Welcome to AP Psychology! Please choose a seat and get a Chromebook

Welcome to AP Psychology – the study of behavior and mental processes Introductions Meet the people sitting around you Seats Textbooks

Syllabus Highlights Main Goal: To gain greater understanding and insight into human behavior, and utilize that knowledge to succeed on the AP Exam.

Course Information 36 weeks long (A/B Day) 1 quality point (5 points) AP Exam: May 9, 2019 12:00pm @ Ardrey Kell

Materials 3-ring binder Blue/black pen, pencil, highlighter, lined paper Composition notebook for vocabulary Textbook: Myers’ Psychology for AP (take home and do not bring back until after AP exam)

Assessments Vocabulary quizzes – 30 fill-in-the-blank questions in 16 minutes taken from all the words in the unit; word bank given (30 formal points) Unit tests – 100 multiple choice questions in 70 minutes OR 70 multiple choice questions in 52 minutes and a 25 minutes Free Response Question (FRQ); has a study guide May fall on “non-testing days”

Assessments Cont’d Unit Vocabulary Notebook – turned on test day; Word – Definition – Real-life Example; 10 informal points Extra Credit – there will be EC offered each unit; the amount of pts will be based on quality of work Formal – 70%; Informal – 30% Final Grade – 50% 1st semester, 50% second semester (no final exam)

Assessments Cont’d Test/Quiz Make-Up – please tell me in advance if you know that you are going to be absent, and you may take the test/quiz early Make-Up exams are short answer Make-Up quizzes are verbal with words picked randomly Test Retakes – there are no test retakes Academic Integrity – zero + Honor Code violation

Computer Use Absences Only during specified activities Don’t be absent – you will miss a huge amount of information (units are only about 6 days long) Your responsibility to get the info that you missed Computer Use Only during specified activities During PPTs, notes must be handwritten/PPT printed off

Tips for studying psychology Distribute your study time: rather than trying to read an entire unit in a single setting, read just one main section and then turn to something else. Learn to think critically: whether you’re reading or in class, note people’s assumptions and values. What perspective or bias underlines an argument. Evaluate evidence. Assess evidence. Are there alternative explanations? Overlearn: psychology tells us that overlearning improves retention. We are prone to overestimating how much we know. Devote extra study time to testing yourself and reviewing what you think you know, you will retain your new knowledge long into the future. Be a smart test-taker: read essay and organize thoughts; on the back page, pencil in a list of points you’d like to make. Before writing put aside the essay and work through the M.C. – more information to come throughout the year!