Thursday, November 29, 2012

LAST EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY!

One of the goals of all of the courses is for people to better understand the world around them. Issues related to the field of Psychology often are reflected in the issues of the world around us. The following three artiles were published this week in the New York Times:

What Brand Is Your Therapist?

Neuroscience: Under Attack



Gay Conversion Therapy Faces a Test in Court:

 I am offering the following extra credit based on these articles:

Psy 201: Must do the extra credit on the Neuroscience Under Attack article
All Other classes: Choose whichever article you are interested in
The extra credit is worth up to 7 points on your lowest grade. For the assignment, summarize the article and include a response (your opinion) in it. If you could talk about how the article links to what you have learned that will increase your chances of receiving full credit.

Due Date: 12/12/2012




Wednesday, November 28, 2012

WRITING ASSIGNMENT REMINDERS

As you know, the writing assignments for  Psychology 201 and Psychology 215 are due next week. The following is a reminder of the assignments- PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW ALL REQUIREMENTS TO ASSIST YOU IN OBTAINING THE BEST GRADE POSSIBLE.

BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
In lieu of the 4 multi-media assignments you have the option to completing the following assignment:
I have found the following link: http://bama.ua.edu/~sprentic/101%20SAMind%202010-May-June%20issue.pdf

This is the entire "His Brain/Her Brain" issue from the Scientific American Mind. Those who want to do a paper on brain differences in gender can use this as a starting point. (Note: This would be in lieu of the writing assignments on the syllabus).

You can approach this assignment by taking one of these articles as a starting point and then finding a minimum of one other sources (peer reviewed) on the same topic and completing a research paper on this topic. Alternatively, you uses 3 of these articles and complete the paper using these as your soruces. The writing assignment must follow all the other crierion outlined on the syllabus (APA format, etc).

ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
A major focus of this course is to get students to understand the depth of knowledge and research available to them regarding different psychological disorders. This writing assignment will allow you to explore a disorder you may be interested in much greater depth than is typically allowed in a class of this nature.
Seeing a disorder in a person is often much different than reading it in a book or case-study. The first step is deciding which disorder you would like to learn more about. One way to do so would be to watch the videos associated with the assignments described above. A second way to select a main character from literature, film, or television who has a psychological disorder.
IT IS IMPORTANT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT DIAGNOSIS IF YOU ARE USING A CHARACTER SO PLEASE CHECK WITH ME BEFORE YOU DO YOUR PAPER IF YOU ARE USING ONE!
The assignment requires you complete a paper using an “evidenced based practice” approach answering the following questions:
1.   An introduction to the Disorder/What is the Diagnostic Criterion of the Disorder
2.   What are the general theories of etiology? OR You can focus on a specific theory
3.   What are the general forms of treatment?
4.   What is the prognosis?
5.   What, if any, changes may occur in the DSMV?

Your paper should include at least 2 citations, one of which should be peer-reviewed - Failure to use a peer-reviewed journal will result in an automatic 25 point decrease of the grade
Note: A peer-reviewed REVIEW article is an excellent source for this type of paper!
Note: Text and Class notes are allowed to be used but do not count towards the two citations; they must be sited
Other requirements of the paper are:
§  Use of (APA) format is required-failure to use APA format will result in an automatic 25 point penalty

§  Copies of any papers that were used as sources must be handed in with the paper- failure to do so will result in an automatic 20 point reduction in grade

§  All papers must be stapled

§  There will be a 5 point per calendar day penalty for each day the assignment is late

§  On the due date of the assignment, students will sign-in that they submitted the paper. If for any reason, you do not submit your paper on that day, it is your responsibility to insure that your paper is signed in appropriately. If sign-in is not completed, the paper will not be counted as submitted, and thus, a 0 will count for the grade. 

Thursday, November 15, 2012

ASSISTANCE FOR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS!

Starting on November 26th, expert librarians have joined forces with the staff at the Writing Center to offer super enhanced assistance for research assignments.

Where:        Writing Center (Islip Arts 101)
When:         Mondays 2-3:30 pm
Tuesdays 10-11:30 am
Wednesdays 11 -12:30

What:  Specialized guidance in

·          Finding Sources
·          Using Databases
·          Evaluating Sources
·          Citations and Bibliography
·          Thesis Statements
·          Structure and Organization
·          Integrating Sources
·          Editing and Proofreading

How to Use this Service: Bring research assignments, drafts, notes, materials, etc. to help librarians and tutors better understand objectives of assignments

ATTENTION: Students must have a valid SCCC Student I.D. to use this service

For further information, please contact William Burns (x4150), Lisa Melendez (x4171), Krista Gruber (x4218), or Jennifer Farquhar (x4185)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

CLASS/DUE DATE UPDATE

Given the reconfigured schedule for the semester, the following is a revised schedule of exams and due dates for all courses:

Exams:

Psy 215: 2nd exam will be on Monday, November 19th. Topics covered will be Anxiety Disorders and Personality Disorders

Psy 215H: 2nd Exam will be Tuesday, November 20th. Topics covered will be Anxiety Disorders and Personality Disorders

Psy 201: 2nd exam will be on Monday, November 19th. Topics covered will be Development of the CNS and Neuroanatomy up to, but NOT including the cortex.

Psy 101H: 2nd Exam will be Tuesday, November 20th. Topics will include Behaviorism, Humanism, Cognitive Theory, and Psychological Disorders.

Psy 101: 2nd Exam will be Tuesday, November 20th. Topics will include Behaviorism, Humanism, and  Cognitive Theory.


Psy 215, 201, 101- All assignments based on Multimedia will be due by 11/29. Those with original due dates after this date will be due as originally assigned.

Psy 215, 201- Paper due date is extended to December 6th. Anyone who is able to still submit the paper by the original date is encouraged to do so.

I hope this is helpful in getting us to the end of the semester. Please feel free to talk to me if you have any questions or concerns.

Monday, November 12, 2012

College's Communication Regarding Missed Days

SUBJECT:     Make-up Days Following Class Cancellations


Due to Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, the College was closed for an entire week of classes.  Since it would have been impossible to make up all of the missed instructional time, we have petitioned SUNY, the State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education for relief in order to shorten our semester by that amount of time.  Our regularly scheduled make-up days will be employed for other closings as needed.  Therefore, the day classes that would have run today, Thursday, November 8th, are now scheduled to be made up on Thursday, December 20th.

Many faculty members have already made alternative arrangements to ensure that students receive the full course content and we applaud these efforts.  Options to make up work lost as a result of Hurricane Sandy include the use of D2L or an extension of class time for evening classes.  Weekend faculty should feel free to use the regularly scheduled make-up days of Saturday, December 22 and Sunday, December 23 to hold classes if needed.  Faculty should contact their department chair or academic associate dean for assistance.

I wish to thank the members of the calendar committee for their comments and suggestions throughout this very difficult period, as well as the Faculty Association and the members of the Board of Trustees who provided their advice and counsel.

Thank you for your flexibility and understanding.  Let us hope that the weather improves for the remainder of the semester and that our students and colleagues who are suffering from the aftermath of the storm recover quickly and completely.