Faculty of Health

Department of Psychology
PSYC 2010 3.0 C: WRITING IN PSYCHOLOGY
Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:30-11:30pm on ZOOM
S1 2024

**Please note: we will start class around 9am and finish around 10:30am. Feel free to drop in
8:30-9 or stick around 10:30-11:30 for questions or extra support.**

We will meet twice weekly on Zoom to complete activities, answer questions, and make
progress on course assignments in class. Basic lecture material will be posted online in advance
of class and you will be expected to have watched each week’s materials prior to class and
bring works in progress, questions, and concerns to class. Please note that the content
presented in class will go further than that posted online, so it is in your best interest to attend
class regularly to ensure you fully understand how to complete assignments.
Zoom lectures are not recorded, due to the nature of the course design (i.e. with activities,
discussion). It is expected that you are able to attend class at the scheduled time.
Section 1: Basic Class Information

Instructor and T.A. Information

Instructor: Jessica Sutherland, PhD (she/her/hers)
What should you call me?: Dr. Sutherland or Professor Sutherland
Office hours for help and support: In the final hour of class (10:30-11:30) or by appt (email me
to set up)
Email: [email protected] - I respond to emails Monday-Friday, generally between 9am – 5pm,
and I will usually get back to you within 24 business hours. Outside of those hours, please
expect a reply on the next business day. Do not expect responses from me outside of standard
working hours, including weekends.

T.A. Jenna Barnhardt Kristen Lott

Last Names A - Ka Kh - Z
Email [email protected] [email protected]
Office Hours Email for appt Email for appt

What You Can Expect From Your TAs and I

• To meet your level of engagement and interest in our course;

• To be clear and transparent in expectations of you in this course;
• To prepare all necessary course content and post it well in advance of when you require it;
• To be available to support your success over email, Zoom, and office hours;
• To provide feedback and grades within a reasonable time frame;
• To uphold course policies and ensure fairness for all students; and

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• To be professional and treat you with respect over email and on Zoom.

What We Expect From You

• To be engaged and active with course materials, your instructor, and TA;
• To ensure you understand all course requirements and expectations, and ask questions if
you need clarification well in advance of deadlines;
• To read or watch all course documents, resources, and lectures;
• To be proactive and access the numerous supports available to you in our class, including
asking for help in advance when needed;
• To review your feedback on assignments and use it to improve future versions of your work;
• To ensure you understand all course and university policies; and
• To treat your instructor, TA, and classmates with respect and behave professionally over
email and Zoom.

Course Prerequisite(s): Course prerequisites are strictly enforced

• HH/PSYC 1010 6.00 (Introduction to Psychology).

Course Credit Exclusions

Please refer to York Courses Website for a listing of any course credit exclusions.

Course website: eClass

All course materials, assignments, and relevant links will be available on the course eClass site. I
will post pre-recorded basic lecture material and additional references and resources.

Course Description

This course develops university-level writing and communication ability. Students will write
about psychological content; however, this course aims to develop general written
communication skills that are broadly transferable. Emphasis will be placed on learning to write
coherent arguments and explanations. Students will learn how psychological texts present
information to effectively communicate with a reader. Students will develop the capacity to
critique and improve their own writing. Critical thinking and logical reasoning skills are taught
and practiced for the purpose of improving written communication. By analyzing exemplary
psychological writing students will discover the form and structure of effective writing in
Psychology. Readings and class discussions will increase understanding of how to write
effectively. Writing exercises will be used to practice principles and ideas discussed. Students
will be guided, step-by-step, through the process of completing a larger writing assignment.
Extensive feedback will be provided and multiple drafts of writing assignments will be
completed. This course will prepare students for advanced writing assignments in upper year
University courses and contribute to overall progress towards the advanced level of literacy
expected of an educated citizen. At the end of the course, students will be able to develop a
written argument on a controversial issue in psychology.

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Program Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the basics of scientific writing.
2. Demonstrate effective written communication.
3. Demonstrate the ability to think critically about written communication.
4. Demonstrates an ability to locate and identify valid, credible, and rigorous psychological
research.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of the basics of referencing using APA style.

Specific Learning Objectives

1. Demonstrate ability to cite sources and format documents appropriately according to
APA 7 Professional paper style standards.
2. Place a claim into context within the relevant academic literature
3. Distinguish and effectively use different types of research literature (i.e. reviews, meta-
analyses, individual studies etc.) to support an argument
4. Demonstrate proficiency with spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence structure
5. Demonstrate ability to adhere to the conventions of academic writing in psychology
6. Develop a clear written claim statement and provide evidence from scholarly sources to
support it
7. Structure academic writing to effectively communicate a claim and supporting detail
with logical flow
8. Explore, consider, and rebut alternative points of view in academic prose
9. Consider and communicate the implications of a claim
10. Give and receive peer feedback as part of a regular revision process
11. Appreciate the difference between conjecture and interpretation of data
12. Appreciate when empirical observation vs. theoretical analysis / synthesis is needed to
support a claim

Required Text
There is no required text for you to purchase for this class.

Class Format and Attendance Policy

All mandatory course content will be provided asynchronously via eClass to watch before our
weekly meetings. During our class times, we will meet synchronously on Zoom. Attendance is
not officially mandatory (except for in-class activity dates, see calendar), but is necessary to
participate in class activities, ask questions, and receive feedback in class, and our in-class time
will go beyond the basic lecture content with additional materials.
Historically, low or no class attendance results in worse overall performance and confusion over
expectations. You are expected to know all content discussed in-class.

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 Section 2: Assessment and Grading

Course Requirements and Assessment:

Assessment Date of Evaluation (if known) Weighting
Engagement and writing process Throughout course See
Mastery
Grading
document
Final Essay June 17th, 2024 See
Mastery
Grading
document
Total 100%

Note: Please see the “Mastery Grading” document for a better description of how each
assignment contributes to your final grade calculation. You will have re-submission options for
engagement points towards your essay, but you MUST meet or exceed mastery on your final
essay to pass this course.

Description of Assignments
Engagement and writing process (10 total points + 1 bonus point available):

Activities that count for engagement points are designed to help you stay on track with your
final essay, build a regular writing practice, work on writing skills, and reflect on your learning.
You have 10 total points available (plus 1 bonus point), with 8/9 required to receive an A/A+ in
this course. This means you have 2 ‘freebies’ in case you have to miss a week, cannot complete
something, and/or forget to submit by a deadline! Because flexibility and choice is built into this
component of the course, absolutely no extensions to deadlines for engagement points are
available. Please see the Engagement Points Guide for details.
Final Essay (Due June 17th, 2024 at 11:59pm)
You will submit your final essay with revisions from your previous assignments. Your final essay
must have a proper APA-formatted title page, document, and reference list. Please see the
rubric and Engagement Points Guide for details.

Assignment Submission Requirements

Weekly essay components and all major assignments must be submitted in .doc, .docx, or PDF
formats using APA format. PDF is the ideal format, as it better preserves APA formatting.
Assignments submitted as Google Docs, .pages, or any other file type will not be accepted and
you will receive a 0. If we can’t open it, it’s a 0!

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It is your responsibility to ensure you upload: 1) documents in the correct, accepted format, and
2) the correct document for the assignment you are submitting. If we cannot read or open your
file, you will receive a 0. If it is not the correct assignment you have uploaded, you will receive a
0. Always double-check your file was uploaded correctly and is the one you intended to submit.

All assignments must be submitted on eClass to receive credit. Under no circumstances will
assignments ever be accepted over email.
Receiving Feedback and Grades On Your Work

We aim to provide written comments, feedback, and grades on all submitted assignments
within 1-2 weeks of your submission (but often sooner). This means that work submitted in
Week 2, for example, will be graded and returned to you by Week 4. Please do not email us
asking when your grades will be posted, because the goal is always to give feedback and grades
back within 2 weeks of submission. We aim to grade as quickly as possible.

Mastery Grading
This course uses mastery grading instead of strict letter or percentage grades on assignments.
Please see the associated document explaining mastery grading.

To pass this class, you MUST complete at least 2 engagement points AND achieve “Mastery
Met” or “Mastery Exceeded” on the final essay. Please see the “Mastery Grading” document on
eClass. If you do not achieve Mastery Met on the final essay, you cannot pass this course. It is in
your best interest to submit engagement points and re-submit essay components, if needed, to
ensure mastery!

Final Grade ‘Bumps’

All final grades are calculated according to the mastery grading guide. I will not consider any
request to ‘bump’ a final grade for any reason whatsoever. Yes, it does hurt to ask, so don’t
bother. It is unreasonable to request a grade that was not earned and it is not fair to other
students.

Section 3: Important Course Policies

Flexible Options

In this class, I provide built-in flexibility options. For weekly engagement points, you do not
need to collect all of them. You also have a 5-day window to submit many of them, and for
essay components, you can re-submit them once if you don’t receive mastery met. Please note
the following:
1. Because everyone is provided the same flexibility, no further extensions are considered.
2. We will grade work in the order we receive it. This means that the earlier you submit, the
earlier you will receive feedback. If you submit your work later in the 5-day and/or re-
submission window, there is no guarantee you will receive feedback at the same time as

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 other members of the rest of the class will, and it may delay receiving feedback to improve
a future assignment.
3. Due date times are strict in the interest of fairness. 11:59pm means by 11:59pm.
Submissions after 11:59pm will not be accepted.

Additionally, to collect Engagement Points, you can pick and choose which ones you would like
to do, depending on your goals and life circumstances at a given time. If you have a busy week
or are sick, you can opt not to do the activities that week, and collect points at other times.
Section 4: Technology and Academic Honesty
Email Etiquette Policy

For our class, I respond to emails between Monday to Fridays, 9 am – 5 pm. I do not read or
respond to email in the evenings or on weekends, though you are welcome to email me any
time and I will respond on the next business day.

Your TAs will also set their own email boundaries. It is unreasonable to expect immediate
replies nor replies during the evenings or weekends. Ask questions well in advance of when you
need the response.

Email is the primary mode of communication between yourself and your TAs and professors.
There are formal norms expected in emails in professional settings, which include university
courses. Failure to use a professional format and tone can result in creating a poor impression,
and not getting your questions or concerns addressed. Before you email me or your TA (as well
as any other professors or TAs), please note the following:
1. It should contain a proper greeting and your name and course information. You should
always address your professors and TAs by the name they have specifically told you to use.
In this class, emails to me should be addressed to Dr./Professor Sutherland; your TAs should
be addressed by their first name.
2. Ensure your question is not already answered in the syllabus or any documents provided on
moodle (e.g. various guides, rubrics, lectures). We will not respond to any questions that are
directly addressed in the syllabus or course documents!
3. Your email is professional in tone – it does not use slang and contains proper spelling and
grammar.
4. It has a specific question, comment, or concern that is clearly stated. When appropriate or
necessary, you also describe what you have already tried to resolve your question or
concern.
5. It is sent as reasonably in advance as possible so we have time to respond to it. For
example, emails send at 10pm at night asking questions about an assignment due the next
day may not be responded to without enough time for you to adjust your work.

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Information on Plagiarism Detection

In this class, you will submit your essay components to Turn It In. You will be able to see your
overlap percentage after you submit your assignment. Provided you have submitted early
enough before the deadline, you can make adjustments and re-submit again if you need to.

There is no ‘maximum’ amount of overlap allowed; instead, we are more concerned with the
quality of overlap rather than the quantity. This means that we are concerned with attempts to
pass off others’ work as your own without attempts to cite properly (i.e., plagiarism). By
reviewing all course content and effectively summarizing, paraphrasing, and citing properly, you
can avoid problematic overlap in your writing from sources you have used.

Please note that it is a violation of York’s Senate Policy on Academic Honesty to re-use work
you have submitted in previous attempts of PSYC2010, or another course, in this course
without your instructor’s permission. See below for the link to the Senate Policy.

Academic Integrity for Students

York University takes academic integrity very seriously; please familiarize yourself with
Information about the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.
It is recommended that you review Academic Integrity by completing the Academic Integrity
Tutorial and Academic Honesty Quiz

Electronic Device Policy

This course will be delivered with online content and on Zoom. Therefore, electronic devices
(e.g., tablets, laptops) are required. You will need a working device to access course materials
on eClass, to conduct work in-class, and to attend class virtually.

Technology Glitches, Issues, and Other Problems

It is your responsibility to ensure you know how to use features on eClass, Zoom, and your
preferred word processing software (e.g. Word, Google Docs). If you are having problems with
any of York’s platforms (e.g. eClass), please contact York’s IT support. If you experience
technological problems while submitting assignments that are not related to the course itself
(e.g. a page not loading, your DUO Mobile not working), be prepared to provide proof of the
issue/error you are experiencing, and proof that you have contacted IT support for assistance.
Deadlines are always at 11:59pm, which will allow you to contact IT support for assistance
during their open hours before the deadline BUT submitting after the end of the business day
means you accept the risk you may run into problems and not be able to access any support.
Waiting until the last minute to submit work may leave you vulnerable to technological
problems at the deadline; therefore, do not wait until the last minute! Vague references to
“technical errors” encountered during submissions are not grounds to accept late work.

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Mass outages that affect the entire university (e.g., eClass going down) will be addressed and a
solution provided to students as soon as possible. If this situation occurs, do not panic; we will
find a solution and I will announce it as soon as I am able.
Section 5: Standard York Policies and Procedures

Grading as per Senate Policy

The grading scheme for the course conforms to the 9-point grading system used in
undergraduate programs at York (e.g., A+ = 9, A = 8, B+ = 7, C+ = 5, etc.). Assignments and
tests* will bear either a letter grade designation or a corresponding number grade (e.g. A+ = 90
to 100, A = 80 to 89, B+ = 75 to 79, etc.)
For a full description of York grading system see the York University Undergraduate Calendar –
Grading Scheme for 2023-24

Missed Tests/Midterm Exams/Late Assignment

There are no tests or exams in this course. Please see above for my policy on missed/late
assignments and extensions.
Otherwise, the blurb below is mandatory boilerplate department information:
For any missed quiz or late assignment, students MUST complete the following online
form which will be received and reviewed in the Psychology undergraduate office. At
this time, due to COVID-19 an Attending Physician’s Statement (APS) is not required,
however, a reason for missing an evaluated component in the course must be provided.
HH PSYC: Missed Tests/Exams Form. Failure to complete the form within 48
hours of the original deadline will result in a grade of zero for the missed quiz or
late assignment.

Add/Drop Deadlines
For a list of all important dates please refer to: Summer 2024 Important Dates

SU Term S1 Term
Last date to add a course without permission of instructor
May 28 May 13
(also see Financial Deadlines)
Last date to add a course with permission of instructor
June 11 May 21
(also see Financial Deadlines)
Drop deadline: Last date to drop a course without
July 23 June 3
receiving a grade (also see Financial Deadlines)
Course Withdrawal Period (withdraw from a course and
July 24 – Aug. 13 June 4 – June 17
receive a grade of “W” on transcript – see note below)

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Add and Drop Deadline Information
There are deadlines for adding and dropping courses, both academic and financial. Since, for
the most part, the dates are different, be sure to read the information carefully so that you
understand the differences between the sessional dates below and the Refund Tables.
You are strongly advised to pay close attention to the "Last date to enrol without permission of
course instructor" deadlines. These deadlines represent the last date students have
unrestricted access to the registration and enrolment system.
After that date, you must contact the professor/department offering the course to arrange
permission.
You can drop courses using the registration and enrolment system up until the last date to drop
a course without receiving a grade (drop deadline).
You may withdraw from a course using the registration and enrolment system after the drop
deadline until the last day of class for the term associated with the course. When you withdraw
from a course, the course remains on your transcript without a grade and is notated as 'W'. The
withdrawal will not affect your grade point average or count towards the credits required for
your degree.

Test Banks
The offering for sale of, buying of, and attempting to sell or buy test banks (banks of test
questions and/or answers), or any course specific test questions/answers is not permitted in
the Faculty of Health. Any student found to be doing this may be considered to have breached
the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty. In particular, buying and attempting to sell banks of
test questions and/or answers may be considered as “Cheating in an attempt to gain an
improper advantage in an academic evaluation” (article 2.1.1 from the Senate Policy) and/or
“encouraging, enabling or causing others” (article 2.1.10 from the Senate Policy) to cheat.

Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

While all individuals are expected to satisfy the requirements of their program of study and to
aspire to do so at a level of excellence, the university recognizes that persons with disabilities
may require reasonable accommodation to enable them to do so. The university encourages
students with disabilities to register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) to discuss their
accommodation needs as early as possible in the term to establish the recommended academic
accommodations that will be communicated to Course Directors as necessary. Please let me
know as early as possible in the term if you anticipate requiring academic accommodation so
that we can discuss how to consider your accommodation needs within the context of this
course.
https://accessibility.students.yorku.ca/
Please note that I have built in many accommodations to the course design, which gives ALL
students access to accommodations normally reserved only for students registered with SAS.

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Excerpt from Senate Policy on Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

1. Pursuant to its commitment to sustaining an inclusive, equitable community in which all

members are treated with respect and dignity, and consistent with applicable
accessibility legislation, York University shall make reasonable and appropriate
accommodations in order to promote the ability of students with disabilities to fulfill the
academic requirements of their programs. This policy aims to eliminate systemic
barriers to participation in academic activities by students with disabilities.
All students are expected to satisfy the essential learning outcomes of courses.
Accommodations shall be consistent with, support and preserve the academic integrity of the
curriculum and the academic standards of courses and programs. For further information
please refer to: York University Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities Policy.

Course Materials Copyright Information

These course materials are designed for use as part of the PSYC2010 course at York University
and are the property of the instructor unless otherwise stated. Third party copyrighted
materials (such as book chapters, journal articles, music, videos, etc.) have either been licensed
for use in this course or fall under an exception or limitation in Canadian Copyright law.
Copying this material for distribution (e.g. uploading material to a commercial third-party
website) may lead to a violation of Copyright law. Intellectual Property Rights Statement.

Section 6: Course Schedule

Assignments to
Week Topic Watch/Do work on
1 – May 6 • Introduction to our • EC1: Brainstorming • EC1
class • • Pre-class
• Brainstorming survey
1 – May 8 • Conducting research • EC2: Research, APA • EC2
• APA format • Skill: Summarizing, Paraphrasing, • Pre-class
• Summarizing/paraph Quoting, APA survey
rasing •
2 – May 13 • Conducting research • EC3: Claims and Supporting • EC3
• Making claims Evidence
• Summarizing/paraph
rasing
2 – May 15 • Conducting research • EC4: Counter-claims • EC4
• Making counter-
claims

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 • Summarizing/paraph
rasing
3 – May 20 NO CLASS (VICTORIA NO CLASS NO CLASS
DAY)
3 – May 22 • Live grading in class • Send EC 3/4 work-in-progress to • BONUS point
• Integrating sources Dr. Sutherland if you’d like live if you submit
• Writing in your own grading a complete
voice EC3-4 draft
for live
grading
• In-class peer
review
4 – May 27 • Introductions • EC5: Introduction • EC5

4 – May 29 • Conclusions • EC6: Conclusions • EC6

5 – June 3 • Full Drafts • Begin pulling together your draft

• transitions – EC 3-6 – into one document
5 – June 5 • Editing and cleaning • Bring a full draft to class with
up your writing you
6 – June 10 • APA workshop • In-class APA clean-up • Peer review
• Peer Review • Peer Review

6 – June 12 • Final writing group – • Bring your full draft to class • Writing
we will work • Bring final questions and group
together to finish concerns
your final essay, ask
outstanding
questions, and
support each other
towards the finish
line!
7 – June 17 • No class; drop-in only • Any final questions or concerns • Submit your
if you need extra final essay!
help

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