Psychology 2075-001
Human Sexuality
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
A survey of the psychological study of human sexual behaviour. Topics include history, methodology, theory, anatomy, physiology, attraction, sexual function, sexual orientation, contraception, conception and birth, sexual health and sexual coercion, and pornography.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Corey Isaacs
Office: SSC 7440
Office Hours: Tuesdays 5:30 – 6:30 pm (by appointment)
Email: cisaacs3@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistants: TBA (information will be posted on OWL)
Time and Location of Classes: Tuesdays at 2:30 – 5:30 pm in NSC 1
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ 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 wish to contact Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Hyde, J. S., DeLamater, J. D., & Byers, E. S. (2018). Understanding Human Sexuality (7th Canadian Edition). Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
I always recommend that students use the assigned edition of the course textbook, as there are several changes between editions. While you may be able to use the previous (i.e., 6th Canadian) edition of this textbook without too many problems, you absolutely should not use any earlier edition of this textbook or any other textbook.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to be an introduction to the study of human sexuality. The primary focus of the course will be on psychological issues related to sexuality but biological, sociological, and cultural topics will be also included. The course will cover a broad range of topics such as theory and research on sexuality, anatomy, gender, attraction, sexual behaviour and disorders, sexual coercion and assault, and sex in the media.
Students taking this course can expect to become more comfortable with and more knowledgeable about a wide range of sexual issues. It is also expected that students will learn to think critically about the scientific study of human sexuality and become more informed consumers of sex research.
Please note that this course will involve explicit consideration, readings, imagery, and discussion of these topics, behaviours, and experiences.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
This course provides a broad introduction to theories and findings regarding the scientific study of human sexuality. By the end of this course, successful students should have achieved the following outcomes:
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
|
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge Identify and describe the biological, psychological, and social factors that influence human sexuality |
Readings, Lectures, Discussions, Self-Tests, Optional Essay |
Exams, Online Discussions, Optional Essay |
|
Application of Knowledge Apply psychological theories and concepts to the study of human sexuality |
Readings, Lectures, Discussions, Self-Tests, Optional Essay |
Exams, Online Discussions, Optional Essay |
|
Evaluation of Knowledge Critically evaluate theories, research methods, and findings from the study of human sexuality |
Readings, Lectures, Discussions, Self-Tests, Optional Essay |
Exams, Online Discussions, Optional Essay |
|
Awareness of Limits of Knowledge Understand the limits of research conclusions in the context of methodological practices in the field |
Readings, Lectures, Discussions, Self-Tests |
Exams, Online Discussions |
|
Written Communication Skills Communicate ideas clearly and concisely, in language accessible to intelligent non-experts |
Lectures, Discussions, Optional Essay |
Online Discussions, Optional Essay |
5.0 EVALUATION
Evaluation will consist of four multiple-choice exams, an online discussion component, in-class participation via iClicker responses, and an optional essay.
5.1 EXAMS (85% in total)
There will be three midterm exams (worth 20% each) and a final exam (worth 25%). The exams are multiple-choice and will cover material from the lectures and the textbook. The exams are NOT cumulative. See the Course Schedule below for the topics and readings covered on each exam.
All exams will be closed-book—no books, notes, cell phones, or aids of any type will be allowed. Please bring a couple of pencils, a good eraser, a watch, and your student identification to the examinations.
It is recommended that you do NOT bring items such as laptops, backpacks, textbooks, notes, etc. with you to examinations. At the beginning of every examination, you will be asked to place all such items in a common area in the exam room and neither the instructor nor Western can be responsible for theft, damage, or loss of such items.
Tests must be written on the scheduled dates unless you have a legitimate excuse recognized by the university administration (e.g., medical or compassionate reasons). A student who misses a regularly scheduled exam for other reasons, or who cannot justify a claim, will be assigned a grade of zero for the exam.
5.2 ONLINE DISCUSSIONS (10%)
There will be an online discussion posted to OWL each week (approx. 20 throughout the course), and you will be required to participate in any ten of the discussions throughout the year to earn the 10% Online Discussion component of your course grade. You can choose to participate in up to TWO additional discussions, in which case your best ten (out of 11 or 12) discussion grades will be used to calculate your Online Discussion grade. If you participate in more than 12 online discussions, only your FIRST 12 discussions will be graded (any additional discussions will not be considered in your grade calculation).
Your forum grades will be earned based on the quantity and quality of your contributions to these discussions. A successful student in online education is one who takes an active role in the learning process. You are therefore encouraged to participate actively in the discussions to enhance your learning experience throughout the course.
Discussions will be graded for the quality and content of your contributions. Quality posts may include:
- providing additional information to the discussion
- elaborating on previous comments from others
- presenting explanations of concepts or methods to help fellow students
- presenting reasons for or against a topic in a persuasive fashion
- sharing your own personal experiences that relate to the topic
- providing a URL and explanation for a topic you researched on the Internet
For each discussion, you will be assigned a grade out of 4 based on your discussion posts. Grades will be assigned as follows:
0 = Incomplete (no posting, question not answered)
1 = Unsatisfactory (minimal contribution, few if any responses to other students)
2 = Satisfactory (discussion topic addressed, minimal contribution to discussion)
3 = Excellent (posting meets all criteria, provides a valuable contribution to discussion)
4 = Outstanding (posting(s) go beyond basic requirements, present additional information from outside the textbook, and interact well with the other students)
-1 = Penalty for not posting a question prior to the deadline of midnight on Tuesday.
Each discussion will be open for seven days, from 12:05 am on Sunday until 11:55 pm the following Saturday. You will be required to pose at least one question to your group (before midnight on Tuesday) about that week's topic as a starting point for discussion. You will also be required to respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts before 11:55 pm on Saturday. Once the discussion closes, no more posts can be made. Please post early in the week to avoid last-minute problems, and always back up your work (screenshots of your forum posts are ideal), as “technical difficulties” is NOT an acceptable excuse for missing a discussion deadline.
5.3 IN-CLASS PARTICIPATION (5%)
This class will use iClicker Cloud to help promote learning and to increase student interaction and engagement in a large classroom setting. Each week, I will use this tool to take attendance, to promote dynamic discussions, and to make it easier for students to ask questions. Your participation grade will reflect your degree of engagement with iClicker-related activities throughout the course. To earn participation credit, you must engage in at least one component during class.
To use iClicker Cloud, you will need to bring a laptop or mobile device to class. If your electronic device fails during class or you do not have one with you, you can submit your responses to the iClicker questions on a sheet of paper at the end of class to receive credit. It is your responsibility to track your submissions on iClicker to ensure that your participation is properly recorded immediately after each lecture. If none of your submissions were recorded for a lecture, tell your professor before leaving class so your attendance/participation can be recorded.
5.4 OPTIONAL ESSAY (5%, TAKEN FROM LOWEST EXAM GRADE)
You have the OPTION of submitting a 5-page essay, due by midnight on April 3, 2020. If you choose to submit an essay, the weight of your lowest (midterm or final) exam grade will be reduced by 5%. For example, if your lowest grade were on the first midterm, its weight on the final exam would be reduced from 20% to 15% (or from 25% to 20% for the final exam) and the remaining 5% of your course grade would be based on your essay. If you choose NOT to submit an essay, this component will have NO impact on your course grade.
You may write your essay on any sexuality-related topic, but it MUST include: (i) a description of a real-world example of some topic/behaviour related to the course or textbook material, and (ii) an examination of that real-world example that uses one or more theories or perspectives from our course or textbook. The objective is to give you an opportunity to do some research/reading beyond the textbook, and to apply what you’ve learned in the course to a specific, real-world example.
As an example of an applicable essay topic, you might examine/critique an STI public awareness campaign though the lens of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model and/or the theory of planned behaviour. What is the goal of the campaign? Does it seem to be based on any research evidence or relevant scientific theory? How effective do you think the campaign may be, given what you’ve learned about sexual health behaviour? Could it be improved? How?
5.5 IMORTANT NOTES ABOUT GRADES
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://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
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
Exam 1 (chapters 1 – 5) Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 2:30 – 4:30 pm
Exam 2 (chapters 6 – 9) TBA (Dec. 8 – 19)
Exam 3 (chapters 10 – 14) Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 2:30 – 4:30 pm
Exam 4 (chapters 15 – 19) TBA (April 6 – 26)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
DATE |
READING |
TOPIC |
|
Sept. 10 |
---- |
Introduction & Overview |
|
Sept. 17 |
Chapter 1 |
Sexuality in Perspective |
|
Sept. 24 |
Chapter 2 |
Theoretical Perspectives on Sexuality |
|
Oct. 1 |
Chapter 3 |
Sex Research |
|
Oct. 8 |
Chapter 4 |
Sexual Anatomy |
|
Oct. 15 |
Chapter 5 |
Sex Hormones, Sexual Differentiation, and Menstruation |
|
Oct. 22 |
|
EXAM 1 (Chapters 1 – 5) |
|
Oct. 29 |
----- |
GUEST SPEAKER: Pornography Research (Dr. Taylor Kohut) |
|
Nov. 5 |
----- |
NO CLASS – Fall Study Break |
|
Nov. 12 |
Chapter 6 |
Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth |
|
Nov. 19 |
Chapter 7 |
Contraception and Abortion |
|
Nov. 26 |
Chapter 8 |
Sexually Transmitted Infections |
|
Dec. 3 |
Chapter 9 |
Sexual Response |
|
TBA (Dec. 8 – 19) |
EXAM 2 (Chapters 6 – 9) |
|
|
Jan. 7 |
Chapter 10 |
Sexuality in Childhood and Adolescence |
|
Jan. 14 |
Chapter 11 |
Sexuality in Adulthood |
|
Jan. 21 |
Chapter 12 |
Attraction, Love, and Communication |
|
Jan. 28 |
Chapter 13 |
Gender and Sexuality |
|
Feb. 4 |
Chapter 14 |
Sexual Orientation and Identity |
|
Feb. 11 |
|
EXAM 3 (Chapters 10 – 14) |
|
Feb. 18 |
----- |
NO CLASS – Reading Week |
|
Feb. 25 |
Chapter 15 |
Variations in Sexual Behavior |
|
March 3 |
Chapter 16 |
Sexual Coercion |
|
March 10 |
Chapter 17 |
Sex for Sale |
|
March 17 |
Chapter 18 |
Sexual Disorders and Sex Therapy |
|
March 24 |
----- |
GUEST SPEAKER: Sex Therapy (Dr. Joan Clayton) |
|
March 31 |
Chapter 19 |
Sexuality Education |
|
TBA (April 6 – 26) |
EXAM 4 (Chapters 15 – 19) |
|
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://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 offenses. 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 may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
A portion of your grade in this class involves 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 offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
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:
- Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
- 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. The self-reported absence form may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2019-2020 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, 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 lecture notes, wiki material, and other course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
