Week #1 – Introduction to the Science of Social Psychology - Students will be able to define Social Psychology and Social Cognition, as well as recognize the areas of research that are conducted by Social Psychologists. They will be able to identify the many careers that are available to Social Psychologists. 

Employment for Social Psychologists includes:

A.  Conducting research on human behaviors
B.  Practical applications of social psychology by helping organizations hire and train employees; evaluating educational programs to determine if intervention strategies are working; searching for ways to encourage people to reduce pollution; or offering advice to businesses or employees who need help with conflict mediation.
C.  Working at colleges and schools where they conduct research, teach classes and run social psychology laboratories. 
D.  Working for government offices, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, social service agencies and private corporations.
E.  The range of career options for a social psychologist is so varied it may include research, marketing, politics or even technology design.

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. Learners will be assigned a project which includes either a paper or a short video regarding one of the topics that will be covered in the course. The requirements for this paper/video will be posted by week #3 and learners will provide their topic of interest at that time. During week 6, the assignments will be posted to allow for peer review. A video or paper must be posted as part one of the assignment and reviewing another classmate's paper/video will be part two. 

Week #2 -  Social Influences on the Self - Students will learn about self-concept and self-esteem,  the role social comparison plays in self-evaluation and the formation of our social identity as expressed in the Social Identity Theory. This states that one’s social identity is the part of the self-concept that allows them to see themselves as part of larger groups to which they belong. This helps create and maintain social connections and allows for relationships and interactions that are an important part of psychological well-being.It is our sense of who we are based on our group memberships. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #3 -  Social Perception - Students will learn about the processes through which people interpret information about others, draw inferences about them and develop mental representations of them. The role of schemas (mental representations)and how they affect our perceptions will be discussed. Students will learn about biases in social perception such as the potential risks of forming first impressions and the self-fulfilling prophecy. Attributional errors such as the fundamental attribution error, the actor-observer effect and self-serving bias are identified. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #4 - Attitudes - Do attitudes always determine behavior? Students learn the three components of an attitude as well as the definition of an attitude. The role of genetics and social learning in the formation of attitudes. The mere exposure effect in advertising is identified. The student will learn the two routes to attitude change, the elaboration likelihood model and the cognitive dissonance model. The role of cognitive dissonance theory will be discussed as it relates to changing attitudes. Circumstances that lead to cognitive dissonance can vary in different cultures. Europe and North America are individualistic cultures and dissonance occurs as a result of behaving in a manner that goes against one’s own beliefs and causes self-doubt. In Japan and China, which are collectivist cultures, dissonance arises when individuals behave in a manner that causes people to worry about what others are thinking of them.

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 
 
Week #5 - Prejudice and Stereotypes - Students will be able to identify the theories suggested for why prejudice develops. Students will be able to define and recognize stereotypes as well as why stereotypes are so difficult to change in spite of evidence. Students will discuss the concept of social discrimination. Motivational, Cognitive and Learning theories of prejudice and stereotypes will be discussed. Ideas for reducing prejudice will be part of the class discussion. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #6 - Interpersonal Attraction - Students will discuss the sayings "opposites attract" and "birds of a feather flock together" in examining why people like or love others. Keys to attraction such as the environment, similarities and physical attractiveness are discussed. Students will identify the role of relationships in adolescent development. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion.Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. The midterm assessment will be available this week. 

Week #7 - Social Influence - Students will be able to define the process through which individuals and groups directly and indirectly influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Social norms will be examined including both injunctive norms and descriptive norms. The social norm of reciprocity will be discussed as well as the power of social influence on the concept of deindividuation. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #8 - Conformity & Compliance - Students will examine why individuals conform and comply with requests or pressure as a result of social norms. Public conformity versus public acceptance will be discussed. The classic experiment of Solomon Asch will be examined and the results of the study will be reviewed regarding conforming. Another study that will be reviewed is the study by Muzafer Sherif on creating a group norm. Students will be able to identify three techniques for creating compliance - the foot-in-the-door technique, the door-in-the-face technique and the lowball technique.

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #9 - Obedience - Students will review the research of Stanley Milgram's Shock Experiment. The purpose of the experiment, the actual set up of the experiment and the findings will be discussed as they relate to the concept of obedience. Ethical issues surrounding this experiment will be discussed. Factors affecting obedience will be identified.

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #10 - Aggression & Frustration - Are individuals born aggressive or is it learned? Genetic and biological mechanisms versus learning and cultural mechanisms will be examined. Research regarding the effects of violent video games and media on acts of aggression will be discussed. The Bobo doll experiment will be discussed as well as the frustration-aggression hypothesis.

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #11 - Prosocial Behavior - Identification of prosocial behavior and the difference between prosocial behavior and altruism will be discussed. Students will discuss the reasons people help others such as explained by the cost-reward theory of arousal. Students will be able to identify several factors that influence a person's willingness to provide assistance. The bystander effect will be explained and the assault and death of Kitty Genovese in New York will be discussed as it relates to the bystander effect. 
Students will learn about the empathy-altruism helping theory as well as biopsychosocial factors in prosocial behavior. The role of personality and environmental factors in helping behavior will also be reviewed. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. 

Week #12 - Group Processes - Social facilitation, social interference and social loafing will be defined. The roles of individuals in a group setting will be discussed. Students will be able to identify group processes such as groupthink and deindividuation. How groups make decisions will be discussed as well as how group leadership is determined. 

Discussion questions will be posted in the classroom on Sunday evening. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesday and at least two responses to classmates' posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday to the Outschool classroom. The instructor will be facilitating the discussion. Some discussion questions will be based on assigned individual or team activities. The final assessment will be available this week. 

Course Structure:
This class will not meet weekly on video chat but will have active participation in the classroom with both the teacher and their peers. Students will have pre-recorded lectures of the lesson which covers the topic of the week and will have questions to answer following each lecture. Powerpoints and hand-outs of vocabulary and notes will supplement each video. The video and powerpoint/hand-outs will be available on Sunday evening at midnight for each week's upcoming lesson. Initial responses to discussion questions will be due on Wednesdays of each week and responses to classmate's posts in the Outschool classroom will be due on Friday. Assigned activities will be due on Fridays each week. Students can submit work to the instructor via private classroom message.The instructor will provide weekly feedback on activities and will facilitate the weekly discussion in the Outschool classroom. 

Team and group activities will be completed that allow learners to apply the course material to real world scenarios. These activities can include but are not limited to puzzles, role plays, and internet resources.  Discussion question prompts will be posed to the learners in the Outschool classroom each week and learners will be expected to respond to the discussion question as well as to other classmates and/or the instructor asynchronously. Students will be asked to answer questions relevant to the topic each week, based on their opinion and will be asked to share this through the outschool classroom tab. Learners will be assigned a project which includes either a paper or a short video regarding one of the topics that will be covered in the course. The requirements for this paper/video will be posted by week #3 and learners will provide their topic of interest at that time. During week 6, the assignments will be posted to allow for peer review. A video or paper must be posted as part one of the assignment and reviewing another classmate's paper/video will be part two. 

This class is a flexible class set up and all posts/communication will be made directly in the Outschool Classroom. We will interact directly on the Outschool Classroom and use other resources as supplementary tools. 

Students will participate in class each week by watching the video lesson, engaging in interactive activities, participating in peer discussion questions on the classroom page, and engaging in team/group activities to allow for more peer to peer engagement.    

Prior experience in psychology will not be necessary. The instructor will provide the option of live video chat if any student requests a face to face meeting. Because this class is for a grade, assessments will be given in the form of a midterm and a final exam.