Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Psych 303: Writing in Psychology
PSCH 303, Call #95493
Monday and Wednesday, 9 – 9:50, BH 209
Professor Susan R. Goldman Instructor
Office: 1022C BSB
Phone: 312- 996-4462
Email: sgoldman@uic.edu
Office Hours: Monday 10 – 11 and by appointment.
Discussion Sections
:
Thursday 11-11:50
115 BSB #95518
Teaching Assistant: Heather Orom
Office: 1029 ECSW
Email: horom1@uic.edu
Thursday 12 – 12:50113 BSB #95428
Teaching Assistant: K Crane
Office: BSB 2110
Phone: 773-404-7008
Email: kcrane2@uic.edu
Friday 11-11:50167 BSB #95505
Teaching Assistant: Sharon Obeidallah
Office: 1021 BSB
Email: sobeid1@uic.edu
TAs will provide you with information on
their office hours.
Scott, J. M., Koch,
R., Scott, G. M., & Garrison, S. M. (2002).
The Psychology Student Writer’s Manual
(Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
(Abbreviation in Syllabus: SWM)
Recommended Text:
American Psychological Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: Fifth Edition . Washington, DC: APA.
Course Overview and Objectives
Every discipline has specific styles of writing associated with it. These styles reflect conventions that members of the discipline have agreed upon. Of course, writing in any discipline assumes that you have command of the writing process in general. The primary goals of this course are
The required text includes many of these conventions,
plus important information on the writing process itself. The APA
publication manual is the official embodiment of the conventions
for writing in psychology.
Whole
class meetings will consist
of a combination of lectures on aspects of the writing process
and writing in psychology as well as small group activities that
are designed to help you understand the ideas presented in the
lectures.
Discussion
sessions will build on the material presented
in class and provide additional opportunities to focus on writing
skills and the conventions specific to psychology. The
Course Syllabus
provides information on the topics
for the whole class meetings and for the discussion sections,
week by week.
Class participation:
Often students feel that they are the only ones that have a particular issue in writing. This is not the case; you will find that just about everyone experiences spurts of writing productively, writing blocks, and joys and fears about their writing. There will be many opportunities during this class to interact with your peers about their understanding of the writing process and how they experience it.
The primary way in which people improve their
writing is to write and get feedback on the writing. Improvement
can be facilitated by reflection on the actual experiences
of writing plus receiving, interpreting, and acting on feedback.
This course requires that you engage in a variety of writing
experiences and that you reflect on them. Some of these writing
experiences are short and take place in class; others are more extended
and require you to research a topic of your choice. In addition,
readings in the required text provide you with a ready source of
information about all of the aspects of the writing process in psychology.
Assignments are of three types
- Reading Assignments
- Writing Activities/Assignments that occur largely in class or discussion sections with occasional carry over as homework. Instructions for these will be provided in class or discussion section.
- Extended Writing Assignments (EWA) that are multi-page papers on a topic you select. There are three of these over the course of the semester. You will receive feedback on all three and will have the opportunity to revise the second and third papers. In the second EWA you will begin to develop a thesis about some psychology topic of your choice. The third EWA will expand on the second. Later in the course you will be given more specific instructions about the EWAs.
The Schedule of Activities and Assignments is provided below, after the section labeled Syllabus . You will earn points toward your grade by completing the Writing Activities/Assignments and the Extended Writing Assignments. The reading assignments provide information that will help you complete your writing assignments in the manner expected of psychologists.
Performance Evaluation (Grading)
Your grade will be based on the total number of points that you earn in the course through participating in and completing the various types of writing activities and assignments. There are a total of 216 points that can be earned through the Writing Activities/Assignments and the Extended Writing Assignments.
Letter grades will be assigned as follows:
A 185 or more points
B 150 – 184
C 120 – 149
D 100 – 119
F Less than 100
Discussion Sections: Attendance is required but you are permitted two unexcused absences. Two points will be deducted for each additional unexcused absence.
Important “Official Deadlines” Dates
to Keep in Mind
January 7, Monday:Instruction begins.
January 18, Friday: Last day to complete late registration. Last day to add a course(s). Last day to drop a course without penalty. (Note: You have until the 9 th week of classes (week of March 4 th ) to exercise the “optional late drop” option. Cannot be done without seeing an LAS advisor. You have a maximum of two of these throughout your enrollment in LAS.)
January 21, M Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. No classes.
March 18-22, M-F Spring vacation. No classes.
April 24, Friday: Instruction ends.
April 29-May 3, M-F Final examination period. Your final writing assignment is due on the day of the final exam for this class.
Final Exam for PSCH 303 is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30,
10:30 – 12:30. There is no final exam in this course but your final
EWA is due by noon on 4/30.
Please note:
Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course must be registered with the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Contact ODS at 312/413-2103 (voice) or 312/413-0123 (TTY).
SYLLABUS
PSCH (Call#95493)
Schedule of Classes and Discussion Sections
1/7, 1/9 Introduction
Focused free writing and process writing
(link to
Notes on Freewriting
)
Writing individually, and writing in groups
1/10, 11
Discussion Sections: Sentence Structure and other stylistic
issues.
1/14 Attitudes toward writing – reports by students.
Writing in Psychology
Why do psychologists write?
Who do they write to?
(link to
Overheads from class
)
Who decides on the rules for writing
in psychology?
1/16 Lecture: Genre of Psychology Writing
(link to
Overheads from class
)
Handouts from class:
(link to
Table 1
;
link to
Table 2
;
link to
Table 3
)
Different genres
What is argument structure?
1/18, 1/19 Discussion Sections: How peers can provide constructive feedback to one another. Interpreting and using feedback.
1/21 No class – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
1/23
Argument Structure in writing
(link to
Notes on The Structure of Argument
)
1/24, 1/25 Discussion Sections:
Preparing for Library Research
1/28, 1/30 Plagiarism
What is it and why is it a problem?
How to recognize and avoid it
(link to
Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism
)
(link to Exercises on Plagiarism )
(link to
Examples of Plagiarism
)
1/31, 2/1 Discussion
Sections: Orientation to using library resources for research.
2/4
No class meeting. Students work on library search assignment
2/6
Reviewing library search experiences
(link to
Class Notes and Handouts
)
(link to
Peer Feedback Guidelines
)
2/7, 8 Discussion
Sections: Peers will provide feedback
on EWA1.
(link to
Peer Feedback Guidelines
)
2/11 The
Writing Process: Overview
(link to Instructions on EWA 2,3 )
(link to Plans for Class )
2/13 The
Writing Process: Search, Finding a topic, Narrowing a Topic
(link to Notes for Class )
2/15,16 Discussion Sections:
Interpreting feedback from peers and instructors
2/18 The Writing Process: Organizing ideas – brainstorming and structuring them
(link to
Class Instructions
)
2/20 The Writing Process: Writing the first draft – getting started and keeping going
(link to Scardamelia Instructions )
(link to
Scardamelia Models
)
2/21,22 Discussion Sections:
Writing Introductions
2/25, 2/27 The Writing Process:Revision
(link to
PROGRESS REPORTS
)
2/28, 3/1 Discussion Sections:
Peers will provide feedback on EWA2 draft.
3/4 , 3/6 The
Writing Process: Revision and Editing
3/7,8
Discussion Sections: Writing Conclusions
3/11, 3/13 The Standard
Sections in Psychology articles.
3/14,15 Discussion
Sections: TA s discuss major common issues/ common errors
in writing. Opportunity for some individual feedback.
3/18 – 3/22 Break Week. No
Classes
3/25
The evolution of a published paper from draft to print.
3/27 The review and editorial process in publishing
Different kinds of publication outlets.
3/28,29 Discussion Section: Research syntheses and argument structure.
4/1, 4/3 No class meetings to allow students to work on EWA3.
4/4,5 Discussion Sections: Using signals in writing – headings, subheadings, relation markers.
4/8, 4/10 Development of Writing Systems
(link to
Children's Story Analysis
)
4/11,12 Discussion Sections: Peers
provide feedback on EWA3.
4/15, 4/17 Developing
Writers
4/18,19
Discussion Sections: Review common issues among student writing.
4/22, 4/24 Developing Writers Voices
(link to
Final Grade Report
)
4/30 No class
meeting but turn in Final Version of EWA3 and Process Write
Schedule of Activities and Assignments
for Psychology 303 (Call #95493),
Spring 2002
Assignments
are listed in three groups:
1. Reading Assignments , for which you do not earn you any points directly;
2. Activity/Writing Assignments that occur largely in class or discussion sections with occasional carry over as homework;
3.
Extended Writing Assignments
, which are multi-page papers.
You will receive additional information about these subsequently.
Policy on late papers: This applies to Extended
Writing Assignments and to other activities that are carried
over from class activities. You will lose 10% of the maximum
point value for each day that
the paper is late. If, for some reason you cannot get to campus,
you should email the paper to
your TA
if it is to be handed in at
a Discussion Section meeting, or to the
Instructor
if it is to be handed in at
a Whole Class meeting.
|
Read by (Due Date) |
Reading Assignment |
Where to find it |
|
1/14 |
SWM Introduction (pp. 1-9). |
Required text |
|
1/16 |
Read SWM Chapter 1, pp. 10 – 14. |
Required text |
|
1/24,25 |
SWM Chapter 6 – Library research. 100 -
107 |
Required text |
|
1/28 |
Read Plagiarism article |
Will be handed out in class on 1/23. |
|
2/6 |
Read SWM pp. 97-99 |
Required text |
|
2/11 |
Read SWM pp. 14 – 30 |
Required text |
|
2/20 |
Read SWM, chapter 3, pg 55-78 |
Required text |
|
2/28, 3/1 |
Read SWM chapter 4. Pp. 69-86. |
Required text |
|
3/6 |
Read/reviewSWM, Chapter 2
pp. 33-54. |
Required text |
|
3/14,15 |
Review SWM chapters 2, 3. |
Required text |
2. Writing Activities/Assignments
|
Date and Location |
Writing Activity/ Assignment |
Points Associated |
|
|
1/7 In class |
Focused Freewrite |
3 pts |
|
|
1/7 At home; Due 1/9 |
Process Write on Focused Freewrite |
3 pts. |
|
|
1/9 In class |
Focused Freewrite |
3 pts. |
|
|
1/9 In class |
Small Grp Collaborative writing |
3 pts. |
|
|
1/9 In class |
Process Write on Focused Freewrite and Coll. writing |
3 pts. |
|
|
1/23 In class |
Small group Argument Structure Analysis |
3 pts. |
|
|
1/28 In class |
Small group questions on plagiarism article |
3 pts. |
|
|
1/30 Finish at home; 2/6 Due |
Individuals do a non -plagiarized “rewrite” of a paragraph. |
3 pts. |
|
|
2/4 At home; 2/6 Due |
Process write on library search process |
3 pts. |
|
|
2/6 In class |
Small group summaries of library search process |
3 pts. |
|
|
2/7,8 |
Provide Peer Feedback to one student on EWA |
Max of 8 pts. |
|
|
2/15,16
|
Go over and Discuss feedback on EWA1.
|
5 pts. |
|
|
2/21,22 In DS |
Writing IntroductionsActivity |
3 pts |
|
|
2/27 In class |
Small groups summarize ideas on revision from Bartlett article |
3 pts. |
|
|
2/28, 3/1 In DS |
Provide Peer Feedback to one student on EWA |
Max of 10 pts. |
|
|
3/6 In class |
Small group revision of article segments |
3 pts. |
|
|
3/7,8 In DS |
Writing Conclusions Activity |
3 pts. |
|
|
3/13 In class |
Small groups critical analysis of psych article |
3 pts. |
|
|
3/27 In class |
Small groups generate “What else I want to know” questions based on popular press psychology reports. |
3 pts. |
|
|
4/4,5 In DS |
Headings, relation markers activity |
3 pts. |
|
|
4/8 In class |
Small groups interpret writing system |
3 pts. |
|
|
4/11,12 In DS |
Provide Peer Feedback to one student on EWA |
Max of 10 pts. |
|
|
4/15 In class |
Small groups interpret young children’s writing |
3 pts. |
|
3. Extended Writing Assignments
|
Dates of Extended Writing Assignments |
Extended Writing Assignments (EWA) |
Points for Extended Writing Assignments
|
|
1/23 Assigned 2/7,8 Due |
EWA 1: Interest in majoring in psychology |
Max of 15 pts. |
|
1/23 Assigned 2/7,8 Due 2/15,16 |
Process Write on EWA1
|
Max of 5 pts.
|
|
2/11 Assigned 2/28, 3/1 Due |
EWA 2, Draft |
Max of 15 pts. |
|
2/11 Assigned 2/28,3/1 or 3/4 Due |
Process Write on EWA2 Draft |
Max of 5 pts. |
|
3/14, 15 In DS |
Feedback on EWA2 Draft |
|
|
3/28,29 Due (in DS) |
Final Version of EWA2 |
Max of 20 pts |
|
3/28,29 Due (in DS) |
Process Write on EWA2 Final Version |
Max of 5 pts. |
|
3/28,29 Assigned 4/11,12 Due (in DS) |
EWA 3, Draft |
Max of 20 pts. |
|
3/28,29 Assigned 4/11,12 or 4/15 Due |
Process Write 5 on EWA3 Draft |
Max of 5 pts. |
|
4/18,19 In DS |
Feedback on EWA3 Draft 1 |
|
|
4/30 Due |
Final Version of EWA3 |
Max of 25 pts. |
|
4/30 Due |
Process write on EWA3 |
Max of 5 pts. |