This course is an introduction to psychology as the science of human behavior. Major topics include scientific method, history of psychology, learning, motivation, emotion, social psychology, and perception. Professor Perry’s course relies on Open Educational Resources. Professor Perry’s course is a wonderful example of how a professor can use Open Education Resources (OER) instead of traditional textbooks to provide content and reference for students. This course relies primarily on an OER Psychology resource from OpenStax.

In addition to its innovative use of OER materials, the course also incorporates portfolio-based learning. Instead of a traditional final exam, students submit a semester-long media portfolio. In the portfolio, the students compile “media artifacts” showing encounters with topics in psychology in their real-world experiences. Each ‘artifact’, examples of which include a newspaper article or a television documentary, are accompanied by a one-page essay which connect the artifact to the student’s everyday life and the course material. When students connect the course material to their daily lives, it engages students and deepens their learning.