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Introduction to
Psychology
University of Texas- Permian Basin
Table of Contents
Basic Information
Course Description
Materials
Computer Skills and Software Requirements
Important Dates
Communication Plan
Course Activities
Course Assessments
Policies and Procedures
Technical Requirements
Preparation for Computer Emergencies
Student Support Services
End of Course Evaluation
Disclaimer and Rights
Schedule
Basic Information
Jamie Hughes
Email: [email protected]
Office Location:MB 3122, This is on the third floor of the Mesa Building in the same hallway as the
elevators.
Office Phone: 432-552-3345
Although there are no organized class sessions to attend, meeting you personally is very important to me. If
you live near the Odessa area, please try to drop by my office so I may meet you and put a face with a
name.
Course Description
Course Prerequisites: None - PSYC 1301, meets the social sciences requirement in the general education
core throughout Texas.
Course Description: The present course emphasizes psychology as the scientific study of behavior and
mental abilities. An introductory course like this is a survey course, where the various sub-fields within
psychology are identified, and a sampling of material is examined within each sub-field. You will find that
psychology is a much larger field than you ever realized. Psychologists work in areas of mental illness it is
true, but they may also work in issues of children, aging, advertising, community development, business
personnel, neuroscience and even the courtroom.
Course Purpose: The course purpose it to expand the student's knowledge of psychology as it fits into the
sciences, the individual's life and the community.
Course Learning Outcomes: When you finish this course you should be able to undertstand and do:
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initiate a proper process of inquiry
utilize critical reasoning in examining new ideas
explain major concepts and methodologies used in psychology
describe current developments within psychology
apply the applications of psychological principles to the real world
utilize research design in formulating possible research
respect the commonality and diversity of human experience
integrate Web-based and print resources
Materials
Psychology, 6th edition, by Hockenbury & Hockenbury, (2013), published by Worth, ISBN978-1-42924367-4
This book can be gotten from the UTPB Bookstore or various online sources such as Amazon.com
However, be careful when if you order from an online source that your book will come in a timely manner.
It is not good to have the problem of having your book finally arrive 4 weeks after the class has started. Be
sure you find out how long it will take to be sent.
As you navigate through this course, you will find numerous websites to visit and online lectures that will
supplement the readings in the book.
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Computer Skills and
Software Requirements
Any special prerequisite skills (wordprocessing, spreadsheet, presentation
software, YouTube account, etc) Student will need to create word processing
documents, save files, submit files.
Students, Faculty and Staff at UTPB can obtain software licensing and media for
selected Microsoft titles at very low cost through a software agreement:
http://www.utpb.edu/services/ird/information-for-students/softwaredistribution/microsoft-select
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Important Dates
Spring 2015 2nd
Week
Assignments/Test Due Dates
All work for each week should be in by 11:55 pm the last day of the scheduled
week.
Week 1 - Understanding Research and
Behavior and Statistics
Week 2 - The Nature of Sensory Processes
and Consciousness/Sleep
Week 3 - Developmental Psychology and
Social Influences
Monday Mar 9- Monday Mar 16
2 Just Do Its, Tests, Discussions should be finished by Mar 16
Tuesday Mar 17 - Monday Mar 23
Just Do It, Tests, Discussions should be finished by Mar 23
Tuesday Mar 24 - Monday Mar 30
Just Do It, Tests, Discussions should be finished by Mar 30
Tuesday Mar 31 - Monday April 6
Week 4 - Being An Individual - Personality
Just Do It, Tests, Discussions should be finished by April 6
Tuesday April 7- Monday April 13
Week 5 - Processes of Learning and Memory
Just Do It, Tests, Discussions should be finished by April 13
Week 6 - Thinking, Intelligence and Industrial
Organization
Week 7 - Understanding Psychological
Abnormality and It's Related Social and
Therapeutic Issues
Tuesday April 14 - Monday April 20
Just Do It, Tests, Discussions should be finished by April 20
Tuesday April 21 - Monday April 27
Just Do It, Tests, Discussions should be finished by April 27
Tuesday April 28 - Thursday April 30
Week 8
There is no new work but all work must be finished by 5:00 pm Mar 5
You may also do the optional Extra Credit Chapter during this time as well as
earlier.
Group Project
Group Project due during Week 6 at any time. We will look at them
Extra Credit - OPTIONAL - Chapter 8 OR
Chapter 13
during Week 7
Multiple Choice only - Email instructor if you
wish to take the test.
Extra credit is optional and can be done anytime during the semester. You mu
get a 42 or better for the 30 extra credit points. If you do not, you can take it o
more time, but you will have to tell me to reset it.
All work for the semester must be finished and turned in by 5:00 p.m., Thursday April 30 as that is the end of the grading period
for Spring 2015 2nd. No work will be accepted after this time.
UTPB Academic Calendar
For Course Calendar, click on the Calendar button on the course menu to see all important due dates
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Communication Plan
Office Hours:
Office hours during the semester will be totally online through e-mail unless we have specifically set up an
appointment for my office. You may send me an e-mail and we will set up an in-person appointment. Since
this is an online course, know that you can e-mail me at any time. I check my e-mails several times a day
and will respond as quickly as possible.
E-Mail:
All UTPB students are provided with email accounts through the university server. Every student must use
the university email for student-instructor interaction. You must set up your UTPB webmail account.
Follow the directions on the Information Resources page.
You can have your UTPB account linked to your personal account by contacting Information Resources.
I can be reached at [email protected]. I check my e-mail daily during the week days and usually each
Saturday and Sunday. There are important "e-mail manners" that are to be used in an academic online
course. It is true that we often write to friends via e-mail and use all sorts of abbreviations, lack of
punctuation and other short-cuts to casually chat - similar to text messaging.
The communications via e-mail for this class should:
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Use correct punctuation and capitalization. No "texting" language.
E-mails must always be signed.
Contain the name of the class for easy identification in the "Subject" line.
Identify the exact assignment number if there is a question concerning an assignment.
It will be necessary for me to delete, before reading, all e-mails that are not signed. This is to protect my
computer against fraudulent e-mails that carry viruses. I have gotten quite good at recognizing this type of
e-mail, but there are always new tricks being devised so my general policy is to delete all unsigned mail.
E-mail is a vital communication medium in online learning. It is important that you have a working e-mail
address to receive communications from your advisor, instructors, and classmates.
Just Do Its!
These are your 8 homework assignments. They are embedded in the online lectures and while there is not
one for each chapter, there is at least one for each Module. You need to click on the button in the online
lecture and each assignment will be explained. You e-mail me your work and at times there are instructions
to put your responses on the discussion board. These are mostly experiential and you will enjoy reading
about the experiences of other students in the class.
Classroom Chatter:
This will be an area that you can go in and chat with each other about anything and is found in Discussion
One. The conversations do not have to be concerning any of the course work. You can talk about current
events or tell everyone something great that just happened to you - like you just bought a car!. This will be
a casual conversation area just for students, but it will be expected that everyone will be treated with
politeness at all times.
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Course Activities
Blackboard course platforms have a tracking feature. This feature quantifies how often students access
different tools, pages, features, links, discussions, etc. in your course. I want you to know this because I
will expect all students to be reading and participating fully in the course. If you are going to be gone for a
week for an emergency or work, let me know and I will help you to know what I expect when you return.
Otherwise I will expect that you are active on a weekly basis in this course.
Group Project:
Parapsychology is a field that examines phenomenon that are not, at this time, able to be explained by
scientific research. "Para" means to lie side by side so, in other words, these topics lay outside the scientific
area of psychology, biology or other sciences.
But think about this: Might they really exist and research has just not been creative enough to think of a
way to scientifically examine them? You are to convince your class members that your parapsychology
phenomenon DOES EXIST by collecting evidence to that effect.
Use the scientific method we have been talking about. Use the internet, scan pictures from books or
magazines - anything you think will help. You are to have some fun with this as we are not doing hard
science here. However, you will be expected to think of an appropriate hypothesis and then defend with
evidence that supports that hypothesis in a clear and concise way.
The class will be divided into pairs of students. A student must enter the Group Project button on the course
menu to find the link to the pair he/she is assigned. Each pair will have the following Group Tools to use to
help with collaboration: a chat tool, a file exchange tool, a private discussion board and an email tool.
Each group will be given a topic to research. This topic will be randomly assigned and their may be some
overlap with two pairs having the same topic. However, it is the pair of students that will do the work in
each case.
The possible topics assigned to each group pair will come from the following list:
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The Bermuda Triangle
ESP - Extra Sensory Perception
The Yeti (Big Foot, Abdominal Snowman
The Pauli Effect
Therapeutic touch
UFO's
Loch Ness Monster
Chupacabras
Spontaneous Human Combustion
Ley Lines - Morphogenic Grids
Project Requirements:
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Group pairs will create a PowerPoint presentation containing at least 8-12 slides of information on
the topic chosen.
Each slide should have bullets with short explanations.
The overall presentation should include one or more audio files to further explain some areas,
findings from research, observations, etc, and appropriate pictures. You can also include a link
to video clips if appropriate to your subject or even make a video clip if that helps strengthen your
research. Remember, you are trying to show that your topic DOES EXIST and is a viable
phenomenon.
Each presentation should include at least 6 references in Bibliography (links to online articles).
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Each project must also include a title, objectives, hypothesis, main ideas and references.
The last slide of the presentation will contain the members' names and the part each played in the
researching and writing of the group project.
Submitting the project:
After the group completes the project, one member will upload the presentation to the File Exchange in
the Final Project link. All students will be able to download and view the presentations of each of the
groups.
Students are encouraged to use the Discussion Board in the Final Project link to discuss (comment)
according to their interest, on projects submitted by other groups. These should be very interesting
presentation and fun to read!
Grading of the project:
Each presentation will be graded on the following criteria:
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Subject matter on the slides and audio (comments)
Defense of materials to support the hypothesis
Relevant references
Slide presentation design will be factored in but of less importance.
Project Points:
The project is worth 50 points. The project will be graded as stated above and all members will receive the
same number of points unless a member(s) has/have been inactive in producing the project.
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Course Assessment
Your grade will be figured in the following manner:
Assessments
Points
Test #1 - Week 1: Chapters 1-2 plus Appendix A (Statistics)
and online lectures and videos
100
points
Test #2 - Week 2: Chapters 3, 4 and online lectures and
videos
100
points
Test #3 - Week 3: Chapters 9, 12 and online lectures and
videos
100
points
Test #4 - Week 4: Chapter 11 and online lectures and videos
100
points
Test #5 - Week 5: Chapters 5, 6 and online lectures and
videos
100
points
Test #6 - Week 6: Chapter 7, Appendix 2 (IO Psychology) and 100
online lectures and videos
points
Test #7 - Week 7: Chapters 14, 15 and online lectures and
videos
100
points
Homework - Just Do Its: (8 total - 10 or 20 points each)
90 points
Discussions (10 total - 10 or 20 points each)
100
points
Group Project
50 points
Values in Action (VIA)
30 points
Total
970
points
All tests are divided into two parts. The first part is 60 multiple-choice questions to be done in one hour and
15 minutes. When you have done this test, the essays will open up and you will do 4 essay questions out of
usually about 10. You may use your books on this, but the actual answers must be in your own words.. You
may do the essays on a separate day if you like.
All the course activities will be graded approximately one week after the set due date. You can check your
grades by going to My Grades. If there is any discrepancy in the grade, you must contact me immediately. I
will provide individual feedback in the performance of the course activity/test. I encourage you to ask
questions about your grade on an activity if you feel that you do not understand how it was assessed.
Grading Scale (for a total of 970 points):
90% and above
A
80% to 89%
B
70% to 79%
C
60% to 69%
D
59% or less
F
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Policies and Procedure
1.
Course Content Structure:
The course is divided into 8 Weeks. The Week 1 starts the actual
coursework.
Each Week covers:
♦ 1 to 4 textbook chapters
♦ online lectures, videos and articles
♦ online discussion topics
♦ online multiple-choice and essay tests
You should read the textbook section first, and then review the online
lecture for that chapter. There are videos assigned to each Module to help
with an understanding of the material and you should watch them. The
lectures will be summaries, elaborations of the textbook material, and links
to related information on the Web. After you have completed reviewing the
lecture, you should then log into "Discussion Tool" and post answers to
the discussion question (specific to the module) posted by the instructor.
You must also read other students' posts and respond to at least two other
students' responses. Discussion posts must be made by the date on of the
last day of a module to receive any credit. You should then complete the
two part test for that module.
2.
Grading and Feedback:
All the course activities will be graded one week after the set due date.(
Graded on curve or absolute scale? ) You can check your grades by going
to GradeBook. If there is any discrepancy in the grade, you must contact
me immediately. I will provide individual feedback or a general feedback in
the performance of the course activity.
3.
Cheating/Plagiarism/Academic Dishonesty:
Scholastic Dishonesty is defined in UT-Permian Basin's Dean of Students. Examples of scholastic
dishonesty are:
Each student is expected to do his/her own work unless otherwise instructed as in a group
setting. I will not tolerate plagiarism or any form of cheating. This includes using any
internet source without citing it. Papers will be checked using Turnitin. I abide by the
University Handbook of Rules concerning this issue.
Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion,
falsifying academic records, misrepresenting facts, the submission for credit of any work
or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an
examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student
such as, but not limited to, submission of essentially the same written assignment for two
courses without the prior permission of the instructor) or the attempt to commit such acts.
"Plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to the appropriation of, buying, receiving as a
gift, or obtaining by any means material that is attributable in whole or in part to another
source, including words, ideas, illustrations, structure, computer code, other expression
and media, and presenting that material as one's own academic work being offered for
credit.
NOTE: Students found plagiarizing or cheating will receive a zero on the course activity which
could cause failure in the class and/or suspension or dismissal from the college.
All students enrolled in this course are assumed to have made a personal commitment to
adhere to an honor code.
Download (Read and Adhere to the Honor Code): Honor Code PSYC 1301
Please don't get the wrong impression. I'm really not paranoid, and I certainly don't believe for a
minute that students are dishonest. Far from it. I believe in the integrity and honesty of my
students--but there are a rare few who may be vulnerable now and then to what they perceive to be
a "quicker and easier" way of doing things in Web courses. I don't care if you share Web
resources, talk about topics, study together, or otherwise share information with your classmates. I
just want everyone's graded work to be a reflection of an independent and honest effort.
4.
Discussion Board Participation:
There will be 10 discussions that are for credit. I may put in other
discussions that are for information, but not credit. You are expected to
participate in these discussions. The topics will be from the readings and
your homework and often ask for your critical opinion based on what you
have read. These are meant to help you, the student, think about some of
the issues that are found in Introduction to Psychology. You, the student,
are encouraged to reply to any posting by their fellow peers and/or
instructor. Please remember to respect all postings made by your peers
even if you do not agree.
The first discussion is ready for you to do now as a way of introducing
yourself to the class. Select the Discussion Board button on the left and
click on the forum titled "Introduce Yourself." This discussion during the
Module one will let everyone get to know a little about you so that we feel
more of a class. It is funny how sometimes, some of you actually already
know each other, but did not know the other person was taking the class.
The Discussion 2 is one that allows you to always ask a question about
anything you are reading, both in the book or the online lectures. I will
check this often so that I can respond, but you all can also respond to
each other's questions.
The remaining for-credit discussions will focus on interesting and possibly
controversial issues in psychology. All 7 assignments are graded and will
be worth 10 points each and in a few cases 20 points.
For each discussion question, first, you must respond to the question
directly and second, you must read the other students posts and reply to
at least two other students' responses. You must ensure that the
responses to the questions are meaningful, reflective and support your
course readings. Avoid postings that are limited to 'I agree' or 'great idea',
etc. If you agree (or disagree) with a posting then say why you agree by
supporting your statement with concepts from the readings or by bringing
in a related example or experience.
You are expected to read all messages. You are responsible for reading
all of the messages that are posted in the online discussion. Not reading
messages is the equivalent of sleeping in class.
Use a person's name in the body of your message when you reply to their
message. It helps to keep all of us oriented. It helps us maintain a clearer
sense of who is speaking and who is being spoken to. As we begin to
associate names with tone and ideas, we come to know each other better.
Change the subject line when you introduce a new topic. The value of this
tip will become apparent as the number of messages grows.
5.
Submission of Course Assessment Activities:
All the course assessment activities will be submitted via Assignment
Tool. Keep in mind the following standards/practices for submission of
assignments:
a. All course assessment activity files that will be submitted to the
instructor should be in MS Word or RTF
b. Be sure to put your name at the top of each page header
c. Always keep a copy of all the work you submit so that you won't
need to re-do it if it should get lost in cyberspace.
6.
Make-Up/Late Submission Policy:
All course activities must be submitted before or on set due dates. If the
student is unable to abide by the due dates, it is her/his responsibility to
contact the instructor immediately. There may be a 10 point deduction for
late submission a test.
7.
Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Americans with Disabilities Act: Students with disabilities that are
admitted to The University of Texas of the Permian Basin may request
reasonable accommodations and classroom modifications as addressed
under Section 504/ADA regulations.
Students who have provided all documentation and are eligible for
services will be advised of their rights regarding academic
accommodations and responsibilities. The University is not obligated to
pay for diagnosis or evaluations nor is it obligated to pay for personal
services or auxiliary aids. Students needing assistance because of a
disability must contact Programs Assisting Student Study (PASS) Office,
432-552-2630, Leticia Madrid, [email protected].
The definition of a disability for purposes of ADA is that she or he (1) has a
physical or mental impairment that substantively limits a major life activity,
(2) has a record of such an impairment or, (3) is regarded as having such
an impairment.
If you need accommodations because of a disability, if you have
emergency medical information to share with the instructor, or if you need
special arrangements in the case the building must be evacuated, please
inform the instructor immediately. You may contact the instructor after
class or during his/her office hours.
8.
Course Incomplete/Withdrawal/Grade Appeal:
All students are required to complete the course within the semester they are signed up.
Incomplete grades for the course are rarely given and will only be granted if the student has
complete at least half/75% of the course with a grade of 'C' or better and provides a valid,
documented excuse for not being able to complete the course on time and has contacted prior to
the scheduled last class to request an extension. The student will sign a contract that includes the
incomplete course activities and the new due dates.
It is the responsibility of the student who wishes to withdraw from the class to contact the
registrar's office and drop the class by the drop date as found under Important University Calendar
Dates for this Semester in this syllabus.
For grade appeal process go to http://ss.utpb.edu/dean-ofstudents/student-grievances/.
9.
Netiquette:
Anything you type in the discussion area is public - which means that
every student in this class (including your instructor) will see what you
write. Please pay attention to the language you use and adhere to the
following guidelines:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Do not post anything too personal;
Do not use language that is inappropriate for a classroom setting or
prejudicial in regard to gender, race, or ethnicity;
Do not use all caps in the message box unless you are
emphasizing (it is considered shouting)
Be courteous and respectful to other people on the list
Do not overuse acronyms like you would use in text messaging.
Some of the list participants may not be familiar with acronyms.
If the posting is going to be long, use line breaks and paragraphs
Fill in a meaningful Subject Line
Write your full name at the end of the posting
Be careful with sarcasm and subtle humor; one person's joke is
another person's insult.
NOTE: If you do not adhere to the guidelines for any posting, you
will lose the points that would have been granted, and the instructor
reserves the right to remove your posting and to deny you any
further posting privileges.
Refer to this link for additional help on netiquette:
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
10.
Attendance and Class Participation:
Regular and active participation is an essential, unmistakably important
aspect of this online course. The expectation of the instructor is that
students will log on a minimum of three times every seven days. It is
critical that you read all of the lecture and assignment materials as well as
all of the public discussion materials. Your full participation ON A
WEEKLY BASIS is not only a requirement; it is also an essential aspect of
the online course process. All students are expected to do the work
assigned, notify the instructor when emergencies arise, and make up
assignments no later than the due dates.
NOTE: For summer classes students are expected to log in every day.
11.
Tracking:
Blackboard course platforms have a tracking feature. This feature
quantifies how often and when students are active in the course and also
provides information if the student has accessed different pages of the
course.
12.
Absenteeism:
All the course activities have set dates to be completed and submitted.
After the due dates the activities will not be available for the students.
Thus, if you are ill for a prolonged time and cannot complete the activities,
you must contact me and update the situation. You are expected to log
into the course at least once a week. For summer courses you are
required to log in everyday.
If I am going to be out because of ill health, attending a conference, etc
you will be notified through email.
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Technical Requirements
Please visit the following page: http://www.utpb.edu/online/reach/technical-requirements
You will find:
1.
Requirements
2.
Plug In Helper
3.
Set up Information
4.
Links to 24/7 Help Desk
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Preparation for
Computer Emergencies
Computer Crash
Not having a working computer or a crashed computer during the semester will NOT be
considered as an acceptable reason for not completing course activities at a scheduled time.
NOTE: Identify a second computer before the semester begins, that you can use when/if your
personal computer crashes.
Server problems
When the Blackboard server needs downtime for maintenance, the Blackboard administrator will
post an announcement in your course informing the time and the date. If the server experiences
unforeseen problems your course instructor will send an email.
Complete Loss of Contact
If you lose contact with me completely (i.e. you cannot contact me via Blackboard or email), you
need to call me at my office, and explain the reason you cannot contact me and leave me a way
to contact you.
Lost/Corrupt/Disappeared files
You must keep/save a copy of every project/assignment on an external disk or personal
computer. In the event of any kind of failure (e.g., Blackboard server crash or virus infection,
students own computer crashes, loss of files in cyberspace, etc) or any contradictions/problems, I
may/will request you to resubmit the files. In other words, if you submit a document to me, and I
either do not receive it (lost in cyberspace) or it is corrupted when I open it, it is incumbent upon
you to resend it to me, corrected, with little or no "downtime" in regard to the timeline for
submission.
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Student Support
Services
SERVICE
CONTACT
Programs Assisting Student Study
ADA
Accommodation/Support
(PASS) 432-552-2630
http://www.utpb.edu/academics/undergraduate-success/pass-office
Admissions & Registration
& Transcripts
(432) 552-2605
http://www.utpb.edu/admissions
Blackboard Technical
Support
1-877-633-9152 (toll-free)
UTPB Online Support Center at http://aa.utpb.edu/reach/requirements/
Bookstore
(432) 552-0220
http://www.bkstr.com/texas-permianbasinstore/home
Advising
UTPB E-Advisor at http://cas.utpb.edu/academic-advising-center/eadvisor/
Financial Aid and
Scholarship
(432) 552-2620
http://www.utpb.edu/campus-life/financial-aid
UTPB Library
(432) 552-2370
The J. Conrad Dunagan Library Online at http://library.utpb.edu/
Student Services
http://www.utpb.edu/campus-life/studentactivities/studentsenate/committees/student-affairs
Tutoring & Learning
Resources
If you are taking courses through UTPB the following links provide
services: Smarthinking Online Tutoring (provides tutoring services),
SmarterMeasure (measures learner readiness for online course).
Student Success Center: http://www.utpb.edu/academics/undergraduatesuccess/success-center
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End-of-Course
Evaluation & Instructor
Evaluation
Every student must complete an end-of-course evaluation/survey provided by UTPB. During the
last few weeks of class, you will receive an announcement through email notifying you that the
Course/Instructor Survey is available. There are three options to access the survey
1.
2.
3.
You may follow the link in the email to complete the survey using the same credentials to
access your courses here.
When entering Blackboard you will see a list of surveys for you to complete
A button on the left hand menu bar will lead you to the survey from inside your course.
The survey is anonymous and you responses are confidential. Your feedback is critical to us and
to your instructor as we strive to improve our offerings, and our support of you, the students.
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Disclaimer & Rights
Information contained in this syllabus was to the best knowledge of the instructor considered
correct and complete when distributed for use in the beginning of the semester. However, the
instructor reserves the right, acting within the policies and procedures of UTPB to make changes
in the course content or instructional techniques without notice or obligation. The students will be
informed about the changes, if any.
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