The dual-credit Psychology course at South has truly been a mystery to students. Many people are unaware of the strange set up of the class.
Psychology is unlike most dual-credit courses at South. It is taught by Ivy Tech professor Roxanne Allison and is held in social studies teacher Jerry Farrar’s classroom. According to a vice principal Christina Adduci, this is the only dual-credit course at South that is taught by a college professor.
Aducci said this is because there is no teacher “in the building who meets the requirements” of teaching psychology.
Most dual-credit classes must be taught by a person who has mastered in the class’ subject area and received graduate credit hours. Since there are no teachers at South who have mastered in Psychology and earned graduate credit hours, the class is taught by Allison.
The class itself meets everyday, but instruction time with the real teacher only occurs three times per week (every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). This mirrors the schedule of the class at Ivy Tech.
Junior Sumayyah Din, a student currently enrolled in Psychology, said “it’s good that Dr. Allison comes in three days a week. [However,] one hour sometimes isn’t enough time.”
Din explains that the classes can sometimes be packed with information, often not leaving enough time to ask questions. Since Allison is not a teacher at South, she does not have a Panther Plus. Therefore, students must either email her questions or ask her questions in class.
On the days when Allison does not come to South, every Tuesday and Thursday, students are under the watchful eye of Farrar. On these days, students watch movies and Impractical Jokers.
“It’s [Farrar’s] class [,but] he doesn’t teach,” said Junior Kamden Deckard.
She went on to explain that attendance is very important on the days when Allison isn’t present because it will most likely be the only grade that students receive. Attendance in psychology, unlike in other South classes, counts for 300 points. Another strange aspect of this course is the pretest.
“The pretest can be kinda stressful. It’s probably the worst part of the course,” said Deckard.
The pre-test is open book and counts for points and accuracy. It is comprised of twenty questions and is worth one hundred points. Students are told to read parts of the textbook and then take the test.
This can be difficult because there is “so much information to sift through,” said Din.
In addition to the the pre-test and attendance, students also receive points for writing (three) research papers, and for taking multiple choice tests. These tests have fifty questions. Each test is worth two hundred and fifty points.
Even though the Psychology class setup is different from most classes at South, students enjoy it nonetheless.
“I don’t regret signing up for the course,” Din said. “I signed up because I wanted to see if [psychology] was something I was interested in pursuing in the future. Now [that I have learned more about psychology] it’s a possibility. [In Psychology,] you learn about things you really don’t notice. If you’re interested in psychology, you should sign up for the class.”
