For the original version of these policies, I am indebted to Samy Abdel-Ghaffar.

Ground Rules

We believe that learning is best facilitated in an environment of mutual respect among students and teachers. We want this section to be as useful as possible to all of you, and so we ask that above all you are respectful and courteous to both us and your fellow classmates. There are a few policies that we ask you to observe:

  • Be respectful of us and our time.
  • Be respectful of your classmates’ time, opinions, and questions. Respect includes recognizing the impact your words can have on others.
  • Please be on time. Lectures and labs will begin 10 minutes after the posted start time, as is Berkeley tradition.
  • Questions: We don’t believe there are any dumb questions. We do however believe that there are lazy questions. Before asking us a question, please be sure that it is not easily answered by either the lecture or section syllabi, or by a very quick internet search.

Communication Policies

  • Please add the following text into the subject line of emails to us: [PSYCH101D]. We receive a lot of emails on a daily basis and we want to be sure not to miss yours!
  • For brief questions pertaining to course material, please use Piazza.
  • Anonymous posting is currently enabled on Piazza. Note that there are mechanisms for unmasking posters in the case of threats. There is an absolute zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and harassment. Anonymity is meant to enable shame- and shyness-free speech, not irresponsibility.
  • For personal questions (e.g. excused attendance matters), please e-mail us. We will do our best to respond in a timely fashion (within 24 hours); however we cannot guarantee this if you email in the evening or over the weekend.
  • Please also make sure that you cannot answer the question on your own (e.g. in the syllabus, using Google) before emailing us.
  • For larger-scale questions that cannot be resolved quickly and easily over Piazza or via email (e.g. conceptual questions about course material), please come to office hours.
  • Check Piazza often for announcements and changes to the schedule, make sure your email address affiliated with Piazza works, and make sure your notifications are turned on for this course as we will often make announcements as a way of communicating with you. It is your responsibility to keep up with course communication.

Special Accommodations

If you require special accommodations for this class, please let us know as soon as possible. This applies to students with DSP letters, student athletes, students with childcare responsibilities, transfer students, etc. You are never required to tell us personal information; however, if you are having problems that affect your ability to attend, participate, or keep up with the workload in this class, please don’t wait until right before the exams to ask for help, and please don’t just disappear. We may be able to help or direct you to someone else who can help you.

If you will be observing a religious holiday that will cause you to miss an exam, please talk to me at the beginning of the semester about making alternate accommodations. Here is the UC policy on accommodations of religious creed:

In compliance with Education code, Section 92640(a), it is the official policy of the University of California at Berkeley to permit any student to undergo a test or examination, without penalty, at a time when that activity would not violate the student’s religious creed, unless administering the examination at an alternate time would impose an undue hardship which could not reasonably have been avoided. Requests to accommodate a student’s religious creed by scheduling tests or examinations at alternative times should be submitted directly to the faculty member responsible for administering the examination.

Academic Integrity

Plagiarism and cheating are expressly forbidden in the UC Berkeley code of conduct. Here are the definitions of cheating and plagiarism from the code:

Cheating: Cheating includes fraud, deceit, or dishonesty in an academic assignment, or using or attempting to use materials, or assisting others in using materials that are prohibited or inappropriate in the context of the academic assignment in question.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism includes use of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging its source.

Note that for most assignments in the class (but not for exams), group work will be permitted (it’s not cheating, because of “the context of the academic assignment in question”). However, any collaboration should be explicitly acknowledged (OK has mechanisms for this), and no assignment should be an exact duplicate of another student’s assignment.