• Instructor: Stephen M. Smith
• E-mail: ssmith@ngcsu.edu or stromansmith@hotmail.com
• Office Hours: 9:30-noon TR; 9-11am MWF; Room 202A Dunlap Hall
• Office Telephone: 864-1890

Textbook: Pervin, Lawrence A. (1996). The Science of Personality. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Goals: The main goal of this course is for you to achieve an understanding of what we know and don't know about human personality.  After this course, you should be aware of the three primary methods used in personality psychology, the main theories and theorists in the area of personality, and the general state of current knowledge. In addition, your understanding of your own personality characteristics will be enhanced.

Return to Top

Methods:

• 1. Attending lectures, listening closely, asking questions.
• 2. Participating in group discussions, both in class and on WebCT.
• 3. Studying for, taking exams and reviewing exams.

Basis of evaluation:

• 1. Two mid-term exams and a final will count as 15% each of your total grade. Exams will thus account for 45% of your course grade.
• 2. 30% will be determined by your participation in class discussions. You will need to keep up with the readings, share your questions, insights, and relevant experiences with the class, and have near-perfect attendance to make an A on this component. See the section on Class Participation (below) for more information.
• 25% of your grade will be based on your individual project.

Return to Top

Attendance Policy: Attendance per se will be checked only periodically, and there are no "bonus points" for simply being here.  However, participation in class discussions will be evaluated continuously, and your participation in class discussions will obviously suffer if you are not in the class.  Besides, college policy is that you are expected to be here for each class (see p. 59 of the NGCSU Undergraduate Bulletin). Also please remember, it is your responsibility -- not mine -- to catch up on what you missed. I'm your teacher, not your note-taker. All that said, if you know you are going to be absent and inform me in advance, or get sick and contact me as soon as it becomes feasible, I will treat you mercifully.

Return to Top

Course Content by Week
 

Important Dates:

January 9                         First Day of Class

January 21                       MLK Jr. Holiday

February 1                       Exam #1

February 27                     Last Day to Drop with a W

February 27                     Exam #2

March 22                         Exam #3

May 4, 10:30am              Individual Project Report due

Return to Top

Class Participation
Since active participation is a major part of your grade, and since participation means different things to different people, some explanation might be helpful. First, active participation means that you are not only present, but contributing to the class. This can involve asking relevant questions, answering questions I pose to the class, sharing personal experiences that connect with course material, etc. Class participation includes participation in the online discussions on the WebCT Bulletin Board.

I assess participation by tracking your daily participation in class and by examining the frequency and quality of your web postings. If you are keeping up with the readings, and making an honest effort to contribute to class discussion on a daily basis, there is no reason for you to get a grade other than an A on this component. If you fail to keep up with the readings, then your comments in class will likely reflect that. If you do the readings but don't say anything, you don't get any credit for in-class participation, but you can partially compensate for that by posting frequently to the buleetin board.