Dr. Donna Ashcraft                                                     Fall, 2006
216 Harvey Hall                                                           Office Hours:      MW 1:00-3:00
Phone: 393-1870 or 393-2295                                                                   F 12:00-1:00
Email: Ashcraft@clarion.edu
Website: http://psy1.clarion.edu/dma/donna.html
 

Required Text: Human Sexuality Today (5th ed.) by Bruce King
 

Objectives:     1. To introduce students to the physical and psychological components of human sexuality.

                         2. To introduce students to past and current areas of research in human sexuality.

                         3. To introduce students to practical matters involved in human sexuality.

Grading:

Exams: There will be five exams throughout the semester. Each exam may consist of objective or short answer questions. The exact format will be announced in class prior to the exam. You must take all four exams, each of which will be worth 50 points, for a total of 250 possible points. Make-ups will be given only under very extenuating circumstances and will be all essay in nature. Anything in your book or discussed in lecture is fair game for the exams.

Attendance & In-class Assignments: It is hoped that you will be interested enough and responsible enough to want to come to class. It is to your benefit to attend class regularly in that some things discussed in lecture may not be in your book. Likewise, class discussion is an important component of your education and graded in-class activities are part of the course requirement. The purpose of these activities is to encourage more active and peer learning, class participation, and attendance. There will be no make-ups for in-class assignments. These in-class assignments will allow me to sample your attendance and determine a class participation grade. This grade will depend upon the number and quality of assignments you have completed. Each assignment will be worth three (3) points. If there are more than ten in-class activities, I will count your ten highest grades. If there are less than ten activities, I will mathematically estimate what your grade would have been if there were ten assignments, based upon the scores of those activities that were previously assigned. Your participation grade can be worth up to 30 points  of your final grade.

Final grades are based on total points and will be administered according to the following:

A = 90% and above     
B = 80% - 89%            
C = 70% - 79%            
D = 60% - 69%            
E = below 60%             

Please note that I do not curve grades.

Tardiness: Please show up to class on time. Students coming in late to class are distracting not only to the instructor but also to the other students.

Cell Phones: Cell phones are becoming an increasing problem during class time.  All cell phones should be left at home or, at the very least, turned off during class time.  It is NOT ACCEPTABLE to answer calls during class, to leave class to answer calls and then return to class, to check to see who called if your phone is on the "silent mode", or to text message during class time.  Calls typically are not emergencies and returning or answering them can wait until after class.  All of these activities are inconsiderate and distracting to both the professor and classmates. Beyond that they take your concentration away from the subject matter.

Cheating: If anyone is caught cheating during an exam, they will be given a zero for that exam and the incident will be reported to the Student Conduct Board. Cheating is defined as both the giving and receiving of answers through means other than knowledge of the material. Likewise, changing grades, changing wrong answers to correct ones, advanced knowledge of exams or test questions, and plagiarism are all also considered cheating incidences and will be dealt with accordingly.

Students with disabilities: If you require special accommodations because of a learning or any other type of disability, please let me know as soon as possible so we can discuss and arrange for them.

COURSE SCHEDULE

The following is a tentative schedule of topics to be covered throughout the semester and exam dates. We will try to adhere to this schedule as much as possible but it may be necessary to modify it.

Please note that in discussing these topics, explicit terms, pictures, and/or films may be used. If you find this offensive you may not want to take this course.

Exam 1: Wednesday, September 20

Topics:     Chap. 1 - Why a course in Human Sexuality?
                 Chap. 2 - Our Sexual & Reproductive Anatomy

Exam II:  Wednesday, October 11             

                 Chap. 4 - Similarities & Differences in Our Sexual Response
                 Chap.10 - Becoming a Woman/Becoming a Man

Exam III: Wednesday, November 1

Topics:     Chap. 3 - Hormones & Sexuality
                 Chap. 7 - Pregnancy & Childbirth  

Exam IV: Monday, November 20

Topics:     Chap. 5 - Sexually Transmitted & Sexually Related Diseases
                 Chap.15 - Sexual Problems & Therapy  

Exam V: During finals week - date to be announced

Topics:     Chap.16 - Paraphilias & Sexual Variants
                 Chap.11 - Sexual Orientation

                 Chap. 6 - Birth Control*
                 Chap.17 - Sexual Victimization*
                 Chap.18 - Sex & the Law*

__________________
*If we run short on time during the semester, we will drop these chapters.
 

Please feel free to stop by my office to discuss your progress in the course (or exams or assignments or the class material) throughout the semester.