LISA A. TOBLER, M.S. Introduction to Psychology PS124 Seminar #1

Reading Assignment Read Chapter 1: “Introducing Psychology”  Text: Introduction to Psychology by Charles Stangor Read the Fact or Fiction PDF  Use this list to select a statement to evaluate for accuracy for your discussion question assignment. Read the Final Project Information PDF

Instructor Contact Information Instructor: Lisa Tobler Kaplan Address: AIM Instant Messenger Name: LisaTobler AOL Instant Messenger: If you are not an AIM Member you can download the free service by visiting the following site:

Phone Contact Information My cell phone number is I am available for office hours via my telephone on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from 7 AM- 8 AM, Pacific Standard Time. Please make sure you know the time difference so that you do not call me at 4 AM. =o)

Flex Seminar Please note that you are in a course that has flexible seminars. There will be 4 seminars offered weekly and you can choose to attend the seminar that best fits your schedule. In addition to today’s seminar, the other seminar day/times are as follows:

Seminar: Other Sections, Professors, Days, & Times PS124-09Lisa ToblerMonday7:00pm ET PS124-03Kathryn HartnettMonday8:00pm ET PS124-04Michelle SimpkinsThursday8:00pm ET

Introductions Let’s start with a brief (city, state) introduction so we can get an idea where each of us lives. I live in sunny Southern California. I am a Native Northern Californian, but I have lived in Arizona, New Jersey and Nebraska.

Seminar “Rules” Be nice to one another! Stay on topic, please! Please use ????? at the beginning when asking a question in order to draw my attention to your question. For example, “????? Do we have to participate in the Weekly Seminars?”

Technical Information Having technical problems? Call Tech Support or Student Services. Contact information is on the Course Homepage. For all other course-related concerns, me: or I am also available for AIM appointments upon request: My AIM ID is LisaTobler.

Syllabus The course syllabus covers all of Kaplan’s and my course policies and expectations. Read the syllabus thoroughly. I grade from the rubrics in the syllabus. If you are missing a portion covered on a rubric, you will lose points. Review the rubrics carefully.

Questions? Are there any questions?

Conditional Admission Students earning a minimum grade of 65% will be allowed to continue in their educational program. Students whose grades fall below 65% will be dropped from KU and will have to wait one year before reapplying to the university. Late work cannot be accepted for Unit 5. Late work for Units 1-4 MUST be completed before the end of Unit 5.

Late Assignment Guidelines Discussions and Seminar Option 2 Late work for Units 1-4 MUST be completed before the end of Unit 5. Late work for Units 5-8 MUST be completed before the end of Unit 9. Projects Late Unit 4 projects will not be accepted after Unit 7. Late Unit 7 projects must be submitted by the end of Unit 8. Late Unit 9 projects must be submitted by the Saturday of Unit 10.

Course Materials Software: Microsoft Word is required for all Kaplan courses. Text: Introduction to Psychology by Charles Stangor Other: Relevant library articles and Internet sources for references. **Please Note: Wikipedia is not considered a credible source for academic work.

Projects Follow the directions  The #1 reason students lose points on projects is because they do not follow the directions. Pay attention to submission dates.  There is a 10% per week late penalty for all late submissions. The page requirements refer to the actual essay. The title and references pages do not count toward the minimum page requirements.  If you do not meet the minimum page requirements, you will lose a lot of points. For a 3-page minimum with 1-page missing, you will automatically lose 33% of the points before I grade for content.

Projects Continued Follow proper grammatical rules. Complete your projects early so that you can take advantage of the Writing Center if needed. Use spell check! It is easy to do and so it is silly for you to lose points for not checking for misspelled words. Projects are worth a LOT of points.  Units 4 and 7 Projects are worth 100 points each.  Unit 9 Project is worth 290 points.

Questions? Are there any questions?

Discussion Board Keep responses on topic. Responses must make at least one informed reference to course materials or another academic source. Responses need to be clearly written. Responses need to be at least 200 words in length. You need to cite your sources for DQ responses. Respond early in the week.

Discussion Board Participation Participation is part of your DB grade. 8 points of your DB score is based upon your participation. A minimum of 2 participation posts must be completed for each DB question. Participation posts must be substantive in nature. “I agree” or “Great work” does not count. Participation posts must be a minimum of 75 words to be considered substantive. Participation points cannot be earned once the unit discussion ends.

Questions? Are there any questions about DB requirements?

Syllabus Do you have any concerns about any of the topics or projects? Do you understand the objectives of the course? Are there any questions about when assignments are due? What are the expectations for the discussion questions? **Please see the announcement for the guidelines**

Seminar Seminar Etiquette:  I expect each of you to be respectful toward myself and one another.  Arrive on time. I recommend logging in about 10 minutes before seminar starts so that should you have log-in problems, you will not be late.  Do not leave early. Seminar Option 2:  If you cannot attend a live seminar, then complete Option 2. Do not do both. Seminar Grading:  Seminar is worth 10 points  Your grade is based upon participation, arriving on time and staying the entire hour.

Seminar Continued I expect my students to post at least 15 on topic participation responses during each seminar in order to earn full credit. I recommend typing questions ahead of time so that you can copy and paste them into the seminar. This will save you time and allow you to focus on the topics we are covering.

Quizzes Quizzes are worth 10 or 20 points and are based on the reading and learning activities that you complete each week. The quizzes contain questions worth 1 point each. You have 1 hour to complete the quizzes. The quizzes are open book and open note, so you may use your reading materials, notes and other resources to answer the questions. I STRONGLY encourage you to take advantage of using the prep materials, your book and notes to complete your quizzes!

Grades All grading is expected to be back to students by the Sunday after the week has ended. If you submit late work, please send me an to advise me of the Unit and the assignment that you completed late.

Questions ?? Do you have any further questions? Now is your time to ask away…