NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
The City University of New York
School of Arts & Sciences
Department of Social Science
Gregory I. Mack, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor, Psychology Phone: 718.260.5080
Email: GMack@citytech.cuny.edu
Office: Namm Bldg. Room 600
Office hours: by appointment
Personnel and Organizational Psychology Syllabus
Course title: Personnel and Organizational Psychology
Course code: PSY 2404
Section: D918
Class Number 32515
Class hours/credits: 3 class hours, 3 credits
Tue/Thurs 4:00PM -5:15PM
Class room: Howard 112
Prerequisite: PSY 1101
Requirement Designation: Flexible Core
CATALOG DESCRIPTION “Theory and techniques of personnel problems in industry and business. Dynamics of individual and group behavior in work situations; selection, evaluation methods; interviewing, and leadership development. The psychological implications of mechanization and automation are considered.”
COURSE DESCRIPTION Students will demonstrate a familiarity with psychological testing, performance appraisal, training and development, work teams, organizational development, and methodology and statistical logic as relevant to industrial/organizational behavior. Other topics include worker motivation, leadership, and group and organizational dynamics, affirmative action, sexual harassment, downsizing, mergers and acquisitions, stress in the workplace, union/management relations, and a variety of work-related ethical and mental health concerns.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK Industrial/Organizational Psychology, 5th edition (2017) by Paul Levy.
CAPSTONE COURSE STATEMENT This course fulfills the LAA/LAS Associate Capstone requirement, though it can also be taken for other requirements and electives. The City Tech LAA/LAS Associate Capstone is designed for students entering their second year in the program. LAA/LAS Associate Capstone courses are meant to prepare students to continue their studies in a bachelor’s degree, third-year, or junior, level. In addition, Associate Capstone courses are meant to help students develop an awareness of the importance of knowledge, values and skills developed in general education courses; and to integrate this knowledge, these values and these skills into their advanced academic study and professional careers. Please ask the instructor if you have any questions about what the LAA/LAS Associate Capstone requirement entails.
EXAMS/ASSIGNMENTS/RESEARCH PROJECT Exams. Two exams and a cumulative final exam will be given this semester. Each exam will cover the assigned readings, lectures, and demonstrations. Make-up exams will only be given with an excused absence.
Assignments. Four brief HW assignments will be assigned this semester. Detailed information regarding the assignments and format will be distributed during the semester. The assignments must be handed in on their respective due dates.
Research Project. The research translation project requires that you (a) identify at least two recently-published research studies on a topic that is relevant to the course, (b) describe (translate) the content of those studies in a paper written for a professional audience, and (c) discuss the applied implications of those studies. The paper must convey useful, detailed, and understandable information about recent research in I-O Psychology, and must be written in a way that is understandable to a well-educated but non-technical professional reader (e.g., a human resources manager who has never taken a course in psychology!). You have the option of doing it either by yourself (i.e., as an individual contributor) or as part of a 5-person team. A component of your grade is the class presentation. Note that the project is presented here as if it were an employee work assignment, with you – and everyone else in the class – being new employees of a hypothetical company called City Technical International.
GRADING Your final grade will be determined by summing the points earned for the exams, the four assignments, and the research project:
New York City College of Technology’s official grading scale will be used: 93-100% (A), 90-92.9% (A-), 87-89.9% (B+), 83-86.9% (B), 80-82.9% (B-), 77-79.9% (C+), 70-76.9% (C), 60-69.9% (D), 59.9% and below (F).
