PSYC C1000 Liquid Syllabus

I am committed to accessibility and have put in a lot of effort to ensure that you have full access to my instructional content, including:

• Documents are created and remediated using accessibility checker tools.

• Accurate closed captions on all videos.

• Transcripts and alternate formats are posted when available.

• Images have alternative text descriptions.

• Instructional content is delivered through multimedia.

• Technical language is explained in simple, everyday language.

If however you come across something that is not accessible, please let me know and I will work quickly to fix it. If you have any recommendations to improve the accessibility of my class, please let me know - I want you to be successful and learn!

If you have a disability, you may qualify for an accommodation to support your success, such as extended time on quizzes/exams, special note taking paper, or audio recording devices.  Please contact ARC Disabled Services and Programs for Students (DSPS) if you think you might benefit from such services.  All accommodations substantiated by DSPS will be honored and once you have given me the official DSPS form; it can take up to a week to make these accommodations, so please get this to me ASAP. If you need help connecting with DSPS, I am happy to assist you.

“American River College strives to uphold the dignity and humanity of every student and employee. We are committed to equity and social justice through equity-minded education, transformative leadership, and community engagement. We believe this commitment is essential to achieving our mission and enhancing our community.”  This is a core value of ARC and an essential component of this class.  ARC Commitment to Social Justice and Equity

I strive to create an environment that honors students’ identities, experiences, and well being.  I recognize that students at ARC come from diverse backgrounds and experiences, which enriches our ability to learn from one another. I invite all nationalities, racial and ethnic identities, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, religious and spiritual identities, sexual orientations, age cohorts, family structures, immigration statuses, and more to join me in this journey together. 

During our orientation week you will work collaboratively with other students to develop class norms that:

• • encourage thoughtfulness and critical inquiry.

  • promote listening and perspective taking.

  • foster openness to sharing of our personal beliefs, experiences, and perspectives.

Ideally, our shared norms create space for us to listen and learn from each other in a way that promotes learning and hopefully makes everyone feel protected and welcome. When needed, I will interject to ensure that these norms are achieving their purpose , without singling out individual. Here are a couple of things to note about these norms:

• • No student will ever be forced to share or disclose personal information.

  • Our class norms will be a living document, which means if at any time we need to revisit or revise the norms, we will do that.

If you are struggling to meet your basic needs and/or need additional emotional and/or physical resources to support your academic success, American River College has a Health and Wellness Center, the Beaver Food Pantry (monthly distribution), and the Basic Needs Center to support you both in and outside of the classroom.  If you need assistance in connecting with these resources, please email me (or use the Canvas inbox) and I will do my best to connect you directly to the variety of people and resources available at ARC.  I am invested in your success this semester so please let me know if I can help!

It is important to me that I treat every student equitably, when it comes to earning a grade in my class, however I realize that sometimes a student might feel like they have been singled out or treated unfairly. How might you resolve that if you end up feeling this way?

• I hope that the first step would be to reach out to me directly to discuss the issue and see if we can come to an understanding and resolution that we both can live with.

• If you are unhappy with a resolution or if you are not comfortable approaching me yourself, you have a right to report that concern/complaint directly to the Dean of People, Culture, and Society: Matt Wright (916) 484-8428 or wrightm@arc.losrios.edu 

I do my best to treat all students equitably but want to be sure that you know how to resolve a concern or conflict if one does arise. If you feel like you still need more information about ARC’s Student Standards of Conduct Guide, please contact the ARC Student Advocacy and Responsibilities office at (916) 484-8465.

Students should expect to spend at least 3-4 hours online engaged in learning activities, such as assignments, discussions, in addition to an additional 3-4 hours per week studying and completing assessments. This is comparable to a typical face-to-face class that meets in-person 3 hours a week.  Some weeks will have more work than others. 

However there is no minimum time required; students must get the required work done in however much time it takes and in my experience, the amount of time varies considerably from student to student, assignment to assignment, and week to week.

Students are not required to login at any specific time during the semester, however as a general rule you should plan on logging in at least once a week, at minimum because my class is interactive, thus students that login several times throughout the week are more likely to feel connected to learning and this will improve your success in my class.

Everything in my class takes place asynchronously, which means that we do not meet in Zoom and have no required face-to-face classes.  All requirements must be fulfilled at your convenience,  in accordance with the designated submission windows for all assignments.

You will be expected to meet some deadlines, and timeliness will be rewarded in my class.

Yes and no. The class is divided into 5 different learning modules. I will release one module at a time, which allows students to work ahead within the module, but not beyond the module. There may be occasions when modules overlap during a week, which would allow a student to work ahead to the next module. Exams, discussions, and assigned activities must be completed as scheduled and by their posted due dates.

No this class does not require that you write an essay however there is a lot of writing completed in this class, hence your ability to communicate through writing is an essential skill that will be developed and evaluated throughout the semester.  You will be asked to summarize what you learn, make connections to your life, and reflect on the value of learning in discussions and assignments.

Multimedia Engagement: Some assignments offer the option of being completed in audio or video format, however some assignments must be submitted in a specific modality. More details are available in the Syllabus.

No.  However you are required to engage in discussions throughout the semester with your classmates, and me.  The discussions are varied, sometimes they focus on digging deeper into a concept or theory from the week, other times they are focused on applying what you are learning.  There are many different discussions and you get to pick which ones to participate in!  

I will be using Open Education Resources (OER) which are zero cost for students!  These free texts are the foundation of the course and are posted in our weekly lessons in Canvas.  The required course OER will be available to you starting day 1 of the semester so this will not be a barrier for your success in my class!  

Here is a ink to the 2 free online textbooks that I will be using in my class:

• OpenStax Psychology (2e) - you can view the book online, download from this link, or purchase a printed copy through this link or the ARC Bookstore.  I recommend viewing it online, which offers an online annotation tool!

• NOBA - Supplemental Readings (Hokerson) - you can view these supplemental readings through this link, however each week when they are scheduled I also provide links there, for your convenience.  These supplemental readings, which are required, can also be downloaded as a PDF on this link.

If you use any other textbook I cannot guarantee that you will get all of the information you will need; I am using these free options in order to support your success.

Multimedia Engagement: Each week I also post a 20 minute podcast, created by Notebook LM. It will provide an engaging alternative to reading the chapter each week.