To Understand Sleep & Dreaming - Flex Class

Class Experience
An interesting topic in Psychology when Consciousness is covered is the topic of Sleep. We tend to take sleep for granted and do not think about how complicated of a process it is, how important to our well-being it is both physically and psychologically and what is going on when we dream. 

4 weeks:
Week 1: Introduction to Consciousness - specifically the altered state of consciousness we refer to as sleep. The stages of sleep will be introduced, both REM and Non-Rem stages, as well as what occurs in the body during each stage. 
Week 2: Sleep Disorders that can interfere with sleep will be discussed - REM Behavior Disorder will be included in this discussion. What can interfere with circadian rhythms and a healthy night's sleep? How much sleep do I need? Am I a morning person or a night owl? Does the theory that teenagers' biological clocks push them to stay up late and then sleep later in the morning hold true with the students in the class? 
Week 3 - The Process of Dreaming will be explained - Different Theories of Dreaming will be introduced and discussed  - Is Dream Analysis an accurate tool to use - can we ever figure out truly what our dreams mean? What are the students personal thoughts on this? We will discuss lucid dreaming and whether we can control the content of our dreams. 
Week 4 - Nonmedical ways to deal with insomnia issues will be discussed - Effects of exercise and nutrition on sleep patterns.

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.

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.