Psychology 392
Senior Seminar
Illinois State University
J. Cooper Cutting
Syllabus
Fall 1998

Contact Information

Instructor: J. Cooper Cutting
Office: De Garmo 421
Phone: 438-2999
e-mail: cutting@main.psy.ilstu.edu
office hours: Mon. 10:30-11:30, Tue. 1-2 & by appointment

General Course Information

Where and When?

Course Description & Objective.

Course description. A seminar is a group of advanced students studying under a professor, with each student contributing to class participation through active reading, doing library research, presenting and discussing the material with one another and the professor. The senior seminar course, the pinnacle of one's undergraduate education, examines contemporary psychological issues and problems of the future. Issues vary from instructor to instructor. This section focuses on cognitive psychology, including issues about perception, learning, memory, and language.

Goal. There are two major goals for this course. The first is to promote critical thinking in students; the second is to help prepare the students for their career paths following graduation. Both goals will be addressed through a number of different techniques, including writing critical and review papers, writing proposals, presentations (both oral and in poster format), and panel style discussions. The topics on which these techniques will be developed will be drawn from both the instructor's interests (cognitive psychology) and input from the students enrolled in the course.

Objectives. My teaching objectives are: (a) to help students learn to think critically, (b) to help students learn the benefits of thinking critically, (c) to give students a number of different techniques to promote critical thinking, (d) to give students an opportunity to think about some of the current (and perhaps past and future) issues in cognitive psychology, and finally to (e) encourage an exchange of ideas/information among all members of the class.

Evaluation (grading). The evaluation of the students' overall course performance will be based on their participation and on the quality of the participation on the assignments. The assignments consist of a variety of different kinds of tasks (as mentioned above in the Goal section). Roughly the breakdown will be as follows:

  • written assignments
  • 30 pts oral presentation
  • 30 pts poster presentation
  • 10 pts panel discussion
  • 40 pts based on class participation in discussions
    300 pts total

    Course Ground Rules.

  • Active participation is the central requirement for the class. Students will be expected to participate in a variety of ways, including several written and oral presentations and discussions. If you are going to miss a class, then you will miss an opportunity for participation. So it is critically important that you notify me AS SOON AS YOU KNOW that you'll be absent and WHY. Call, e-mail, or talk to me in person. Opportunity to make-up the missed work requires prior notification of the absence and an excused absence (that is one that you instructor accepts as reasonable and legitimate). How and when the work will be made up will be determined by the instructor.
  • To ensure a smooth flow of discussions, the following policies are established: Students are encouraged to listen with an open mind, respect the contributions of others, and avoid personal attacks. Students will often be faced with alternative viewpoints from the professor or their peers. Thus, students should be prepared to defend their own positions with empirical data, obtained from the assigned readings, and reasoned argument.
  • You are expected to do your own work. Plagiarism and cheating of any sort will not be tolerated. Either behavior will result in a grade of 'F'. Note that plagiarism includes situations where you meet with other students for group discussions and are asked write a summary. Unless otherwise instructed, this means that each participant in the group must write their own summary. Making up false excuses for absences will also be considered cheating and may result in a grade of 'F' for missed work.
  • And finally, if you have any questions regarding anything in the syllabus and or the course in general, please feel free to ask. Talk to me in class, via phone, or e-mail. Don't just assume that you know (or should know) the answer, I may not have been clear enough or may have forgotten to mention something.

    Section Topic Calendars


    Note: This topic calendar is an approximation and is meant to allow for some flexibility over the course of the semester.

    Date Tentative topic calendar Readings & Resources
    WK1 (Aug 24-28) Organization & Introduction
    Course Topics Discussion
    Critical Thinking    		 CT handout ??
    CT web pages
    WK2 (Aug 31-Sept 4) More on Critical Thinking
    CT exercises
    WK3 (Sept 9-11)
    No Class on Labor Day     		Topic #1
    background
    critical thinking analysis    		 Reading list
    WK4 (Sept 14-18) topic #2
    background
    critical thinking analysis     		Reading list
    WK5 (Sept 21-25) topic #3
    background
    how to present a poster    		 Reading list
    Poster presentation handout
    WK6 (Sept 28-Oct 2) Your Vita/Resume
    Applying for grad school
    Applying to Grad School Pages
    gettin' in handout
    2nd gettin' in handout
    making a vita
    WK7 (Oct 5-9) more discussion of topic #3
    poster presentations
    WK8 (Oct 12-14)
    No Class on Fri, Oct 16    		 topic #4
    how to make an oral presentation     		Reading list
    WK9(Oct 19-23) oral presentations
    more discussion of topic #4    		 Giving a talk handout
    WK10 (Oct 26-30) topic #5
    panel discussions (on topic #5)    		 Reading list
    WK11 (Nov 2-6) Student Research Proposals
    formulating ideas
    presentions & discussion of ideas     		Timeline for research proposal
    WK12 (Nov 9-13) doing the literature review
    doing an anotated bibliography
    WK13 (Nov 16-18)
    No Class on Fri, Nov 20    		 writing the literature review
    WK14 (Nov 23-25)
    No Class on Fri, Nov. 27     		designing & writing the proposal
    WK15 (Nov 30-Dec 4) evaluating the proposal
    the peer review process
    WK16 (Dec 7-11) revisions of the proposals
    Finals Week Final drafts of the proposals are due:
    Wed. Dec. 16, no later than 5PM.

    References
    During the course the class will discuss at least 5 current issues or themes in cognitive psychology. The specific topics and a list of related readings will be determined by the instructor using input from the students enrolled in the course. A separate list of readings will be provided by the second week of the course.
    Return to Illinois State University Home Page
    Return to Illinois State University Psychology Home Page

    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at cutting@main.psy.ilstu.edu.