Psychology 3720G 650

The Psychology of Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

 

WESTERN UNIVERSITY

LONDON              CANADA

Department of Psychology

Winter 2023

 

Psychology 3720G   Section 650

The Psychology of Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour

 

 

  • CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

 

The course will consider the social, situational and personality factors responsible for the occurrence of antisocial behaviours such as violence and aggression, and of prosocial behaviours such as helping others in disaster or crisis situations.

 

Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and 2810 (or Psychology 2780E or permission of the Department at Huron)

3 lecture/discussion hours, 0.5 course

 

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

 

 

2.0 COURSE INFORMATION

 

       Instructor:                                                 Dr. Graeme Haynes            

       Office:                                                         SSC 7440     

       Office Hours:                                             Fri. 10:30 – 11:30 A.M. (via Zoom)                       

       Email:                                                         ghaynes@uwo.ca                           

 

       Teaching Assistant:                                  Jennifer Lynch

       Office Hours:                                                                              

       Email:                                                        

 

Delivery Method: On-line (asynchronous)  

 

This is a fully online course that will use Western University’s learning platform, OWL (Sakai) and other educational resources based on the needs of the course. This class is designed to be asynchronous, meaning we will not have a regular, mandatory time when the entire class must be online.  However, there may be some synchronous activities that you will sign up for based on your own schedule, including office hour appointments with the professor or T.A.

 

Email is the best way to contact me, and if need be, I can be available to meet with you in person, or over Zoom. 

 

When sending me an email, please make sure to use proper email etiquette (e.g., start with a greeting), and include the following information: your name, the course you are in (I’m teaching several different courses this semester), and your question.

 

Sample email:

 

Hi Prof. Haynes,

 

This is [insert name here] from your Psychology 3720G class.  I have a few questions about my research proposal and I was wondering if we could set up a Zoom meeting next week to discuss them?

 

Sincerely,

 

[Name]

 

If you adhere to these guidelines, I promise to reply to all emails within 24 hours.

 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. 

 

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca  or 519-661-2147.

 

3.0 TEXTBOOKS

 

Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A., & Penner, L. A. (2006). The Social Psychology of Prosocial Behaviour, 1st Edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (For Part 1 of the course)

 

NOTE: An ebook version of the Dovidio et al. textbook is available for free on our OWL course website. There is no need to purchase a physical copy or e-copy of this book.

 

Krahe, B. (2020). The Social Psychology of Aggression, 3nd Edition. New York: Psychology Press. (For Part 2 of the course)

 

4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES

 

The objectives of this course are:

To teach students about key theories, methods and findings in the scientific study of prosocial and antisocial behavior

To provide students with the adequate tools to generate a research idea and to write a research proposal according to APA standards

To encourage students to think critically and apply their knowledge through online discussions with their colleagues

       4.1           STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

Learning Outcome

Learning Activity

Assessment

Describe theories, research methods and findings regarding the occurrence of antisocial and prosocial behaviours.

Assigned readings and supplementary slideshows

Final exam

 

Apply theoretical principles and research findings to everyday examples of prosocial and antisocial behaviour.

Participating in online discussion forums

 

Completing random acts of kindness assignment

Online discussions forums; random act of kindness assignment

Review and evaluate past research; formulate a testable hypothesis based on this review; and design a study that would test this hypothesis.

 

Research proposal

 

 

5.0 EVALUATION

 

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.

 

Grades will be based on the scale presented below. You may wish to record your grades here.

Component                                           Value                                              Grade

Discussion forums                                 15%                                                 ____________

Random acts of Kindness Assignment 20%                                               ____________     

Research proposal                                 30%                                                _____     ___

Final exam                                              35%                                                ____________

 

Discussion Forums

 

Online discussions related to issues from three of the weekly topics will be held on OWL, within pre-assigned groups of 8-10 students. Please make sure that you have thoroughly read the discussion forum rules below (starting on page 5).  Each discussion thread will remain active for only one week, so it is your responsibility to know the deadlines for making your posts. 

 

Students are expected to participate in all of these discussions, both by posting their own thoughts or observations and by commenting constructively on other students’ comments. Your grade will be earned based on the quantity and quality of your contributions to these discussions. A successful student in online education is one who takes an active role in the learning process. You are therefore encouraged to participate actively in the discussions to enhance your learning experience throughout the course.

 

A substantive posting usually will reflect on a course concept or idea and will demonstrate a critical appraisal of the material or application thereof. Generally, original postings should be about 250-300 words (replies to other students may be shorter). A posting should lead the discussion in a meaningful direction. Examples of quality posts include:

 

  • providing clear, coherent responses that directly address the topic at hand;
  • presenting explanations of concepts or methods from the textbook or lecture materials to support your points;
  • presenting reasons for or against a topic in a persuasive fashion;
  • sharing your own personal experiences that relate to the topic;

 

Expect a variety of views to be expressed, and feel free to express your own view. Debates are encouraged, but please remember that your communications must be respectful to others. Note that the instructor will not respond to each point added to the discussion board. Instead the instructor will read and evaluate the posts on the discussion board, and might add comments when appropriate to keep students on track if the discussion has gone off topic.

 

For each post, you will be assigned a grade out of 5 (3.5 for original post, and 1.5 for responding to another student’s post and replying to any questions asked by other students).  Grades will be assigned as follows:

0–2.5 = Unsatisfactory    Post is brief and uninformative, does not contribute any insight to the topic, the question is not answered fully.

3-3.5 = Satisfactory     Post is somewhat informative, demonstrates basic understanding of the material, but merits a more clear or further explanation.

4-4.5 = Very Good        Post is informative, demonstrates strong understanding of the material, and contributes substantial insight.

5 = Excellent                 Post goes beyond basic requirements, demonstrates excellent critical appraisal, shows evidence of considerable reading beyond course text.

To earn the full five points, you must demonstrate that you have given the topic serious thought, resulting in interesting observations and/or questions. You don’t have to be right (in fact frequently there won’t be a “right” answer) but you do have to demonstrate that you have thought in depth about the issue.

 

The Discussion Forum Rules

 

There will be three week-long periods during which a discussion forum will take place. Forum #1 will take place during the week of Jan. 23 - 30; Forum #2 during the week of Feb. 27 – Mar. 6; and Forum #3 during the week of Mar. 13-20.

 

Rule #1:   I will always post the discussion forum topic on the Monday morning when a new unit begins. The discussion forums will be open for 7 days, from Monday morning until the following week’s Monday at 12:00 noon (EDT).

 

Rule #2:   In order to give students time to reply to the posts of other members, you must make your first post no later than Thursday night – any first posts made later than this will be given a late penalty of 0.5 per day. I recommend setting aside a specific block of time each Tuesday or Wednesday to compose your post.

 

Rule #3:   Your first post should be at least 250–300 words. You can go over this, but try your best to be concise. Subsequent posts (e.g., responding to a fellow group member’s post) do not need to be as long as this, but their quality will still be factored into your grade.

 

Sun.

Mon.

Tues.

Wed.

Thurs.

Fri.

Sat.

 

Forum opens;

 

 

Make first post

Make first post

First post due by 11:59 P.M.

Respond to other member’s post

Respond to other member’s post

Respond to other member’s post

Forum closes at noon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: If you don’t provide feedback to another group member’s post, your maximum possible grade will be 3.5 / 5.  If another student asks you a question about your original post before Sunday at 12:00 noon, you need to answer the question, or you will receive a 0.5 point penalty.  If another student does not ask you a follow-up question, you won’t be penalized.

 

 

Random Acts of Kindness Assignment

 

This assignment is in place of a midterm exam. Your task will be to commit a few random acts of kindness (RAKs) for other people (either someone you know, or strangers).  You could commit the same RAK for a few different people, or you might try out 3-5 different RAKs for different people.  After you have committed the RAKs, write up your experience in a 3-4 paged (double-spaced) report.  

In this report, answer the following questions: 

  1. a) Which RAK(s) did you perform? (and why did you choose them, if you feel this is necessary to explain)   
  2. b) How did you feel as you were doing them, and afterwards? Was it difficult or awkward to commit the RAKs? Explain.
  3. c) Did you see how the recipient(s) reacted? If yes, go on to part d). If no, how did it make you feel to know that you had performed this act, without anyone knowing you did it?
  4. d) How the recipient(s) reacted to your RAK(s). Were they grateful? Was anyone suspicious that you had some type of ulterior motive behind your kind act? Why do you think they reacted the way they did?
  5. e) Do you think small acts of kindness can impact people/the world in a big way? How/why or why not?
  6. f) Should you act kindly towards someone that seems mean or rude? Why or why not?
  7. g) Do you think you’ll continue performing random acts of kindness (be honest!)?
  8. h) Any final thoughts or opinions about the assignment?

Note: You shouldn’t tell the RAK recipient(s) that you’re only doing it for a course, as this might cheapen the perception of this act of kindness.

The assignment should be in APA format, and when appropriate, you should make connections between your experience and the course material described in Chapter 4 & 7 (Dovidio text) and the related slideshows (Jan. 30 & Feb. 6), using proper citations where applicable. All sources cited should be listed on a reference page at the end of the assignment. 

If you're stuck for ideas as to what you might do, check out the following websites:

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas

The RAK assignment is to be submitted as a Word Document (.doc) on OWL by Friday, February 17th at 5:00 P.M.

 

Research Proposal

 

You are required to write a research proposal, which is worth 30% of the final grade. Aim for between 10-14 typed, double-spaced pages, excluding cover page and references (approx. 2500 words, excluding cover page & references). It is due on Monday, April 3rd, at 5:00 P.M. Your goal is to propose a study (preferably an experiment) that would extend our understanding of any area in prosocial or antisocial behavior. Note that you will not actually conduct the study.

 

I suggest that you begin by choosing a topic area that interests you (scan through your textbooks for an overview of possible topic areas). Then, to get ideas for possible studies, conduct a literature review to find out what has been done in this area. PsycINFO will provide an up-to-date listing of published studies in your chosen area, and can be accessed from the library’s website (http://www.lib.uwo.ca). Feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss your preliminary ideas.

 

The write-up of your proposal should include (1) an "Introduction", (2) a "Method" section, and (3) an "Anticipated Results and Discussion" section.

 

As a general guide, the literature review and the description of the hypothesis/hypotheses should be 4-6 pages in length, the method should be 1-3 pages in length, and the anticipated results & discussion should be 3-4 pages.

 

(1) The Introduction should introduce your topic area (the general issue or problem). Past research that is directly relevant to your proposed study should be reviewed to show what has already been done. Then you should explain why another study is necessary (i.e., you should explain how your study will extend past research in this area). Finally, state the specific predictions of your proposed study. Note that your predictions should follow logically from the literature reviewed (e.g., "given [this set of findings] and [this set of findings] we can predict [this new finding]"). Avoid proposing an "exploratory study" where no firm predictions can be made. I strongly encourage you to contact me if you wish to discuss these issues in more detail.

 

**It would be very helpful to read the introduction sections of several articles to get a better idea of how an introduction is supposed to flow**

 

(2) The Method section should present details about how the study would be conducted. To facilitate the organization of this section, you should include two major sub-sections. The "Participants" subsection should include a brief description of who the participants are and where they would be obtained. The "Procedure" sub-section should include a detailed description of the procedures you would use, including (a) specific instructions that would be provided to participants, (b) how the independent variable(s) would be manipulated, and (c) how the dependent variable(s) would be measured. Except in rare circumstances, you should not include a separate "Apparatus/Materials" section that describes your measures; instead, integrate this material into the procedure sub-section. A useful rule of thumb: Your procedures should be presented in the order that they will occur (e.g., don’t mention “debriefing” before you’ve presented the independent and dependent variables). If you have any questions about this section of your proposal, please see me.

 

(3) The Anticipated Results and Discussion section should present the anticipated results, including a Table or Figure that illustrates all of your conditions and clearly shows how the conditions are expected to differ (use hypothetical numbers for purposes of exposition). Do not include inferential statistics (e.g. Fs, ts or standard deviations). Including these statistics would make it look like you actually conducted the study (which you didn’t). Make sure that you describe the contents of any Tables/Figures in the text of your paper. Note that you do not have to explain how you would analyze the results. You should then relate your predicted findings back to the material in the Introduction and reiterate how the findings would extend past research in this area. You should also discuss “specific limitations” of your study, 6 and speculate about “directions for future research” (again, be specific).

 

Finally, a list of "References" (which includes the sources of all material cited in your paper) should be appended. Current journal articles will provide useful examples of how to structure the various sections of your proposal. If you are majoring in psychology, you should use this opportunity to practice following the guidelines that are set forth in the APA Publication Manual (6th Edition).

 

Additional resources with tips for writing research proposals will be posted on OWL.

 

The deadline for submitting the research proposal (Monday, April 3rd, 2023, 5:00 P.M. EST) is firm. Three marks out of 30 will be deducted if the paper is not handed in on time; the penalty will increase by 3/30 each day that the paper is late (weekends count as two days). Please note: Problems with computers will not be considered legitimate reasons for extending the deadline. You should anticipate (and avoid) these problems in advance (e.g., ensure that you maintain a backup copy of your work; regularly scan your computer for viruses; finish the paper before the deadline). In any event, papers will not be accepted after the Final Exam, which will be scheduled by the Registrar during the Final Examination Period.

 

Recommended Schedule for completing the Research Proposal:

 

January: Find area that interests you (skim readings; intro textbooks, etc.).

 

February: Review past research in this area (PsycInfo). How can past research be extended? Develop outline of research proposal (Intro, Method, Anticipated R&D) Discuss ideas with me (any time).

 

March: Write first draft (Mar. 1 - 15). Write second draft (Mar. 16 - 31); focus on writing style/organization. Submit draft to Turnitin and check for “matches” (Mar. 31). Revise and submit Final Draft by April 3rd.

 

 

Exam

 

The final examination will take place on-line during the April exam period (Apr. 13-30th), and is worth 35% of your final grade.  The exam will be open-book, and consist of short-answer, long-answer, and essay questions that draw upon your knowledge from the entire course.

 

5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK

 

Make-Up Exams:  The final exam must be written on the scheduled date unless you have a legitimate excuse recognized by the university administration.  To receive permission to write the makeup exam, you must provide appropriate documentation to your home faculty’s academic counselling office. Valid reasons include medical or compassionate reasons, internet access issues (if exam is on-line), and religious holidays, and must be substantiated by proper documentation (e.g., a medical certificate, which will be verified by the Office of the Dean). If your absence is approved, a makeup final exam will be written in May.  A student who misses a regularly scheduled exam for other reasons, or who cannot justify a claim, will be assigned a 0 for the exam.

 

Assignments: To receive extensions for either of the required course assignments (the random act of kindness assignment and the research proposal), you must provide appropriate documentation to your academic counselling office.

 

Discussion Forums: Students who are unable to submit a discussion forum post by the due dates specified in this syllabus must contact their professor explaining the circumstances.  It is at the discretion of the professor to decide whether the due date will be extended and/or a late penalty will apply.    

 

5.2: IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT GRADES

 

PLEASE NOTE:  Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations (http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2017/pg108.html), you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.

 

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.

 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:

 

70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses

72% 2100-2999-level courses

75% 3000-level courses

80% 4000-level courses

 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf)

 

A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level

A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average

B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory

C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements

D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable

F below 50 Fail

 

Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.

 

To ensure fairness, please be aware that final grades in this course are based exclusively on students’ performance on the exams, assignments, and discussion forums noted above. None of these components may be rewritten, nor will they be reweighted in calculating final grades.

 

Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.

 

 

6.0 ASSIGNMENT AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

 

Date

Value

RAK Assignment

Feb. 17, 5:00 P.M.

20%

Research Proposal

Apr. 3, 5:00 P.M.

30%

Final Exam

Apr. 13-30, TBA

35%

 

 

7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE

 

Week of

Topic

Read

Jan. 9

An Introduction to Prosocial Behaviour

Dovidio, Chapter 1

Jan. 16

The Origins of Prosocial Behaviour

Dovidio, Chapter 2

Jan. 23

The Context: When Will People Help?

Discussion Forum #1 active from Jan. 23 – 30 @ 12:00 P.M.

Dovidio, Chapter 3

Jan. 30

Why Do People Help?

Dovidio, Chapter 4

Feb. 6

Being The Helper and Being Helped: Causes and Consequences

Dovidio, Chapter 7

Feb. 13

Defining and Measuring Aggression

Krahe, Chapter 1

Feb. 17

*RAK assignment due at 5:00 P.M.

Feb. 20

No class –

READING WEEK

 

Feb. 27

Theories of Aggression

Discussion Forum #2 active from Feb. 27 – Mar. 6 @ 12:00 P.M.

Krahe, Chapter 2

Mar. 6

Individual and Gender Differences

Krahe, Chapter 4

Mar. 13

Situational Elicitation of Aggressive Behaviour

Discussion Forum #3 active from Mar. 13 – 20 @ 12:00 P.M.

Krahe, Chapter 5

Mar. 20

Media Violence and Aggression

Krahe, Chapter 6

Mar. 27

Aggression Between Social Groups

Krahe, Chapter 10

Apr. 3

*Research proposal due @ 5:00 P.M.

 

Apr. 13-30 (TBA)

FINAL EXAM

 

 

8.0 Land Acknowledgement

 

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.

 

With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.

 

9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

 

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offences. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

 

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.

Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

 

10.0    POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE

If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf

 

* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us  

11.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

  1. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
  2. For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.

https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html

Students seeking academic consideration:

  • are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
  • must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.

 

12.0    Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.

 

13.0    STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:

  • please “arrive” to class on time
  • please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
  • please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
  • to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
  • In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
  • In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
  • Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting

 

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:

  • If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
  • Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
  • Self-identify when speaking.
  • Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).

 

General considerations of “netiquette”:

  • Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
  • Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
  • Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
  • Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.

 

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.

 

14.0    OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca 

Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site/Current Student Information for information on the following:

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct

- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations

- Policy on Attendance

- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines

- Policy for Assignments

- Short Absences

- Extended Absences

- Documentation

- Academic Concerns

- Calendar References

 

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf

Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).

 

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.

 

Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.