Sample Syllabus
PSYCH 295 Three-Credit Field Experience for Student X (Semester YEAR)
Brad Pinter, Ph.D.
129A Smith Building
814-949-5507
[email protected]
Course Description: PSYCH 295 is intended to provide students with a first exposure to a professional work setting related to Psychology. Students will assist a professional to gain insight and experience they will reflect on and relate to an academic focus. The experience is intended only for sophomore or junior students.
Prerequisites: Students must have earned at least a C in PSYCH 100 and either PSYCH 270 (for a clinical psychology field experience) or PSYCH 212 (for a developmental psychology field experience).
Credit Hours/Course Limits. PSYCH 295 is available only as a three credit course. Students are limited to taking one PSYCH 295 course in their academic career.
Course Requirements: The central course requirement is the completion of 120 hours on site. In a 15-week semester, this means the student will be on site 8 hours /week. Depending on the nature of the experience, students may compress their required hours into a shorter time frame. Adequate performance in the completion of the required hours will be worth 50% of the final grade. Note that the site supervisor’s evaluation will play a large part in determining the adequacy of the site performance.
As part of the academic component of the course, students will complete a journal assignment in which they will describe and reflect on their experiences, particularly as they relate to a relevant academic focus. For instance, for one journal entry a student might describe a site experience and analyze it in terms of a concept learned in PSYCH 270. Students will also complete a summary assignment in which they “pull everything together” and evaluate what they’ve learned and how this experience will influence their academic/work future. The weekly journal assignments will be worth 30% of the final grade. The summary assignment will be worth 20% of the final grade.
