Welcome to AP Psychology

Are you a student with: –Excellent test taking skills? –Strong writing skills? –Excellent listening skills? –Good reading skills? –A serious interest in learning? –Excellent attendance? –Good behavior? –An open mind towards new, sometimes even controversial, issues regarding human behavior? –An ability to discuss abstract theories? –A serious interest in a branch of psychology as a possible career choice?

Excellent test taking skills? –The entire purpose of this course is to prepare students for the AP Psychology Exam in May of this school year. Period. In preparation for that exam, there are 14 unit exams, 4 cumulative exams, multiple announced and unannounced quizzes, and multiple practice AP exams that figure into each student’s grade each marking period. If you are not a good test taker, this class is most definitely not for you.

Strong writing skills? –Nearly 1/3 of the AP Psychology Exam score is made up of two required free-response questions. In preparation for that portion of the exam, student will be writing multiple responses to multiple practice prompts throughout the year, in addition to writing several short papers dealing with psychological issues.

Excellent listening skills? –95% of this course is taught via lecture. That means that I talk for minutes out of the 255 minutes of the class time allotted each week (5 days per week X 50 minutes per class = 255 minutes X 95% = minutes.)

Good reading skills? –Students will be issued a textbook at the beginning of the school year. You will be required to read each chapter as we progress through the units. Pop quizzes will be frequent, and test questions will come from the textbook, though they may not be directly referenced in lecture. Students will occasionally be given research studies and modern psychological debate readings to analyze and respond to in written papers. It will be important for students to be able to analyze and disseminate the questions of the AP Exam in order to do as well as possible.

A serious interest in learning? –The course content of this class is equivalent to the course content of a typical college Introductory to Psychology class. Thus, students taking this course should be college-bound and ready to begin assuming the responsibilities of a college undergrad. Intense studying will be required to pass each marking period and ultimately to pass the AP Exam.

Excellent attendance? –Students are expected to be in class, on time, and on a regular basis. We will be covering one unit every two weeks, so the pace is quick and the notes are plentiful. Your teacher will not be printing your notes for you, nor will your teacher be hounding you to hand in missed assignments or to make up exams. The responsibility is solely yours to maintain excellent attendance and to complete all of the required work on time. Regardless of your attendance prior to an exam, all tests will be taken on the date announced. If you are absent for a test, you will take it the very next day you attend class.

Good behavior? –If you plan on using class time to talk to your friends, listen to your headphones, text message your significant other, program new tunes in your phone, sleep, or otherwise disrupt class, find another class to take.

An open mind towards new, sometimes even controversial, issues regarding human behavior? –There is almost a limitless range of possibilities when it comes to explaining human behavior. Many of the topics that we will discuss are steadfast and proven facts, and some are still in the research stage.

An ability to discuss abstract theories? –Class discussion is an important key to learning the course content. Be prepared to ask a lot of questions, to ponder deep theories, and to discuss a wide variety of challenging topics.

A serious interest in a branch of psychology as a possible career choice? –Ideally, this class is intended for those students who either have a keen interest in a particular field of psychology already (ie. child psychology, counseling), or have an interest in a field related to psychology (ie. nursing, human resources).

If you answered “Yes” to all of the above questions, then you may be a good candidate for taking AP Psychology.

Grades A – 75 – 9 B – 374 – 18 C – 32 3 – 16 D – 52 – 7 F – 11 – 8 Class Averages74% of AP 2 nd – 78students passed 3 rd – 79with a “3” or better 4 th - 77