Faculty Syllabus
PSYC-2301 Introduction to Psychology
Nicole Williams
Credit Spring 2026
Section(s)
PSYC-2301-001 (18305)
LEC RRC ONL DIL
LEC MW 10:30am - 11:50am RRC RRC1 1313.00
PSYC-2301-003 (18306)
LEC RRC ONL DIL
LEC MW 12:00pm - 1:20pm RRC RRC1 1313.00
Course Requirements
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Day-to-Day Class Information |
Hybrid Classroom
A hybrid classroom (HYC) combines traditional face-to-face classroom instruction with online computer-based (i.e. distance) learning. A HYC allows students to have the autonomy of distance learning while also having the regularly scheduled interaction of a course instructor.
The difference between a HYC and traditional distance learning is that in a HYC, instruction occurs 50% or more on campus, as well as work that is completed online. Students may be expected to do more readings and class preparation outside of class time in order to make the best use of these face-to-face meetings.
What will we do in class?
Class time will serve primarily as a lecture. During class time, students may participate in class discussions and activities. It is important that students attend every class session during the 8 week semester.
What will we do online?
Students will be using the ACC course management system, Blackboard, as well as other course sites required by Dr. Williams for the online component of this course. Blackboard contains any and all information that students will need to be successful in this course, as well as access to the course assignments. On Blackboard, there are links to online resources to assist students with understanding and learning the course material. There will also be instructions for the assignments and exams that you will be required to complete.
The course material taught in the 8 week semester is the same as the 16 week semester, but in half the time. Students will have narrated lectures that they will need to complete online. Additionally, course exams will be taken on Blackboard.
Is the online work self-paced?
Hybrid course are not self-paced courses due to the regularly scheduled face-to-face meetings required during the semester. All students will be provided with a syllabus and course calendar on the first class meeting and Dr. Williams will review the course expectations and due dates for all course assignments. These assignments and due dates are listed in several places in our course Blackboard site including the Calendar, Assignment Folder (Assignment Due Dates), and the electronic copy of the syllabus under START HERE: Course Information. Students are responsible for knowing all due dates and submitting assignments on time.
Please see the definitions of Instructional Modalities at ACC Here: Instructional Modalities at ACC
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. 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. Participation/attendance grades cannot be made-up or supplemented by extra credit. If you have an emergency that will affect your course attendance, please contact Dr. Williams ASAP.
Class attendance/participation will be taken EVERY class period via an online quiz with two questions about the course lecture. You are expected to answer both of the questions to the best of your ability as these questions may likely be asked again on your exams. As this is how Dr. Williams takes attendance, students should not share codes/links with classmates who are absent or late to class. However, students are welcome to screenshot/write down questions to assist with studying for the exam.
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 miss class, you are responsible for all material covered in class, including any announcements made in class. Dr. Williams is willing to assist students in office hours with reviewing concepts from the lecture that were unclear; however, Dr. Williams will not reteach the lecture in part or in whole to students who are late or miss class. Please contact one of your classmates if you need assistance with notes or announcements that you missed due to class absences or tardiness.
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Assignments and grading |
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.
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Assignment |
Due Date |
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Syllabus/Blackboard Quiz |
Saturday, January 24, 2026 |
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Ethics in Psychology Homework |
Monday, February 2, 2026 |
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Kohlberg Morality Homework |
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 |
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Privilege Homework |
Friday, March 6, 2026 |
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. For example, 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:
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Wednesday 12 am – Wednesday 11:59 pm |
85% (-15 points) |
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Thursday 12 am – Thursday 11:59 pm |
70% (-15 points) |
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Friday 12 am – Friday 11:59 pm |
60% (-10 points) |
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Saturday 12 am or Later |
0% |
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 timed 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 will cover material from the lecture, the course textbook, the supplemental readings and videos, and any videos shown in class. To do well, study as if the exam were closed-book.
Students will have 80 – 90 minutes to complete each exam; this is the same amount of time students would have for an in-class exam. No makeup exams will be offered; do not miss the 48 hour window on Blackboard to take the exam.
Assessment criteria
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Description |
Total Points |
Percentage of your Grade |
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Syllabus/Blackboard Quiz |
10 points |
5% |
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Ethics in Psychology Homework |
15 points |
15% |
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Kohlberg Morality Homework |
20 points |
20% |
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Privilege Homework |
15 points |
15% |
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Exams |
100 points each |
35% |
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Participation |
10 points each |
10% |
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Reading |
0 points |
Embedded in above percentages; Impossible to succeed at assignments and exams without reading. |
Readings
Required course textbook
Psychology 2e from OpenStax
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Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-975076-45-0 |
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-975076-44-3 |
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Digital ISBN: 978-1-951693-23-7 |
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https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e
Psychology 2e 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 both the supplemental and textbook materials.
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Course Calendar |
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.
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Date |
Topics |
Chapter(s) |
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1.21 |
Syllabus |
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1.24 |
Syllabus/Blackboard Quiz Due |
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1.26 |
Introduction to Psychology Psychological Research (N) |
1 – 2 |
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1.27 |
CENSUS DATE: Last Day to drop without a grade of “W” |
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1.28 |
Biopsychology (N) States of Consciousness |
3 – 4 |
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2.2 |
Sensation and Perception (N) Learning Ethics in Psychology Homework Due |
5 – 6 |
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2.4 |
Thinking and Intelligence (N) Memory |
7 – 8 |
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2.5 |
Exam #1 Opens for 48 hours (5 pm) |
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2.9 |
Lifespan Development |
9 |
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2.11 |
Lifespan Development Emotion and Motivation (N) |
9 – 10 |
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2.16 |
Gender and Sexuality Personality (N) |
11 |
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2.18 |
Kohlberg Morality Homework Due |
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2.18 |
Social Psychology (N: Part 2) |
12 |
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2.23 |
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2.24 |
Exam #2 Opens for 48 hours (5 pm) |
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2.25 |
Multicultural Psychology Industrial-Organizational Psychology (N) |
13 |
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3.2 |
LAST DAY TO SPEAK TO DR. WILLIAMS ABOUT YOUR COURSE GRADE |
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3.2 |
Multicultural Psychology Stress, Lifestyle, and Health (N) |
14 |
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3.4 |
Psychological Disorders (N: Part 2) |
15 |
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3.6 |
Privilege Homework Due |
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3.9 |
WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE |
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3.9 |
Psychological Disorders (N: Part 4) |
15 |
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3.11 |
Therapy and Treatment (In-Class and Narrated) |
16 |
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3.12 |
Exam #3 Opens for 48 hours (10 am) |
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(N) = Narrated Lecture
Course Subjects
Topics
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Introduction to Psychology |
Emotion and Motivation |
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Psychological Research |
Gender and Sexuality |
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Biopsychology |
Personality |
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States of Consciousness |
Social Psychology |
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Sensation and Perception |
Multicultural Psychology |
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Learning |
Industrial-Organizational Psychology |
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Thinking and Intelligence |
Stress, Lifestyle, and Health |
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Memory |
Psychological Disorders |
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Lifespan Development |
Therapy and Treatment |
Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives
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Student learning outcomes |
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.
- Describe the major theories in psychology.
- Compare and contrast the historical and contemporary contexts of psychological theories and concepts.
- Question the historical and contemporary nature of psychological theories and concepts.
- Interpret the impact of emotional, social, geographic, personality, and physiologic influences in psychology.
- Discriminate how socially constructed milestones (e.g., occupation, relationships) individually impact psychological constructs.
- Evaluate cross-cultural issues in reference to psychological constructs.
- Value the use of research studies in the field of psychology.
- Examine evolving trends in the field of psychology and the manifestation of such trends at the local, regional, national and global levels.
Individual development and educational assessment (idea) course objectives
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Objective 1: Gaining factual knowledge (terminology, classifications, methods, trends) |
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Objective 2: Learning fundamental principles, generalizations, or theories |
ESSENTIAL |
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Objective 3: Learning to apply course material (to improve thinking, problem solving, and decisions) |
IMPORTANT |
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Objective 4: Developing specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals in the field most closely related to this course |
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Objective 5: Acquiring skills in working with others as a member of a team |
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Objective 6: Developing creative capacities (writing, inventing, designing, performing in art, music, drama, etc.) |
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Objective 7: Gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual/cultural activity (music, science, literature, etc.) |
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Objective 8: Developing skill in expressing myself orally or in writing |
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Objective 9: Learning how to find and use resources for answering questions or solving problems |
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Objective 10: Developing a clearer understanding of, and commitment to, personal values |
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Objective 11: Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view |
IMPORTANT |
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Objective 12: Acquiring an interest in learning more by asking my own questions and seeking answers |
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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.
Office Hours
M T W Th 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM RRC: 1000 Bldg, 2nd Floor Adjunct Offices or Google Meet
NOTE Please see Dr. Williams' Calendly link to schedule office hours with her for Spring 2026: https://calendly.com/nicole-williams-e0a/office-hours-spring-2026Published: 01/06/2026 00:23:53