Psychology of Contemporary & Virtual Organizations – PSYC 855

Course Description

In this course, students explore current research and theory related to the emergence of contemporary virtual organizations in the 21st century. The dimensions of virtual work, as well as evaluation of managerial and individual challenges facing virtual organizations is examined. Focus is given to effectiveness, communication, technology changes, and functionality in the work setting.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

The purpose of this course is to understand virtuality and the challenges facing virtual organizations. This course will assist the student in exploring the dimensions of working in a virtual environment. Key topics will include virtual teams, socialization, communication, and the reality of virtual working.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations/notes

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a discussion thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. The discussion thread must be 300 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads in current APA format. Each reply must be 150 words. The last discussion, Discussion: Sharing Knowledge, each student will post their Presentation Assignment for review and comment by classmates. The student is then required to reply to 2 other Presentation Assignment posts. Each reply must be 150 words in current APA format.

Each student will use a virtual tool to engage in a brainstorming activity designed to identify resources that can help inform his or her understanding of best practices in contemporary virtual organizations.

To complete the assignment, the student will utilize a free brainstorming tool, Coggle, to develop ideas for a presentation.  Once brainstorming is complete, the student should submit the finalized Coggle brainstorming as a PDF file in the assignment dropbox.

Based on the brainstorming activity in Module 1: Week 1, the student will choose a specific topic about which they will develop the presentation in Module 5: Week 5.  Based on that topic, the student will develop an annotated bibliography of sources that will be used for the presentation (there should be at least 6 peer reviewed scholarly sources).  These annotations should be in APA format, compiled into one document in alphabetical order according to author last name (the same as appropriate for reference list order).  Each individual annotation should be between 150 and 300 words in length.

Presentation Assignment

For this presentation, the student will prepare a 13–15 slide narrated PowerPoint presentation explaining what is known in the research about a topic relating to contemporary virtual organizations. The presentation will include sources cited and referenced in current APA style. The student will narrate the presentation and will contribute a minimum of 6 peer-reviewed scholarly research articles on the topic.

Quizzes (4)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned modules. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 2 essay questions, and have a 2-hour time limit.