Instructor: Karen I. Mark, Ph.D., DEG 423, 438-8130, kimark@ilstu.edu

Office hours: Monday 9:30-11:00 a.m.; Wednesday and Thursday 9:30-11:30 a.m.; other times available by appointment.

Classroom and meeting time: DEG 206, Tuesdays, 3:25-5:15 p.m.

Goals of the course: The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the career options available to them after completion of the Major in Psychology. These options include work both in and out of the field of psychology with a bachelor's degree. In addition, students will become familiar with a variety of graduate degrees that can be earned after completion of a bachelor's degree. Students will become familiar with campus resources for career exploration and participate in activities designed to clarify their career goals. Finally, students will learn how to design their plans of study to meet the requirements for the Major in Psychology and, at the same time, enhance their career objectives.

Textbook and readings: The following will be required for the course:
Morgan, B. L., & Korschgen, A. J. (2005). Majoring in Psych? Career options for psychology undergraduates. (3rd Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Psychology: Scientific Problem Solvers - Careers for the 21st Century
This is an online publication of the American Psychological Association. Click on the title for a link to this APA publication.

Syllabus and overview of assignments:

Attendance and absence policies: As you can see from the syllabus, a written assignment and/or Daily Reaction Paper is due at each class meeting. Attendance is required for each class session. If you need to miss a particular class session, it will be your responsibility to (1) notify me in advance, (2) make arrangements to submit the assignment that is due that day, (3) refer to the course syllabus for information about the assignment to be submitted the following class period, and (4) obtain notes from a classmate to keep up with the material that was covered during your absence. Daily Reaction Papers for a missed class session can not be made up—if you need to be absent from class, you simply would not earn points for a Daily Reaction Paper that day.

Classroom behavior: This class focuses on helping to prepare you for your professional future. As such, you are expected to engage in professional conduct during class. You will get the most out of this course if you come prepared to ask relevant questions and engage in appropriate discussions. In order to facilitate this, courteous, respectful behavior is expected. During class meetings, please refrain from any behaviors that are disruptive to others: arriving late, engaging in personal conversations unrelated to class, leaving your cell phone on, wearing headphones, leaving early, and packing up belongings before the end of class. Please feel free to ask a classmate to stop engaging in any behavior that you find distracting.

Assignments: The nature of this class is very interactive, both during and outside of class. As such, you will have homework assigned each week. I hope that you find these assignments to be informative and interesting, and that they also allow you to discover more about yourselves and careers. The work that you put into these assignments now will prepare you for more fulfilling careers later.

NOTE: Except for Daily Reaction Papers (#1 below) and the Academic Progress Summary worksheet (#3 below), all assignments must be typed or word-processed. Points may be deducted for assignments that are handwritten instead of typed.

1. Daily Reaction Papers: At the end of each class period, students will write a reaction to the day's lesson or presentation. In these short papers, students will identify (a) what they learned, (b) how they will use the information, and (c) more information they need to seek out on their own, if necessary. Paper due at the end of each class.

Grading: These are "good-faith" papers. As long as you write a reaction to class that indicates that you are taking the assignment seriously, you will earn the full 10 points for each reaction paper. Half-hearted attempts that reflect little thought will result in 5 points. Students who are absent from class or fail to turn in a reaction paper will earn 0 points that day.

2. Positive Introduction Essay: Write a 1- to 2-page, approximately 300-word positive introduction (although this essay can be as long as you need it to be). In it, you should tell a concrete story that describes you at your best and illustrates your highest personal strength. The story should have a beginning, middle, and end "with a bang, not a whimper." Conclude with a sentence identifying what strength(s) you feel this essay illustrates about you and how this might apply to your career choice. While your story might include an example of an accomplishment, the true intent of this assignment is to identify an example from your life that illustrates a strong personal characteristic. Due January 22.

Grading: This assignment is worth 30 points. You will not be graded on the quality of your personal experience. As long as you take the assignment seriously, write about (in approximately 300 words) a life experience that illustrates a personal strength, and identify that characteristic and its connection to your career choice, you will receive up to the full 30 points. Half-hearted attempts, essays that are much shorter than 300 words, or ones that do not identify the personal strength illustrated and its application will earn up to 15 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Essays not turned in by the due date will earn 0 points.

3. Academic Progress Summary worksheet: In completing this worksheet, students will summarize their status towards completing General Education/IAI, graduation, and PSY major requirements. Please read and follow the instructions for the worksheet very carefully. Since the purpose of this assignment is to make certain that you understand and plan for all of your degree requirements, be sure to list all courses (by department and course number) in the appropriate spaces that you have taken, are in the process of taking, and will take in the future. Be sure to include a copy of your Academic Progress Summary or Progress Toward My Degree with your completed worksheet. Due January 29.

Grading: This assignment is worth 30 points. Worksheets completed with few or no errors will be awarded up to the full 30 points. Half-hearted attempts, or worksheets completed with numerous errors, will receive up to 15 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Worksheets not turned in by the due date will result in 0 points.

4. Career Structured Interview summary: Students will write a brief (1- to 2-page—although it may be longer) summary of what they learned from their career structured interview assignment (further details about this will be given in class). What were your answers to the questions asked? With whom did you complete this interview assignment? What did you discover, confirm, or clarify about yourself? Were there any surprises? How might you use this information to guide your choice of careers? Due February 5.

Grading: This assignment is worth 30 points. If you take the assignment seriously and provide a thoughtful and thorough summary of your interview results, you will earn up to the full 30 points. Half-hearted attempts will earn up to 15 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Summaries not turned in by the due date will earn 0 points.

5. Classified ads assignment: Students will collect three classified ads from newspapers or Web sites that represent jobs that would be appropriate for individuals with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Write a few sentences or a paragraph about why you selected each of the ads that you chose and which liberal arts and/or Psychology major skills are needed for the jobs selected. You are encouraged here to "think outside the box" and identify a variety of jobs that you might not have associated, before you started this course, as being appropriate for Psychology majors. You are welcome to cut out these ads from actual newspapers or to download, print, and cut out these ads from online newspapers and/or job search Web sites. There are several options for the latter; here are just a few examples: monster®, YAHOO!® hot jobs®, and careerbuilder.com™. While you can collect the ads from any newspapers, please know that many newspapers have expanded classified ad sections in their Sunday editions—that is, you might see jobs posted in the Sunday edition that do not appear other days of the week. Please make sure that you put your name on the paper to which you attach the ads. Due February 12.

Grading: This assignment is worth 20 points. Students who submit three appropriate ads with thoughtful corresponding comments will earn up to the full 20 points. Half-hearted attempts, submitting fewer than three appropriate ads, or submitting ads without the written summary will receive up to 10 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Assignments not submitted by the due date will earn 0 points

6. SIGI 3 report: SIGI 3 (System of Interactive Guidance and Information) is a computerized self-help tool to assist you in identifying a number of aspects about yourself and the world of work. Students will write a 3-5 page paper (although it can be longer, if you wish) reporting which sections they completed, what the outcome of each of these sections was, what they learned from this assignment, and how they might apply the information to their career exploration. To access, click on SIGI 3. You are required to complete the Assessments (Values, Interests, Activities), Occupational Information (as many subsections as you can), and Analysis sections. If you are especially motivated, you also might benefit from completing the Getting There subsections. You are encouraged to explore as many subsections of SIGI 3 as you wish—as is the case with most class assignments, the more effort and time you put into it means the more you will get out of it. You can break up your time on SIGI 3 into separate mini-sessions (you can exit the program when you wish and return to it at another time). In your paper, be specific and provide a detailed report about what you experienced: What were your results from each of the sections and subsections? What did you learn and/or clarify about yourself? How will you use this information to guide you in making decisions about your career goals? Due February 19.

Grading: This assignment is worth 50 points. Students who take the assignment seriously, clearly spend a fair amount of time using the SIGI 3 self-exploration, and make clear efforts to summarize their results from each required section (Assessments, Occupational Information, and Analysis) will earn up to the full 50 points. Papers that are the proper length but are not written clearly or reflect little time spent on SIGI 3 will earn up to 37.5 points. Half-hearted attempts or papers much shorter than the recommended length will earn up to 25 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Reports not submitted by the due date will earn 0 points.

7. Career presentation report: Students are required to attend one University-sponsored activity related to careers. Students are to write a 1- to 2-page paper (although it can be longer, if you wish) about what they experienced and learned from this activity. Be specific: Which event did you attend? What did you do there (e.g., which tables did you stop at; who did you talk to; what information did you gather)? How will you use this information in guiding your career plans? Details about available events will be provided in class. To find out about career activities scheduled for early fall semester, see Career Center. Due February 26.

Grading: This assignment is worth 20 points. Students who take the assignment seriously and provide a complete, thoughtful report will earn up to the full 20 points. Half-hearted attempts will receive up to 10 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Reports not submitted by the due date will earn 0 points.

8. Final project: Write a paper (minimum of 5 pages) that describes your career plans and what you will do during your remaining semesters at ISU to help you achieve your goals. Your paper will include three specific components: 1) A bachelor's degree career plan that would involve working after obtaining your bachelor's degree in Psychology and not obtaining an advanced or graduate degree; 2) a graduate degree career plan that would involve going to graduate school (or law school, medical school, seminary, etc.) after completing your bachelor's degree in Psychology (either immediately or after taking some time off); and 3) a semester-by-semester plan (with accompanying table) of the courses you will take and out-of-class experiences you will complete that will facilitate meeting your career objectives.

For sections 1) and 2), be specific. Based upon the information about yourself and careers that you have gathered to date, choose a career for each of the two separate career plans and write about what you have learned about each career. (You can, of course, change your plans after the course ends, but the purpose of this assignment is to write about two different careers that you would be interested in pursuing at this time.) Using the information and resources covered in class (SIGI 3, O-Net, Occupational Outlook Handbook, etc.), provide details about the characteristics of each career—What do people in these careers do? What types of educational background and skills are required? What are the salary ranges? What should you do as an undergraduate to best prepare for this career? In these sections, be sure to write about what your research has led you to learn about these careers—don't just write about what you "think" you know about these careers. Specify which resources you used to gather the information about your selected careers.

For section 3), describe both which courses and out-of-class experiences you plan on completing during your remaining semesters, as well as your reasons for completing these courses and experiences. While you are expected to include narrative descriptions of your semester-by-semester plan(s), you are to also summarize your semester plan(s) in a table. Depending upon your chosen career plans, you might come up with the same semester-by-semester plan for both career paths, or you might have separate, different semester plans for each of your two career paths. Either is fine, but do be clear about whether you end up using the same semester plan or a different one for each of the two career paths.

Organize and format your paper in the way that makes most sense to you. You might separate your paper into the three separate sections required, or you might write one continuous paper that incorporates each of the subsections within it. How you approach this paper is up to you—the important thing is that you include all of the required components in your paper.

The final project should demonstrate that you have done a thorough job of obtaining the information you need to develop your short-term (i.e., while in school) and long-term (i.e., after graduation) plans. Completion of each of the previous class assignments should assist you in writing your final paper; drawing upon these earlier assignments in preparing your final project likely will result in a stronger paper. You will find using information from SIGI 3 especially helpful in exploring and describing characteristics of your intended careers, as well as your plans for pursuing these career goals. Even if, at this point, you are pretty sure that you either are or are not pursuing additional education after you complete your bachelor's degree, please make sure that you write about the two separate career plans described above— you never know when your interests or life situation might change, so it is important to explore both types of career paths. Your paper may be as long as you wish, but it should be at least five pages. Due March 4.

Grading: This assignment is worth 100 points. This paper is the culmination of all your work during this class, so it is worth the greatest number of points. [NOTE: While you are required to include semester-by-semester plans of courses you intend to take to achieve your goals, these plans will not be scrutinized for accuracy. As a result of completing your APS worksheet assignment, you are expected to be responsible for ensuring that all of your PSY major, General Education/IAI, and other graduation requirements are covered in your plans in your final paper.] Students who write a 5-page paper with well-written, well-developed plans (including detailed semester-by-semester course plans and table) for pursuing two separate career paths (one requiring a bachelor's degree only, the other requiring additional education) will earn up to the full 100 points. Papers that are the proper length and include the basic components but are not clearly written or developed will earn up to 75 points. Final papers that are much shorter than five pages, are poorly written and/or poorly developed, include plans for only one career path rather than two, or do not include semester-by-semester plans will earn up to 50 points. (Intermediate numbers of points may be awarded depending on quality and adherence to instructions.) Papers not turned in by the due date will earn 0 points.

9. Final exam: There will be a short final exam that will cover material from all of the readings, exercises, and presentations. The exam will be multiple choice. If you have participated in all of the class activities and assignments, completed all the readings, and paid close attention in class, you should be well-prepared for the exam. The final exam is scheduled during class on March 4.

Grading: This 25-item multiple choice exam will be worth 50 points.

Evaluation and grading:

Note: In addition, any student who does not complete at least 5 of the in-class daily reaction papers will receive an F for the course regardless of total points earned.

Any student in need of a special accommodation should contact 438-5853 (voice) or 438-8620 (TDD).