Welcome to The Psychology of Women: A Multicultural Perspective

This distance learning course is conducted mostly via e-mail, the Internet within the Angel system, and through (when needed) telephone communication. This course does NOT require students to meet on campus during the semester at any time. The instructor is available, however, to meet with any student, either online or at the West Valley campus, at any time during the term to answer questions or assist in studying.

In this course, students are given chapter quizzes (the lowest is dropped), which occur approximately on a weekly basis in the spring and fall terms; these short quizzes are designed to help students keep "on track" with the reading assignments.  For the spring, summer, & fall terms, there are also  four MANDATORY online essay exam testing sessions on Thursday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m.  For the winter term, there are three MANDATORY online essay exam testing sessions on Wednesday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m.  The exact dates are listed on the Reading Calendar for the course. Please note: the final exam is NOT comprehensive for this, or any, of the instructor's courses. For a description of this course, please refer to the course syllabus

In order to successfully complete this course, you should plan your schedule very carefully. Based upon District estimates, an on-campus course that meets two times a week will take a minimum of four hours of additional preparation per week. Since you are not meeting a traditional class, you can expect to spend a minimum of six to seven hours per week (for a semester length class) on your course work. For the summer session, the pace is accelerated. Look carefully at your work schedule, school schedule, and family obligations and allow plenty of time for each.

You are expected to communicate with your instructor and other classmates about specific assignments. Most of your work, however, is done on your own through reading assignments, the viewing of online videos, and accompanying lecture materials. When taking a online course you must take the initiative to ask your instructor questions if you do not understand the material. You may have to communicate with your instructor with an e-mail message or you may have to call the instructor and leave a message on an answering machine. Either way, the response from the instructor, although always timely, might not be instantaneous. You must learn to move on to other material and wait for your instructor to respond.

Computer Competency

You must be computer competent to take this course. This includes being proficient in being able to navigate computer programs, use the Internet, and send / receive "Word" document / file attachments, and send and receive e-mail.  
 
If you have not mastered these skills, you will need to take a computer class prior to taking this on-line course, or have someone assist you in learning these skills.  Unfortunately, this course is not designed to provide instruction in how to complete these tasks.  Students will need to have a reliable computer and reliable on-line access to complete this course.
This course also requires the skills of college level reading, college level writing, and test taking skills.  Mastery of study skills is also necessary because online students must be able to study independently, follow the on-line assignments, and read the accompanying textbooks.  If you have not mastered these skills you may want to consider looking into the variety of 'basic skills" courses offered here at West Valley College before you take an online class. 

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What Do I Do First?

To access the course syllabus for the current term, click here.

Required Text and Supplemental Readers (all terms):
Lips, Hilary. (2006) A New Psychology of Women: Gender, Culture, and Ethnicity (Third Edition). ISBN: 0-07-299785-0  

Cameron, Anne. (1981) Daughters of Copper Woman

Hornbacher, Marya.  (1998) Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia

**Students must have the three required books by the second day of class.  They are available at the WVC bookstore.  If you choose to obtain books elsewhere, you must have them by the aforementioned timeframe.

To determine if distance learning courses are right for you, click here .

To learn how to succeed in an online course, click here.

Beginning the Course

1. This course uses an online course management system called ANGEL. It requires that you have a log-in name and password . If you just registered, it may take a few days for the college to set up and process your information on our database before your log-in name is active. Click on the link below to learn how to determine your log-in name and password:

Click here to learn how to log-in to ANGEL

2. On the first day of the semester, go to the ANGEL log-in page and get started:

http://wvmccd.angellearning.com

3. You will not be able to access the course before the official start date as listed in the schedule of classes.

4. If you are not already enrolled in this course, scroll down to the "Enrolling in this Course" area of this web page and follow the directions given for registration and enrollment.


Logging into ANGEL

Your login user name consists of all seven digits of your student ID number.

  • Your student ID number is generated by the computer at the college and is included with all of the paperwork you receive from the college.
  • This number is not your social security number

So, if your name is Maria Smith and your college ID number is 1234567, your log-in username would look like this:

    1234567

If you can't find any paperwork with your student ID number on it, or you never received any paperwork in the first place, please contact Admissions and Records office at: 408.741.2001


Your password is your six digit birthdate.

  • If you were born on December 14, 1980, your password would be 121480
  • Single digits must have a 0 in front of them
  • So, if you were born on May 9, 1977, your password would be 050977

Note: You will not be able to access the course before the official start date as listed in the schedule of classes.


If you can't log-in, and only as a last resort, contact the college's Distance Learning Coordinator for assistance:

Enrolling in this Course

1. If you are not a continuing West Valley College Student, you must first apply for admission to the college and register for the course. You may access the college admissions web site by clicking the following link:

To apply for admission, click here

2. After you are registered as a West Valley College Student:

  • Find the correct section number for this course in the printed schedule of classes or in the online schedule found at the college web site under the "Quick Links" menu on the home page.
  • Use the college's WebAdvisor system to enroll in the course

3. If you feel you may need some additional student services, feel free to access the college's Student Services Online Resources web page. Here you will find links to a variety of college resources like counseling services, financial aid, the library, career programs, etc.

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