West Valley College Logo Psych 001: General Psychology - ONLINE

Welcome to General Psychology 001 Online

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 11 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 Myers' reading assignments. For the spring, summer, and 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 see the instructor's introduction by clicking on her name on the homepage or by going to: http://instruct.westvalley.edu/reed/Instructor_Intro.html.


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 books (all terms):

Myers, David. (2010) Psychology (Ninth Edition).  ISBN: 1-4292-1597-6  Available in either an ebook OR a traditional textbook version, whichever you prefer.   (Please note: Do not purchase the "Modules" version, as it is a completely different text).

Styron, William. Darkness Visible (a small book)

**Students must have the 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.Please email the instructor from within the ANGEL course management system when you log-in for the first time.

Please include the following information in your e-mail:

  • Your name
  • Your mailing address
  • Your phone number
  • Your e-mail address (This is for emergencies only. We will be using ANGEL's internal email system throughout this course.)

5.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

You will need a login name and password to access ANGEL.

Your login user name consists of following:

  • 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:

The college Admissions and Records office at 408-741-2001


Your password is your six digit birthdate.

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, or need help with ANGEL, contact the college's Instructional Technologist 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:

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.

4. Click here to access the Online Counseling web page

College Bookstore

To access the West Valley College bookstore web site in order to purchase your book, click here

Links

Click on the West Valley College web page below to access other college resources:

http://www.westvalley.edu/wvc/

My web page may be accessed by clicking on the following link:

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/reed

 

west valley logo
by Michelle Reed