Section A

As you may recall from earlier weeks, not all students will come into your course ready and excited to learn. There may be times when you teach a required course for non-majors who may not understand nor appreciate the need for a psychology course. How can you help students relate the course material to their own lives? Are there activities that would help you bridge the gap between their lives and the material?

In addition, you might encounter students who are working through personal circumstances or issues that influenced their interest in psychology and affect how they respond to the course material. How could you accommodate and reduce the stress of students with real or imagined psychological issues?

For this Discussion, review and study this week’s Learning Resources and the Key Elements of Effective Course Design media piece as well as the Stallman article from Week 1. Then consider what you believe are the most important elements in designing an introductory psychology course. Finally, think about how these elements relate to the students you might encounter in psychology courses (e.g., beginning college students both psychology majors and non-psychology majors, those who have experiences they wish to explore from a psychological perspective, those at risk for elevated mental distress, those experiencing physical illness, and those who believe they have the problems studied in a psychology class).

With these thoughts in mind:

a brief description of three key elements in course design from among those identified in this week’s Learning Resources, and explain why they are important. Then relate the elements you identified to the design of an introductory psychology course. Finally, explain one challenge you might encounter when designing an introductory psychology course for psychology majors and a different challenge you might encounter when designing an introductory psychology course for non-psychology majors.

Be sure to support your post with specific references to the Learning Resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full, APA-formatted citations for your references.

Section  B

Usually at the start of the college term, students receive a syllabus outlining the course requirements. From classroom rules and grading criteria to required texts and assignments, the course syllabus provides students with a roadmap for the course. As an instructor, the course syllabus is your initial communication with students regarding your expectations for successful completion of the course. In this week’s Teaching Portfolio Assignment, you incorporate all of the information you have examined this quarter into your own Introductory Psychology syllabus. Some things to keep in mind are the atmosphere that you would like to develop in your class and your beliefs about the best way to motivate students to learn.

For this Teaching Portfolio Assignment, review the Narrowing Topics and Resources media piece as well as the Developing Discussions and Assignments media piece included in this week’s Learning Resources. Then develop a syllabus for a 12-week introductory psychology course. Select whether your course will be taught online or in-person and whether your course is geared toward psychology majors or non-psychology majors.

Your syllabus should include the following:

• APA cover page
• Classroom management rules and expectations regarding student participation
• Course description
• Course introduction that includes a rationale for the course
• List of prerequisites, if applicable
• Textbook* and readings (peer-reviewed journal articles, reputable websites, books); be sure to provide full references for all textbooks and readings
• Titles for each week of the course that reflect the topic(s) covered that week
  • At least one discussion question each week
• At least six assignments over the course of the 12 weeks
• Tests (You may select the number of tests to administer and when to administer them; however, be sure to include the test type you will use to assess learning.)
• At least four activities that promote student engagement and facilitate rapport over the course of the 12 weeks (apart from other discussions and assignments)
• Grading criteria for discussions, assignments, and assessments
• Media ideas (optional)

*Note: You may select any college-level introductory psychology textbook, including the Griggs text, as the required text for your course

resources

• Calhoun, S. K., & Becker, A. H. (2004). Creating a syllabus. In R. M. Cordell, E. M. Lucal, R. K, Morgan, S. Hamilton, & R. Orr (Eds.), Quick hits for new faculty: Successful strategies by award-winning teachers (Ebrary version, pp. 4–10). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Griggs, R. A. (2017). Psychology: A concise introduction (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

  Note: While you do not have a specific reading assignment for this text, it is to be referenced when appropriate for the selection of introductory psychology topics in discussion, assignments, and the final assignment.

• Halonen, J. S. (2014). Teaching thinking. In M. Svinicki & W. J. McKeachie, McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed., pp. 305–318). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Riviere, J., Picard, D. R., & Coble, R. (2016). Syllabus Design Guide. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/syllabus-design/
• Svinicki, M., & McKeachie, W. J. (2014). Countdown for course preparation. In McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed., pp. 6–18). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Svinicki, M., & McKeachie, W. J. (2014). Meeting a class for the first time. In McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed., pp. 19–25). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Webster, T. (2008). How to be successful in your first year of teaching college: Everything you need to know that they don’t teach you in school. Ocala, FL: Atlantic.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
  • Chapter 3, “Designing Your Course”
• Weinstein, C. E., Meyer, D. K., Husman, J., McKeachie, W. J., & King, C. A. (2014). Teaching students how to become more strategic and self-regulated learners. In M. Svinicki & W. J. McKeachie, McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed., pp. 291–304). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth