First Day of Online Class

Modified: 2023-08-10

He is married (since 1988) to the former Julie McCuller of Texarkana and they have three children: two males (born 1990 and 1992) and one female (born 1997). Somehow, all three ended up working as engineers. They live in Oklahoma City, Columbus, OH, and Buffalo, NY. Kardas likes to target shoot, especially with revolvers and 22 rifles. He is the advisor to the SAU Pistol Club [not meeting because of COVID] but cannot hit a clay pigeon with a shotgun to save his life! Good news! Our first grandchild, John Edward Kardas, was born on December 16, 2021. His parents are expecting their second child, also a boy, in late December or early January.

John Edward Kardas

What is general psychology?
General Psychology (GP) is perhaps one of the hardest courses in the department because it attempts to cover so much material in a short period of time. Later courses in psychology are much more focused than GP so they are not as intense. The department subscribes to an accretion strategy (for majors, that is); that means we teach the same concepts over and over. Hopefully, most of those will stick by graduation time. Most graduate schools in psychology, BTW, do the same thing. In other words, after they accept students they assume they know little about psychology, so they continue the accretion strategy. Graduate schools do one more important thing, they make their students teach. Having to teach something is a surefire way to learn.

The course begins with a look at the history of psychology, the research methods psychologists use, and the biological bases of psychology. Then the areas of sensation and perception are examined as are variations in consciousness. Learning and memory are covered next. Personality, psychopathology, and therapy close out the course. Understand that the list above by no means covers all of psychology, much must be left out. You should feel free to read and enjoy the chapters we do not cover in class

What happens in class?
Here is what I used to tell students:

• Mostly, I talk and you listen and take notes. However, that process does not have to be dull and a lot of work. I will show you short movies, conduct brief demonstrations, and set-up opportunities for class participation. I expect you to have and ask questions often.
• AND
• Notetaking and notetaking skills are also needed in class. However, nearly everything I say in class is available on the Web page. You should download and print those class notes and organize them in a three-ring binder. See below for instructions on how to download the lectures.

Now, of course, those statements no longer apply. So, here are my new online pieces of advice:

• What used to be my class lectures are now outlined on the web page. Here is some the information from chapter 12 as an example:
  • The "Big Five" theory of personality looks at:
    • Conscientiousness
    • Agreeableness
    • Neuroticism
    • Openness
    • Extraversion
    • Taken together, these traits are very useful in describing personality
    • Mnemonics to remember them are CANOE or OCEAN
  • If you are curious and want to see the whole set of lectures for chapter 12, click HERE
  • You will find out that many psychologists believe that those five traits describe a great portion of personality
  • If you want to take a short (10-item) of these five traits, e-mail me
• Naturally, there's a textbook. You should get one and read it. More on that below.
• I'll also make the textbook's PowerPoints available to you as well.
• On Blackboard, our learning management system, I'll have video and audio materials for you to hear and look at.

What materials do I need?
You will need the textbook for sure. This is not one of those classes where you can get away with not buying the text.

You will also need to download the notes. CLICK HERE They are labelled as chapter-specific LECTURES. Click on them as needed.

What about tests and grading?
Tests are a combination of objective items (multiple choice, matching, and true or false).

• Grading Your grade is based on your total points (250 possible). That's five tests of 50 points each.
• You will take the tests online when you wish.
• Your grades will be available on Blackboard.
• Your individual tests thus accumulate.
• The more tests you take the more solid your grade is.
• Eventually, gaps will appear between groups of students. My grading system finds those gaps.
• At first (now), those gaps are small and arbitrary. But, eventually they will widen. Those gaps are the curve.
• To eliminate cheating, all tests will be open book and open notes. But, that means the tests themselves will be a learning experience. Hopefully, as you try to find the information and then answer the questions you'll be learning the material better than you would have by taking a test the old way.
• Grading will be tougher because of the test format and the open book, open notes. So, if you want an A you will need to average 92% correct answers or 188 out of 200 points for the four tests that count.
• I will drop your lowest test at the end of the course.
• Please take all five tests.
• REMEMBER, you will have time to take each test and you will be able to stop and come back to the test as needed. In this class, your job is to FIND the answers and record them on the BlackBoard tests.

What about attendance?

• Here is what I used to say:

• Full attendance is expected. Roll will be taken daily because of new federal law. Past experience has demonstrated a strong positive correlation between class attendance and final grade.

Now I say:

• This is online education and you must keep up with the class yourself. The old routines are no more. You need not show up to Peace 203 at 11 am MWF now!
• I have set the class up so that it is self-paced. That means that you can decide how fast or how slow you want to go. The only limit is the end of the semester. You must complete all five tests by the last day of the final exams.

What about extra credit?
There is no extra credit, so do well on your tests!