NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Course title: General Psychology

Course prefix, number, and section number: PSYC2301 0940, 0909, 0970, 0977

Semester/Year of course: Fall 2025

Semester start and end dates: 08/25/2025 to 12/13/2025

Modality (Face to face/Synchronous or Asynchronous online/Hybrid): Hybrid/ITV Synchronous

Class meeting location, days, and times: Thursday 6:00 to 8:50PM, ITV

Semester credit hours: 3

Course description: General Psychology is a survey of the major psychological topics, theories, and approaches to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Course prerequisites: Must be TSI Complete for Reading

Required course materials: McGraw Hill Connect Courseware (Ebook, Assignments, etc):  The Science of Psychology, Laura King (9781266012815).  Students are required to register and purchase course materials by the official date of records.  Students who fail to do so, may be dropped from the course.

** Students gain access to the required courseware once they register and complete the Connect Orientation assignments. The publisher also provides two weeks of courtesy access if needed. Purchasing materials directly from the publisher is less expensive, whereas buying a code from the bookstore will cost more.

Name of instructor: Rene Hernandez

Office location: None

Telephone number: None

E-mail address: rhernandez@nctc.edu

Office hours for students: Thursdays 5:30PM, other times by request

SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER

The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

List of graded assignments:

• Midterm- 15 points
• Final- 15 points
• SmartBook Activities (Best 12 of 15, 2.5 points each)- 30 points
• Psychology at Work Assignments (Best 5 of 7, 3 points each)- 15 points
• Attendance- 15 Points
• Institutional Assessment- 10 points

Final grade scale: 

• 100-90.0 is an A
• 89.999 to 80.0 is a B
• 79.999 to 70 is a C
• 69.999 to 60 is a D
• ≤59.999 is an F
• Please note, I do NOT round grades.

Late work policy:

No late work is accepted. Exceptions may be made for properly documented mitigating circumstances. Please contact your instructor if you believe that such circumstances may exist.

SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Integrity Policy: Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion.  Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty.  See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL)]”. 

AI/Natural Language Programs (NLPs)/Large Language Models (LLMs) Usage Policy: This information is used with permission and citation with gratitude to Princeton University: The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.

• Intellectual honesty is vital to an academic community and for my fair evaluation of your work.  All work submitted in this course must be your own, completed in accordance with the College's academic regulations. You may not engage in unauthorized collaboration or make use of ChatGPT or other AI composition software/NLPs/LLMs.
• Students must obtain permission from me before using AI composition software (like ChatGPT) for any assignments in this course. Using these tools without my permission puts your academic integrity at risk. 
• This course does make use of AI/NLPs/LLMs plagiarism checker software for the purpose of detecting the use of AI programs.
• Any violation of this policy will be considered academic dishonesty and will be documented as such

Recycled Assignments:  Do not submit assignments in this course that you have used in previous courses.  If you believe that you have previous work that might fit my unique assignments, you must seek approval from me before doing so.

Plagiarism:  On any assignment submitted to TurnitIn, which is a tool used to check for plagiarism on a document, students should strive to receive 10% or less.  However, if a student receives a plagiarism score of 50% or more, an automatic zero will be assigned.  Students will be required to meet with the instructor to determine whether or not the zero will remain; whether or not the student will fail the course; and whether or not scholastic dishonesty documentation will be completed.

Intellectual honesty is vital to an academic community and for my fair evaluation of your work.  All work submitted in this course must be your own, completed in accordance with the College's academic regulations. You may not engage in unauthorized collaboration or make use of ChatGPT or other AI composition software/NLPs/LLMs.  If IA is detected, the student will be required to meet with the instructor and the same policy applies as plagiarism or any other form of scholastic dishonesty.  Students can face receiving an "F" on the assignment and possibly an "F" in the course.  Very simply, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND WRITING.

Attendance Policy: Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered.  All absences are considered to be unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies as determined by the instructor.  It is the student responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval and judgement by the faculty member.  Approved college sponsored activities are the only absences for which a student should not be held liable and only when provided by a college official ahead of the absence.  Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work.  Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless they have reasons acceptable to the instructor.  A student who is compelled to be absent when a test is given should petition the instructor, in advance if possible, for permission to postpone the exam.  Student will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent or tardy a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives.    Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)

Instructor Specific Attendance Policy: Attendance is a vital part of your classroom experience. However, I also understand that things happen and are often outside of our control.

Every student will begin the class with 15 attendance points. Additionally, you will be given two "free" absences. This is intended to help you get through an emergency situation. Every absence from class after your second one (3^rd, 4^th, etc.) will result in 5 points being taken from your attendance points. Please Note, this point deduction can take your Attendance points into the negative range. Please see example 2 below.

Example 1: A student who misses 4 class periods throughout the entire semester will receive an attendance grade of 5.

Example 2: A student who misses 7 class periods throughout the entire semester will receive an attendance grade of -10.

Attendance will be taken before the end of class. If you arrive after attendance has been taken, it is your responsibility to meet with the instructor after class (or during breaks) to get yourself marked as present. I will keep this score, but it will not be posted to Canvas. I expect that you will keep track of this for your own records and ease of reference. Please contact your instructor in situations where mitigating factors may occur.

For students in the online section of this class, having your camera on during class time is a requirement in order to receive attendance credit. Students may request an exemption from the camera use requirement for valid reasons, including but not limited to inadequate bandwidth or device issues, lack of appropriate physical space in which to have class, or for personal/religious/medical reasons. Additionally, students attending in this way should be actively engaged in class and should not be engaging in other activities such as working at a job, driving, cooking, or anything else that requires substantive work outside of the classroom setting. If you couldn’t do it while being in class with me, you shouldn’t be doing it while logged into class. Engaging in such activities during class time may lead to loss of attendance credit. Only students enrolled in the online section of the class may receive credit for virtual attendance.

Withdrawal Policy

A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.

Last day to withdraw from the course with a “W” is: November 3, 2025

Student Code of Conduct

By enrolling in a course at North Central Texas College, students agree to abide by the Student Code of Conduct. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in removal from the course.

CANVAS & CONNECT ACCESS:  All students must have complete access to Canvas and Connect for the entire semester.  It is the student’s responsibility to have access to the internet, as well as all needed programs to complete both face to face and online courses.  Students are not to give any other person access to his/her Canvas or Connect account.  Students can be removed from the course immediately up violating this rule.  Once a student has given another person access to his/her canvas account, the credibility of any work completed becomes questionable.

COMPUTER ACCESS:  Students must have access to a computer for various assignments in this course.  You cannot use a cell phone to perform all requirements of this course.  If you do not have a computer, then you need to make sure that you access a computer at one of the NCTC campuses, a public library, etc. 

Student Learning Outcomes: (From Academic Course Guide Manual/Workforce Education Course Manual/NCTC Catalog).

At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:

1. Identify various research methods and their characteristics used in the scientific study of psychology.
2. Describe the historical influences and early schools of thought that shaped the field of psychology.
3. Describe some of the prominent perspectives and approaches used in the study of psychology.
4. Use terminology unique to the study of psychology.
5. Describe accepted approaches and standards in psychological assessment and evaluation.
6. Identify factors in physiological and psychological process involved in human behavior.

Core Objectives: Critical Thinking, Communication, Empirical and Quantitative, Social Responsibility

COLLEGE POLICIES

ADA STATEMENT

NCTC will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities to arrange appropriate accommodations.  See the OSD Syllabus Addendum.

AI STATEMENT

Absent a clear statement from a course instructor, use of or consultation with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other similar technologies shall be treated analogously to assistance from another person, agency, or entity. In particular, using generative AI tools to substantially complete an assignment or exam is not permitted. Students should acknowledge the use of generative AI (other than incidental use) and default to disclosing such assistance when in doubt.

When students use generative AI to replace the rigorous demands of personal engagement with their coursework, it runs counter to the educational mission of the college and undermines the heart of education itself. Artificial Intelligence, large language models, and other such technologies hold promise for deploying knowledge in service to others and accelerating the discovery of new knowledge. However, such technology poses new challenges to pedagogy and to integrity. Within the context of the teaching mission of the college and consistent with the Student Code of Conduct, the authority to define the appropriate use, study, and deployment of these technologies rests with the faculty.

Individual course instructors, in coordination with their divisions, set policies regulating the use of generative AI tools in their courses, including allowing or disallowing some or all uses of such tools. Course instructors will set such policies in their course syllabi and clearly communicate such policies to students. Students who are unsure of policies regarding generative AI tools are encouraged to ask their instructors for clarification.

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the Student Handbook.

STUDENT SERVICES

NCTC provides a multitude of services and resources to support students.  See the Student Services Syllabus Addendum for a listing of those departments and links to their sites.

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS