first week assignments fiu law

This course will examine the interaction between psychology and the legal system. It will convey an understanding why the broad study of human behavior should include the study of law as society’s primary instrument to control human behaviors. The course will discuss legal psychology as a vibrant and new area of research that has grown tremendously over the past 35 years. The course will cover the major topics represented in the field of Psychology and Law and put each topic in the context of existing cognitive and social psychological theories. The primary focus will be on how psychological research can contribute to a better understanding of issues related to law or the legal process, how the legal system can be informed by the results of psychological research, and how psychological research can be more reactive to legal issues. For example, topics addressed will include the reliability of child and adult eyewitness testimony, factors that affect jury decision making, law enforcement techniques such as interrogation; the clinical determination of insanity, competence and future dangerousness; myths associated with psychological profiling; the sexual victimization of women and children; race and the law, and juvenile justice. This course is an elective for most majors.

Students will be able to:

Please review the as it contains essential information regarding guidelines relevant to all courses at FIU and additional information on the standards for acceptable netiquette important for online courses.

Academic misconduct in any form is a very serious matter, and will not be tolerated in this class. The term academic misconduct includes (but is not limited to) the following acts: cheating on examinations, turning in another person’s work as your own, including another person’s words or ideas in your writing without crediting the source, or engaging in behaviors that prevent other students in the class from succeeding. Students who engage in academic misconduct will be sanctioned. Please refer to the Student Handbook for more information.

One of the greatest barriers to taking an online course is a lack of basic computer literacy. By computer literacy we mean being able to manage and organize computer files efficiently, and learning to use your computer's operating system and software quickly and easily. Keep in mind that this is not a computer literacy course; but students enrolled in online courses are expected to have moderate proficiency using a computer. Please go to the " " page to find out more information on this subject.

This course utilizes the following tools:

For detailed information about the technical requirements, please .

For detailed information about the specific limitations with the technologies used in this course, please .

For more information about Blackboard's Accessibility Commitment, .

For additional assistance please contact our .

There are no prerequisites for this course.

to buy your textbook online at the FIU Bookstore.

The format for this class is completely online. You will be required to read the assigned chapters in their entirety, post weekly blogs about material or group presentations posted on each week’s webpage, take five online quizzes (lowest grade will be dropped), take two online exams, participate in one group presentation, rate your group members and participate in online discussions with your classmates. There will be supplemental material posted to help you gain mastery of the readings. This material may include newspaper or scholarly articles, practice quizzes, and links to websites and video material. These resources will help you understand the material; however they are NOT a substitute for reading the assigned chapters in the required textbooks. The most important piece of advice is to check the course on a daily basis and ask questions if you are unsure about things. You can expect a response to your Blackboard email within 48 hours. Please copy myself and the teaching assistant on each email.

Tips for Success in your online course, .

Online Etiquette,

Online courses are special in that they require that students be self-motivated. All students are REQUIRED to regularly check their Course Mail, the Announcement Forum and the Discussion Forum area. Remember, your blogs to the discussion board make up a significant portion of your grade.
Tips

Communication in this course will take place via

Messages are a private and secure text-based communication that occurs within a Course and among Course members. Users must log on to Blackboard to send/receive/read messages. The Messages tool is located on the left side Course Menu (Blackboard user interface). It is recommended that students check their messages routinely to ensure up-to-date communication. 

For more information on professional writing and technical communication .

Keep in mind that forum discussions are public, and care should be taken when determining what to post.

 During the first 3 weeks of the semester, each student is required to post a blog for each of the week’s blogging materials posted. Specifically, for each material (article or video), you are expected to relate it back to the week’s topic and theoretical and applied relevance. After week 3, group presentations will start and each student is then required to post a blog about each week’s group presentation on the class website. The average quality of all blogs posted per person will constitute 10% of the person’s final grade.

Your blogs should be critically reflecting on each week’s postings (either material or group presentation), relate it back to the week’s chapter and will be graded based on your ability to connect the two in a thoughtful and coherent way. Keep in mind that these posts are meant to flow as dialogue between all students enrolled in the class. It is very important that you reference your readings in these weekly posts as just making a post does not guarantee points. Your grade for each post will be based on the QUALITY of your response. Hence, giving blanket “I agree/I disagree” answers will not be accepted. It is also important that you read the week’s posting in its entirety (material or group presentation). I highly recommend reading previous posts so that you do not write similar ideas. Again, part of the grading criteria includes the student’s ability to add value to the ongoing discussion via connecting the material with information from the book and possibly outside sources. Weekly postings should be no longer than two paragraphs and should show your understanding of the week's readings.

Grading Criteria for Blogs:

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the "Practice Quiz" from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes and exams. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer meets the minimum .

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the "Practice Quiz" from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes and exams. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer meets the minimum . Assessments in this course are not compatible with mobile devices and should not be taken through a mobile phone or a tablet. If you need further assistance please contact FIU Online Support Services.

Important information regarding exams:

During the first week of the semester all students will have to . The teaching assistant will then post the official group formations on the class website. For your group presentation, you will have to read the assigned (empirical research articles), how the information will be structured and gather ancillary information to create a powerpoint presentation summarizing the article and linking its contents to the assigned textbook chapter. On the morning of the first day of the week your group presentation is due (MONDAY), your group will have to on the class website for your classmates to read and comment on. Please post your group presentation no later than 9am on Monday. Each group member will have to contribute substantially and clearly mark their individual part of the group presentation. Please make sure that you summarize and depict each article . Plagiarism is a reason to fail this class.

After each group presentation has been posted, group members of each group will rate each other’s contribution on an “extra credit” scale (0 to 10%). Each group member’s average rating will then be added as extra credit to his or her final grade at the end of the semester. It is therefore important to ensure that you contribute to your group’s presentation in a significant and collegial way as perceived/decided by your group members. All peer ratings will be confidential, that is, other group members will not be able to see how you rated them.