Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Welcome to Psych 201!

I can’t wait to share my passion for psychology with you this quarter. This course provides students with endless insights into their inner workings and the lives of those around them. It’s a broad field, and our course covers the biological, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of psychology, while Psych 202 covers human development, social interaction and mental health. 

Our Course & Attendance Requirements

Our course is fully in-person and meets two times per week. We spend a good portion of our in-class time completing activities in pairs or small groups. For this reason, being able to attend class regularly is essential. Naturally, it’s okay to miss a class here or there. Attendance accounts for 20-25% of students' grade.

In-Class Activities

Our daily in-class activities are designed to: 1) introduce you to various perspectives in psychology and approaches toward measuring psychological phenomena, 2) encourage you to think critically and apply course content to maximize learning, as well as 3) explore academic and career paths in the field. For example, we discuss the neuroanatomy of zombies (mmm brains!), thinking through what areas of the brain are affected in zombies.

Required Textbook*

You are required to purchase the textbook for this course. The purchase includes access to 1) the eBook and to 2) an adaptive testing platform, through which I assign reading-focused assessments (AKA LearningCurves). 

*If you think you may switch out of this course, wait to purchase the book. As an online product, there are additional steps to returning the textbook that you can avoid by waiting.

Assignments & Exams

LearningCurves. Students are expected to complete 1-2 LearningCurves each week on the reading material. These can only be accessed through the purchased textbook. LCs account for 20-25% of students' grades. 

Quizzes. There are 5 larger quizzes, rather than exams. Each is focused on 1-2 related chapters (not cumulative), and are comprised of multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. Quizzes account for 30-35% of students' grade.

Signature Assignment. Students will be assigned multiple short writing assignments (1-2 paragraphs) asking them to demonstrate their understanding of key concepts and research methods central to the field. The signature assignment accounts for 15-20% of students' grade.

Please feel free to email me with any questions that come up!  rhiana.wegner@pcc.edu

About Me

I moved to Portland in 2021 and live with my partner, an elementary school teacher, and our two rescue pups. I’m a social psychologist by training. I've lived all over the country. I grew up in the Minnesota, completed by PhD in Detroit, completed additional training at the University of Washington and taught at UMass Boston. I love to travel, try new foods, bike, paddleboard, and explore Portland and the PNW. My newest hobbies are macrame and baking bread.