Psychology 2076A-001 (Online for 2020-21)
The Psychology of Sex
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
This course explores human sexual behaviour from a psychological perspective. Topics include historical perspectives on sexual behaviour; theory and methodology in sex research; the physiology and development of sexual function; gender and sexual orientation; attraction, love and sex in relationships; sexual health; coercion; and sex work.
ANTIREQUISITE: Psychology 2075
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So 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.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Corey Isaacs
Office Hours: Tuesdays @ 2:30 – 5:30 PM (by appointment)
Email: cisaacs3@uwo.ca
The best way to contact me is by email. Please include “Psych 2076A-001” in the subject line of any email you send, and send emails only from your Western email account. I will always do my best to respond to your email within 48 hours, but during busy times it may take a little longer.
Teaching Assistant: Adira Daniel
Office Hours: TBA (see OWL)
Email: adanie48@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: This course will be offered online asynchronously—you will not be required to “attend” any weekly class sessions.
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.
There are a few options for purchasing this textbook. The digital version (i.e., McGraw-Hill Connect) includes additional resources that may be quite useful; however, you are NOT required to purchase online access or a new textbook if you prefer to buy a used/physical copy of the textbook.
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
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 |
|
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 |
|
Apply psychological theories and concepts to the study of human sexuality |
Readings, Lectures, Discussions, Self-Tests, Optional Essay |
Exams, Online Discussions, Optional Essay |
|
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 |
|
Understand the limits of research conclusions in the context of methodological practices in the field |
Readings, Lectures, Discussions, Self-Tests |
Exams, Online Discussions |
|
Communicate ideas clearly and concisely, in language accessible to intelligent non-experts |
Lectures, Discussions, Optional Essay |
Online Discussions, Optional Essay |
5.0 EVALUATION
5.1 EXAMS (75% of final mark)
This class includes two midterm exams (each worth 20%) and a final exam (worth 35%), which will be administered synchronously online. Exams will cover material from both the textbook and the OWL Lessons. The final exam will be cumulative (i.e., it will assess material from the entire course), with an emphasis on material from Lessons 9 – 11.
Exams will be administered via OWL and will require attending a Zoom meeting for the duration of the exam. You must have a working webcam installed for each exam session. While the exams are open-book, you are expected to work independently.
5.2 MAKEUP EXAMS
Students who fail to write an exam at the scheduled time will receive a grade of zero unless they receive approval from their Academic Dean’s office. There will be no makeup exams for the midterms. If a student is absent from a midterm exam with permission from their Academic Dean’s office, that portion of their course grade will be reassigned to the relevant portion of the final exam (i.e., the portion of the final exam that covers the material tested on the missed midterm). The final exam makeup may be in a different format (e.g., short-answer, essay) from the regular exam.
5.3 EXAM PROCTORING
Tests and examinations in this course will be conducted using Zoom. You will be required to keep your camera on for the entire session, hold up your student card for identification purposes, and share your screen with the invigilator if asked to do so at any time during the exam.
More information about the use of Zoom for exam invigilation is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines at this link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf
Completion of this course will require you to have a reliable internet connection and a device that meets the system requirements for Zoom. Information about the system requirements are available at the following link: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
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.
5.4 ONLINE DISCUSSIONS (25% of final mark)
There will be an online discussion posted to OWL each week (11 throughout the course), and you will be required to participate in any FIVE of the discussions throughout the term to earn the 25% Online Discussions component of your course grade. You can choose to participate in six discussions, in which case your best five out of six discussion grades will be used to calculate your Online Discussions grade. If you participate in more than six discussions, your grade will be based only on the FIRST SIX—any additional discussions beyond the first six will not be graded. The ‘Introduce Yourself!’ forum is NOT graded, nor is the ‘Sexual Knowledge Survey’ associated with that forum.
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 Monday.
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 post at least one question to your group (before midnight on Monday) about the previous 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.
5.5 OPTIONAL ESSAY (5% of final mark, taken from lowest exam grade)
You have the OPTION of submitting a 5-page essay (see the Assignments page on OWL for full details). If you choose to submit an essay, the weight of your lowest (midterm or final) exam grade will be reduced by 5%, and that 5% portion of your course grade will be based on your essay instead. If you choose NOT to submit an essay, this component will have NO impact on your course grade. The essay is due by midnight on Friday, December 4th, 2020. There is a 10% per day late penalty, and the absolute latest that it can be submitted is Wednesday, December 9th, 2020.
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?
5.6 IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT GRADES
Please note that there are no additional options for course credit, and course grades will not be rounded up nor increased on the basis of things like program requirements. Exceptions to the course grading scheme will only be made if academic accommodations have been approved by your Faculty Dean’s Office.
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
Midterm Exam 1 (Lessons 1 - 4) Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020
Midterm Exam 2 (Lessons 5 - 8) Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020
Final Exam (Cumulative, emphasizing Lessons 9 - 11) TBA (Dec. 11 – 22, 2020)
Online Discussions Open Sunday – Saturday each week
Optional Essay due by midnight on Friday, December 4, 2020
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Changes to the class schedule will be announced on the OWL course website. Students are responsible for being aware of announcements made on OWL.
|
DATES |
LESSON |
READING |
TOPIC |
||||
|
Sept. 9 - 12 |
----- |
----- |
Introductions |
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|
Sept. 13 - 19 |
Lesson 1 |
Chapter 1 |
Sexuality in Perspective |
||||
|
Sept. 20 - 26 |
Lesson 2 |
Chapter 2 |
Theoretical Perspectives on Sexuality |
||||
|
Sept. 27 - Oct. 3 |
Lesson 3 |
Chapter 3 |
Sex Research |
||||
|
Oct. 4 - 10 |
Lesson 4 |
Chapter 9 |
Sexual Response & Techniques |
||||
|
Wednesday, Oct. 14 @ 7:00 – 8:00 PM |
MIDTERM EXAM 1 (Lessons 1 – 4) |
||||||
|
Oct. 11 - 17 |
Lesson 5 |
Chapter 13 |
Gender & Sexuality |
||||
|
Oct. 18 - 24 |
Lesson 6 |
Chapter 14 |
Sexual Orientation & Identity |
||||
|
Oct. 25 - 31 |
Lesson 7 |
Chapter 12 |
Attraction, Love, & Communication |
||||
|
Nov. 1 - 7 |
----- |
READING WEEK – NO CLASSES |
|||||
|
Nov. 8 - 14 |
Lesson 8 |
Chapter 15 |
Variations in Sexual Behaviour |
||||
|
Wednesday, Nov. 18 @ 7:00 – 8:00 PM |
MIDTERM EXAM 2 (Lessons 5 – 8) |
||||||
|
Nov. 15 - 21 |
Lesson 9 |
Chapter 18 |
Sexual Disorders & Therapies |
||||
|
Nov. 22 - 28 |
Lesson 10 |
Chapter 16 |
Sexual Coercion |
||||
|
Nov. 29 - Dec. 5 |
Lesson 11 |
Chapter 17 |
Sex for Sale |
||||
|
Dec. 6 - 9 |
----- |
----- |
Study Time |
||||
|
TBD (Dec. 11–22, 2020) |
FINAL EXAM (Cumulative; Emphasis on Lessons 9-11) |
||||||
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.
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
- 2020-2021 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.
