Psychology 3230F 001 FW23
Cognitive Neuroscience of Music
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2023 - 2024
Psychology 3230F Section 001
Cognitive Neuroscience of Music
- CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
An in-depth examination of music and the brain. After reviewing neuroscience techniques, we will discuss music and evolutionary theories, emotional responses, comparisons to language, effects on children, and changes of brain structure in musicians.
Antirequisite: Psychology 3190F if taken in Fall of 2011
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. If you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisite: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810, and one of Psychology 2115A/B, Psychology 2134A/B, Psychology 2135A/B, Psychology 2220A/B or Psychology 2221A/B or Neuroscience 2000.
3 lecture hours; Course Weight: 0.5
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Karli Nave
Office and Phone Number: WIRB 5114, no phone
Office Hours: By appointment, WIRB or Zoom
Email: knave@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Kristi Von Handorf
Office: N/A
Office Hours: By appointment, WIRB or Zoom
Email: kvonhand@uwu.ca
Time and Location of Classes: see Student Centre
Delivery Method: In-Person
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca or 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
There is no textbook for this course. The readings for this course consist of journal articles and book chapters. Electronic copies of the readings will be made available for the participants of this course on Owl (http://owl.uwo.ca/). Written assignments should be turned in via Owl. There is also a course website at www.jessicagrahn.com/musicneuro2022.html. This has readings and additional information to illustrate course content. The password is musicneuro. The URL is case-sensitive.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
The class will meet once a week for a 3-hr lecture and discussion. The primary emphasis will be on review of methods and empirical investigations of music and neuroscience. There will also be discussions of the assigned readings (largely primary research articles) and major issues related to each topic area. All students are expected to complete the weekly basic readings and to actively participate in the class discussions.
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
|
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge Explain how innate and environmental factors affect the development of musical capacities |
Reading assigned articles and writing critiques Attending lecture
|
Critiques In-class exercises Grant proposal |
|
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge Recognize and name the neural systems that underpin different aspects of musical processing, such as rhythm or pitch perception |
Reading assigned articles and writing critiques Attending lecture
|
In-class exercises
|
|
Application of Knowledge Compare perceptual, motor, cognitive, emotional, and developmental aspects of music from a neuroscientific point of view |
Reading assigned articles and writing critiques In-class discussion Developing group grant proposal |
Critiques In-class exercises Grant proposal |
|
Application of Knowledge Develop critical thinking skills (e.g., analyzing and critiquing methods and conclusions of published studies, drawing inferences supported by data, finding connections across disparate sources of information, creating hypotheses and predictions suggested by existing evidence) and apply them to published studies |
Reading assigned articles and writing critiques In-class discussion |
Critiques Grant proposal |
|
Knowledge of Methodologies Describe various cognitive neuroscience techniques (behavioural testing, event-related potentials, positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging) and how they are used in different populations: newborns, healthy adults, patients with brain damage, and people with different levels of musical training |
Reading assigned articles Attending lecture Writing critiques
|
In-class exercises Grant proposal |
|
Communication Skills Advance written communication skills, including grammar, structure, and style (practiced in all written assignments), as well as practice oral communication skills (used during in-class participation) |
In-class participation and discussion Developing grant proposal project Creating oral presentation |
Critiques Progress report on grant proposal Oral presentation of final proposal Grant proposal |
|
Autonomy and Professional Capacity. Incorporate feedback to change performance |
Written feedback on critiques and progress report |
Critiques Progress report on grant proposal |
|
Autonomy and Professional Capacity. Work collaboratively with others to achieve a project goal |
Group grant proposal |
Grant proposal Oral presentation of grant proposal |
5.0 EVALUATION
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.
Grades will be based on critical evaluations of empirical studies (30%), press evaluation (10%), in-class exercises (10%), in-class evaluations of empirical studies (2%), written and oral presentation of a grant proposal (38%), peer review of a grant proposal (10%). All written assignments are submitted via Turnitin through the links on the Owl course page. As this is a writing-intensive course, grammar, writing clarity, and structure will form part of the assessment of the written critiques and grant proposal. Feedback will be given on these elements as well.
Critical evaluations of empirical studies (30% of total mark) Due at 12pm the Monday before your article discussed in class
Sign up by September 15th (a limited number of students can choose each article, and some of you will have an article critique due on September 19th) To sign up, fill out the poll posted on OWL and select your top 5 choices. It is a good idea to select papers due more than 1 week apart so that you can receive feedback on the first assignment before completing the second. You may be assigned to an article you did not select.
Critique THREE of the papers listed below. By 12pm the Monday before the day of the class at which your paper is discussed, you are to turn in a report of 1.5 to 2.5 pages (typed double spaced with 12-point font and margins of 1 inch), as follows. Use Turnitin on Owl. Writing style and consideration of the writing style tips we cover in class will be considered in the grading (wordiness, active voice, sentence cohesion, etc.).
- Indicate the hypotheses of the study.
- Briefly summarize the methodological approach and the findings.
- Discuss how the authors interpret the findings.
- End with a critical discussion of what we can conclude from the paper. This is the most important section, demonstrating critical thinking skills, and should account for at least 25% of the length. Critical discussion can include: valid and substantial criticisms or questions about the authors’ stimuli, procedure, results, or interpretations; relating the findings to other research discussed in class (are there conflicts or convergences with other work?); specific studies that could be conducted to follow up on the current study; important questions that are raised by the findings in the current study, etc.
Fewer marks will be given for superficial criticisms (pointing out that gender was not balanced without clear reasons why gender would be expected to affect the outcome), cursory connections to other work (simply stating that the current study used a paradigm that has been used by others, without further discussion of why that is relevant or important), or unfleshed-out ideas for future research. Higher marks will be given for thought-out and supported connections and ideas.
Papers to sign up for: These readings are subject to updates and changes
1 Loui, Wu, Wessel, & Knight, 2009: A generalized mechanism for perception of pitch patterns. [week 2]
2 Grahn & Brett, 2007: Rhythm and beat processing in motor areas of the brain [week 3]
3 Nozaradan, Peretz, Missal, Mouraux, 2011: Tagging the neuronal entrainment to beat and meter. [week 3]
4 Mas-Herrero, Zatorre, Rodriguez-Fornells, Marco-Pallares, 2014: Dissociation between musical and monetary reward responses in specific musical anhedonia [week 4]
5 Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher, & Zatorre, 2011: Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music. [week 4]
6 Slevc, Rosenberg, & Patel, 2009: Making psycholinguistics musical: Self-paced reading time: evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax [week 6]
7 Koelsch, Kasper, Sammler, Schulze, Gunter & Friederici 2004: Music, language and meaning: brain signatures of semantic processing. [week 6]
8 Phillips-Silver & Trainor, 2005 Feeling the Beat: Movement Influences Infant Rhythm Perception [week 7]
9 Winkler et al., 2009: Newborn infants detect the beat in music [week 7]
10 Steele, Bailey, Zatorre, Penhune, 2013: Early musical training and white-matter plasticity in the corpus callosum: Evidence for a sensitive period [week 8]
11 Elbert, Candia, Altenmuller, Rau, Sterr, Rockstroh, Pantev & Taub, 1998: Alteration of digital representations in somatosensory cortex in focal hand dystonia [week 8]
12 Finke, Esfahani, Ploner, 2012: Preservation of musical memory in an amnesic professional cellist [week 9]
13 Nieuwboer et al. 2007: Cueing training in the home improves gait-related mobility in Parkinson’s disease: the RESCUE trial [week 9]
In-class exercises (5% each of total mark), October 10th and November 21st
These written assignments will cover material up to and including the lecture prior to the date of the exercise. There will be some multiple choice and short/medium answer questions about methods in cognitive neuroscience and experimental design using those methods, terminology related to cognitive neuroscience of music, and experimental findings covered by the readings and in class. Answers will be discussed in class.
Press article critique (10% of total mark) Due any time before 12 pm October 24th
Find one written news article in the media that covers a recently published scientific finding in music and science (in the last 5-6 years). Choose articles from popular news sources, not scientific magazines such as Discover, Scientific American, etc. A list of press articles that you may choose has been collected and posted on the class website, however, I encourage you to find one yourself. After you have the press article, find the original article. Write a 2-3 page paper (double-spaced) relating the press article to the original article. Include the main message conveyed in the press article, as well as a summary of the methods and results in the original paper. Reflect on whether the article stays true to the original findings, and if not, how it could have been improved (keeping in mind the media’s need to attract readers, relate findings to issues that interest the public, and simplify complexities). Include a copy of the press article and original article with your assignment.
Final project: Grant proposal
Sign up in groups of 3 students by September 26th by emailing your groups to the TA. You may work with whomever you like. Ideally, pick one of the papers on the course outline. Identify a major unanswered question of scientific and/or clinical importance related to the topic of that paper. You may also use topics not covered by a class paper, but the project must be germane to music and neuroscience. As a group, you will prepare an experiment proposal that addresses this question. Your group will present the proposal in class and defend it by answering questions from classmates and the instructors. You will write up the proposal individually.
Steps to take:
- Brainstorm as a group to pick a question that is both interesting and can be answered.
- Conduct a thorough literature search in order to understand what is currently known about the question and synthesize this literature into an introduction.
- Design an experiment or set of experiments to answer the question. Define the dependent and independent variables. Construct null and alternative hypotheses.
- Outline the rationale for the proposed experiments.
- Discuss how the experiments will answer the question. Address the broader significance of the potential findings.
Groups will be set up during the first few weeks of class by signing up on Owl. All members of the group must be actively involved, but you can divide the work however you see fit. You will have some class time to ask questions about the project. Of course you will need to spend additional time outside of class hours.
Progress report on grant proposal (3% of total mark) due 12 pm October 17th
A group progress report of less than one page (single or double-spaced) must be submitted outlining what you have accomplished to date and evaluating how the group is working together. Reports with detail about the project will be able to receive feedback.
Oral presentation of grant proposal (15% of total mark) presented on November 28th & Dec 5th
Each group will give a 15-minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of questions and discussion. Evaluation will be based on clarity and style of presentation, adequate consideration of background literature, clear presentation of proposed methods and predicted results, and evidence of preparation. If there is a disparity of more than 10% between the group presentation mark and an individual’s written proposal mark, the weighting will change by 5% to favour the written mark (10% on oral presentation, 25% on written project). For example, if the group oral presentation mark is 65 and one individual’s written proposal mark is 80, the oral presentation will count for 10% of the total mark and the written proposal will count for 25% of the total mark for that individual. If the difference between the oral and written mark for an individual is less than 10 points, the original weightings (15% for oral, 20% for written) will remain. If the group presentation mark is better than the written mark, no adjustments will be made.
Written grant proposal (20% of total mark) due at 12 pm on November 21st
Each individual must submit a written proposal that is no longer than 8 pages (typed double spaced with 12-point font and margins of 1 inch) excluding figures, references and any appendices (e.g., a questionnaire). The oral presentation and development of experimental ideas are group activities, but the written proposal is done independently by each group member. The written proposal must be submitted on Owl by 12 pm. The proposal needs to include the following parts:
- Introduction/rationale section.
The introduction should describe the research question, why it is important, how it relates to previous research, and how the proposed study will extend our knowledge of the topic in question. The introduction does not have to provide a comprehensive overview of the available research related to the research question; however, it is expected that students complete a literature search (e.g., PsycINFO) to identify existing studies that are relevant for their research proposal. The identified studies should be included in the introduction with a discussion of how the proposed study expands on earlier research.
- Proposed methods section, including identification of dependent and independent variables and of null and alternative hypotheses. Be sure to give a rationale for particular experimental choices (stimuli, task, participants), particularly if these were to avoid extraneous or confounding variables.
- Results section explaining what would be concluded if various results were found. It is not necessary to outline how the results would be analyzed, but reference to simple statistical concepts (e.g., mean values, t-tests, correlations, etc.) is generally expected.
- Conclusion section outlining the potential significance of the results.
- References. The proposal should include a bibliographic listing of all references cited in the proposal. Papers should be edited according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th or later edition.).
- Abstract. 250 words or less. See published abstracts—should include a sentence or two each on background, rationale, methods, results, and conclusion.
Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the following four criteria: introduction of the research question (how well is the research question introduced and is it appropriately linked to relevant research in this area?); creativity and importance (how creative and important is the research question?); soundness of method (does the proposed study provide a good test of the hypotheses?); and clarity and style (is the logic clear, are the experimental choices justified, and proposal well written and properly edited with good structure?).
Peer feedback and review of a grant proposal (10% of total mark) due at 11:59 pm, December 5th online
Each individual student (not a group assignment) will be assigned to write an evaluation of the written report from another group. The evaluation must be no longer than two pages (typed double spaced with 12-point font and margins of 1 inch). It should contain of the following parts:
- Two or three sentence summary of the research proposed.
- Evaluation of whether the report and presentation provides a good background and rationale for the proposed research.
- Evaluation of whether the experiments are logical and whether they will answer the question(s) proposed.
- Evaluation of any potential flaws in the experimental design that will make interpretation of the data difficult.
- Evaluation of whether the proposed research is interesting, novel and important.
- Summary of the strengths and weaknesses, and indication of whether you would recommend funding.
5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
Late Assignments: Without submitted documentation (academic consideration from Academic Counselling), a late penalty of 10% of the assignment’s value per day will be applied to papers submitted after the deadline. If you have received academic consideration for this assignment, the deadline will be adjusted as recommended by Academic Counselling.
Final oral presentations will be rescheduled only with documented academic consideration.
PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.
This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
3 Written critiques due throughout the term (as per sign-up in first week)
2 In-class critiques due throughout term (as announced at beginning of class)
Oct 17: Progress report on grant proposal
Oct 24: Press article critique
Nov 21: Written grant proposal
Nov 28 or Dec 5(random draw): Oral presentation of grant proposal
Dec 6: Peer review of grant proposal
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE: Readings are to be read in advance of class (except Week 1)
Readings, topics subject to updates and change
* = required reading, Supplementary reading is strongly recommended but not required.
- = papers for article critiques
September 12th [Week 1] Lecture: Introduction, evolution
~Sign up for article critiques by September 15th
*McDermott & Hauser, 2005: The origins of music: innateness, uniqueness, and evolution
*https://nautil.us/issue/99/universality/what-makes-music-universal
*https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/the-evolution-of-music/
*Ch 2/3 of Tan: Acoustics of music (p. 9-18)/Sound and neurophysiology of hearing
Ch 3/4 Ward: The electrophysiological brain/The imaged brain (required if your background in neuroscience does not include these methods)
Ch 1 of Levitin: Useful and readable descriptions of music terminology (required if your background does not include musical training)
Additional supplementary material and music notation demos on course website.
September 19th [Week 2] Lecture: Pitch processing in music
*Stewart, 2012: Characterizing congenital amusia
-*Loui, Wu, Wessel, & Knight, 2009: A generalized mechanism for perception of pitch patterns.
*Isabelle Peretz: https://youtu.be/YYym_6wdZTw?t=89
Supplementary: Peretz, 2016: Neurobiology of Congenital Amusia.
September 26th [Week 3] Lecture: Rhythm, beat perception, and metre
~Sign up for grant project groups by September 26th
-*Nozaradan, Peretz, Missal, Mouraux, 2011: Tagging the neuronal entrainment to beat and meter.
-*Grahn & Brett, 2007: Rhythm and beat processing in motor areas of the brain
*https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-beasts-that-keep-the-beat-20160322/
Supplementary: Levitin, Grahn, London 2018: The Psychology of Music: Rhythm and Movement
October 3rd [Week 4] Lecture: Expectation & Emotion
Guest Lecture: Dr. Elizabeth Kinghorn (professor at Huron College)
*Ch 14 of Tan: The emotional power of music
-*Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher, & Zatorre, 2011: Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music.
-*Mas-Herrero, Zatorre, Rodriguez-Fornells, Marco-Pallares, 2014: Dissociation between musical and monetary reward responses in specific musical anhedonia
*David Huron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7FdMwWhGe8 [can skip minutes 9-14 w/musical interlude, then end at 37.5 minutes in]
Supplementary: Trainor & Zatorre, 2016: The neurobiological basis of musical expectations.
October 10th [Week 5] In-class exercises/Work on projects/TBA
*Mehr, 2015. Miscommunication of science: Music cognition research in the popular press
*How music affects the brain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRE624795zU
October 17th [Week 6] Lecture: Music and Language
~Progress Report due
-*Slevc, Rosenberg, & Patel, 2009: Making psycholinguistics musical: Self-paced reading time: evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax
-*Koelsch, Kasper, Sammler, Schulze, Gunter & Friederici, 2004: Music, language and meaning: brain signatures of semantic processing.
Supplementary: Ch 4 of Tan: Neuroscience of Music
October 24th [Week 7] Lecture: Music & Development
~Press Article Critique due October 24th
*Hannon & Trainor, 2007: Music acquisition: effects of enculturation and formal training on development
-*Winkler et al., 2009: Newborn infants detect the beat in music
-*Phillips-Silver & Trainor, 2005: Feeling the Beat: Movement Influences Infant Rhythm Perception
~~~ October 39th to November 5th: Reading Week, No Class ~~~
November 7th [Week 8] Lecture: Brain Plasticity and Structure
*Jakobson and Cuddy, 2019: Music training and transfer effects (first 5 pages only)
-*Steele, Bailey, Zatorre, Penhune, 2013: Early musical training and white-matter plasticity in the corpus callosum: Evidence for a sensitive period
-*Elbert, Candia, Altenmuller, Rau, Sterr, Rockstroh, Pantev & Taub, 1998: Alteration of digital representations in somatosensory cortex in focal hand dystonia
*https://lt.org/publication/how-does-making-music-change-brain-depending-starting-age [short video]
Supplementary: Schellenberg, 2005: Music and Cognitive Abilities
November 14th [Week 9] Lecture: Neuropsychological studies and applications of music.
-*Finke, Esfahani, Ploner, 2012: Preservation of musical memory in an amnesic professional cellist
-*Nieuwboer et al. 2007: Cueing training in the home improves gait-related mobility in Parkinson’s disease: the RESCUE trial
*Norton, Zipse, Marchina, & Schlaug, 2009: Melodic intonation therapy: shared insights on how it is done and why it might help.
*https://musicformymind.com/the-inspirational-story-of-how-music-helped-gabby-giffords-get-her-life-back/ [short video]
Supplementary: Quintin, Lense, & Tramo, 2018: Amusia and other disorders affecting musicality (read any sections that look interesting)
November 21st [Week 10] In-class exercises/TBA
~All written proposals due at 12 pm
November 28th [Week 11] Grant Presentations
December 5th [Week 12] Grant Presentations
~All peer reviews due at 11:55 pm the following day, Dec 6th, online
8.0 LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offences. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE
If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf
* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
- For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.
https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.
12.0 CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR RETURN TO LOCKDOWN: IN-PERSON & BLENDED CLASSES
In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.
13.0 STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE
In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:
- please “arrive” to class on time
- please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
- please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
- to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
- In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
- In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
- Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting
The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:
- If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
- Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
- Self-identify when speaking.
- Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).
General considerations of “netiquette”:
- Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
- Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
- Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
- Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.
Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.
14.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca
Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.
