Tallahassee Community College
MWF 1:25 - 2:15; Ref # 47404
Office: History and Social Sciences Building, Room 218
Phone: 201 - 8157 Fax: 201 - 8164
E-mail: mcguffr@tcc.fl.edu Web page: http://faculty.tcc.fl.edu/hss/mcguffr/index.htm
Office hours: To be announced (or just drop by)
First day of class: January 8th -------- Last day of class: April 20th
Final Examination: as printed in schedule of classes: Tuesday April 24th 10:00 - 12:00
Weiten, Wayne & Lloyd, Margaret A.
(2005). Psychology Applied to Modern Life; Adjustment in the 21st Century:
Eighth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Thomson.
....plus additional outside readings as assigned during the semester.
We will study human functioning in the context of adjustment to our life tasks, demands of maturity, personal needs and self-actualization. Areas of application include relationships, sex, children, work, play, education, morality, and living in harmony with society.
Up to 20 extra credit points are available to those who
participate in class the most often and the most productively. I may give an
occasional pop quiz. It will consist of the first ten or fifteen questions from
your next test, and will be calculated as part of the test.
Never miss an exam! If you must miss an exam I will not care WHY you missed it. Make-up exams are only given to students who contact me in person or by phone (I have voice mail) on or before the day of the exam to be missed (only one exam can be approved for a make-up). Coming to me with an excuse, no matter how well documented, AFTER missing an exam will not result in a change of your grade, or of the make-up policy; you will receive a zero. Those who get approved to take a make-up will appear at my office (HSS 218) on the last Thursday of the semester (April 19th) at 8:30 AM ready to take a more difficult exam than the original.
If you are absent you are responsible for all work assigned,
and all the information provided during your absence, just as if you had
attended. It is your responsibility to contact me in advance in the event of
any absence.
TCC's attendance policy states that any student who misses more times than a
class meets for any one week may be withdrawn with an AW. I will not automatically
drop you due to excessive absences. Instead you will be decertified from taking the
next exam (see above).
Please come see me first if you have plans to drop the course.
Absences for military service, jury duty, college sponsored activities that
were approved by the college president, and religious holidays are excusable if
the Assistant Vice President for Instruction at TCC is given prior
notification. However, since my attendance policy is more liberal, if you need
to miss for these reasons you had better attend at all other times. See me as well
and keep me informed.
CELL - FREE CLASSROOM POLICY:
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE:
Do not come late to class. Do not leave early. Do not leave the room except in an emergency. When I arrive, class has begun --pay attention; I often announce important things and hand back papers at the beginning of class. If you have inadvertently arrived late, slip in as quietly and unobtrusively as possible; take a seat near the door.
Be respectful of others and of their opportunity to learn. We will not waste much time on idle chit chat. Everything we talk about is part of the course. Be prepared to learn from others and to share what you know as well.
Turn off (or leave at home) all beepers, cell phones (see above), CD players, cassette players, radios, etc. You may tape the class if you wish in order to help you review your notes later, but tell me if you do so. Laptops may be used for taking notes and course related work, but their use will be prohibited if it becomes distracting to other students.
Do not carry on private conversations with others around you. Do not "hit on" or try to date your classmates while in class. You can do that at other times and elsewhere.
Raise your hand often and be prepared to keep it up; I try to call on everyone eventually.
Everyone has something to teach and something to learn. Do not hesitate to ask questions, offer comments or share insights; we will all benefit when you do so.
Always be prepared and well equipped. Have paper, two number two pencils and a pen handy everyday.
YOUR CRITICAL EVALUATION ESSAYS are to be completed as follows:
You will write a minimum of two to three double-spaced, type-written pages (minimum 500 words each) on each of four topics selected from lists of questions and exercises that I will provide.
Answer the Critical Evaluation exercise from your own perspective after you have read and thought about the topic. It will help you to complete an outline of your ideas, but I will generally not require you to hand in an outline. Explore your thoughts or ideas on paper, then edit this into a good solid essay (do it on a word processor and keep the file on disk; be prepared to submit the electronic copy, even after you have turned the paper in to me). I will read your essay and make suggestions for improvement of your thinking, writing and/or exploration of the topic. You may wish to relate the topic to some adjustment this caused you to make in your own life, but this is not always required of you.
Success Tip: You should often use the major theoretical frameworks of the course, humanistic, psychodynamic, cognitive developmental, and/or psychosocial developmental theories as the basis for writing.
You may use outside sources for ideas but DO NOT EVER DIRECTLY QUOTE
ANY SOURCE. This means you may never use others' words or
phrasing. Papers must be wholly original.
Also do not merely summarize or paraphrase what you are learning from them.
When you use ideas from outside sources (including Weiten and Lloyd,
2005) you must cite and reference each one properly, in APA format,
giving credit within your paper and in the References
section in the back.
ALL PAPERS MUST BE TYPED, IN APA FORMAT and double-spaced, using a 10-12 point font everywhere.
All References must follow APA format
ATTACH PHOTOCOPIES of the actual pages from any reference material you used, including Weiten
and Lloyd (2005).
Your title pages should look just like this:
Here's the title
Your own name
Psychology of Adjustment
Dr. R. McGuff
The date turned in
Do not use bold, oversized type, funky, fancy fonts, or any graphics on your title pages or in your papers. A simple elegance is the best accompaniment to your good ideas.
Citations should work like this:
(This is what might be your original writing..)
....in fact many people are unaware that the divorce rate for second and third or subsequent marriages is even higher than for first marriages (Weiten & Lloyd, 2005). (That was your citation.)This means that a majority of new marriages will likely end in
divorce, putting new meaning to what may be our most intimate personal commitments.
I will gladly provide a handout on APA format, and will answer any questions about proper use of citations and references. Your book is cited and referenced in APA format so it also serves as a good example of how to cite and reference others' ideas. The APA manual for writing papers is available at your campus library and in the writing lab, but most everything you need to know about the format for citing and referencing is right here in this syllabus.
Remember, you may never use others' words and you must always give others credit for their ideas.
Your References page should look like this:
References
Carter, Jaine and Carter, James D. (2000, June 22). The Importance of Fathers as
Caregivers. Psychport. Found online at: <http://www.psycport.com/2000/06/22/l/0000-0001-couples-fam.html.
Johnston, Freedy (1972). The effects of parenting in relation to personal
development. American Parenting Journal, 11(4), 523-541.
Wade, Carole & Tavris, Carol (1998). Psychology, 5th Ed. New York: Longman.
Weiten, W. & Lloyd, M.A. (2005). Psychology Applied to Modern Life; Adjustment in the 21st Century: Eighth Edition. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth-Thomson.
I will read the papers, make suggestions for improvement of your writing and thinking and give them a grade. Each paper will be graded on the basis of whether you demonstrate critical understanding and insight into the course material, can integrate theory, facts and experience, and for organization, correct grammar, spelling, etc.
NEVER HAND IN LATE WORK! The essays are due on the dates specified on the syllabus. The biggest penalty for handing in late work is this: I will not read it until after I have read everybody else's work in ALL my classes. Thus, you will not know how well or poorly you scored for a very long time. In addition, late essays will lose 3 points (out of 25) for each weekday they are late. Don't come to me with excuses about why they are late; they are just late. BTW, if you arrive late for class on the day an essay is due, the paper is late, too.
Plagiarism is the use of someone else's ideas or words without giving proper credit. Plagiarism is cheating. It (and any other instance of cheating) will result in immediate failure of the assignment or test (and this usually also means failure of the course), and all penalties appropriate, including disciplinary action by TCC.
To satisfy Writing Across
the Curriculum and Gordon Rule Requirements students must write a minimum of 1,000 words with a grade of 'C' or better in this course (as in all Social Science courses). The
writing must receive passing grades as well if you are to be considered
proficient in writing, and thus to satisfy the WAC Requirement.
Course Schedule and Assigned Readings:
Please come prepared to
ask questions and to suggest answers to them.
READ THE MATERIAL IN
ADVANCE so you will obtain maximum benefit from class discussion.
Your active participation
is a requirement of the course!!! It is also what makes this course fun!
Topic & Assigned Reading:
Week 1: January 8th.................................Chapter 1
Course requirements for The Psychology of Adjustment. Why are we here?
Broad perspectives on human adjustment.
Week 2: January 17th..........................Chapter 2
(HOLIDAY: January 15th - NO CLASS)
Introduction to Psychology as a Science, Psychology as an Art and Psychology as
Life.
Introduction to the major theories of psychology that describe adjustment.
Week 3: January 22nd.........Chapter 5
The development of the self over the lifespan. Lifetask discussion.
What is personality?
Week 4: January 29th.........................Chapter 7
CRITICAL EVALUATION ESSAY #1
Due on Tuesday, January 30th
How good interpersonal communication can
lead to effective adjustment
Defense mechanisms as a barrier to effective communication.
TEST #1 Thursday, February 1st
Week 5: February 5th.......................Chapters 3 & 4
Stress and Coping
Week 6: February 12th.............Chapters 10 and 11 (336 - 345)
How do masculine, feminine and androgenous identities differ?
Adolescence; developing an adult identity.
CRITICAL EVALUATION ESSAY #2
Due on Friday February 16th
Week 7: February 19th..................................... Chapter 13
Human Sexuality
TEST #2 on Thursday February 22nd
Week 8: February 26th..................................Chapter 8
Adulthood & Love
Week 9: March 12th...............Chapter 9 (all) and 11 (345 - end)
Marriage & Parenting
CRITICAL EVALUATION ESSAY #3 Due on Friday, March16th
Week 10: March 19th................................. Chapter 15
Adjustment and maladjustment.
Models of mental disorder.
Symptoms of psychological disorders, their causes, & classifications.
Normality, Trauma & Deviance.
Week 11: March 26th.................................Chapter 14
How the mind and the body are married: for better or worse, in sickness and in
health.
Introduction to psychotherapy.
Week 12: April 2nd..............................Chapters 2 & 16
Helping others adjust through psychotherapy
Goals, aims and types of psychotherapy
TEST #3 April 5th
Week 13: April 9th.............................Outside reading (on Being)
Actualization of the self
Who we are and who we want to be.
CRITICAL EVALUATION ESSAY #4 Due on Thursday April 12th
Friday April 13 IS THE LAST DATE on which I
will accept written work of any kind!!
Week 14: April 16th.....................Chapter 12 (all) Chapter 11 (345 - end)
Work; Retirement and Aging
Week 15: FINAL EXAM: Tuesday April 24th from 10:00 - 12:00
The final exam is two hours long. Expect to take the full two hours to complete it.
Catalogue Description: CLP 1001 Psychology of Personal and Social Adjustment (3) F, Sp, Sm. Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of College Preparatory English (ENC 0020) and College Preparatory Reading (REA 0002) or appropriate placement scores. A study of personality development and of what adjustment means in areas of vocations, avocation, sex, education, morality, and in society in general. Lecture 3 hours. Written work (1,000 word minimum) is required.
This syllabus is available in a large print version for the visually impaired.
As an academic community devoted to the life of the mind, this class requires of every student complete intellectual honesty in the preparation and completion of all assigned academic work.
Honor, integrity, honesty and effort benefit everyone. I hereby recognize that my honor as a student of this class is dependent on my integrity, honesty and effort. Therefore, I will not cheat, plagiarize or otherwise misrepresent the work I submit. I shall neither give nor receive unauthorized aid on any piece of work, nor knowingly tolerate any violation of the Honor Code of this class.
I hereby certify that all the
written work I submit in this course shall be my own original writing, that I
will use no idea, fact, information, or phrasing from any source without giving
credit by citing that source within my work, and that I shall strive to make as
plain as possible the sources used within my work.
I hereby certify that the responses I give on tests in this course shall reflect only my own knowledge, study, effort and belief. I will not attempt to copy the work of others, and will not tolerate any attempt of others to copy my work. If I detect that any student in this class is attempting to copy my work or that of others, I will report my belief to my instructor immediately and without fear of the consequences for doing so.
I hereby pledge my honor, integrity, honesty and effort as a
student, as a fellow human being and as a member of the academic community in
this class.
Pledged on this day, ____/____/____ _________________________