Strategies for College Success: ED PS 2600-002

Educational Psychology

Spring Semester 2018

Strategies for College Success: ED PS 2600-002

Tuesday/ Thursday 2:00PM-3:20PM

SAEC 3155

______

Instructor: Nile Brandt, M.A., M.S.

Email:

This syllabus is subject to change throughout the semester as needed and changes will be discussed in class.

______

Required Materials

*Gore, P., Leuwerke, W., & Metz, A.J. (2016). Connections: Empowering College and Career Success. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Course Objective:

The main objective of this course is to increase your capacity for success as a college student. As a means of facilitating this objective, you will be given the opportunity to learn various academic and life skills via online activities designed to increase your self-awareness as a college student. Online discussions will include a variety of topics such as college and career success, personal success planning, motivation, decision making, learning preferences, organization, time management, reading strategies, note taking strategies, studying strategies, test anxiety and performance, communication, healthy social relationships, financial literacy, academic and career planning. In order to grow and gain insight from your academic experiences in this class it is necessary to participate, apply learned skills, and engage in self-reflection.

Grading Scale:

ASSIGNMENT POINTS

In Class Assignments/ Participation270

Weekly Journal140

ACES50

Twelve Statement Project50

Assignment Calendar100

Campus Resource Presentation 100

Career Exploration Project50

Social Issues Presentation75

Behavior Modification Project75

End-of-Term Reflection Paper40

Research Participation Requirement50

TOTAL1000

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

In Class Assignments/Participation (300 points)

As this is a workshop style class, it is important you come to class prepared and ready to participate. You will have the opportunity to receive 10 points per class. Points will not be awarded just for showing up. To earn points you will be required to participate in an in-class assignment or activity. Since unforeseeable emergencies happen, you will be allowed to make up points for up to four missed classes. Make-up assignments include writing a one-page summary of a research article on the day's assigned topic.

Weekly Journal (14 entries, 10 points each, 140 points total)

In accordance with each chapter we navigate, you will submit a journal entry. You will have the option of responding to a specific journal prompt, or using this time to process thoughts, feelings, insights and experiences that may arise during the semester.

Each entry will be due Sunday by 11:59 PM. Each entry should between 1-2 pages.

ACES, The Academic and Career Excellence System (25 points each part) DUE 1/23, 4/24

ACES is a powerful, norm-referenced assessment that helps pinpoint your strengths and growth edges. You will be required to take the assessment at the beginning and the end of the semester. This will allow you to better understand your own attitudes and abilities and see the growth you have made throughout the semester.

Details and requirements for this assignment will be discussed in class and instructions will be posted on Canvas.

Calendar (100 Points)

There are three primary components to this assignment:

Assignment Calendar (50 Points)DUE 1/16

For this assignment, you will list ALL of your assignment due dates and important events throughout the semester – in ALL of your classes. Using the syllabi from all of your classes, write all of your quizzes, exams, assignments, and papers due this semester in a planner.

Weekly Calendar (25 Points)DUE 1/18

Provide me with a (TENTATIVE) weekly planner where you project how you will spend every hour of your day for the upcoming two weeks. Please include dates/events such as time allotted for exercise, work, birthdays, vacations, sporting events, concerts, relaxation, sleep, etc.

Reflection (25 Points)DUE 2/1

Making a daily schedule is one thing…adhering to it is another. Provide some analysis over how your schedule ACTUALLY went. Were you successful in this endeavor? If not ITS OK! Please indicate what, if anything you will do to continue with this, or if revisions will be needed or necessary in your daily schedule.

While I understand that some of you may use technology (smart phones, tablets, online planners) as your calendars, you must turn something into me. Please print out a paper copy or email me a document. All of your work must be clear and legible.

Details and requirements for this assignment will be discussed in class and instructions will be posted on Canvas.

Twelve Statement Project (50 Points)DUE 2/8

Part of being a successful student is knowing who you are. For this assignment, I would like you to show me how you see yourself. To do this, I would like you to take 12 photographs that you feel signify who you are (or perhaps what you would like to become). This is meant to be a creative undertaking, so the photographs cab be of anything, so long as they tell me something about who you are. You will present these images to the class in a 10-minute slideshow.

Campus Resource Presentation (100 POINTS)

The “U” offers many services to students. This assignment requires you to research one of the resources of campus available to students.

Part I (20 points) – Scavenger HuntDUE 2/15

One class day will be set aside for everyone to visit campus resources in groups. Each resource will be expecting you. You will be required to collect a business card, brochure, or other informational piece. At the end of the class period, we will come back together to discuss the resources, and sign up for presentations.

Part II – Individual Presentations (80 points) DUE 2/22
You will choose one resource of interest to you. You must interview at least one person involved in that resource and report what you learned to the class in a 10 minute presentation. You must also provide your own brochure, handout or power point that you will share with the class. Be sure to include the following in your presentation/handout:

1. Services offered at the site
2. Location/phone numbers
3. Hours/days open
4. Why a student might use this resource
5. Any literature that you can collect

Career Exploration Project (50 points)DUE 4/10

For this project you will choose a career that you are interested in pursuing, research your career interest, and spend some time learning about the corresponding course program at the University of Utah. This gives you an opportunity to research a career and academic area of interest, whether you have declared a major or not.

Behavior Modification Project (75 points)

This project is aimed at ensuring that you are gaining valuable personal experiences from this class. You will create a personal goal or identity a specific behavior that they would wish to modify, create a strategy to attain your goal or change your behavior, and document your progress over the course of four weeks.

There are three parts to this project:

Part 1: Creating Goal Contract (20 points) – DUE 2/20

Part 2: Midpoint Progress Evaluation (25 points) DUE 3/15

Part 3: Project Reflection Essay (30 points) – DUE 4/19

Social Issues Presentation (75 points) DUE 4/24

This assignment will require you to work in a group and examine some important social issues facing the community/nation/world. As a group, you will collect facts and opinions from various perspectives on this issue and discuss how it impacts those involved. You will present your findings as a group in front of the class. In order to ensure time to prepare for your presentation, we will have 3 opportunities to visit the library as a class throughout the semester (and one group work day). During these library visits you will receive information and help from librarians and be able to use the computers to research your scholarly sources.

Participation in the Education Psychology Research Subject Pool: (50 points) DUE 4/19

Research is a strong focus at the University of Utah, and faculty members from the Department of Educational Psychology are actively engaged in widely diverse research projects. Participating in one or more of these research projects is an important component for undergraduate students enrolled in an educational psychology course. To provide this experience, the Department has established the Educational Psychology Subject Pool. This Subject Pool allows students to participate (not to exceed 5 hours per course) in research that has been approved by the University of Utah's Institutional Review Board (IRB). For your participation, you will need to earn course credit. Alternatively, you do have the option of satisfying this research requirement by reading a selection of articles on topics relevant to this course and passing a set of multiple-choice tests on the readings. How you wish to satisfy this requirement is up to you. Your participation in research or in the reading/testing option will contribute 8% to your final grade.

For each one-hour session successfully completed, you will earn one credit toward your research participation requirement. Failing to cancel an appointment and not showing up will result in a loss of credits equivalent to the duration of the missed appointment (e.g., one credit would be lost for a missed one-hour appointment). Any credit loss due to a missed appointment can be made up by successfully completing another research appointment via the same subject pool at a later point in the same semester. In the event that you show up for a scheduled appointment, but the research assistant or principal investigator responsible for the scheduled study does not show up, you will still receive credit for the scheduled session. To ensure that you receive credit in this situation, you should contact the subject pool administrator via email: . Full completion of, or failure to complete, the research component of the course can only augment or reduce a student’s course grade by a maximum of one grade level (e.g., B to B+, or reverse).

You register as a student in the Educational Psychology Research Pool by going to

A handout with instructions for using this system to sign up and monitor your credits may be found in the Canvas course modules titled Education Psychology Research Subject Pool.

End-of-Term Reflection Paper (40 points) DUE 4/26

You will be asked to reflect on time management skills and your areas of opportunity for growth at the end of the semester to assess change. There will be two prompts provided each worth 20 points.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Respectful Behavior

We will engage in many potentially controversial class discussions throughout the course. Therefore, it is vital that we maintain a safe and open online environment. Every student should feel comfortable to express his or her thoughts and feelings on any issue. Each student will be expected to engage in class discussions with a responsibility for mature and appropriate conduct. Any disrespectful and disruptive behavior will result in a loss of points associated with class discussions.

Phone Calls and Disruptive Behavior

In the interest of preserving an effective learning environment, all cellular phones and pagers need to be turned off or placed in non-audible mode while in the classroom. If you need to take a call, please walk out of the classroom to do so. Additionally, no children or animals are permitted to attend class (with the exception of registered service dogs).

Please refrain from texting or checking email during class time. I would like us all to take on a “be here now” philosophy and engage in the course material.

Student behavior that is disruptive (e.g., reading the newspaper, doing homework for another class, checking Facebook, putting your head down on the desk, sleeping, reorganizing your purse, painting your nails, etc.) or prevents other students from learning is inappropriate in a graduate school classroom and the offending student(s) will be asked to leave for the day. Once the class is in session, the focus should be on thinking, reflecting, and discussing and learning

Grammar, Spelling, & General Readability of Submitted Work

I do not explicitly grade for the quality of your writing in assigned papers – I am more concerned with content. However, I reserve the right to penalize student papers that are especially difficult to read due to poor grammar, frequent spelling errors, and general issues with readability. I expect that everyone in class put in the effort to proofread their papers to prevent these issues.

Withdrawal Policy

Students may drop (delete) any class without penalty or permission until Friday January 19th. However, failure to withdraw from school results in an E or EU grade being recorded in all classes. The grade of EU (Unofficial withdrawal) is given when your name appears on the registrar’s final grade report but there is no record of attendance or other evidence of participation in the course. The EU grade is treated as an E in calculating the student’s GPA. Students may officially withdraw (W) from a class or all classes after the drop deadline through the midpoint of a course. A “W” grade is recorded on the transcript and appropriate tuition/fees are assessed. The grade of “W” is not used in calculating the student’s GPA.

Nondiscrimination

Discrimination is defined at the University of Utah as less than favorable treatment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or status as a civilian or veteran. Sexual harassment is also a form of discrimination. The University of Utah expects community members to treat one another with respect. Any behavior leading to or resulting in sexual abuse, harassment, or intimidation of another person, or any unwanted objectionable sexual attention towards another person is considered to be sexual harassment and will not be tolerated. University of Utah students are entitled to participate in university programs and activities free of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, or status as a person with a disability.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations.

Addressing Sexual Misconduct

Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender (which Includes sexual orientation and gender identity/expression) is a civil rights offense subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, color, religion, age, status as a person with a disability, veteran’s status or genetic information. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you are encouraged to report it to the Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, 135 Park Building, 801-581-8365, or the Office of the Dean of Students, 270 Union Building, 801-581-7066. For support and confidential consultation, contact the Center for Student Wellness, 426 SSB, 801-581-7776. To report to the police, contact the Department of Public Safety, 801-585-2677(COPS).

Veterans Center

If you are a student veteran, the University of Utah has a Veterans Support Center located in Room 161 in the Olpin Union Building. Hours: M-F 8-5pm. Please visit their website for more information about the support they offer, a list of ongoing events and links to outside resources: http://veteranscenter.utah.edu/. Please also let me know if you need any additional support in this class for any reason.

LGBT Resource Center

If you are a member of the LGBTQ community, I want you to know that my classroom is a safe zone*. Additionally, the University of Utah has an LGBT Resource Center on campus. They are located in Room 409 in the Oplin Union Building. Hours: M-F 8-5pm. You can visit their website to find more information about the support they can offer, a list of events through the center and links to additional resources: http://lgbt.utah.edu/. Please also let me know if there is any additional support you need in this class.

Learners of English as an Additional/Second Language

If you are an English language learner, please be aware of several resources on campus that will support you with your language and writing development. These resources include: the Writing Center (http://writingcenter.utah.edu/); the Writing Program (http://writing-program.utah.edu/); the English Language Institute (http://continue.utah.edu/eli/). Please let me know if there is any additional support you would like to discuss for this class.

Wellness

Personal concerns such as stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, depression, cross-cultural differences, etc., can interfere with a student’s ability to succeed and thrive at the University of Utah. For helpful resources contact the Center for Student Wellness at www.wellness.utah.edu or 801-581-7776.

Student Code

The Student Code is spelled out in the Student Handbook. Students have specific rights in the classroom as detailed in Article II of the code. The code also specifies prescribed conduct (Article XI) that involves cheating on tests, plagiarism, and/or collusion, as well as fraud, theft, etc. Students should read the Code carefully to become aware of these issues. Students will receive sanctions for violating one or more of these prescriptions. For more information on the Student Code of Academic Conduct visit: http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html.

Academic Honesty

According to the University of Utah, academic misconduct “includes, but is not limited to, cheating, misrepresenting one’s work, inappropriately collaborating, plagiarism, and fabrication or falsification of information. It also includes facilitating academic misconduct by intentionally helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic misconduct.” Using the ideas, expressions or words of others without citing the source constitutes plagiarism. You must cite sources in ALL of your work.

Spring Semester Syllabus 2018

Course Calendar

*Course Textbook: Gore, P., Leuwerke, W., & Metz, A.J. (2016). Connections: Empowering College and Career Success. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.