PSB 4002: Introductory Bio-Psychology

Florida International University Summer "A" 2018

Professor Eliza Nelson

elnelson@fiu.edu

Course Description and Purpose

PSB 4002 is a course introducing students to the biological basis of behavior. The course is organized into three units: (1) neural foundations, (2) sensory systems and homeostasis, and (3) complex behavior. Topics include neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, sleep, stress, and memory.

Course Objectives

Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

• Describe and explain how the nervous system works
• Critically discuss the reciprocal relationship between biology and psychology
• Understand typical and atypical brain-behavior relationships
  
  

Important Information

Before starting this course, please review important information regarding online coursework at FIU. You must be logged into Canvas with your FIU credentials to access the following pages:

• Policies
• Technical Requirements and Skills
• Accessibility and Accommodation
• Academic Misconduct Statement
  

Course Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Textbook and Course Materials

This is a fully online course in which all of the instructional materials and activities are delivered through Canvas. Please maintain a courteous and professional manner even though this is a fully online course and you might never meet your professor or your classmates in person. Time spent on this online course is no different from time you would expect to spend in a typical face-to-face course. The content of the course is no different than what you would expect during the regular semester. Because this course is accelerated on the summer schedule, you should plan to spend time on it every day, including reading the textbook, completing online tasks, and other activities to promote learning. Beginning Week 2, work is due every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by 11:59 pm with the exception of Monday May 28 (Memorial Day).

Students are expected to:

• Be responsible for their own learning
• Log in to the course at least three times per week
• Follow the course calendar
• Interact online with instructor/s and peers
• Respond to emails within two business days
• Read assigned chapters in the textbook and take notes
• Review instructor-provided course material including lectures and videos
• Submit assignments, quizzes, and exams by the corresponding deadline

The professor will:

• Log in to the course at least three times per week
• Respond to emails within one business day
• Grade assignments within three days of the due date
• Be available by appointment for course questions and concerns

Office Hours Policy

Please make an appointment via email. You can make a time to call via phone or Skype or meet in person on campus. If you are struggling with the material, please contact your professor ASAP. If a significant personal or medical problem arises, do not wait to contact your professor to make appropriate arrangements. Do not wait until it’s too late to get help!

Email Policy

Please address your email “Dear Professor Nelson” and sign your name at the bottom. Include your PID in all correspondence. Your professor and any teaching assistant staff reserve the right not to respond to unprofessional emails. In this class, the response time for an email is 1 business day.

Discussion Forums

Keep in mind that your discussion forum postings will be seen by other members of the course. Care should be taken when determining what to post.

Quizzes

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the Practice Quiz from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes. For quiz duration and feedback response time, please review the important information about quizzes page. Assessments in this course are designed to be a mix of lower order questions testing knowledge and comprehension as well as higher order questions testing application and analysis.

Module Quizzes:

• All quizzes are multiple choice.
• Students have unlimited attempts until the due date.
• No special browser is required for quizzes.

Unit Exams

• Exams are a mix of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer.
• Students can only take the exam once.
• Exams open at 12:00 am and close at 11:59 pm on the due date.
• Exam dates are not negotiable. Please plan accordingly.
• Exams must be taken with Respondus LockDown browser.

Assignments

For detailed instructions, please review the important information about assignments page. Assignments are a mix of exercises. Grading criteria are provided with each assignment. You can drop your lowest assignment grade. Assignments are meant to help you apply the material and prepare for exams.

Grading

This course uses the FIU Early Alert System. Alerts are sent to students and their advisors after the first exam. Your professor may also send you a personal email if you are struggling in the course. FIU does not allow an A+. Psychology majors are required to earn a C or higher (i.e., at least 348 points in this course). There is no extra credit available in this course. Standard rounding to the nearest percentage is used to determine final letter grades. Requests for exceptions to the grading policy will not be honored.

What happens if I miss an assessment?