ADVANCED PLACEMENT PSYCHOLOGY SYLLABUS

Melanie Shelnutt – instructor- ***Work email- (this is the

quickest and easiest way to communicate with me– it is also the address for

me when you register on line for AP Psy. Psych Sims/labs and web quizzes)

Office hours – 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Room 212

AM tutorials/Test corrections: 7:15-8AM (hall duty at 8- room locked)

PM Tutorials/Test corrections: Tues/ThursONLY (3:30 – 5:00pm)

Welcome to AP Psychology! You are to be commended for taking the opportunity to complete college level studies during your high school career. The rationale of the AP program along with other pertinent information will be offered here to heighten your awareness of what will transpire in this rigorous introduction to Psychology. For many of you, this is your first AP experience – and while challenging, it is my hope that it will be a rewarding one as well.

THE AP PROGRAM

Each May, The AP examinations are administered at NCHS and at other participating schools throughout the world. The National College Board exam lasts for two hours and is a blend of 100 multiple choice questions (2/3 or score) and two free response exams (FREs – 1/3 of score) specifically designed to measure the full range and depth of the student’s knowledge. All students enrolled are expected and encouraged to take the examination. Remember, colleges and universities award advanced placement credit, not the College Board. Be sure and study your college’s catalog for a detailed description of their AP policies and what score constitutes credit earned.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR’S PREPARATION AND WORK HISTORY

In the summer of 1999 I was granted the opportunity to attend the instructor’s training at WesternKentuckyUniversity. Along with 25 other teachers from the southeastern states, I studied the AP curriculum, helped in developing various instructional strategies and practiced testing and scoring the exams. It was a wonderful professional experience for me. I have since attended 11 additional workshops, facilitated an AP Psychology workshop for teachers in the Henry County School System who were beginning to offer the class, and currently mentor other Cobb Co. teachers beginning their programs.

After graduating in 1975 from SouthCobbHigh School, my undergraduate Associate’s Degree in Education was earned at Young Harris College in the beautiful NorthGeorgiaMountains. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Georgia – GO DAWGS! My Master’s Degree in Secondary Social ScienceEducation was completed at West Georgia College. I also have acquired postgraduate training in multi-cultural education, teacher support strategies, AVID instruction, instructing gifted students and AP Psychology. My entire 32 years of teaching have taken place at North Cobb High School. I am blessed to call this school my home… and all of you – mine!

The Course

AP Psychology is a one semester course at NCHS. Since there are no QCC/GPS standards for AP Psychology, the course conforms to the areas below. Following is a listing of the major content areas covered by the AP Psychology Exam, Boldface %’s are used for grading in MY AP class, The % in parentheses are the weights used in constructingthe College Board Exam.

Unit 1 – ROOTS – RESEARCH – NEUROSCIENCE------12%

  1. History and Approaches (2%)
  2. Research Methods (2%)
  3. Brain Structure & Functions (10%)
  4. Nature, Nurture and Human Diversity (6%)

Unit 2 – BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR------12%

5.Developmental Psychology (10%)

6. Sensation and Perception (8%)

7. States of Consciousness (2%)

Unit 3 –LEARNING & COGNITION------12%

  1. Learning (5%)
  2. Memory (5%)
  3. Thinking/Language (5%)
  4. Intelligence/Testing (5%)

Unit 4 – PERSONALITY- ------12%

  1. Motivation and Work(4%)
  2. Emotion (4%)
  3. Personality (10%)
  4. Stress (2%)

Unit 5 - INDIVIDUAL & GROUP VARIANCES------12%

  1. Abnormal Psychology (7%)
  2. Treatment of Psychological Disorders (5%)
  3. Social Psychology (8%)

Unit 6 - COMPREHENSIVE EXAMs/FINAL PROJECTS----40%

***6/12/18 week Comps and a “Psychology in the Media” project***

GRADING

Since my objective is to prepare you for the national AP Exam in May, your grade for this semester’s work will consist ofUNIT (NOT CHAPTER) college level multiple choice exams, free-response writings, and required formative assessments (listed below). There is no opportunity in college for “extra credit” – same goes for here. Everything you domatters andcounts! Do it well the first time, every time, starting now! You’ll be glad you did!

I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity for tutorials, FRE rewrites and “test correction” points after the summative unit tests. (Let’s say on the Unit 1 exam you score 58% - that is 42 points shy of 100%. Tutorials with test corrections can add ½ of those “distant points” back (21) with the new grade recorded being 79%. Test corrections are in my room (7:15- 8:00 a.m. –OR Tuesday/Thursday afternoons from3:30- 5:00) and MUST be completed before the next 6, 12, or 18 week comprehensive exam. You will be required to write one FRE every 3 weeks w/ a minimum of 2 peer reviews for each. At the end of every 6 weeks, you will turn in your portfolio w/ BOTH FRE’s, peer reviews and rewrites included. Your graded portfolio will count 1/3 of each 6 week comprehensive exam.

UNIT GRADES = (5 units totaling)60% of class grade.

Formative assessments =40% of unit grade. These will include HANDWRITTEN interactive vocabulary activities, web assignments,article readingswithHANDWRITTEN analyses, in class labs/experiments with HANDWRITTEN analyses, and textbook internet web quizzes and psychological simulations (PsychSims). All internet work will be submitted to me through the textbook website. Cut-off entry time is midnight on Fridays. Grades are sent to me on Saturday mornings. For credit to be earned, all on-line assignments must be completed until 100% mastery. I STRONGLY advice you save/print out and keep every web & PsychSim quizzes – makes a great study guide for the College Board exam and it’s evidence of your work should there be “technology issues”. (and there ALWAYS are issues! )

Summative assessments = 60% of unit grade. This will include 2 – 50 question multiple choice exams for EACH unit. ALL Test corrections and rewrites must be completed before the NEXT6 week comp is given.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM GRADES= (3 comps and 1 project totaling) 40% of class grade

6/12/18 week Comprehensive Exams= the comps are “timed” to mirror the College Board Examination. Each will consist of 100 multiple choice questions (2/3 of comp exam grade) and the FRE portfolio (1/3 of comp exam grade). These along with the semester’s Psychology in the Media Projectmake up the category. See break down of percentages above.

2012 NATIONAL AP PSYCHOLOGY DATE:May 7th- noon at NCHS - 

***ALWAYS keep this syllabus in notebook for future reference***

2012 AP PSYCHOLOGY REVIEWS

(North Cobb, Kennesaw Mountain and Allatoona High Schools Invited)

NCHS Media Center

4:15- 5:45PM

Tuesday – April 24, 2012 (released exam 1 – groups of 5 w/ I-Respond system)

Thursday – April 26, 2012 (released exam 2 – groups of 5 w/ I respond system)

Tuesday – May 1, 2012 (released exam 3 – groups of 5 w/ I-Respond System)

Thursday – May 3, 2012 (AP Practice Exam – solo w/ paper, pencil, self-graded)

No tests are repeated – you are encouraged to come to every one because they are ALL different!!!

AP PSYCHOLOGY COLLEGE BOARD EXAM MONDAYMAY 7, 2012 - NOON

Good luck, everyone ~ you’ve got this!