AP Psychology (Sem 2)

About This Course

This course is the second semester of a two-semester sequence and is aligned with the Advanced Placement curriculum for AP Psychology. AP Psychology is an introductory college-level psychology course. Students cultivate their understanding of the systematic and scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. While considering the psychologists and studies that have shaped the field, students explore and apply psychological theories, key concepts, and phenomena associated with such topics as the biological bases of behavior, cognition, development, learning, social psychology, personality, and mental and physical health. Throughout the course, students apply psychological concepts and employ psychological research methods and data interpretation to evaluate claims, consider evidence, and effectively communicate ideas. The course does not include the AP Exam; students can contact their school’s AP Coordinator or the College Board to sign up to take the AP Exam. In order to maintain the integrity of AP standards, all AP course midterm and final exams must be proctored. Prerequisites:  AP Psychology (Sem 1)

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• CO1: Apply and apply major psychological perspectives, theories, and concepts to explain behavior and mental processes
• CO2: Evaluate qualitative and quantitative research methods, study designs, and ethical considerations in psychological research
• CO3: Analyze and interpret data, including tables, graphs, charts, and diagrams, to understand psychological phenomena
• CO4: Develop and justify psychological arguments using evidence from research findings, and effectively communicate their conclusions
• CO5: Describe social psychology and personality, including theories of personality, social interactions, attitudes, and group behavior
• CO6: Describe mental and physical health, including psychological disorders, their treatment, and the impact of health psychology
• CO7: Prepare for the AP Psychology exam by engaging in practice and feedback activities that mimic exam assessment tasks, including multiple-choice questions, article analysis questions, and evidence-based questions

Course Outline:

Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health

Unit 6: AP Exam Review & Prep

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: Students are responsible for acquiring a textbook. The required textbook is Myers, D. G., DeWall, C. N., & Hammer, E. Y. (2024). Myers' Psychology for the AP® course (4th ed.). Bedford, Freeman & Worth. ISBN-13: 978-1-319-28116-8

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.
Students must also have an AP account with access to their online instructor’s AP Classroom activities and resources.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at CustomerCare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessment, and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: The official course descriptions for Advanced Placement courses and information about their exams are located on the College Board site at Course and Exam Descriptions.

Michigan Virtual prepares students in AP courses for the AP exam, but does not offer the exam test itself. It is the responsibility of the school or parent to register for a local administration of the AP exam.

There are required due dates in AP courses. The pacing of due dates in AP courses aligns to the completion of all lessons and required assignments and assessments prior to the national AP exam date related to this course title. The calendar of AP exam dates is published by the College Board (Exam Calendar).