Welcome Letter for General Psychology Professor: Dr. Jane Austin Email: austinj@wpunj.edu Department: Psychology Course No. & Section: psy110-80 Phone: x2472 Office Hours: Hamburg Turnpike Hello and welcome to General Psychology! Welcome to General Psychology Online! I'm looking forward to working with all of you and hope that we'll have some fun along the way as well. I think psychology is fascinating and can be applied to all aspects of our world no matter what your major or interests are. We'll take some time to discuss these applications as we learn about the different topics. Now is the time to think about whether or not this class is a good fit for you. Contrary to popular belief, General Psychology is a very demanding class; we cover a lot of material in a short period of time. Overall, online classes require a great deal of discipline and dedication. It may be appealing to take an online course since you don't have to show up for class twice a week, but you need to put in the hours and then some to do well. Remember, you'll need to dedicate at least 2 hours each week to reviewing materials online, participating in discussions and going over other in class assignments. In addition to this, you should be spending a minimum of 3 to 4 hours each week reading chapters in your book and doing other assignments. Most students who do well spend even more time studying. If you don't enjoy reading and writing you may find that an in-class situation would work better for you. You'll have to do a great amount of each in this class so think about if this is the best fit for you. Expectations In this class, we will be covering approximately one chapter each week. You will be requried to post substantial comments on the discussion board each week as well as complete a weekly chapter quiz. There may also be additional assignments along the way all of which will be posted on Blackboard. It is important that you know that all quizzes generally open on Wednesdays and close by Friday at 5pm. There are no make-up quizzes so you must complete them each week within the given timeframe. You should also know that these quizzes are timed. In order to do well on the quizzes and complete them before time runs out, you must be prepared. Students who try to cram in studying at the last moment generally do not do well so preparing ahead of time is crucial. Texts This course uses a bundle of materials that you can get more inexpensively if purchased together. You may purchase the materials at the University Bookstore or through the publisher. The bundle includes: The text ? Weiten?s Psychology: Themes and Variations (2010). 8th Edition. Access to WebTutor ? This is a code that you will enter the first time you access materials on Blackboard that are publisher protected. Once you have entered it, you will not need to do so again for this class. Publisher protected course materials include study aid and practice quizzes and the weekly quizzes. PsykTrek - this CD/ROM is a great tool for reinforcing the material you?ll be learning. It is a bit more in-depth than the WebTutor material and contains interactive exercises and visual examples of discussion topics. There are also additional practice quizzes available here. If you would like to order the entire bundle through the publisher, please enter this ISBN 0495151386 on the publisher website: www.cengagebrain.com Below are more details for the bundle and purchasing the comonenets separately. Remember that you will need the WebTutor code to access material online. These materials are required. 0495151386 BNDL: PSYCHOLOGY:THEMES/VARIATIONS W/CONCEPT CHARTS, BRIEF Author: WEITEN Copyright Year: 2011 Edition: 008 Title Status: IN PRINT Stock Status: Title is available. Net Price: $111.50 Total Net Price if these items were purchased separately: $150.50. Total savings: $39.00. The items in this bundle are: 0495811335 PSYCHOLOGY:THEMES/VARIATIONS W/CONCEPT CHARTS, BRIEFER ED Author: WEITEN Copyright Year: 2011 Edition: 008 Title Status: IN PRINT Stock Status: Title is available. Available Separately?: Yes Net Price: $93.50 Bundle Price: $93.50 Quantity Per Bundle: 1 0495813591 ACCESS CARD WEBTUTOR BLKBRD PSYCHOLOGY:THEMES/VAR,BRFR Author: WEITEN Copyright Year: 2011 Edition: 008 Title Status: IN PRINT Stock Status: Title is available. Available Separately?: Yes Net Price: $15.00 Bundle Price: $8.00 Bundle Message: FIXED PRC W/BNDL-SEE BNDPRICE Quantity Per Bundle: 1 0495090352 PSYKTREK 3.0: A MULTIMEDIA INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY Author: WEITEN Copyright Year: 2008 Edition: 003 Title Status: IN PRINT Stock Status: Title is available. Available Separately?: Yes Net Price: $42.00 Bundle Price: $10.00 Bundle Message: FIXED PRC W/BNDL-SEE BNDPRICE Quantity Per Bundle: 1 Grading Please see the syllabus on Blackboard for more details. How to Access Blackboard: To log on to Bb point your web browser to http://bb.wpunj.edu and click the Login button in the upper left. Then enter your username and password in the spaces provided and click login again -- you'll find your course Bb sites listed on the right. Some things to be aware of as you work with Blackboard: You probably won't find all your courses listed; the only ones that will appear are those that have been activated by the professor teaching the course. Professors who don't use Blackboard will not activate their courses. Your username is comprised of your lastname and firstinitial, usually appended with a numeral. If you don't know your WPUNJ system username password you can use the Username lookup link at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or go to it directly at: http://www.wpunj.edu/username If you are already logged in to the WPUNJ system through WPConnect you won't have to re-enter your username and password -- just click the first login button. Blackboard documentation can be found in two places: at Bb Home, http://bb.wpunj.edu, before one logs in, and in the Blackboard Support tab after one has logged on. You can always obtain Bb help by using the Problem Report form at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or by going to it directly at: https://liberty.wpunj.edu/bb/support-center/ . WPUNJ Student Email: To access WPUNJ Student Email point your web browser to http://wpconnect.wpunj.edu, enter your username and password, then select the Mail tab. If you are logging on for the first time you'll be asked to set your time zone and language. Blackboard courses will use student email; third-party email addresses will not work on Bb Good luck and have fun in the course! Dr. Jane Austin
