Introduction
The Lessons
The course consists of eleven lessons, two of which contain information about the midterm and final exams. Each nonexam lesson has the following five parts.
Objectives
Each lesson begins with a list of objectives. Look the objectives over carefully before starting the lesson. When you’ve completed the lesson, review the objectives to see if you have a good grasp of each one. If you don’t, review or do some additional work.
Discussion
In the course guide discussion, you’ll be introduced to the topics you’ll study in the reading assignment. Always read the discussion before reading the assigned textbook chapters. The discussion will give you background information, clarify points that may help you better understand the reading assignment, and give you an overall sense of direction as to what the textbook authors will discuss.
Reading Assignment
In each lesson, you’ll be required to read one to four chapters in Psychology and You. Each chapter has been skillfully prepared to make your understanding of the topics meaningful. The “Applying Psychology to Life” and “In Focus” features will enhance your understanding of the material as you work through the chapters. Always read these sections carefully. Pay attention, too, to the textbook’s diagrams, graphics, marginal notes, chapter summaries, and vocabulary, as well as the appendix (pages 622–35) and glossary (pages 636–49), all of which will help you better understand the assigned reading and further stimulate your interest in psychology.
Please don’t take the reading assignments lightly. You can’t. They will be the foundation upon which you’ll build your knowledge in the course. Therefore, be sure to read—and review—each assigned textbook chapter carefully. You’ll be lost if you don’t. And please keep this in mind: to get something out of the course, you’ll need to put something into it.
Review Questions
After you’ve completed the reading assignment and spent time reviewing and rereading material that was difficult for you, you’ll be given the opportunity to test your understanding of the concepts presented in the chapters by answering the review questions for each chapter you read. Since the answers to these questions are provided, you’ll know right away whether you need to review any of the lesson’s material before beginning the written assignment that you’ll submit for a grade. Do not submit your answers to the review questions.
Assignment
Each lesson ends with an assignment, which will have two parts. The first part will present a series of questions for you to answer. You’ll answer most of the questions by using information presented in the lesson’s assigned textbook chapters and course guide discussion. At times, however, you’ll need to refer to other sources. Sometimes you’ll be expected to take a position and draw conclusions based on your personal ideas and perceptions. Therefore, it’s important that you pay close attention to the question’s directions.
The last part of the assignment is called “Applying Psychology.” It will involve an activity, experiment, or investigation for you to complete and write about. The purpose of this section isn’t to make you an overnight researcher; even if you wanted to accomplish that goal, it would be impossible. Rather, the Applying Psychology activities will help you become more aware that psychology is all around you, that it’s part of your daily life.
Type your assignments in a Word document. Be sure to follow the rules of good grammar, spelling, and punctuation and to proofread your work for errors.
Students frequently ask how much they should write. Long, detailed answers aren’t necessary for most questions. But remember: while answers can be concise, they must be complete. Remember, too, that clarity is essential for a well-written assignment.
