<p>Hi, I am an international student, so the u.s education is still very new to me. Would someone please explain what 200-level or 300 level means?</p>
<p>I am also thinking of taking Introduction to Psychology in college. I'm really curious about this topic, but I'm not sure if it fits me. Would you please give me some insights on this class? like what do you do in the lab part? does it have a lot to do with biology?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>200 and 300 level signifies the level of difficulty of a class. They are a bit harder than intro level (100), they build on what you learn in intro level, and focus on one area of your general major. They are not the hardest classes available. The highest level I know of is 500 level.</p>
<p>I'm not a pyschology major, but I do know it's all about how the mind and brain work. It's all about human thoughts and emotions, and natural instincts. Biology has more to do with the physical aspects of the body, mainly in animals. I'm not a Bio person either, but my roomie is. She's had to disect a bunch of different animal parts in Bio lab, including pig fetuses(Eww!). I don't think there's much-if any-overlap between Bio and Psychology.</p>
<p>It also depends on the college. At my alma mater, 2-digit classes were lower-division (freshman and sophomore) or non-majors courses, 100-series courses were upper-division (junior and senior) courses, and 200-series were graduate-level courses. If I remember correctly, there were no courses numbered above 299 (graduate independent study).</p>
<p>I tried to find some examples for you, but every college has a slightly different numbering system.</p>
<p>Basically, the lowest-numbered 100-level course will tend to be an overview of a whole discipline. It will usually be a large lecture course, and will spend 2-3 weeks apiece on vastly different topics, like the biological bases of psychology, cognitive aspects of psychology, social influences on behavior, various big "schools" of thought in the field. The idea is to get students oriented to what people who call themselves psychologists actually study and do, so that the students can figure out what they want to pursue, and can understand where they are in the field when they take more specific courses. </p>
<p>The next level of courses, which may be high-numbered 100-level courses or low-numbered 200-level courses, will focus on one large, but specific area in the field. Like Biological Bases of Psychology, Family Dynamics, Early Childhood Development, Clinical Psychology, Statistics in Psychology. They will also include laboratory courses where students learn how to do actual psychological research. Some assortment of these courses (and usually the basic 100-level course) will be prerequisites for higher-level courses.</p>
<p>300-level courses and higher will be much more focused, and will tend to be much smaller classes with more personal interaction with the professor.</p>
<p>JHS has done a great job of describing the different levels of psychology courses, but I want to point out that class sizes in the U.S. can vary considerably. My daughter, who attends a liberal arts college, had 19 people in her introduction to psychology course, and, while it was primarily lecture-based, the class also had a lot of discussions about the topics they were studying, as well as a great deal of interaction with her professor. </p>
<p>A great resource for learning about different college subjects is the College Board's majors guide, which describes many different areas of study: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/</a></p>
<p>Thank you. I find your posts very helpful!</p>
<p>My course sounds like what JHS describes as 100-level. The course offering says, "topics range from the biological bases of human perception, thought and action to the social-psychological determinants of individual and group behavior", but it does include laboratory courses.</p>
<p>It is a pre-requisite for majoring in Psychology and also counts as a lab course to satisfy the natural science requirement. Though I want to major in Economics or Public Affairs, I am very interested in Psychology and hope this course can help me gain more perspectives in my future departmental study.</p>
<p>A few more questions. The course offering also says that this class has no audit option or no pass/D/fail option. What does that mean?</p>
<p>The total course enrollment is 195. Does this mean it already has 195 students enrolled in this class or just how many students the class plans to enroll?</p>
<p>The grading is midterm exam 30%, final exam 35% and lab reports 35%. Do the exams usually include writing essays?</p>
<p>Thanks. I want to know more about the courses before I talk with my advisor in the fall.</p>
<p>Is the professor's name listed on the course schedule? If so, go to the psychology department website and see if you can find his email address under the faculty listing. Write an email introducing yourself, and explaining your questions. I suspect that most faculty members would be happy to answer questions from such an enthusiastic and interested student, and you'll make a good contact for next fall as well. :)</p>
<p>Yes, the profs will be VERY impressed that you are already looking into this. I remember one of our college visits where the Dean said that they could tell the kids who would really succeed, becasue they came to their advisor with the 4 years laid out, with goals andplans. This sounds like you. Contact them and you will make a great contact!</p>