Class attendance and participation

Class attendance and active engagement in our hybrid course is required.  Please arrive to class on time, stay for the entire duration of our class session, and come ready to learn and participate.  Austin Community College has a “No Walk” policy.  That means that unless the campus is closed due to emergency/weather/holiday, we will always have class at our scheduled time.  Class attendance will be taken EVERY class period.  You are allowed to miss TWO classes for any reason without penalty; after those two absences, your grade will be lowered for class absences.  Please arrive to class on time and make a point to not schedule appointments during our class time as your participation grade will be lowered for tardiness and leaving class early.  If you have an emergency that will affect your course attendance, please contact Dr. Williams ASAP.

Lectures

All lectures will be given via PowerPoint.  All narrated lectures will be recorded via Zoom or PowerPoint and posted with the non-narrated PowerPoint slides so that students can take notes while listening and viewing the lecture.  Dr. Williams will post the lecture notes on our course page and students will be able to:

• Print PDF copies of slides to bring to class to take notes and/or
• Take notes on their computer/tablet during class on the slides. 

It is highly suggested that you print the slides if you plan to take handwritten notes OR take notes in the note section of the PowerPoint during the lecture; you will not have time to copy down the content of the slides and listen to the additional content.

If you choose to not come to class, you are responsible for all material covered in class.  While I am willing to help you in office hours with lecture material that you do not understand, I WILL NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH LECTURE NOTES IF YOU MISS CLASS!!  In addition, you are also responsible for any announcements made in class, via email, or on Blackboard.  Please contact one of your classmates if you need assistance with notes or announcements that you missed due to class absences or tardiness.

Educational foundation

Dr. Williams and each individual student are responsible for student learning and success.

Course assignments

All assignments that are turned in for a grade will be due at 11:59 pm on the due date assigned via the drop box on Blackboard. 

All assignments must have the following formatting:

Please proofread and spell-check your papers for grammatical and/or spelling errors.  Deductions will be taken if you fail to follow the formatting guidelines.  A pre-formatted paper template is available on Blackboard.

Please maintain a copy of your assignments until you receive a grade.  Issues have arisen on Blackboard where I have been unable to open assignments and I may email you if I need you to resubmit your assignment.

Late work policy

The drop box on Blackboard will close at 11:59 pm sharp.  After 11:59 pm, your assignment is now LATE. You will lose points for your assignments being late.  If you submit your assignment after 11:59 pm for ANY reason after the drop box closes **AND YOU HAVE NOT MADE LEGITIMATE APPROVED ARRANGEMENTS WITH ME AHEAD OF TIME**, your assignment is considered late.  If an assignment is due on Tuesday at 11:59 pm, and you turned it in late, here is what the highest possible grade you could receive on the following days:

You will lose 15 points each for the first two days, 10 points for the third day, and if you fail to turn it in after the third day, you will get a zero on the assignment. 

Turn in your late assignments to the designated late assignment drop box.

Exams

There will be three online exams in this course.  Each of the exams are worth 100 points and will consist of multiple choice, true/false, matching, fill-in-the blank, and short answer questions.  Exams are open book/open note, and you will have 70 minutes to complete each exam.  No makeup exams will be offered; do not miss the 48 hour window on Blackboard to take the exam. 

Exams will cover material from the lecture, the course textbook, the supplemental readings and videos, and any videos shown in class. 

Extra credit

If you need Extra Credit:

• Tutoring and Academic Coaching appointments
  • Each appointment you attend with an ACC Tutor or Academic Coach will give you extra credit.  Please have the tutor/coach email Dr. Williams to confirm that you attended an appointment so that you can receive credit.

Assessment criteria

Grading scale

The following grading scale will apply to all graded work, as well as to each student’s final grade in the course.

Required course textbook

Bridley, A., & Daffin, Jr., L.W. (2024). Fundamentals of Psychological Disorders (3.501th ed.). Washington State University.

https://opentext.wsu.edu/abnormal-psych/

To order a printed copy of this text: https://www.lulu.com/shop/lee-w-daffin-jr-and-alexis-bridley/fundamentals-of-psychological-disorders/paperback/product-y2kqn4.html?q=daffin&page=1&pageSize=4

Fundamentals of Psychological Disorders is an open educational resource (OER).  OERs are free, openly licensed, and accessible resources that are available for use for educational, research, assessment, and learning purposes.  These resources are often regularly updated and allow students to learn course material without a significant financial burden that is often associated with higher education. 

You should read, understand, and remember much of the information, even if it is not all covered in the lecture.  Most importantly, you are expected and required to have read the assigned readings before coming to class.

Required supplemental readings/videos

Supplemental readings and videos will be provided via Blackboard as assigned.  Like our course text, you are expected and required to have read the assigned readings and viewed the assigned videos.  These supplemental materials are assigned to help cement concepts that are often the most confusing subjects in this course.  You will be graded on the both the supplemental and textbook materials.

Optional supplemental Reference

Bernstein, R., & Jacobs, E. (2002). DSM-5-TR Overview: a QuickStudy Laminated Reference Guide (2nd ed.). BarCharts Publishing Inc.

https://a.co/d/aznn7xz

Topics

Note: Schedule changes may occur during the semester due to unforeseen events.  Any changes will be announced in class and/or posted as a Blackboard Announcement.

All readings/videos should be read/watched before class to foster classroom discussion.

(N) = Narrated Lecture

Program outcomes

• Understand psychological concepts and be able to recognize them in real-world contexts.
• Acquire a basic understanding of major perspectives in the field.
• Gain an awareness of the breadth of the academic discipline of psychology.
• Understand the various research methods psychologists use and critically evaluate evidence.

Course outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to achieve the following learning outcomes as mapped to the related program outcomes.

• Discuss the historical antecedent to modern understandings of abnormal behavior.
• Identify and describe the major classes and characteristics of psychological disorders as presented in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM).
• Describe the factors and theoretical perspectives related to the development and maintenance of different types of abnormal behavior.
• List the primary treatments for psychological disorders and discuss their effectiveness.
• Discuss the current research and methodological issues in the study of abnormal behavior.
• Discuss the legal and ethical issues associated with the treatment of and research related to abnormal behavior.
• Develop an understanding of how social and cultural factors impact the expression of psychological disorders.
• Examine the impact of biological factors on the development of psychological disorders.

Individual development and educational assessment (idea) course objectives

Keep in mind that although specific objectives are notated as “Important” and “Essential” for the course as a whole, each of these objectives will be important or essential for specific lectures.