Instructor information

Instructor: Karen Sasmita

Office: Uris 223

Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 4-5PM via zoom.

Email: ss3837@cornell.edu

Course Description

Watching the day go by is like watching a movie. Like movies, our day-to-day experience is full of changing events, characters, scenes, and even narratives. And just like watching a movie, at the end of a waking day, we often find ourselves remembering certain events but not others. In this course, we will discuss how and why do we remember or forget certain events. We will explore these questions from the angle of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Along the way, we will read, critique, and try to emulate peer-reviewed scientific proposals, opinions in the popular press, or scientific blog posts to deepen our understanding of event cognition specifically, and science communication more broadly.

Learning Objectives.

By the end of this course, you should be:

1. Introduced to various practices to help you become a better reader, this includes:
   • Searching for literature surrounding a research topic through various platforms (e.g., online, library search).
   • Critically read, find the main points and concisely summarize findings from scientific articles and scientific writings in the popular press.
   • Formulate well motivated and testable research questions.
2. Exposed to various ways of handling information to help you become a better writer, this includes:
   • Placing your writing within a theoretical background to frame your argument.
   • Clearly articulating a thesis and organizing your statements.
   • Using appropriate arguments and evidence, as well as style, for appropriate audience.
   • Citing your sources correctly.
   • Revising your own work.
   • Crafting effective sentences.

Readings

Throughout this course, we will read a combination of book chapters, research papers and popular press articles. You are not required to purchase any book or papers, and reading materials will be uploaded on canvas.

Course Requirements

Your final grade will be determined based on your performance on the writing assignment, homeworks, and class participation. Extra credit opportunities will also be available throughout the semester.

Writing assignments (60%). This course is designed to introduce you to the various ways of communicating scientific research and findings within the field of psychology. Most of it will be in the form of academic and popular science writing. Specifically, we will explore various writing forms, such as: synthesis, argumentative, op-ed, or research proposal. For this, we will review the literature (scientific articles, blog posts, op-ed, etc), discuss various topics surrounding event memory, and practice writing as a class (e.g., through peer review, debate sessions, etc). In all we will write seven formal writing assignments. The first writing assignment will be graded based on completion. The second assignment is worth 10%, the third is worth 10%, the fourth is worth 10%, the fifth assignment is worth 10%, the sixth assignment is worth 5%, and the final assignment is worth 15% of your final grade. At times, you will be required to submit drafts of the writing assignments. These drafts are not expected to be polished writing and will be graded as part of homework, based on completion.

Homework (20%). Part of the writing process often involve brainstorming, writing outlines, writing comments or summaries, and revising drafts. We will be exercising these skills in class and as part of homeworks that you will submit (approximately once a week on canvas). These homeworks are meant to be short and should help you complete the main writing assignments.

Attendance and participation (20%). In this course, we will practice our writing skills together as a class. As such, each session will involve a lot of group and class discussions, presentations and peer review activities. Your attendance and participation in in class discussion are worth 15% and an end of the semester class presentation is worth 5%.

Understanding that stuff just happens, for your attendance, you are allowed 3 “free days” throughout the entire semester for which you may be absent from class with no penalty and no questions asked. To use your free day, you must email me within one day (before or after) of class to say that you’re using your free day on that class. You do not need to provide me with reasons for your absence, but I need to know that you are ok and just need a break from class. Any additional unexcused absences will cost 1 credit/ class.

Extra Credit. You can earn an additional 5% credit to your final grade by participating in experiments through the Psychology Department’s SONA website. You can receive SONA credits only for studies that have been approved for this course. Each study listed on SONA will have a list of courses that it is eligible for, please check that before signing up. Every 30 minutes you spend in an experiment earns you 1 SONA credit and each credit adds 0.5% to your final grade. SONA credits must be completed by the last day of classes (i.e., you would need to have signed up for and completed the studies by that date).

Grading Scale. Your final grade at the end of the semester will be determined using the standard grading scale. Grade percentages will be rounded to the second decimal (i.e., 89.99 is a B+). Letter grade cut-offs are firm.

Conferences

Students taking First-Year-Writing Seminars are required to meet at least twice in individual conferences with their instructors about their writing. You can, at any point, visit my office hours or schedule a meeting with me to consult about research topics, outlines, or drafts.

Note on Electronic Devices

Use of electronic devices such as laptops or tablets are crucial for some of our sessions. For example, some classes will require you to (in groups) search for academic journals through google scholar or the Cornell library website. In other sessions, having laptops/ tablets may be beneficial (e.g., for making/ delivering presentations). Thus, laptops or tablets are allowed in class. However, please refrain from using electronic devices for purposes other than those related to the class. Laptop loans are available for periods of 3 hours from the Olin or Uris libraries.

Accommodations

I am committed to ensure that all students in this class have equal opportunity to excel. If you need accommodations due to a disability, find that you are having difficulty keeping up with the class, feeling overwhelmed, or worried about friend, please reach out to me or your academic advisor. I can try to help or put you in touch with someone who can help.

Some resources you may find useful:

• Cornell Writing Centers (CWC).
• Cornell Learning Strategies CenterLinks to an external site.
• Cornell Health Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS).

Student with Disabilities. If you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic adjustment in this course, please provide me with an accommodation notification letter from Student Disability Services. Students are expected to provide two weeks’ notice of the need for accommodations. If you need immediate accommodations or physical access, please arrange to meet with me within the first two class meetings.

University Policies and Regulations.

I respect and uphold university policies and regulations pertaining to the observation of religious holidays; assistance available to the physically handicapped, visually and/ or hearing-impaired students; plagiarism; sexual harassment; and racial or ethnic discrimination. All students are advised to become familiar with the respective University regulations and are encouraged to bring any questions or concerns to the attention of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

Students enrolled in this course are expected to abide by the Cornell’s Code of Academic Integrity. The work you will submit for this course should be your own and written for this course and not another.

Turnitin notice. By taking this course, students agree that written submissions may be subjected to textual similarity review via Turnitin.com for plagiarism detection. This textual similarity review includes cross-checking your submitted document with your peers or online sources. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Usage Policy posted on the Turnitin.com site.

Additional course policy

Considering the volatility of our reality these days, I am committed to working flexibly. If at any point you are struggling, need extra time or an extra day to complete your assignments, please let me know and we will work things out! This also means that things written in the syllabus may change depending on our need.