Industrial & OrganizationalPsychology

PSY 255 (Online)Summer Session I

May 16 – June 30, 2011Syllabus

Instructor Information

Instructor Supervising Faculty

James Grand, MAe-mail: grandjam@msu.edu

Cathleen McGreal, Ph.De-mail: mcgreal@msu.edu

Hello! My name is James Grand and I am a senior doctoral student in MSU’s Organizational Psychology program. I will be your instructor for the PSY 255 summer online course and am in charge of managing, organizing, and grading the course content. Additionally, I will serve as the primary contact point for all specific questions about the course topics, assignments, and grades.

Dr. Cathleen McGreal is the MSU faculty of record for this course. Dr. McGreal oversees online courses in the MSU Psychology Department and acts only as a course supervisor. She is NOT to be contacted with questions about this course’s content, assignments, grades, etc. Please contact James if you have any questions or concerns about those matters.

Virtual Office Hours: Thursdays 7:00-9:00pm and by appointmentE-mail policy: E-mail is the absolute best way to get in contact with me. I will do my best to respond to your e-mails within 24 hours, but an immediate response is not guaranteed; NOTE that I may not reply to e-mails sent after 5pm until the next day.ANGEL Troubleshooting:

MSU Help Line: 517-355-2345ANGEL Help Line: 1-800-500-1554

Course DescriptionAccording to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (American Time Use Survey, 2009), the average American will spend over 104,000 hours performing work-related activities by the time they reach the age of 65. Over the course of an average lifetime, that amounts to over 15% of our entire lives and almost 25% of our waking hours spent at work!

Clearly, work holds an important role in the daily lives of people everywhere and represents a unique domain of psychological experience. Psychology 255: Industrial & Organizational Psychology is designed to introduce you to major areas relevant to the behavior of people at work from the time they enter the labor force until retirement. This course focuses both on understanding the psychological bases of work behavior and on the organizational practices used to create a good fit between people’s characteristics and work’s demands. During this course, we will cover a number of topics including personnel selection, placement, training, work motivation, job satisfaction, leadership, teamwork, and work-family balance.

Course GoalsThe field of Industrial & Organizational Psychology is a unique discipline that blends rigorous research methodologies and practical applications towards one basic focus:

“How do the emotions, behaviors, thoughts, and motivations of individuals at work contribute to their overall performance and quality of life as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the organizations they work for?”

Perceptions about work are an undeniable part of our cultural fabric, and treatments, opinions, and insights into this fundamental question are rife in popular literature, media, and entertainment. However, many of these depictions are not scientifically justified or misinterpret basic findings from the field of I/O psychology. To this end, I have two goals for this course:

1. I want to introduce you to the concepts, methodologies, and relevant findings that describe the manner by which I/O psychologists approach the psychological experiences of individuals in organizations. We will accomplish this by covering a broad range of topics that I/O psychology has traditionally researched and what we know about those areas as they pertain to both individuals at work and organizations.

2. I want to improve your capability to think about organizations and employees scientifically and critically. We will accomplish this by applying principles of I/O psychology to learning activities and participating in discussions designed to provide you with the opportunity to try out concepts covered in this course.

Course Objectives and Example Learning Objectives You will learn about the major content areas and foundational components of

Industrial/Organizational Psychologya. Given a term or question about a concept area, empirical finding, or methodological

application/technique relevant to the study of I/O psychology, such as “Which of the following describes a task-oriented approach to conducting a job analysis?” you will be able to choose the most accurate definition or factual statement.

b. Given the name of any I/O-related theory we study, you will be able to identify the major elements of the theory, compare and contrast the theory with competing theories, and choose a practical application of the theory

You will learn how to critically evaluate and apply scientifically supported solutions to an original problem relevant to Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

a. Given an empirical article pertaining to I/O psychology, you will be able to translate those findings into a practical application that directly addresses a specific, work-relevant problem or area of interest

Course Information: Online Nature of the Course Overview

This course will be held entirely online through the ANGEL class system at MSU. There will be no classes or tests at any physical location on campus. All lectures will be available through the course web page posted on ANGEL and all graded work will be submitted through the systems that exist on ANGEL (i.e., drop box, discussion forums, etc.). Each assignment will tell you the ANGEL method it uses for submission.

Since this course is completely online, you will need to make sure that you have consistent access to the Internet throughout the duration of the course. Additionally, a high speed Internet connection is required for this course; this is especially important for quizzes and the final exam because these assessments are timed. High-speed connections will minimize the loading times between test questions and therefore maximize the amount of time you have to actually answer the questions. In addition, the lecture materials using PowerPoint slides and voice will be very slow on dial-up connections.

The lectures used in this course were developed and narrated by Prof. Dan Ilgen and Prof. Cathleen McGreal.

Course Management System: ANGEL The ANGEL website for our course can be accessed through https://angel.msu.edu. You will need to use your MSU NetID and password to enter the site. If you do not already have these, please contact the MSU Registrar’s Office (517-432-3952) and one will be assigned to you. A brief orientation to ANGEL is described later in this syllabus. Note that I will be unable to assist you with technical or troubleshooting problems associated with using ANGEL; if you have questions or need assistance with technical aspects of the course such as using/accessing online content on ANGEL, troubleshooting problems with the ANGEL system, or listening to the recorded lectures using Breeze, PLEASE CALL THE MSU HELP LINE at (517) 355-2345 or the ANGEL HELP LINE at 1-800-500-1554 . ANGEL support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Instructor Contact E-mail and the scheduled “virtual” office hours through the ANGEL chat room will serve as our primary avenues of contact and interaction throughout the course. I will hold office hours both through the course chat room and e-mail on Thursdays from 7:00pm to 9:00pm each week during the course of the term from May 16th through June 30th. I will do my best to respond to your e-mails within 24 hours of receiving them, but an immediate response is not guaranteed. NOTE that I may not reply to e-mails sent after 5pm until the next day. Please be advised that e-mails sent through means other than ANGEL e-mail may not be monitored regularly; your best bet for communicating with me during this course is through ANGEL.

Course Resources Required Text

Landy, F. J., & Conte, J. M. (2010). Work in the 21st century: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (3rd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

This book is one of the most popular and established texts on Industrial/Organizational Psychology for undergraduate students in the social sciences and both authors are among the most well-known and respected I/O Psychologists today.

My one-time only disclaimer about purchasing the textbook for this course:It has not been so long ago that I have forgotten how much of a pain it was to buy course textbooks, especially when it seems many instructors never use them for anything. As a result—probably like you—there were times when I decided not buy the textbook for a course and ended up doing just fine. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE CLASSES—YOU NEED TO HAVE THE TEXTBOOK. Because of the online nature of this course and our relatively limited interaction through virtual means, having access to and reading the course textbook is CRUCIAL to your success in the course. Questions from the quizzes and final exam will be drawn from the text, and it is your responsibility to have read and learned that information. The book is available through the bookstore on the campus at Michigan State University, http://www.spartanbook.com (go to secure online ordering), the Student Book Store (http://www.sbsmsu.com) and other area bookstores such as Ned’s and The College Store. Note that this course uses the 3rd edition text: make sure your book has a picture of a wind turbine on the cover! (The second edition has a different cover).

Course Website All lectures, quizzes, assignments, and other materials needed to complete this course will be stored and accessed through the ANGEL course website. The course materials will be gated on ANGEL so that they open and close at specified dates according to the course schedule (more on this below). The website will also be used to turn in all assignments and participate in the discussion questions

Other Resources If you are near the MSU campus, below is a list of resources outside of this course that you may also find useful:

o Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities . If you need special assistance for this course because of a disability, please contact the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities to establish reasonable accommodations. More information can be found at http://www.rcpd.msu.edu or by calling (517) 884-7273 (TTY: 517-353-1293).

o Learning Resource Center . The Learning Resource Center (LRC) is a self-paced individualized learning center that assists MSU students who want to improve their academic performance. Its goal is to help students develop the strategies and techniques to become successful students. The LRC uses three unites to deliver its services: a professional staff located in the main office, an interactive learning lab, and tutoring services. More information can be found at http://lrc.msu.edu.

o Writing Center . Assists students in person and online with brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing writing for courses across multiple disciplines. More information about services and scheduling appointments can be found at http://writing.msu.edu.

Course Expectations Instructor Responsibilities

As your instructor, my responsibilities to you are to:

o Help you learn definitions, concepts, and techniques relevant to the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology through lecture and course assignments.

o Provide accurate information and elaborate on topics relevant to the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and how it applies to real-world situations and problems.

o Help you succeed and achieve your goals in this class by providing timely feedback and guidance through the course materials.

I believe that every student can learn, but I’m aware that everyone has different goals and learning styles. Unfortunately, the nature of learning and interaction with online courses makes it difficult for me to easily adapt the presentation of materials to accommodate our class. As a result, you bear much more responsibility in the course for structuring and accomplishing your learning goals. Nevertheless, I will do my best to assist you in learning the material in any reasonable manner.

Student Responsibilities As a participative learner in this class, I expect you to:

o Always complete the weekly readings, lectures, learning activities, and assignments. More so than perhaps any other courses you take at MSU, your ability to succeed in this online course is directly related to your ability to schedule your time wisely and keep up with the course material as it is presented. Following the lectures, keeping up with the readings, participating in the discussion forums, and completing the class exercises are NOT OPTIONAL.

o Plan to spend at least 15-20 hours every week on course-related work (though you may need to spend more than that!). Summer classes are short, condensed, and go by quick, but there is still a significant amount of material to keep up with. Any time commitment less than that and I’ve found that students are likely to fall behind quickly.

o Be courteous and respectful to your classmates and me. Showing respect for all people in our class promotes a scholarly environment. I encourage you (and you are required) to actively participate in this class and as such, many people will be making comments related to the material. At no time is it acceptable for anyone to be mimicked, embarrassed, intimidated, or mistreated by anybody in this class for any reason.

o Ask questions and/or for help when you need it. Send me your questions! I think this course is very interesting, but I understand it can be a little dense at times. If you’re confused by something that you read or see on the lectures, chances are that other people are too and you will be doing us all a favor by bringing it to my attention. Remember that I will hold weekly virtual office hour sessions and can be reached through e-mail.

o Talk to me if you feel that I am being unfair in my expectations, policies, or grading. You may wish to refer to your rights and responsibilities as a student should a conflict occur (online at http://www.vps.msu.edu/SpLife). However, I think that you will find that I do my best to be fair and reasonable if you come to me with a legitimate complaint or problem.

o Let me know as soon as possible if outside circumstances are impacting your

participation in class. Life happens! If you become seriously ill, experience the death of a loved one, or have a life altering experience that is negatively influencing your participation in our class, please contact me as soon as possible so we can discuss your options.

The course rules and my expectations for you are non-negotiable. The rules as laid out in this syllabus, the content of the exams, the content of the lectures, and the calculation of the grade you earn are not a starting point for negotiations. While I am always willing to work with you on an individual basis, I cannot negotiate individual terms with each person in the class.

Keys to Success in this Course1. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you set a weekly/daily schedule for

yourself and stick to it for the seven weeks we are together. As this is an online course, your learning is almost entirely self-paced. If you need help or advice on what sort of schedule you should set, please contact me and we can try to work one out together!

2. Approach this course in the same way you would approach an in-person course at MSU. Establish a routine for listening/watching the lectures, taking quizzes/exams, and completing your class exercises. Find a place and time that you can “come to class” that is quiet and free from distractions and use it over and over again. Research shows that people tend to learn better in more familiar and comfortable (i.e., comfortable as in safe, not comfortable as in sleeping on your bed...) environments. If you are living with roommates or taking this course from your family home, try to pick a time/place where you know nobody else will disturb you and you can focus entirely on the course materials.

3. Print or save the lecture handouts from every Unit and take notes as you read and follow along with the lectures. I appreciate and understand that it can be extremely boring to sit in front of a computer screen and listen/watch a PowerPoint presentation; however, you will be much more engaged and will learn and retain much more of the information if you take notes as you do so. I believe that you will find that your understanding of lectures and your performance in the class will be greatly improved if you take the time to jot down notes as you complete the lectures.

4. Pay close attention to the Learning Objectives presented for each Unit. They will help orient you to the material and outline what information you should know for the tests.

5. Get to know your team members for the Work Exercises and establish how you will complete team assignments as early as possible. Just like in a real work place, your ability to work effectively and efficiently with others will affect your performance in this course. As such, it is in your best interest to get to know and communicate with your team members early and often throughout the semester—use them as study partners, ask them questions about the material, etc. If possible, you may even consider trying to meet together a few times in person.

6. The time to be concerned about your grade is in the first six weeks of this course, not in the last week. Your grades will always be accessible to you through the ANGEL website, but it is your responsibility to monitor them. If you feel like you are falling behind, the sooner you talk with me the better!

Course Details/Structure Day 1 Orientation: ANGEL Technology Walk Through

When you first enter the course, you will see a “Day 1 Orientation” folder – start there. This folder contains a short tutorial/quiz titled “Course Orientation” that covers certain basic requirements related to the operation of ANGEL and your computer for this course. Completion of this tutorial is required—YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BEGIN THE COURSE AND/OR ACCESS ANY OF THE COURSE CONTENT UNTIL YOU COMPLETE IT! This tutorial/quiz is a requirement for unlocking the course content because if you do not make sure you have the basic course requirements, you may come across many problems during the course that could have easily been avoided.

(Note to those reading the syllabus: the word you will need to enter during your course orientation is “training.”)

Course Materials The materials for this course are divided into 13 Units that will be covered during the seven-week semester. Initially, only the course materials for Week 1 (covering Units 1 and 2) will be visible to you. The remainder of the course materials will not be visible until they are unlocked according to the Course Schedule provided at the end of this syllabus. As course content is unlocked, you will begin to see new folders appear in ANGEL with various labels. The most important folders are those labeled by week. Each weekly folder contains TWO Units (except for Week 7, which covers only one Unit) that must be completed by the end of that week. The folders also contain the Work Exercise for that week. Note that once a weekly folder has opened, it will remain open until the end of the semester. HOWEVER, the Work Exercises and tests for that week will only remain available for completion until their associated due date (see Course Schedule).

Each Unit folder (remember there are TWO units in each week) contains:

1. Learning Objectives: These objectives outline the topics you should pay close attention to in the lecture and text. Additionally, these are the topics that will be covered most heavily in your quizzes and final exam.

2. Unit Readings: In this folder you will see a page that tells you the assigned readings from the textbook for that Unit. There will also be a link to the student companion site where you can go for additional resources such as practice quizzes. Finally, there will be a PowerPoint presentation based on the textbook, which you can choose to review if you wish—viewing this PowerPoint is optional.

3. Unit Lecture: In this folder you will find the audio lecture (first link) for the unit and a handout with the lecture slides which you can print or save. When you go into this folder and click on the first link, a page with the audio lecture will open. You will hear the lecture while watching the screen (Be sure to take notes!). The audio text is linked to each PowerPoint slide. If you go back to a slide earlier in the presentation, the audio will begin with that slide.

4. Unit Quiz: When you have mastered the material in a unit, take the unit quiz. A link to the quiz will be at the end of the unit folder. Read the directions carefully as the quizzes are timed.

IMPORTANT: A Note on the Quiz/Exam Assessment MethodThe assessment method used in the Department of Psychology is one that enhances test security during online testing. It is called “Single-question, no backtrack.” In this type of assessment only one question is delivered at a time. You will make a decision about that question, select the desired answer/response option, and submit your answer. After doing so, the next question will be presented. Once you have submitted an answer to a question, it is not possible to go back to previous questions. In this way, instructors can ask questions knowing that a question “gives away” the answer to a previous question. (Of course, this could never happen on a regular paper-and-pencil test.)

This method may require you adopt a different strategy for test taking. For example, you may have learned to first answer all the questions that you know and then go back to others you did not. This strategy is not possible in a single-question, no backtrack testing method. On the other hand, since this course uses open-book testing, you are able to look up answers to those questions about which you have doubts before proceeding. Thus, many students find that after a quick look at the book to refresh their memories, they can proceed with confidence.

If single-question, no backtrack (and open book testing) sounds like a method with which you will be comfortable then this online class is probably a good fit for your assessment style.

Work Teams and Teamwork During this course you will be required to work as part of a virtual team to complete three of the Work Exercises. Everyone in the course will be assigned to a team with approximately five members. Team rosters will be listed in ANGEL and e-mail communication with your team members will be useful for completing your team activities. It is important that you communicate with your team members very soon after the course begins. The first team exercise (Work Exercise 3) will open on Monday, May 30th. For optimal use of your team time, it is suggested that your team schedule a time to hold a chat room discussion of that exercise as soon as possible after the exercise opens to organize how to work on the exercise. I STRONGLY recommend that you introduce yourselves and schedule when you will first “meet” to go over Work Exercise 3 before May 30 th .

o Chat Rooms and Discussion Forums: Your team will also be assigned a Team Chat Room and a Team Discussion Forum (identified by your team number) that can only be accessed by myself and the members of your team. Both are provided as a means for getting to know your team members and for organizing your efforts to complete the Work Exercises. Since experience shows that chat rooms and discussion rooms often become cluttered with a large number of messages, three separate chat rooms/discussion forums have been created for your team:

1. Team Lounge: The Team Lounge Chat Room and the Team Lounge Discussion forum are available to you and your team members as general meeting place for the duration of the course after you have been assigned to your teams. Once opened, you will be able to access these areas at any time.

2. SME (Subject Matter Experts): The SME Chat Room and Discussion Forum should be reserved for work on the Subject Matter Experts team project (Work Exercise 3). These spaces will open at 9:00am on Monday, May 30th and will close at 2:00pm on Monday June 6th when Work Exercise 3 is due. The areas close so that people do not inadvertently leave messages in this space when working on later exercises.

3. HR Newsletter: The HR Newsletter Chat Room and Discussion Forum should

be used for work on the newsletter (Work Exercises 4 and 5). These spaces will open on Monday June 6th when Work Exercise 4 opens and will close when the newsletter is to be completed, June 20th.

Course Work

Tests

Two types of tests will be administered in this course—quizzes and a final exam. Quizzes will cover material from the lecture and the text assignments for each specific Unit. The final exam will also cover readings and lectures and will be cumulative (that is, it will include material from the whole course).

All quizzes and the final exam have strict time limits, but both are open book. Because of their timed nature, it is required that you take the tests using a high-speed Internet connection. For both the quizzes and the final exam, your questions will be randomly drawn from a large question pool at the time that you begin the exam; as such, you will likely not receive the exact same questions in the same order as other students in the class. However, the questions in the pool have been designed so as to be similar in difficulty level. When you begin the exam, questions will be presented one at a time, with the next question appearing only after you have submitted your answer to the previous one. Once an answer is submitted for a question, that question cannot be revisited. Thus, there is one chance and one chance only to answer each question. The random selection of questions, presenting questions sequentially without the chance to return to them, and the time limits are all used to reduce cheating.

o QuizzesThere are 13 graded quizzes, one for each course Unit. There are two quizzes per week for Weeks 1 through 6 and one quiz during Week 7. Your two lowest quiz grades of the semester will be dropped when computing the overall quiz component of your grade. Thus your quiz grade will be based on your 11 highest quiz scores. The quizzes will test your knowledge of both the lectures and the readings assigned for the Unit on which the quiz is based. All due date information for the quizzes can be found on the online Course Calendar as well as the Course Schedule in the syllabus.

Each quiz will consist of 10 questions (multiple choice and fill in the blank). Once you open a quiz, you will have exactly 15 minutes to complete it. If you do not complete it within 15 minutes, the quiz will close and any items not yet completed will be considered wrong. The questions for the quizzes will be randomly selected from a large test bank for each student in the class. Therefore, the same quiz will contain different questions for different students depending on which questions are drawn from the test bank.

The quizzes for a week’s units will be available to you on ANGEL beginning at 9:00am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Monday of that week until Friday 2:00pm EST of that week and can be taken at any point during that time frame. Once the deadline has passed, all further access to the week’s quiz will be denied.

Note that if you begin a quiz less than 15 minutes before it is due to close (i.e., later than 1:45pm EST on the Friday it is due) you will NOT receive the full 15 minutes to complete the quiz. Quizzes not taken before Friday at 2:00pm will be given a grade of 0.0 for all but the rare cases in which there is a personal emergency. In cases of emergencies, the instructor must be notified PRIOR to the due date and time if there are extenuating circumstances requiring exceptions to be made.

o Final Exam

The final exam will consist of 75 multiple-choice questions and will draw on information from all 13 course Units. Once you begin the final exam, you will have exactly 2 hours to complete it.

The final exam will take place during Week 7 on Thursday June 30 th , the traditional day for Summer Session One final exams. The test will be open for you to take at exactly 9:00am on Thursday June 30th and will close at 9:00pm on the same day. The final exam MUST be taken during this time frame—you will be able to choose the two-hour block within the time period that best fits your schedule but you must be finished on or before 9:00 p.m. Therefore, if you want the full two hours for the exam, you must access it by 7:00 p.m. on June 30th.

IMPORTANT: A Note on Technical Concerns with TestsIn order to prevent the loss of your answers in case of a computer or Internet malfunction, the final exam has an autosave feature that allows you to save your responses every 30 minutes. In the past, students have noticed that after saving the exam, exam items appear to have been deleted from the screen—that is not the case. Your answers are still saved even though they do not appear on the screen. Since your original responses will be saved, please do not waste your limited time going back and trying to complete those questions again.

Occasionally, students will experience technical difficulties with ANGEL during tests. These difficulties are greatly reduced if a high speed Internet connection is used. Dial-up connections lead to difficulties because of the timed nature of testing. Please make every effort to use a high-speed connection during the final exam.

If you do experience technical problems with ANGEL during the exam, please contact the MSU helpline (1-800-500-1554) and me (James Grand, grandjam@msu.edu) immediately. On rare occasions, due to technical problems, I may need to reset your exam. In these cases, you must still complete the exam on the originally scheduled exam day before the exam deadline. Students whose exams are reset will receive a 0.0 on the exam if it is not completed by the deadline.

Work Exercises During this course you will complete several applied exercises to help illustrate the concepts that you learn in lecture and in the textbook. Over the course of Weeks 1 through 6, you will do several tasks related to being an employee in a newspaper office. Some tasks are for individual “employees” and others will be completed by your work team. Your experience will culminate in the creation of an HR Newsletter, which will be built during Weeks 4 and 5 in groups of four or five. The Work Exercises are described below and more detailed information is provided in the instructions for each specific exercise in the appropriate week’s folder on ANGEL.

New Work Exercises will open on Monday at 9:00am and will usually be due at 2:00pm EST on the following Monday (because of Memorial Day on Monday May 30th, Work Exercise 2 will be due on Tuesday May 31st instead). This will allow you and your team to work on the Work Exercises over the weekend if needed.

Work Exercise DescriptionsWeek Name Description

1 Demographic Data

You will be asked to fill out a form with several demographic questions as well as questions about your experience with online courses in the past. These questions will be similar to demographic questions that are often asked by employers. All information that you provide will be kept confidential.

2 Selection Battery

You will take a selection battery that contains several types of questions often used in real employee selection tests that companies give, as well as some questions that assess skills that are specifically newspaper-related.

3 Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Prior to Week 3, you will be assigned to your work team and asked to develop a plan for interviewing a subject matter expert in the newspaper field. This includes structuring the interview, making a list of needed questions and deciding who will ask what questions. You will be working with these same individuals for the Human Resource Newsletter group exercises.

4 HR Newsletter Subject

Your team will be asked to begin to develop a Human Resource Newsletter. You will develop an HR newsletter on a topic in I/O psychology chosen by your group. Your team will have to make a decision on the overall topic area and write an introductory letter explaining the importance of the topic for business and describing how each article fits that topic. You will need to submit to the instructor what your general topic area will be and which article each group member will be summarizing. Your group’s topic and each member’s chosen article will be submitted to fulfill Work Exercise 4.

5 HR Newsletter

Your group will finish the HR newsletter exercise it began in Week 4. Your group will have to make an introductory letter explaining the importance of the topic for business and how each article fits that topic. You want to make a coherent and informative newsletter. Each team member will need to write an article summary.

6 Group Reflection

With the HR Newsletter finished you will be asked to reflect on your group experiences. You will first be asked to fill out a typical work survey of satisfaction. You will then be asked to reflect on your team experience in response to some short answer questions that will tie your experiences to concepts that have been discussed in lecture and the textbook. This exercise is graded only in terms of whether or not it is completed with some effort put in to reflecting on the team process. It is an individual exercise.

Discussion Questions

Every week (except for Week 7) a discussion forum will open in the weekly folder with a question based on the readings/lectures from the week (from one of the two units). The question is designed to give you and your classmates the opportunity to think critically and reflect on new concepts. For each discussion question, you will have until Sunday 5:00pm EST to post a response to the question AND reply to two other students’ posts. Each discussion question will be worth 5 points. You must post something of substance for your post and the responses to other students to receive the full 5 points. Saying only “I agree” or “I disagree” is not substantive; do you best to contribute to the discussion by letting us know your opinion and why you feel the way you do about something.

Course GradingYour grade is calculated based on the total number of points you earn on the quizzes, final exam, work exercises, and discussion questions as shown in the following table:

Assignment Total Points Percentage of Final GradeQuizzes (11 x 30 points each) 330 33%Final Exam (75 items) 450 45%Work Exercises 190 19%

WE1: Demographic Data (10)WE2: Selection Battery (10)WE3: Subject Matter Expert (SME) Interview* (40)

WE4: HR Newsletter Subject* (10)WE5: HR Newsletter

Team score*Individual score

(25)(75)

WE6: Group Reflection (20)Discussion Participation (6 x 5 points each) 30 3%

Total 1000 100%

*Note that three of the items above are starred. These involve work by your team, and EVERYONE on the team will receive the same score for these assignments. Thus, teamwork will comprise 7.5 % of your total grade.

Extra Credit You also have the opportunity to receive up to 10 extra credit points in the class by participating in 5 hours’ worth of research studies through the MSU Psychology Department's HPR system. Alternatively, you may also complete an additional written assignment chosen by me (however, if you wish to write the paper, you must let me know by Monday, June 13th). The last day to earn extra credit through research participation (or turn in the written assignment) for this course is Monday, June 27th. More information about earning extra credit through research participation is available through the course website.

Your final grade in the course will be assigned based on the 1000 point maximum according to the table below. If you accumulate the total points listed below, you are guaranteed that grade in the course. Note that total points get rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g., 849.4999 is 849 but 849.5000 is 850). Imagine you are the professor assigning grades—you have to draw the lines somewhere, and someone is always going to be just below the lines. The final semester grade may be curved if necessary; however, in no case will your curved grade be lower than that based on the total points you earned in the course.

Final Grade ConversionsNumber of points Percentage Grade

900 or above 90%-100% 4.0850 – 899 85%-89.9% 3.5800 – 849 80%-84.9% 3.0750 – 799 75%-79.9% 2.5700 – 749 70%-74.9% 2.0650 – 699 65%-69.9% 1.5600 – 649 60%-64.9% 1.0550 – 599 55%-59.9% 0.5549 or less 0%-54.9% 0.0

Course Rules and Policies Academic Honesty :

Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states: “The student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards.” In addition, the Department of Psychology adheres to the policies on academic honesty specified in General Student Regulation 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all-University Policy onIntegrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. (See Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web site www.msu.edu.)

Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all course assignments, including quizzes, exams, work exercises, and discussion posts without assistance from any source not indicated in this syllabus. You are expected to develop original work for this course; therefore, you may not submit course work you completed for another course to satisfy the requirements for this course.  Also, you are not authorized to use the www.allmsu.com Web site to complete any course work in this course. Students who violate MSU rules may receive a penalty grade, including but not limited to a failing grade on the assignment or in the course.

Examples of cheating in this course include:1. Having another student provide academic assistance or coaching during an online quiz or

test2. Having another person take a quiz or test for you3. Copying questions or answers from your online quiz or test and sharing them with another

student4. Copying questions or answers from your online quiz or test and posting them on a website for

others to view5. Getting questions and/or answers from students who have already taken a quiz or exam you

are scheduled to take6. Collaborating with other students on projects or assignments when collaboration is not part of

the assignment or when you do not have your instructor’s permission to collaborate

I apologize for dwelling on cheating; however, cheating in online courses occurs and is attempted unsuccessfully far too often. There are student-based websites that seem to promote academic dishonesty.  Please be advised that these sites are known to faculty members who are updated on their contents by honest students and others on a regular basis. Specifically, you are not authorized to use the http://www.allmsu.com website to complete any course work.

Please be aware that ANGEL tracks all student login information. For example, it tracks when you have logged into ANGEL and when you have logged out. It also tracks when you begin your quiz and when your quiz is submitted. This is helpful for instructors because it allows us to resolve issues if there is a problem with the ANGEL system in terms of logging on and/or gaining access to the various sections of the site. Tracking can also help us resolve disputes about exams and assignments, particularly those that are timed.  ANGEL tracking can also reveal academic misconduct.

Ignorance or misunderstanding of the honesty policy will not serve as an excuse for academic dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty will be prosecuted to the fullest extent in this class. Please note that the general penalty grade policy at MSU has changed and become more strict and punitive toward cheaters. If you are found to have cheated, you will get a grade of 0.0 in the class, and a letter about the incident will be sent to the dean of your college and to the dean of the College of Social Sciences at MSU. A description of the incident will be added to the student’s academic record, where it will remain, unless the student successfully grieves the allegation. Thus, cheating has a significant impact on your current grade and your student permanent record. The majority of students work hard to earn good grades. It isn't fair to honest students to give cheaters the same grade.

Disruptive Behavior : Article 2.3.5 of the Academic Freedom Report (AFR) for students at Michigan State University states: "The student's behavior in the classroom shall be conducive to the teaching and learning process for all concerned." Article 2.3.10 of the AFR states that, "The student has a right to scholarly relationships with faculty based on mutual trust and civility." General Student Regulation 5.02 states: "No student shall . . . interfere with the functions and services of the University (for example, but not limited to, classes . . .) such that the function or service is obstructed or disrupted. Students whose conduct adversely affects the learning environment in this classroom may be subject to disciplinary action through the Student Faculty Judiciary process. These same policies apply to this online course as well.

Commercialized Lecture Notes :Commercialization of lecture notes and university-provided course materials is not permitted in this course

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities : Students with disabilities should contact the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities to establish reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a disability specialist, call 353-9642 (voice), 355-1293 (TTY), or visit http://rcpd.msu.edu.

Drops and Adds :The last day to add this course is May 18, 2011. The last day to drop this course with a 100 percent refund and no grade reported is May 26, 2011. The last day to drop this course with no refund and no grade reported is June 8, 2011. You should immediately make a copy of your amended schedule to verify you have added or dropped this course.

Course Schedule (Subject to Change)

Week 1 (May 16 – May 22)Unit 1: World View of an I-O Psychologist Reading: Text Ch. 1Unit 2: Basic Research Methods in I-O Psychology Reading: Text Ch. 2.1-2.3

Assignments Opens Due/ClosesQuizzes 1 and 2 Monday, May 16th, 9:00am Friday, May 20th, 2:00pm

Discussion Question 1 Monday, May 16th, 9:00am Sunday, May 22nd, 5:00pmWork Exercise 1 Monday, May 16th, 9:00am Monday, May 23rd, 2:00pm

Week 2 (May 23 – May 29)Unit 3: Industrial Psychology: Individual Differences in Mental

Abilities, Physical Abilities and Personality Reading: Text Ch. 3.1-3.2

Unit 4: Industrial Psychology: Assessing Individuals Reading: Text Ch. 2.4 & 3.3-3.5Assignments Opens Due/Closes

Quizzes 3 and 4 Monday, May 23rd, 9:00am Friday, May 27th, 2:00pmDiscussion Question 2 Monday, May 23rd, 9:00am Sunday, May 29rd, 5:00pm

Work Exercise 2 Monday, May 23rd, 9:00am Tuesday, May 31st, 2:00pmWeek 3 (May 30 – June 5)

Unit 5: Industrial Psychology: Performance and Performance Measurement Reading: Text Ch. 4.1-4.2 & 5

Unit 6: Industrial Psychology: Job Analysis and Evaluation Reading: Text Ch. 4.3-4.5 & p. 430-434

Assignments Opens Due/ClosesQuizzes 5 and 6 Monday, May 30th, 9:00am Friday, June 3rd, 2:00pm

Discussion Question 3 Monday, May 30th, 9:00am Sunday, June 5th, 5:00pmWork Exercise 3 Monday, May 30th, 9:00am Monday, June 6th, 2:00pm

Week 4 (June 6 – June 12)Unit 7: Industrial Psychology: Staffing Decisions Reading: Text Ch. 6Unit 8: Industrial Psychology: Training and Development Reading: Text Ch. 7

Assignments Opens Due/ClosesQuizzes 7 and 8 Monday, June 6th, 9:00am Friday, June 10th, 2:00pm

Discussion Question 4 Monday, June 6th, 9:00am Sunday, June 12th, 5:00pmWork Exercise 4 Monday, June 6th, 9:00am Monday, June 13th, 2:00pm

Week 5 (June 13 – June 19)Unit 9 : Organizational Psychology: Work Motivation Reading: Text Ch. 8Unit 10: Organizational Psychology: Attitudes, Emotions and Work Reading: Text Ch. 9 & 10.4

Assignments Opens Due/ClosesQuizzes 9 and 10 Monday, June 13th, 9:00am Friday, June 17th, 2:00pm

Discussion Question 5 Monday, June 13th, 9:00am Sunday, June 19th, 5:00pmWork Exercise 5 Monday, June 13th, 9:00am Monday, June 20th, 2:00pm

Week 6 (June 20 – June 26)Unit 11: Organizational Psychology: Leadership and Teams in the

Workplace Reading: Text Ch. 12 & 13

Unit 12: Organizational Psychology: Fairness and Diversity in the Workplace Reading: Text Ch. 11

Assignments Opens Due/ClosesQuizzes 11 and 12 Monday, June 20th, 9:00am Friday, June 24th, 2:00pm

Discussion Question 6 Monday, June 20th, 9:00am Sunday, June 26th, 5:00pmWork Exercise 6 Monday, June 20th, 9:00am Monday, June 27th, 2:00m

Week 7 (June 27 – June 30)Unit 13: Organizational Psychology: Organization of Work Behavior Reading: Text Ch. 14

Assignments Opens Due/ClosesQuiz 13 Monday, June 27th, 9:00am Thursday, June 30th, 2:00pm

Final Exam Thursday, June 30th, 9:00am Thursday, June 30th, 9:00pm