Requirements
Course Requirements & Grading
Requirements include three things: in-class exams, reading reactions and participation, and a final outreach project. Details and breakdown are below:
1. Three In-Class Exams (25% each x 3 exams = 75% total)
There will be 3 non-cumulative exams in this course. Each exam will cover approximately 1/3 of the course material covered in lectures and readings. Exams may consist of multiple-choice, short-answer, and brief essay questions. The purpose of the exams is two-fold. First, you should be able to demonstrate that you have read the material and understand the factual points and arguments. Second, you should be able to synthesize and integrate the material such that this knowledge can be applied in a broader context. Exams will take place during class on the assigned date in the syllabus and will be closed book. There will be no make-up exams.
2. Weekly Reading Reactions and Participation (15% total)
To facilitate group discussion, you will be required to submit weekly reactions and questions connected to the assigned readings. Specifically, each week you will submit a 1-page max single-spaced document containing your reactions and/or suggested discussion questions to the week’s required readings. Your response should specify which reading your reaction refers to. The response will be graded ‘‘1’ (full credit), ‘1⁄2’ (half-credit), or ‘0’ (no credit). The written reaction is not a summary of the readings, but should reflect a succinct, theoretically thoughtful, and logically coherent response. All reactions should be emailed to june.gruber@colorado.edu (Subject line “PSYCH 3303”) no later than Tuesday 5:00pm MT before class the next day on Wednesday.
2. Outreach Project (10%)
This goal of this project is to delve into a topic in class that excites you. You have the freedom to delve into a topic of your choice, but you must make sure the topic is pertinent to the class and the study of psychopathology or its treatment. The project will include two parts:
Part I. Outreach project: The first part includes an outreach project where your goal is to help educate the community outside of the classroom about psychopathology or its treatment via a video, newspaper article, brochure, or a creative outreach project idea of your own. You can cover a topic of your choosing, but it must be relevant to the course. Additional details will be provided in class.
Part II. Class Flash Talk Presentation: The second part of the project involves putting together a brief “flash talk” presentation on your chosen outreach project topic. The goal is to provide a brief and accessible overview of the motivation and scientific background of your research project. Additional details will be provided in class.
Extra Credit Opportunities
Several extra credit opportunities are available for interested students. Each extra credit option (Option A or Option B) is worth 5% maximum of your total grade, for a total of 10% maximum applied to final course grade if you fully complete both Option A and B. These are the only extra credit opportunities available for this course so take advantage of them!
Extra Credit Option A: Social Media and Psychopathology. Social media is an increasingly utilized and effective way to rapidly disseminate scientific information to the broader community and nation at large. Interested students are invited to post “scientifically relevant” information about psychopathology, mental illness, and/or its treatment on twitter and link to the course Twitter account. Posts should take the form of recent (i.e. no older than 2017) scientific articles, news websites, local events, etc. and cannot already be posted (by another student or from the course website) on the course Twitter account (https://twitter.com/psych3303; @psych3303). If unsure, please contact Professor Gruber before posting to ensure it fulfills these requirements. When submitting tweets, please do the following: (1) In the tweet, post the url link with a one-sentence description (e.g., “Study finds MBCT effective for preventing depression relapse”), (2) Email june.gruber@colorado.edu with “PSYCH 3303” in the subject line and including a screenshot of the posting and paste the text and the url from twitter posting in the body of the email. You can assume your post has been successfully received as an extra credit response unless you hear otherwise via email. For every 5 scientifically relevant responses submitted, you will receive 1% extra credit point toward your final grade, for a maximum of 5% total extra credit. All extra credit tweet assignments must be submitted before the last day of class (i.e., before 3:00pm MT on Wednesday May 2nd) to receive credit. No late extra credit assignments can be accepted
Extra Credit Option B: Online Interviews with Psychology Experts. Some of the course lectures are paired with a ~15-minute “Experts in Emotion (EIE)” interview containing a videotaped conversation with Professor Gruber and an expert clinical psychologist in the field. These interviews are freely available for viewing on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNew731mjIZn43G_Y5otqKzJA). Some of these may also be viewed during class to stimulate discussion. For extra credit, you have the option to submit a 1-page, single-spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman font, reaction to watching the online interview(s) that accompanies the specific class lecture, discussing and critically analyzing the major themes discussed in each video. Answers will be assigned one of the following three grades: ‘1’ (full credit), ‘1⁄2’ (half-credit), or ‘0’ (no credit). You can assume your response has been successfully received and graded a ‘1’ unless you hear otherwise via email. Responses are due no later than Tuesday 5:00pm MT before the following day’s class on Wednesday (i.e., videos watched or assigned in class Wednesday have extra credit responses due by 5:00pm MT Tuesday the following week). You will submit your responses to: june.gruber@colorado.edu with “PSYCH 3303” in the subject line: (1) Full name, (2) Paste entire response in email body, (3) Attach document to email with responses as well (.doc or .docx format only):, and (4) You MUST include the following subject line in the email: LASTNAME_EIE_LastNameExpert.doc (Example: Smith_EIE_Gilbert.doc). Failure to follow directions will result in a grade of a ‘0.’ For every 2 full-credit responses (i.e., assigned a grade of a ‘1’) submitted, you will receive 1% extra credit point toward your final grade, for a maximum of 5% total extra credit. A handout with additional details will be provided to interested students. All extra credit EIE assignments must be submitted before the last day of class (i.e., before 3:00pm MT on Wednesday May 2nd) to receive credit. No late extra credit assignments can be accepted.
Readings and Materials
Please read assigned chapters and/or articles before the class meeting on the assigned date.
Textbook: Abnormal Psychology, 13th Edition. Kring, Johnson, Davidson, & Neale. ISBN: 9781119031277. Available at the CU Bookstore.
Book: Hinshaw, S. (2007). The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and Agenda for Change. ISBN: 9780199730926. Available online (e.g., amazon).
Articles: Additional readings outside of textbook will be available as PDF files that can be downloaded off of the course website.
Grading
A rough grading scheme is below. Grades will typically be rounded up to the nearest % point. Students who actively participate and engage in the course may enhance borderline grades.
% Points |
Grade |
92.5-100 |
A |
89.5-92.4 |
A- |
87.5-89.4 |
B+ |
82.5-87.4 |
B |
80.0-82.5 |
B- |
77.5-79.4 |
C+ |
72.5-77.4 |
C |
70.0-72.5 |
C- |
67.5-69.4 |
D+ |
62.5-67.4 |
D |
60.0-62.5 |
D- |
57.5-59.4 |
F+ |
52.5-57.4 |
F |
50.0-52.5 |
F- |