Course Syllabus, Weekly Schedule, and Grading Criteria

Course Syllabus: Explore the full Course Syllabus for basic info, including the Course Description and Essential Objectives.

I offer one "Free Week" of 5 points for personal use (e.g., debilitating sickness or family emergency) for non-exam weeks; other than that, no points can be earned for a missed discussion. Due to the collegial, interactive nature of the Discussion Q&A, assignments can neither be made up in the following week's Discussion, nor emailed to me for credit.

You may be penalized for work posted after the four specific due days. Even so, if you miss those deadlines, please post as much of the assigned work as possible before the week ends. All of it and on time is best, some of it and late is better than not at all.

For non-exam Discussion weeks when you need more time to complete the assignments, I offer two 48-hour late passes to avoid possible penalties. See "Free Week & Late Passes" in the Course Resources Module.

 

Weekly Assignments: Summer 2026 (May 26 - August 17)

• Interacting with classmates is an essential part of online discussions and cannot be made up after the fact.

Interacting with your course colleagues is not only required, it's the cornerstone of our online discussions and your learning, and it cannot be made up after a week has ended. Your work should be posted no earlier than Tuesday morning and no later than Monday night, including participating fully in the Q&A.

You must post at least once during the 24/7 class week to be marked Present. While it's always better to post late before the week ends than not at all, if you miss a week, you can't make up the old assignments and must move on to the new week.

Start your work by carefully reading the current week's Announcement, Guide, and Discussion instructions. Taken together, they provide the information you need to successfully complete the week's assignments and the course.

If you encounter technical problems with your computer or connection--which happens to all of us periodically--please post from your nearest CCV academic center, your local public library, a wifi cafe, or by using a public wifi hotspot.

 

Week One, May 26 - June 1: Why Study Psychopathology? Read, listen to, and/or view the week’s case studies and assigned sources. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Course Description: This course is an introduction to the study of psychopathology which explores the description, classification, and treatment of mental disorders. Topics will include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and childhood disorders. Essential Objectives: 1. Analyze the shifting concept of maladaptive behavior within the cross-cultural spectrum of human conduct, and 6. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Two, June 2 - 8: Moral Treatment & Asylum. Read, listen to, and/or view the week’s case studies and assigned sources. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 2. Describe the development of psychopathology as a scientific discipline, and 5. Identify and analyze several legal and ethical issues surrounding the research and treatment of mental disorders.

Week Three, June 9 - 15: Coercion & Force in Treatment. Read, listen to, and/or view the week’s case studies and assigned sources. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objective: 5. Identify and analyze several legal and ethical issues surrounding the research and treatment of mental disorders.

Week Four, June 16 - 22: Diagnosis and Treatment. Read, listen to, and/or view the week’s case studies and assigned sources. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 1. Analyze the shifting concept of maladaptive behavior within the cross-cultural spectrum of human conduct, and 5. Identify and analyze several legal and ethical issues surrounding the research and treatment of mental disorders.

Week Five, June 23 - 29: Women & the Mental Health System. Read, listen to, and/or view the week’s case studies and all of the required references. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 6. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature, and 7. Locate, select, and effectively use research materials that address specific problems in psychopathology.

Week Six, June 30 - July 6, Midterm Exam: Psychological Theories. Read, listen to, or view all of the required references. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least FIVE (5) of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 2. Describe the development of psychopathology as a scientific discipline, and 3. Compare and contrast the major paradigms in psychopathology including biological, psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and sociocultural models.

Week Seven, July 7 - 13: Crazy! For a case study this week, select a specific example of popular entertainment that focused on madness or maladaptive behavior (e.g., from a movie, book, magazine article, song or album, video/DVD, TV show, online diversion). Read, listen to, and/or view all e-sources provided. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 2. Describe the development of psychopathology as a scientific discipline, and 4. Describe common symptoms and treatments of mental disorders including anxiety, mood, somatic, dissociative, sexual, and psychotic disorders.

Week Eight, July 14 - 20: Sexuality. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work.Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 4. Describe common symptoms and treatments of mental disorders including anxiety, mood, somatic, dissociative, sexual, and psychotic disorders, and 6. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Nine, July 21- 27: Childhood Challenges. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 4. Describe common symptoms and treatments of mental disorders including anxiety, mood, somatic, dissociative, sexual, and psychotic disorders, and 6. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Ten, July 28 - August 3: Madness and Spirituality. Read, listen to, or view all of the required references. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case studies and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 1. Analyze the shifting concept of maladaptive behavior within the cross-cultural spectrum of human conduct, 3. Compare and contrast the major paradigms in psychopathology including biological, psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and sociocultural models, and 4. Describe common symptoms and treatments of mental disorders including anxiety, mood, somatic, dissociative, sexual, and psychotic disorders.

Week Eleven, August 4 - 10, Final Exam, Part 1: Who Leads for Psych-Diagnosed Vermonters? Post your personal reflection identifying your nominee and your full leadership nomination with embedded media, and reply to any questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least five (5) of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objective: 7. Locate, select, and effectively use research materials that address specific problems in psychopathology.

Week Twelve, August 11 - 17, Final Exam, Part 2: First-Person Psychopathology. Post your self-assessment of learning in this course and a fictional account of your future career as a licensed provider, and then reply to any questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least five (5) of your colleagues' posts.Course Description: This course is an introduction to the study of psychopathology which explores the description, classification, and treatment of mental disorders. Topics will include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and childhood disorders. Essential Objective: 6. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

 

Grading Criteria:

1. DISCUSSIONS. Participation at our nine regular Discussions will account for 45 percent of your grade (for 0 to 45 possible points). You can earn a maximum of five points each week by:

-- Hosting your own thread by posting an initial reflection and a final report (500 words or more with correct APA references). Your report will focus on the week's case study while referencing the assigned sources. By the end of the week you must reply to any comments and questions about your work.

-- Reading every post made on time and replying with comments and questions for at least three different posts by your colleagues, directly quoting from their work when you do.

Your score of 0-5 points will be based on the number and quality of your posts each week (where 5 = A+, 4 = B-, 3 = D-, and 0-2 = F). I'll enter your score at the close of every week into the online grade book, which you may check at Grades.

2. EXAMS. The midterm exam takes place in Week Six, and it is the culmination of your work during the first half of the course. It will be worth 15 percent of your total grade, or 0 to 15 possible points.

The final exam is in two parts:

--A mixed media presentation about a Vermont leader for diagnosed Vermonters that culminates in Q&A during Week 11. It will be worth 20 percent of your grade, or 0 to 20 possible points.

--And a self-evaluation of your learning and a reflection on becoming a professional psychologist that culminates in Q&A in Week 12. It will be worth 20 percent of your grade, or 0 to 20 possible points.

I offer one "Free Week" of 5 points for personal use (e.g., sickness or family emergency); other than that, no points can be earned for a missed discussion. Due to the collegial, interactive nature of online learning, assignments in a missed discussion can neither be made up in the following week's discussion nor emailed to me for credit.

You may be penalized for work posted after the due dates. Even so, it's always better to post your work before the week ends than not at all.

 

Points and Grades:

Your current total points and a corresponding letter grade are available at Grades and updated weekly. You'll also find at Grades your weekly points earned, often with brief comments about your work.

Points earned toward your final grade will accrue weekly and will represent a cumulative total at any point. At Grades (left side of your screen), Canvas will figure out your grade for you each week by dividing your current points by the total points possible for that week in the semester. For example, by the end of Week 3 it is possible to have earned a maximum of 15 points (5 points for each week). If you earned 12 points by the end of Week 3, Canvas simply divides 12 by 15. The answer is .80 or 80%, which is converted to a letter grade (B-) as follows:

CCV Letter Grades, "CCV's Evaluation System Policy." (2020, July 1). http://docs.ccv.edu/CCVPolicyFiles/Evaluation_System_CCV_Policy.pdf (Links to an external site.)

A+ through C- indicates satisfactory completion of course objectives and expectations as specified in the course description.

D+ through D- indicates marginal performance that will not count as credit for specific program requirements or competence area requirements.

F indicates failure to meet course objectives and/or failure to meet grading criteria for successful completion as specified in the course description.

You also have the option of choosing the pass/fail system (Pass or No Pass) or auditing this course (AU), as long as you let me know before the start of the third week of class.

P Equivalent to D (+/-) or better and therefore course will not count as credit for specific program requirements or competence area requirements. 

NP indicates failure to meet course objectives and/or failure to meet grading criteria for successful completion as described in the course description.

If you are not taking this course at any point for any reason, you must notify the College or receive an F for a grade under CCV grading policies. Just disappearing from class or never participating does not constitute "dropping" or "withdrawing."

With some exceptions, it's possible to withdraw officially before July 13 and receive a W for a grade, which will not affect your grade point average (GPA), even if you were failing the course when you withdrew.

For more information, contact your academic advisor or read the basic info provided by CCV.

If you miss two or more weeks of class, you cannot complete the course for academic credit, although you're welcome to participate for learning's sake.