AP Psychology with Virtual Lab and Sims
Price
TBA
Duration
4 Quarters, 2 Semesters
Table of Contents
COURSE OBJECTIVE
Explore the ideas, theories, and methods of the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. You’ll examine the concepts of psychology through reading and discussion and you’ll analyze data from psychological research studies.
Prepare for the Psychology AP (or CLEP) exam with this comprehensive course. Explore topics like the history of psychological theory, personality development, and biological functions of the brain and nervous system expertly designed to assist you in studying for the AP Psychology exam. You can test your knowledge of psychology through the short multiple-choice quizzes that accompany each lesson, as well from a practice bank of over 1094 multiple-choice questions.
Connect Course to College Majors and Careers
AP Psychology provides a foundation for success in a wide range of fields. Explore how this course can prepare you for 60 college majors and the 136 careers it could lead to.
COURSE FORMAT
The class meets 90 minutes twice a week (M/W or T/Th) for 20 weeks. Like all other courses in our curriculum, AP Psychology with Virtual Labs and Sims consists of two components: asynchronous and synchronous learning.
We use the AP Psychology: Exam Prep course for the asynchronous flipped classroom portion of the course. This makes up 30% of your overall grade.
Your academy instructor will facilitate the virtual in-person synchronous portion of the course. This makes up 50% of your overall grade.
Asynchronous Learning
AP Psychology: Exam Prep course on Study.com was created by a panel of expert instructors who break down concepts with bite-sized, animated video lessons organized into topical chapters that improve comprehension and retention, making learning fun and engaging. Each video is approximately 5-10 minutes long and comes with a quick quiz to help you measure your "first exposure learning" during the pre-work phase before the actual class. At the end of each chapter, you will complete a chapter test to see if you're ready to move on or have some material to review.
You should expect to spend 50-70 minutes per week on these homework assignments. The academy intentionally schedules no classes on Fridays to provide dedicated time for homework assignments and out-of-class projects.
Synchronous Learning
Our academy instructor, who will also serve as your Gamemaster, will facilitate the live, virtual classroom sessions, which will supplement and build upon the AP Psychology: Exam Prep course. Additionally, they will answer any questions you may have about the asynchronous material.
Our primary online resource for this course is Psychology 2e by OpenStax, a resource approved by the College Board's AP® Learning List. This resource, specifically designed for AP Psychology students, features content aligned with the AP curriculum framework and extends into modern technology and sciences. It emphasizes inquiry-based learning and critical thinking skills, preparing students for success in the AP Psychology exam. To further enhance understanding, each chapter includes clear learning objectives, exam-focused content, AP Connections highlighting relevant material, Real World Connections, and Applying the Science Practices features.
Our in-person sessions are designed to make learning fun and interactive! Here's what you can expect:
Interactive discussions: We will delve deeper into key concepts from the asynchronous material and address any common misconceptions.
Team-based activities: You'll work collaboratively with your fellow students to earn points and badges, and climb the leaderboard as you embark on scientific edventures!
Labs and Simulations: We will conduct virtual labs and simulations to provide hands-on experience with key concepts in psychology, like human behavior, emotion, cognition, and motivation.
Exams
Each semester, there will be a comprehensive mid-term exam over all content covered during the first quarter and a comprehensive final exam over all content covered during the second quarter. Each of these four exams is weighted equally, and the combined average will count as 20% of your course grade.
COURSE TOPICS
COURSE CONTENT
Chapters: 17; Lessons: 200
INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION BOARD
Each chapter features an interactive discussion board powered by Discussion Hero, a gamified platform developed by Northwestern University. Students choose between "hero" and "villain" roles and avatars, earning points for their contributions. This fosters a sense of competition and engagement, making discussions even more rewarding.
Benefits of Participating in Discussions:
Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills: Go beyond memorization and passive learning by analyzing information, evaluating different perspectives, and forming your own conclusions.
Enhance communication skills: Practice clear communication, learn to articulate your ideas effectively, and develop respectful listening and rebuttal skills.
Fosters a collaborative learning environment: Learn from each other, share knowledge, and collaborate on problem-solving, creating a dynamic and enriching learning community.
Deepen your understanding of the content: Actively engaging with the course material through discussion solidifies and expands your understanding beyond lectures and readings.
Provides diverse perspectives: Discussions expose you to different viewpoints and interpretations, encouraging critical thinking and broadening your understanding of the subject matter.
Offers opportunities for self-reflection: Examining your own thoughts and arguments in response to prompts and engaging with others' perspectives helps solidify your learning and identify areas for further exploration.
Apply knowledge to real-world scenarios: Apply course concepts to real-world situations through discussions, enhancing the material's relevance.
Build a digital learning portfolio: Discussions serve as a reference for your learning journey, allowing you to revisit key concepts and track your progress.
Develop digital literacy: Discussions provide a platform to practice online communication etiquette, including respectful disagreement, constructive argumentation, and responsible information sharing.
To actively engage in meaningful learning and reap the benefits mentioned above, participation in each chapter's discussion board is expected and will contribute to your overall grade. Your instructor will provide a clear rubric within Discussion Hero outlining the expectations for participation and how your contributions will be evaluated. This ensures consistent and transparent assessment while allowing you to showcase your understanding and critical thinking skills throughout the course.
LABS AND DEMONSTRATIONS
To strengthen high school psychology curriculums, the American Psychological Association (APA), with the assistance of a dedicated group of high school and college teachers, created a series of lab exercises. Each of the exercises provides high school students with the opportunity to plan and carry out investigations utilizing laboratory procedures just as would occur in biology, chemistry, and physics courses, including suggestions for data analysis and preparation of lab reports.
The APA has also developed and made available an online psychology laboratory that includes dozens of interactive labs and demonstrations across several domains in psychology. These, too, present data for analysis.
Your instructor will select specific lab exercises and demonstrations from these resources to enhance your learning experience, utilizing them for individual and small-group assignments.
The APA lab exercises provide high school students with the opportunity to:
Develop critical thinking skills through designing, conducting, and analyzing research investigations using the scientific method.
Gain experience with the scientific method, including hypothesis development, data collection, and analysis.
Practice applying research methods and data analysis techniques.
Learn to interpret psychological findings and draw evidence-based conclusions.
VIRTUAL SIMULATIONS
The Sims 4: Your Virtual Behavioral Science Lab
Imagine exploring human behavior not just through lectures and textbooks, but by creating virtual worlds and shaping the lives of the virtual people (Sims) who inhabit them! Our innovative virtual simulations, featuring the popular game The Sims 4, bring key concepts in behavioral science to life in a fun and effective way.
The Sims 4 isn't just a game – it's a life simulation powerhouse that caters to a wide range of learners. This open-world environment empowers you to create your own narratives and experiment with theories of psychology in a safe, controlled setting. Unlike traditional games, The Sims 4 has no set goals or win/lose conditions, allowing you to focus on maximizing your learning impact.
Throughout the course, you'll participate in various solo and team-based simulated challenges related to key themes and concepts in psychology. Your instructor will provide clear guidelines, including the theme, backstory, learning objectives, rules, constraints, and scoring rubrics.
Ready to Dive Deeper?
If you're new to the game, you can explore specific aspects of The Sims 4 and how they contribute to our virtual simulations.
PEER-REVIEW CAPSTONE PROJECT
You’ve grasped an important and challenging scientific theory, concept or principle. Now it’s time to share your insight into this big breakthrough idea. In this project, you'll transform your scientific knowledge into an engaging video, honing your communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills. You'll also have the opportunity to compete in the Breakthough Junior Challenge (BJC), a prestigious global science competition for high-school students with exciting prizes!
As long as the subject of your video relates to Life Sciences and for example, discusses brain function and physiology as opposed to strictly behavior, you are encouraged to submit your final capstone project to the BJC! Below are branches of Psychology that would qualify.
If your video is selected as the Winner, you will receive:
If you’re looking for guidance, you can see some of the prior years’ top-scoring entries here and the playlist below. But remember, to show ‘creativity’ your film should be as original as possible.
COURSE OUTCOMES
Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
Gain an introduction to psychology as a science and early psychological approaches.
Explore research designs, perform statistical analysis, and assess psychological research.
Examine the history of intelligence testing and genetic/environmental factors influencing intelligence.
Understand brain structure, neurons, neurotransmitters, and their role in behavior.
Explain sensory information processing, including vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
Identify consciousness states, sleep cycles, and effects of hypnosis, meditation, and psychoactive drugs.
Differentiate classical and operant conditioning, explore biological limits, and social-cognitive learning.
Study language acquisition, information processing, and memory improvement.
Learn emotion theories, categorize emotions, and discuss personality types.
Compare intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and analyze motivational factors.
Examine data collection in human growth, cognitive, and moral development research.
Explore psychosexual development stages, personality theories, and self-concept.
Study social psychology topics like group behavior, attribution, conformity, stereotypes, and organizational behavior.
Understand the physiological and cognitive causes of mental illness, including various disorders.
Investigate treatment methods for psychological disorders and exam-taking strategies for the AP Psychology Exam.
PREREQUISITES
There are no prerequisites for this course.
COLLEGE COURSE EQUIVALENT
A one-semester, introductory college course in psychology.
COURSE CERTIFICATE
Earn a Certificate of Completion which shows that you have completed the course.
Your Instructor
TBD
