Course Syllabus

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PSYC364 Industrial Psychology

Buena Vista University
610 West Fourth Street
Storm Lake, Iowa 50588
www.bvu.edu
Credit Hours: 3

Instructor

Your instructor's contact information can be found in the People link on the left.

Course Description

This course is an exploration of how psychology, the science of behavior and mental processes, is applied in the workplace. The field of Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology embraces two broad, closely related, and overlapping scientific approaches to the psychology of work. Organizational psychologists work at the level of the organization. Some conduct research, others occupy staff positions, and still others serve as consultants on matters of leadership, job satisfaction, worker motivation, organizational communication, conflict management, organizational change, and group processes. Industrial psychologists work at the personnel, employee relations, and human resources level. They practice psychology within the work setting, are heavily involved with data and statistics, and engage in a variety of activities including recruitment and interviewing, selection and placement, job analysis and evaluation, training and development, performance appraisal, compliance with state and federal laws, and participation in litigation. Both areas of I/O psychology rely on scientific research methods to advance knowledge through the design, implementation, and evaluation of various processes.

The focus in this course will be on industrial and organizational psychology, specifically job analysis, description, and evaluation; employee selection; performance evaluation; motivation; job satisfaction; leadership; and group and team development. The course will include reading, writing, discussion, exercises, and research. Students will design and conduct research to create and submit a proposed intervention in the form of a written, APA-style research report.

A previous course in psychology, organizational behavior, or management and a previous course in statistics are recommended.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to...

  1. Increase awareness of the scientific method and develop a basic understanding of statistics and statistical analyses.
  2. Increase understanding of underlying theories and their application in organizations.
  3. Search library databases to locate and retrieve original scientific journal articles and psychological tests focused on a specific topic.
  4. Increase awareness of important psychometric properties of personnel and psychological testing materials and their applications.
  5. Increase skill in preparation of APA-style research reports.
  6. Design and conduct research in simulated work settings.

Program Objectives

In addition, this course is intended to meet an overall program objective for the major in Psychology. The objectives above should work together to help you achieve the following major objectives for the entire program:

  1. Students will analyze data, design, run, and critically evaluate research.

In addition, this course is intended to meet an overall program objective for the major in Human Services.

  1. Students will identify and apply theoretical concepts to analyze individual and social environments.

BVU Objectives

In addition to the above objectives, the following BVU objectives are also applicable in this course.

  1. Students will be able to effectively and creatively solve problems.
  2. Students will be able to integrate theory and practice.

Course Texts

Aamodt, M. G. (2015). Industrial/organizational psychology: An applied approach (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN: 978-1305118423

Additional readings and material will be available online as part of each week.

Course Requirements

In order to successfully complete this course, you will need to complete the following:

Activity

Responsibilities

Points Possible

Timely Participation

Post your assignments in a timely manner in accord with the assignment details in each week.

  

Online Activities

The responses to the chapter questions and cases, the articles, and the WWW exercises will require higher level thinking – at least at the analysis level. Since writing is important to this course, keep your communication skills at a high level to receive full credit. See the Learning Activity Summary in each week for full details on the assignments and activities for each week, including readings.

  

Quizzes

Students must complete the scheduled quizzes in a timely manner. There will be weekly multiple-choice quizzes covering the assigned reading, each worth 10 points.

80

Discussion

You are expected to actively participate in the discussions each week. Each discussion will be marked on the basis of 10 points for the initial posting and 10 points for the response(s). The Discussions are to be spread out during the week, with the initial response usually due by Wednesday. See the Discussion Requirements table below for additional guidelines.

360

Learning Activities

Several weeks will include "mini-projects" to enhance your understanding of the material through practice. Each of these assignments is worth 10-20 points.

160

Course Paper

A final assignment is required. This will be a paper of 7-9 pages (maximum) in length and will require a references page with at least 6 academic, peer reviewed references. (A significant number of required and optional readings each week will expose the student to suitable reference material). The assignment will require work throughout the course, starting in the second week, with steps assigned in each subsequent week. Your paper topic is due Sunday, in Week 2 for 10 points. Your final course paper is due Sunday, in Week 8 and is worth 100 points.

The topic is of your choice, but it must be a topic within the scope of the course. A good strategy would be to skim the text and pick a topic that is of interest to you or that you think will be of aid to you at work. The objective is to select a topic narrow enough that you will be able to locate some recent research and learn some new information, more recent than the text.

110

Total

  

710

Discussion Requirements

You will be expected to post to each discussion and respond to two fellow classmates, unless otherwise noted in the assignment. Discussion assignments will be evaluated in terms of both quantity and substance. Please also view the Discussion Grading Rubric.

Task

Responsibilities

Original Posting

Your post should...

  • Add or contribute something productive to the conversation.
  • Provide supporting materials for your argument. This may include quotes, websites, books, articles, videos, etc.
  • Provide rational for why the material you chose adds to the conversation.

An appropriate length for an original post is 2-3 well supported paragraphs. Quality is more important than quantity; try to make your posts concise.

Response Posting

Your response should...

  • Offer something significant to the conversation by either extending or adding to the argument, analysis, or position of the original post.
  • If you agree, include additional supporting material.
  • If you disagree, include a rationale for disagreement and supporting material.
  • Include a question posed to the original author; this is intended to move the conversation forward.

An appropriate length for a response post is 1-2 well supported paragraphs. Quality is more important than quantity; try to make your responses concise.

Note: Remember that the number of postings given in the assignment is a minimum: you are strongly encouraged to engage in discussion beyond the minimum.

Course Schedule

WEEK TOPIC READING
1 Introduction to I/O Psychology & Research
Review of Research Methods		 Chapter 1
2 Job Analysis
Legal Issues		 Chapters 2-3
3 Employee Selection Chapters 4-6
4 Evaluating Employee Performance
Training Systems		 Chapters 7-8
5 Motivation Chapter 9
6 Employee Satisfaction
Organizational Communication		 Chapters 10-11
7 Leadership Chapter 12
8 Group and Teams
Organizational Development		 Chapters 13-14

 

Course Policies

These course policies are designed to support your learning. When you join this course, we expect you to be committed to your own learning and the learning of the others in this course "community." Due dates are firm, not for arbitrary reasons, but because the learners in this class are depending on each other for feedback and encouragement.

  1. Weekly participation is required. The success of this class depends on every class member participating fully — your participation is part of your classmates' learning experience. You should be logging in and participating daily or at least 3-5 days each week.
  2. No late assignments will be allowed. (unless otherwise specified by the instructor in the course) Late assignments will receive zero points. Please contact your instructor in advance if there are extreme, extenuating circumstances that prevent you from turning an assignment in on time. Contact your instructor for his/her late work policy.
  3. Grading Scale: minimum percentages A=93%, A-=90%, B+=87%, B=83%, B-=80%, C+=77%, C=73%, C-=70%, D+=67%, D=63%, D-=60%, F=below 60%, with the exception of courses offered through the School of Education (prefixes: EDCO, EDUC, EXSC, GECI, GEDU, and SEDU) which do not have D+/- (60-69.99% is a D). Pass=70% & above, Fail=below70%.
  4. No incompletes will be given for this course except in extreme circumstance.
  5. Accommodations: Buena Vista University provides reasonable accommodations through an organized process. Students desiring accommodations must follow the University's process. Forms are available at: http://www.bvu.edu/learning_at_bvu/academic_affairs/cae/disability-services.dot. Please contact the Director of the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) to begin this process. The CAE's contact information is: Information Technology Center 103 | 610 W. 4th Street, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA 50588 | 712-749-1237 or 1-800-383-2821 ext 1237 | CAE@bvu.edu.

Academic Honesty Policy

Cheating or plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. The University functions to promote the cognitive and psychosocial development of all students. Therefore, all work submitted by a student must represent her/his own ideas, concepts, and current understanding. Academic dishonesty also includes submitting substantial portions of the same academic course work to more than one course for credit without prior permission of the instructor(s).

Honesty in all academic matters is expected from all students. Actions contrary to academic integrity will not be tolerated. Any attempt to cheat, misrepresent someone else's work as one's own, receive credit for work one did not do, obtain an unfair advantage over other students, or aid another student to do the above will be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Assignments produced for this class may not use any copyrighted material without express permission of the copyright holder. Failure to comply is a violation of the honesty policy and may result in automatic failure for the course or project. Copyrighted materials MAY be used for course assignments if the sources are properly cited and acknowledged as part of the assignment. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. See the Academic Honesty policy below for more information.

For additional information, please see the Academic Policies section of the Academic Catalog:
http://www.bvu.edu/learning_at_bvu/catalog/.

Getting Help

Please do not hesitate to seek help immediately when you experience any difficulties or whenever you have questions.

  1. Instructor — For course related help with questions about assignments, course concepts, or course materials, contact your instructor immediately.
    • For public questions, use the Course Q&A discussion located inside the Course Info module. Other students might have the same question and will benefit from you asking. Your classmates might also have an answer for you.
    • For private questions about grades or personal issues, send private course mail from your inbox, located in the top left-hand corner of Canvas.
    • Instructor contact information can be found in the People area.
  2. 2Fix — Contact the 2Fix Help Desk for technical help.
    • Phone: 1-712-749-2FIX (2349) or 1-800-248-4462
    • Hours: Monday-Thursday 7 AM to 10 PM (Central), Friday 7 AM to 6 PM, Saturday 9 AM to 6 PM, and Sunday 1 PM to 11 PM
    • Website: http://2fix.bvu.edu
    • Web Help Desk: https://help.bvu.edu (see additional information below)
  3. Web Help Desk — Any BVU-related question is fair game – from login issues to Canvas issues to financial aid questions. You will be notified of progress in resolving the issue via email to your BVU account. Log in to the BVU Web Help Desk using the same username and password as Canvas.
  4. Tutoring Services — As a BVU student, you have free access to SMARTHINKING online tutoring services. You are strongly encouraged to use this service to improve your academic skills. You can submit things electronically or set up a time to meet with one of the tutors. To begin using SMARTHINKING, simply go to the Canvas Home page and click on SMARTHINKING in the navigation area

Course Summary:

Date Details Due