Suggestions for putting together your syllabus
Each professor is somewhat different in what information they include in their syllabi. That being said, the following suggestions for organizing your course have been largely successful and classroom-tested using this book.
Assign sections or headings instead of full chapters if you don’t want to cover certain material. Each section in this chapter is organized into headings to allow you to more easily manage which readings students are assigned. This allows you to choose what topics to discuss in class and have confidence that your students will be reading only those topics you choose. This can be easily incorporated into your syllabus to help students get organized.
Incorporate the assignments in this manual during class or lab time. In the chapter sections of this manual you will find suggested exercises in addition to the end of chapter questions in the textbook. Also included are suggestions for organizing your lectures and more. Incorporating these exercises and suggestions in your class can help students work through examples and meet the learning objectives for each chapter. You could also have them do these assignments on their own, then work with them together during class. This is a more engaging approach and it really helps students of all learning styles retain the material taught during class—it is really a student-friendly approach.
Put all therequirements for your course in one table. A research methodscourse can often include many writing assignment. It can be difficult for students to keep up with course requirements, and due dates. For this reason it can be helpful to give students one place to find everything they need (dates for readings, assignments, exams, or other assessments). Here is a portion of an example outline (through the first exam) to give you an idea of how you may want to do this.
Week / Topic / Readings / Assignments (from end of each chapter)Chapter
1 / Introduction to Scientific Thinking / 1 / #2-10 even,
2 / Generating Testable Ideas / 2 / #4-10 even
3 / Research Ethics / 3 / #2-8 even
4 / Identifying Scientific Variables and Exam 1 / 4 / #2-10 even
In this outline you may want to add columns for lab assignments, or additional homework’s and quizzes as you see fit. No matter what you choose, this book will help you organize your contentto accommodate your course. Also, included here is a sample syllabus with essential information, and a sample outline for a trimester (about 16 weeks) and a quarter (about 10 weeks) that shows how the full book could be incorporated in a college class.
Research Methods Sample Syllabus
Professor:[enter name]Office Room:[enter office number]
Office Phone:[enter phone]E-mail:[enter e-mail]
Office Hours: [enter office hours]
Required Textbooks:
- Privitera, G. J. (2014). Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7511-7
- Privitera, G. J. (2014). Student Study Guide With IBM SPSS® Workbook for Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1-4522-9051-5
Course Overview & Key Course Goals
Welcome to Research Methods! This course describes the methods and analyses researchers use to understand the behaviors and events they are interested in. This course integrates the use of methodology with the statistical techniques used in psychological research. The course will focus on the development of skills that enable you to identify the scientific process, understand and apply research designs to answer your questions about behavior, and to select and use appropriate analyses to interpret what you observe. The following is a brief list of key goals for this course:
1)To introduce you to the scientific method. The scientific method is the method used by researchers to advance knowledge in the sciences. It’s hard to imagine that you could appreciate what you learn in the sciences without a strong understanding of the methods scientists used to acquire that knowledge.
2)To get you to think critically about the claims people make and to challenge you to clearly define and explain what you observe. Being a critical consumer of knowledge is a key skill among scientists.
3)To describe the theory and application of methods and statistics in science, and to explain why these procedures are necessary to understand behavior.
4)To show you how to apply the decision tree to select your own research designs and analysis techniques to test questions or research hypotheses that you develop, and to communicate your results.
I am happy to meet with students and welcome your questions both during and outside of class. I try to respond to e-mails as quickly as possible, which can vary from time to time depending on availability and other circumstances (e.g., at a conference). Please come visit me during office hours, or feel free to schedule other times to meet with me.
Class Policies & Expectations
Regular attendance and active participation: Attendance and participation are expected in all classes.These behaviors are important to the overall success of the course. In addition, please remember that students are responsible for class work even if there are legitimate reasons for their absence.
Questions and Concerns: It is important for you to understand the information presented in class and in the textbook. If you have questions about the material or other concerns regarding the class, please see me in class or during office hours or contact me as soon as possible. If you need to make an appointment to speak with me, please feel free to do so. I am happy to make time for students, whenever possible.
Academic Dishonesty: Cheating is an issue that I take very seriously and I consider it a breach of contract between the student and myself. The definition of academic dishonesty goes beyond simply copying off another student’s test or turning in another student’s paper as your own. I encourage you to read the policies and guidelines regarding academic dishonesty in the student handbook. If I suspect a student of engaging in any of the listed behaviors, I will follow these guidelines in handling the situation, which may result in failure of the assignment or class, censure, suspension, or expulsion. Make sure you are very aware of what cheating, in all its forms, is.
Disability: Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the [enter building and contact information for the disabilities services center on your campus]as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion
Web Information:[enter login in and other information about content included on Moodle, Blackboard, or other website for course, if there is a website for the course].
Class Evaluations
Points
Exams (3 @ 100 pts ea.) 300
Laboratory Assignments (4 @ 50 pts ea.) 200
Final Exam 150
TOTAL 650
Brief Overview of Class Evaluations
Exams 1 - 3: There will be three exams in class. The format of each exam is multiple-choice questions; some true/false, short answer/essay questions, and computational problems can be on the exams. Many questions on the final exam will be taken from content in these earlier exams, so review your exams—this will help you do well on the final. More details will be provided in class.
Makeup exams will be given if the following conditions are met:
The student notifies the instructor before the beginning of class, is given permission by the instructor to excuse the absence, and completes the exam within one week of the designated exam date OR
The student takes the exam before the scheduled exam date with the instructor’s permission OR
The instructor gives approval to take the makeup exam
Under NO circumstances will you be allowed to make-up an exam after grades for that exam have been posted or one-week past the scheduled date, whichever is sooner. If you anticipate missing class on an exam day, then e-mail me ahead of time to schedule a make-up exam date. It is YOUR responsibility to know when an exam is scheduled and notify me in a timely manner.
Laboratory Assignment: You will receive laboratory writing assignments in this class. Each assignment will require you to apply techniques learned in class for a research topic given. The instructions for completing each lab assignment will be given at the time each assignment is handed out.
Final Exam: The final exam will be of the same format as the first three exams and will cover all material covered in the class and in the books. More details will be provided in class as the final exam time nears.
GRADING PROCEDURE:
The grading scale in this course uses a traditional scale. In this course, I round to the closest percentile in all circumstances (e.g., an 89.5% is a 90%; an 89.49% is a 89%). Please note thatI will not submit an “Incomplete” (I) grade unless you have already completed enough coursework to constitute more than 60% of the class evaluation points.
Grade Breakdown:
A: / 93% / C: / 73%A-: / 90% / C-: / 70%
B+: / 87% / D+: / 68%
B: / 83% / D: / 66%
B-: / 80% / D-: / 64%
C+: / 77% / F: / 63% or less
Sample Course Outline for Trimester:
NOTE: The schedule for topics, assignments, and presentations is tentative and may change. However, unless an announcement is made otherwise, the dates indicated in this schedule will stand. It is expected that you have read a chapter before it is covered in class.
Week of:Topic & Assignment
1Introduction to scientific thinking (Chapter 1)
2Generating testable ideas (Chapter 2), Lab assignment #1 assigned
3Research Ethics (Ch. 3)
4Identifying scientific variables (Chapter 4), Lab assignment #1 Due
5Sampling from populations (Chapter 5) and Exam #1
6Choosing a research design (Chapter 6), Lab assignment #2 assigned
7Naturalistic and existing data research designs (Chapter 7)
8Qualitative research designs (Chapter 7), Lab assignment
#2 Due
9Survey and correlational research designs (Chapter 8)
10Quasi-experimental Research Designs (Chapter 9), Lab assignment # 3 assigned
11Single-case experimental designs (Chapter 9) and Exam #2
12Between-subjects experimental designs (Chapter 10), Lab assignment #3 Due
13Within-subjects experimental designs (Chapter 11),Lab assignment #4 assigned
14Factorial experimental designs (Chapter 12)
15Analysis and interpretation of data (Chapters 13, 14), Lab assignment #4 Due
16Communicating research (Chapter 15) and Exam #3
*The college will schedule the final exam date.
Sample Course Outline for Quarter:
NOTE: The schedule for topics, assignments, and presentations is tentative and may change. However, unless an announcement is made otherwise, the dates indicated in this schedule will stand. It is expected that you have read a chapter before it is covered in class.
Week of:Topic & Assignment
1Section I: Scientific Inquiry
Introduction to scientific thinking (Chapter 1)
2 Generating testable ideas (Chapter 2), Research Ethics (Chapter 3), Exam #1
3Section II: Defining and Measuring Variables, Selecting Samples, and Choosing an Appropriate Research Design
Identifying scientific variables (Chapter 4), Lab assignment #1 Due
4 Sampling from populations (Chapter 5), Choosing a research design (Chapter 6), Lab assignment #2 Due
5 Section III: Nonexperimental Research Designs
Naturalistic, qualitative, and existing data research designs (Chapter 7)
6 Survey and correlational research designs (Chapter 8), Exam #2
7 Section IV: Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Research Designs
Quasi-experimental and single-case experimental designs (Chapter 9), Lab assignment #3 Due
8 Between-subjects (Chapter 10), within-subjects (Chapter 11), and factorial (Chapter 12) experimental designs
9 Section V: Analyzing, Interpreting, Communicating Research Data
Analysis and interpretation of data (Chapters 13, 14), Lab assignment #4 Due
10Communicating research (Chapter 15),Exam #3
*The college will schedule the final exam date.