Student Guideline
Psychology 4600 - University of North Texas

*The information contained in this handout is part of official course policy.

Learning – can be defined as the transmission of knowledge through environmental and social interaction.  The learning process in this class is based on active independent learning and collaboration.  You must take active responsibility for the course of learning in this class.  In addition, you must interact with the instructor and other students in the class in order to be active. 

This approach is probably novel, but your participation and success in this class depends on this approach to the learning process. This document outlines the skills that you should begin to cultivate.  Your performance in this class will reflect the degree to which you have mastered these learning skills.

The following guidelines describe the responsibilities that both you (the student) and I (the instructor) must complete in order to create an active collaborative learning process. 

Instructor’s Role
Organize and Structure.  The primary responsibility of the instructor is to organize the course material in a manner that best provides for understanding.  The structure of the class is designed to meet the course goals.  The material presented during lecture also intends to link concepts.

Supplement. Lectures will provide information not available from other class sources.

Student’s Role and Learning Skills
Attitude.  Because this approach to learning is likely novel for most students, one should adopt the appropriate attitude when participating in this class.  The first step in adopting an appropriate attitude is suspending expectations.  If the student expects to use traditional learning skills, then one’s performance will be aversely affected.  The next step in developing and appropriate attitude is to accept and practice the following learning skills. 

Prepare.  Lectures will not cover all of the material necessary for the course.  Instead, the student should have familiarity of the content before attending lecture.  This will allow lecture time to be utilized by linking concepts, clarifying topics, and supplementing material.  In addition, because students are expected to participate during class (see next point), students must be informed about topics before class.  To this end, students will complete daily assignments that require definition of concepts (described on the back).

Participate.  Because the learning skills for this class involve interactive exchange, class time is an opportunity to share knowledge among class participants.  Each student is expected to offer information during class and participate in classroom activities.

Collaborate.  Learning does not occur in a vacuum.  Therefore, students should interact with one another in preparing for class, studying for quizzes, and working on assignments.  Understanding other people’s points of view and sharing knowledge helps expand an individual’s personal knowledge.  Collaborative groups for this course are informal, but each student should participate in a group of some sort.

Daily Assignments

In order to keep students prepared, they will be given daily (nearly) assignments.  These assignments consist of recording and defining the key concepts from each reading assignment.  That is, for each reading assignment, students must identify the key points of the individual or paradigm and provide background information or a definition of that key point.  The student must bring to class a type-written list of the key points from each reading assignment.  The format of the list must be double spaced and understandable by a classmate.