Welcome to the start of a new semester!! My records show that you are
registered in my section of Introduction to Psychology. I thought I would welcome
you a little bit early instead of waiting until the first day of class. And, for the 80% of you who are new to campus, I want to welcome you to UNI as well! I am hoping we will have a great semester together.
I think Intro to Psych is a great course for any student to take. I would recommend it even if a student had already completed the Liberal Arts/General Education requirements. All of us can benefit from a better understanding of the causes of behavior as we go through life trying to make sense of our own behavior or that of friends, family, lovers, co-workers, politicians - whoever! Everyone needs to be able to critically evaluate
the claims concerning behavior that are so much a part of news reports, commercials, and conversation. This course will help you with each of these. Many of you, raising children - now or in the future - will be better prepared with some understanding of developmental psychology. And all of you, in one way or another, will cross paths with someone in the mental health field. Perhaps you already have, in school (counselors, school psychologists). Recent statistics suggest that 1 out of 2 Americans will suffer from some sort of psychological disorder in their lifetime. You or someone you care about is
likely to seek out some type of mental health treatment or advice. Or you may
hear testimony from someone in this field while on jury duty. This course will
help you understand the qualifications of and differences between professionals
in the field. In addition, about 1 out of 5 Americans will have some kind of
nervous system disorder or disease which affects behavior. Biopsychology or physiological psychology, the study of how your biology affects your behavior, can help you understand what is happening when someone you know is affected by autism or Alzheimer's disease or other neurological problem. But psychology is not only
concerned with treating behavioral problems. A good part of it is focused on normal behavior and improving the quality of life and our ability to function in a wide variety of
circumstances (education, work, relationships, etc.). You can use what you learn to
improve your life!
Intro to Psych is taken by almost every UNI student. Unfortunately that
means we have to offer it as a very large lecture class (~200). Now I know
you may have your doubts about a class that big. It is easy to feel lost in
the crowd, to think your attendance is not important, and to assume you are on
your own if you start to have problems. That is not the case here! I may not
learn to associate many faces with names, but I do care about how you are doing,
I applaud your improvements, and enjoy getting to know as many of you as I
can. I welcome office visits and e-mail and I'm almost always available before
and after class as well. I will do what I can to make our class a comfortable
place so that you feel free to speak up. (Remember - nearly everyone here is
just as new and as anxious as you!) I welcome questions and asking questions is
one way to slow down my motor mouth! Fight passivity! Let's make it feel like a
smaller class. Become involved and you will have much better retention of the
material. You'll get so much more out of college if you are not just a listener!
Remember Robin Williams in "Dead Poet's Society"? "Carpe diem!" (Seize the day -
or, in this case, seize your education!).
While I feel like we can work together to make even our huge
class a friendly and involving place, one thing that's more difficult to do is
to design a course that "fits" all 200 students. If our class is like most
others, about half of you have already had a psych class in high school, while
about half are brand new to the subject. Some who took high school psych had
excellent courses that were the equivalent of a college course (although
often spread over a whole school year), whereas others took a course that only
covered a small amount of the content we will be tackling this semester.
What this means is that inevitably sometimes we are going too slow or too
shallow for more experienced students or too fast and furious for others. Many
students who got by with memorizing definitions in high school may find test
questions that ask you to apply your understanding to real-life situations pretty
challenging, while others will find our multiple choice tests too simplistic.
Realizing these difficulties I can only say I will try my best to teach an understandable, yet challenging course suited both for those who may never take another psych class in their lives and those who may go on to major or minor in psychology.
Students new to college often don't realize that now they must become
independent learners, studying actively to learn from texts, because there
is not enough classroom time to present all the knowledge and skills of a
typical college course. Think about it - if you took a college-level (AP)
psychology course in high school, you would usually spend about 180 class periods
with your psychology teacher. But that is almost unheard of at universities.
Instead, we have about 45 class periods together and a great deal of learning
(about 135 class periods worth) must occur outside the classroom when you
are reading and working with text material. Our book (Introduction to Psychology by
Rod Plotnik) is written in a conversational style that is easy to read. I think you will really like it. You are responsible for completing assigned reading, preferably before or while we are covering that topic in class - it is key to your success! You'll need a minimum
of 2 hours per module (chapter) and additional time to do the study aids in the text
and online (practicing in as many ways as possible is recommended!). It is
highly recommended that you map out a regular Study Schedule for your classes
(see the Time Management Links in our online syllabus) and try to stick to it. Plan on
reading about 10 pages of Psych per class day. Make flashcards or very condensed
notes as you read. Read those & class notes over regularly and you’ll find you know the material before it comes time to study for an exam.
To really master material most people have to actively work with the
concepts. For that reason our class will not be just lecture and tests. We
will have several small assignments during the semester related to the concepts
we are covering. Since you can use your text and other resources, discuss
assignments with friends, or consult with your prof or T.A.'s, the
conscientious student should be able to earn all assignment points. Almost
all past students voted in favor of having some of the course points come
from something other than exams. Last semester the points from the
assignments allowed almost all students to significantly raise their grade above that
which they would have earned from test scores alone. You can take a look at all
of the assignments for the semester by looking at the end of our online
syllabus at: http://www.uni.edu/walsh/linda8.html In fact you can even get a head
start on the Syllabus Quiz and Library Scavenger Hunt if you like! Also notice that, close to the top of our online syllabus, there is a link to college success tips submitted
by Intro students who have been at UNI a year or more. And throughout our syllabus and on the associated Sites to Promote Academic Success webpage http://www.uni.edu/walsh/linda1.html there are various learning aids. Learning how to study and learn is very important in college since you do so much learning on your own.
I am excited about the new semester and hope we will have a lively class despite our afternoon class time. Expect the unexpected! I look forward to seeing you on the 25th.
Dr. Linda L. Walsh
Psychology - UNI
P.S. I want to establish good lines of communication with members of our class, so notice (in the syllabus assignment list) that you can earn a few extra credit points by sending me an email introducing yourself (you could even include a digital photo if you have one, or a tip on how I might recognize you) and also for stopping by my office (Baker Hall 441) once school starts.