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UBCx: PSYC.2x AP® Psychology - Part 2: How the Brain Works

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AP® PSYCHOLOGY COURSE SEQUENCE

This psychology course sequence will introduce you to some of the major research areas within the field of psychology: the scientific study of behaviour. The course sequence begins with an overview of psychology and its research methods, and then covers several fundamental topics in psychology. The course sequence is meant to prepare you for the AP® Psychology exam.

The course sequence is comprised of 6 massively open online courses (MOOCs). The course sequence uses an open-source text that is supplemented by many video-based lectures, quizzes, and online resources. In addition, the course contains interviews with some leading research psychologists and demonstrations of interesting psychological phenomena.

Learning Goals for the Course Sequence

By the end of this course sequence, you should be able to:
  1. Define modern psychology and identify the major perspectives within it.
  2. Understand and explain the various research methods that have been employed by psychologists.
  3. Use and interpret basic statistics.
  4. Explain the concept of an 'experiment'; its strengths and its weaknesses.
  5. Recognize, recall, connect, and evaluate psychological concepts and theories from specific subfields (e.g., biological and cognitive psychology).
  6. Critically evaluate new evidence about behaviour that you encounter in your daily life.
  7. Use effective evidence-based study strategies based on current psychological research.

COURSE 2: HOW THE BRAIN WORKS

NEUROSCIENCE, SENSATION, PERCEPTION, CONSCIOUSNESS

DURATION

The course is offered in a self-paced format, meaning that there are no due dates and you can move through the course at your own pace.

ESTIMATED STUDENT TIME COMMITMENT

This course is divided into 5 parts. Each part corresponds to roughly one week's worth of work. For each part, you can expect to spend approximately 8-10 hours, including watching the videos, doing the readings, completing the reading and lecture review questions, completing the quiz and participating in the discussion forums.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR COURSE 2

By the end of this course you should be able to:

  1. Understand the basics of neuroanatomy, neural transmission, and the endocrine system.
  2. Understand the basics of genetics.
  3. Understand the field of evolutionary psychology.
  4. Explain the neuroscience and psychology of the visual system and your other sensory systems.
  5. Explain the psychology of perception and attention.
  6. Describe the variety of states of consciousness.

Parts of COURSE 2:

Part 1: Neuroanatomy, Neural Transmission and the Endocrine System

Readings: OpenStax Psychology: Chapter 3 Introduction; Chapter 3, Sections 3.2 to 3.5.

Part 2: Genetics, Evolutionary Psychology, and Behavior

Readings: OpenStax Psychology: Chapter 3, Section 3.1.

Part 3: Visual System

Readings: OpenStax Psychology: Chapter 5 Introduction; Chapter 5, Sections 5.1 to 5.3.

Part 4: Other Sensory Systems, Perception and Attention

Readings: OpenStax Psychology: Chapter 5, Sections 5.4 to 5.6.

Part 5: States of Consciousness

Readings: OpenStax Psychology: Chapter 4 Introduction; Chapter 4, Sections 4.1 to 4.6.

EVALUATION

During this course, you will be evaluated in the following ways:

1. FORMATIVE QUIZZES: LECTURES & READINGS (10%):

During this course there will be formative quizzes associated with most course videos and the course readings. You must complete all formative quizzes to get full marks. All formative quizzes will use the multiple choice format.

2. SUMMATIVE QUIZZES: READINGS AND LECTURES (25%):

At the end of each part of the course, there will be a summative quiz that will test your knowledge of both the readings and the lectures. Your scores on all of these summative quizzes will be averaged to obtain this portion of your grade in the course. All summative quizzes will use the multiple-choice format.

3. RESPONSES TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (5%):

During each part of the course, there will several discussion questions. You must respond to the discussion question in the appropriate discussion forum to receive full marks.

4. EXAM (60%):

At the end of the course, there will be one exam that will include 100 multiple-choice questions and two written-answer questions. Exams are designed to be very similar in format to the AP Psychology exam. The multiple-choice portion of the exam will be worth 66.6% of your grade on the exam, and the the written-answer portion of the exam will be worth 33.3% of your grade on the exam.

Certificates

Students who choose to receive a Verified Certificate of Achievement are required to achieve a minimum overall grade of 75%.