PSY205: Experimental Design — Fall 2008 (CRN: 6437)

classroom & time: Memorial 303, Monday & Wednesday 3:00–4:15pm
instructor: Dr. J. Stephen Mansfield
email: steve.mansfield@plattsburgh.edu
phone: 564-3384
office: 206a Beaumont Hall
office hours: Monday 12–1pm, Wednesday 1–2pm, Friday 12:30–1:30pm, and at other times by arrangement.

Text

Author: Mansfield, J. S.
Title: Class notes etc. for PSY205 Experimental Design (Fall 2008).

This packet can only be purchased from the college bookstore. It contains the class notes, class activities, study guides, and other essential supplementary materials.

Grading

Your final grade in this class will depend on your performance in the following areas:

Class exams: 30 points (3 × 10 pts each)

There will be 3 class exams on the dates specified in the schedule. Each exam will consist of short-answer questions about all the course material covered since the start of the semester.

You must arrive on time for exams. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late for an exam will not be allowed to sit the exam.

Final exam: 15 points

The final exam will be held during finals week. As well as contributin 15% to your overall grade, your score (%-correct) on the final exam will automatically replace any and all class exam scores that it beats.

You must arrive on time for the final exam. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late for the exam will not be allowed to sit the exam.

Homework activities: 30 points (5 × 6 pts each)

Assignments

There will be 6 homework assignments during the semester (the due dates are shown on the class schedule — assignments will be posted at least one week before the deadline). The assignments require you to review the lecture material and are intended to help you prepare for exam questions. I will drop your lowest scoring assignment when I calculate your final grade at the end of the semester.

Deadlines

The deadline for homework is 3:00pm on the due date.

Submitting homework

Homework must be submitted via the link on your personal PSY205 web page. When you submit your homework, you will see a web page indicating the time and date you sent the assignment, along with a record of the work you sent. You must save this page (either save it on your computer or print it out) as proof that you completed the assignment just in case a discrepancy arises.

Late work

Late work will be accepted until one week after the deadline, but 10% of the available grade will be deducted automatically from your score for each day or part of a day (including weekends and holidays) that the work is late.

APA lab report: 20 points (draft: 4 pts, final version 16 pts)

The class will perform a study midway through the semester. You will each write a complete lab report (in APA style) for this study.

A draft of your paper is due on or before October 31st (this will be submitted via the drop box on the Angel site for this course). Once I have received your draft you must arrange to meet with me so that I can give you feedback. I will have a sign-up sheet on my office door where you can choose a meeting time (these meetings will be scheduled starting on Monday November 3rd).

The final version of your APA paper is due by 3:00 PM on Friday December 12th.

Final project: 5 points

Towards the end of the semester you will split into small groups to develop and run a new and exciting research project of your own. Each group will give a 10-minute presentation to the rest of the class describing the research question, rationale, findings, and conclusions from its final project.

Extra credit

Extra credit can be earned in the following ways:

Personal Reactions (0.25% each. Maximum 6)

Write a 1-page report (approximately 300 words) that describes how the material presented in a specific class was personally relevant to you. For example: What did you learn from a class? Did the material conform to your understanding of the world, or did it challenge your beliefs or opinions ... etc.?

To submit a personal reaction for extra credit follow the REACTION link once you have logged into the course web site. Your reaction must be sent within one week of the day the class was given, and you must have been present in class on that day.

Error spotting (0.1% each. No limit)

I hold you all to a high standard for accurate spelling and correct grammar. It is only fair that I should be held to the same standard. So, if you find a spelling error or a grammar error in any class materials that I distribute to you, or post on class web pages, or in a course textbook, and you are one of the first students to report it to me, I will reward you with extra credit.

To report an error for extra credit follow the ERROR REPORT link once you have logged into the course web site. Your error report must be sent within one week of the day the material was distributed (or referred to) in class, and you must have been present in class on that day. Additionally, your error report must itself be free of errors in order to receive extra credit.

Participation in research

Psychology department faculty often invite students to participate in their research projects. I will announce to the class when any such opportunities become available. I will post instructions in the extra credit portion of the course web site. The amount of extra credit that will be awarded for participating in a study is commensurate with the anticipated effort you will be required to make (extra credit is typically awarded at a rate of 1% per hour). If you only complete part of a study, your extra credit will be pro-rated according to the extent of your participation. For example, if a study involved four 15-minute sessions, but you only attended two of them, you would only receive half of the announced extra credit — probably 0.5% in this case.

For each research participation opportunity, I will also offer an alternative assignment, comparable to the research experience in time and effort, to students who are ineligible, unable, or unwilling to participate in the research project. Students will have the option of gaining the extra credit by participating in the research OR by completing the alternative assignment. Details of the alternative assignment will be posted in the extra credit portion of the course web site.

These policies are in accordance with the Psychology Department's guidelines for awarding extra credit to student research participants.

Grades

Your letter grade will be determined according to the following table.

Percentage	Grade
≥ 93.33	A
≥ 90.00 and < 93.33	A−
≥ 86.67 and < 90.00	B+
≥ 83.33 and < 86.67	B
≥ 80.00 and < 83.33	B−
≥ 76.67 and < 80.00	C+
≥ 73.33 and < 76.67	C
≥ 70.00 and < 73.33	C−
≥ 66.67 and < 70.00	D+
≥ 60.00 and < 66.67	D
< 60.00	E

The final application of these guidelines is subject to the discretion of the instructor.

Note that, except for the extra-credit opportunities stated in the syllabus, students will not be allowed to do any additional "extra work" to make up for poor performance in class.

Attendance

Your attendance is required and will be recorded at every class. If you are absent from class you will miss important course content and class activities (which will make it hard for you to complete the homework assignments.)

Communication

• If you do not understand something, or you are unsure how to complete an assignment, the first thing you should do is contact me. I will help you if you ask me.
• The easiest way to contact me is via the 'send comment' link on the course web site (available once you have logged in).
• If you send me a message by campus email and you would like me to reply, please include your real name in your message. It is hard to identify students based on their email address alone (this is especially the case if you send your mail from a non-campus address). Also, irrespective of the email account you use to send your message, I will only send my reply to your campus email account.
• If you leave me a phone message and you would like me to call you back, please include your name, state your phone number clearly at the start and end of your message, and suggest an appropriate time (or range of times) when I will be able to reach you.
• You are responsible for all material presented and announcements made in class, whether you are in class or not.

Class web pages

I will create an individual web page for you on my course web site. Your web page will be protected by a password that you will give me at the start of the semester. Your page can be accessed from the STUDENT LOGIN link on my homepage: <http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/steve.mansfield>. Your page will show your grades in my class, give you access to extra credit opportunities, and allow you to retrieve the course materials that we use in class. Some class-related materials will only be made available to you via your page.

You must check your grade page at least once a week. If you are unable to access your web page for any reason you should contact me.

Academic honesty

It is expected that all students enrolled in this class support the letter and the spirit of the Academic Honesty Policy as stated in the college catalog.

Academic honesty is essential to the intellectual health of the university and the ideals of education. SUNY Plattsburgh expects students to be honest and to conduct themselves with integrity in all aspects of their relationship with the college (e.g., application, transfer evaluation, academic progress review, and credit and non-credit bearing experiences, including regular course work, independent studies, internships, practica, student teaching, and interactions with faculty, staff, and students). Academic dishonesty adversely affects the educational function of the college and undermines the integrity of its programs.

Dishonest conduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, forgery, and alteration of records, along with any lying, deceit, bribery, coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of influencing a grade or for any other academic gain. Action against a student determined to have violated the academic honesty policy can range from a reduction of the grade on an assignment, through failure of a course, to suspension or even dismissal from the academic program, the department, or the college.

All cases of suspected academic dishonesty will be reported to the college judicial board in accordance with the college's procedures for addressing suspected academic dishonesty.

Penalties for academic dishonesty

The college procedures require me to specify a sanction for the alleged violation. In my courses the sanctions will be as follows:

• Assignments that are not written in the student's own words (e.g., containing passages that match with another student's work, the class textbook, or other reference material) will score zero.
• Falsification of a student's signature on a sign-in sheet for attendance or class participation will result in the students receiving zero of the available credit for attendance or participation.
• Students who cheat on an exam will fail the course (i.e., their final grade will be an E.)
• Students who fabricate data (e.g., by 'making up' results, or reporting data that they did not collect) for a research study or lab class will fail the course (i.e., their final grade will be an E.)
• Penalties for other forms of dishonest conduct will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

© 2008 Steve Mansfield. This page is not necessarily representative of official University policy nor of the University in general. Likewise, the official policies of the University are not necessarily representative of my own beliefs or opinions. VALID XHTML1.0 strict