Student Learning Objective (SLO)

High-Risk Issue (Why is it difficult for the students?)

Enhanced Academic Support (activity or way that the SLO is presented?)  Be specific

Evaluation (How will you measure?)  Be Specific

Discuss the goals of psychology.  1

Assess the use of scientific method in Psychology.  3, 4, 10

Evaluate the central features of major psychological theories. 11, 14, 17

Many theories in psychology describe similar types of behavior and are contradictory to students’ prior “personal” theories of behavior.

Major theories will be presented in a compare/contrast format.  Students will work actively to evaluate the “ventral themes”. 

Students will evaluate competing theories of personality, learning, or development.

Summarize basic psychological terms and concepts.  1, 5, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19

Utilize key psychological terms and concepts in real life examples.  5, 6, 13, 15, 16

Characterize the work of leading contributors to the field of psychology.  2, 12, 13, 17

Discuss how psychological, biological, and social, factors can affect behavior and mental processes.  8, 12, 14

Demonstrate the ability to use critical thinking skills to analyze research and reports of human behavior.  4

Students lack prior experience with scientific research reports.

During the presentation of research concepts in class, applied examples of research terms, critical aspects of research/methodology and their importance in reaching legitimate scientific conclusions will be discussed.

Journal Article Summary Paper:  Students will complete a 2 page summary of a recent research article detailing what was studied, what research method was used, and how it applies to the course.

Assess real-life situations that may require professional psychological help and compare various treatment options.  19, 20

Differentiate the various parts of the Nervous System and summarize their role in behavior.  6, 7

Students are unfamiliar with the biological and chemical backgrounds necessary to understand and apply the functions of the Nervous System to behavior.

During the presentation of course material, faculty will specify familiar behaviors associated with the various parts of the Nervous System.

Students will apply the knowledge from class to complete a worksheet on the Nervous System which requires that they identify at least 3 parts of the Nervous System which are at work during specific behavior examples.