Course Calendar and Outline

The final course grade will be assigned based upon: 

• 10% Quizzes on reading
• 30% Mid-term 
• 25% Laboratory grade
• 35% Final Exam 

• 20% Lab reports for labs 1-5
• 15% Term Project Research Proposal
  
•  5% Peer review of research proposals
• 10 % Term Project Data Analysis
• 20% Oral Presentation of Research Project
• 30% Final Written Research Report

Quizes: Before each new chapeter of the text is covered in lecture students must take the online quiz. The purpose of the quiz is to assess comprehension of the text content. Although the first 16 questions of the quizzes areprinted in the textbook, additional items will be added.  Students must take the quizzes before the lecture on the date scheduled. The lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. 

Extra Credit: Throughout the term students may gain extra credit toward quizes by posting questions and answers to the course bulletin boards. Students may gain one point extra credit for one unique and relevant question posted per chapter and two points for correctly answering another student's question for that chapter before the quiz for that chapter. 

Midterm and Final: Unlike the quizes these will be in the form of essay and application problems. The purpose is to assess students' ability to apply what has been learned in class.  The final is necessarily cumulative.

Academic Integrity: (Policy Statement Courtesy of Westminster's Academic Standards Committee) 

Page 22 of your student handbook states:

 Central to the purpose and pursuit of any academic community is academic integrity. All members of the Westminster Community, including students, faculty, staff, and administrators, are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity, in keeping with the philosophy and mission of the College.

 The most flagrant violation of academic integrity is cheating on an exam or a quiz.  Students caught participating in such an activity (either for their own or for another's benefit) will receive a course grade of "F," with no opportunity for the student to receive a "W" or "WF."

 Other forms of scholastic dishonesty will be dealt with in a like manner.  These may include (but are not limited to):

 A.              Copying/turning in another's work (e.g., a fellow student's, a past student’s, or work from the internet) as one's own.

B.              Lending of one's work to another so that he/she may turn it in as his/her own.

 C.              Inappropriate input from any source for written assignments. This can include asking someone to correct or identify errors. It can also include any verbal answers received inappropriately.

 D.              Stealing class materials from students, the professor, or from the library.

 E.               Inhibiting another student from using library materials or other resources necessary for the class.

 F.               Falsifying a  journal entry.

 *NOTE: See your Student Handbook, pp. 22-24 for more extensive explanations of Academic Integrity.

 Turnitin.com
             Three written assignments will be submitted through the Internet service, Turnitin.com.  This service provides the user with an originality report for all papers submitted to it.  The first assignment will be for students to learn to summarize a research report in their own words, using Turnitin.com in order to verify that they have really summarized and not merely paraphrased.  The second assignment to be submitted will be the research proposal.  Lastly, the final research report will be submitted through turnitin.com.

Student Support Services
             Students learn in many ways, and often have unique obstacle to overcome in mastering college level concepts and skills.  You may already have discovered a specific learning challenge, or you may do so during this course.  In either case please let your instructor know so that appropriate learning and assessment alternatives can be used to perform to your capabilities.  Westminster provided a number of support services. Some of them are:

The Learning Center:  Director, Sally Huey

Disability Support: Director, Corey Shaw

Diversity Services: Director, Jeannette Hubbard

Library Instruction: Reference Librarian, Ms.  Bolger

Reading Psychology Articles

       Each year a new learning goal is added to this course.  This year it is that all students will do several activities aimed at improving reading comprehension and speed for scientific articles.  We will also continue the pie challenge and "be the data" activities that were introduced successfully in previous years.