be earned by reading an article from a psychology journal or magazine selected by the teacher and writing a one page summary and one page critique of the article. Only two articles per nine weeks can be completed for extra credit. Points for extra credit are added into the quiz portion of the overall grade.
Respect
A key element for open and honest discussion, which is paramount when studying psychology, is respect without judgement. Respect must be shown to all class members of their thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and experiences shared. Respect must be demonstrated in your language, action, and behavior.
Tips for Students
- Take complete class notes and date them. Put them in your own words. Don’t write down something you don’t understand without asking about it. Leave some blank space on each page to make additions and clarifications. It is very important to review your notes each day while they are still fresh in your mind. Expand them, clarify them and add examples so that they will make sense when you go back to study from them later.
- Half of the battle is vocabulary. You must learn psychology vocabulary in order to understand the subject.
- Form a study group
- Learn to read more effectively. You can read more effectively by doing the following:
- Read actively; don’t just look at the words. If you spend a half-hour “reading” but are unable to recall anything when you are done, you have wasted your time.
- Preview a chapter quickly before you begin and review the material frequently. Pause at the end of each paragraph and summarize mentally, in your own words, what you just read.
- Do not try to read an entire chapter at once. Each chapter of your text is divided into several major sections. These sections are presented in bold print in the summary outline on the chapter’s first page. Limit your reading to one of these sections at a sitting.
- Do not ignore pictures, diagrams, tables, and sidebars in your textbook. These features make the text more interesting and may include important information.
- Take notes as you read. If you can condense a 30-page chapter to a few pages of good notes, it’s going to be much easier to review. Perhaps most important: keep a list of questions about the reading.