Psychology degree program offered online

Students interested in pursuing a degree in psychology may earn a Bachelor of Arts degree entirely online through Arizona State University’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. The new online degree program, which begins classes this fall, offers the same academic rigor as the program offered through face-to-face classes on ASU’s West campus.

“Unlike online offerings from other schools that involve ‘facilitated’ instruction by part-time instructors, courses in our program are taught by full-time faculty members who are experts in their field and who have been directly involved in developing the course material,” said Barbara Tinsley, professor of psychology in New College’s Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences and director of the online degree program.

“Graduates from New College’s on-campus psychology degree program routinely go on to successful careers in social services, counseling, human resources, criminal justice, teaching, law, and public administration, while others choose to pursue graduate and doctoral degrees,” Tinsley said. “We are committed to providing an online program that provides those same opportunities for graduates.”

The program offers a range of courses that reflect diverse perspectives on individual and group behavior, including clinical, cognitive systems/behavioral neuroscience, cross-cultural, developmental, organizational, and social psychology, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as health psychology and law and psychology. Students also take courses in statistics and research methods.

“Along with students from Arizona, we have students applying from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even France,” said Haley Chapman, academic success specialist. “The online program is appealing to a wide range of people, from working adults to traditional-age college students who want to travel while still earning an Arizona State University degree.”

Courses for the online psychology degree have been developed within the guidelines of Quality Matters, a national collegial review process in which reviewers provide substantial, constructive feedback about course design.

“Students in the program will enjoy the convenience of online courses while also earning a rigorous degree from a major research university,” Tinsley said. “The psychology faculty members teaching in the online program are members of New College’s OLEg, the Online Education Group. They have built their courses to the most rigorous standards possible, with the assistance of a specialist ASU course design team. The resulting classes are guaranteed to be of the highest quality, often exceeding the standards of comparable face-to-face classes.”

In both the online and on-campus programs, courses are presented in the context of cultural, socio-historical and transnational issues, enabling students to understand the relationships among psychology and other social and behavioral sciences. Undergraduate students may add practical experiences to enrich their program of study through service learning, internships, and research conducted under the guidance of individual faculty members. The B.A. program in psychology places a strong emphasis on developing skills in critical thinking and reasoning, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and writing to round out students’ preparation for careers or graduate studies.

The psychology degree is an offering of New College’s Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, which also offers bachelor’s degrees in communication studies, sociology, political science, and social and behavioral sciences. Additional New College degree programs are offered on ASU’s West campus through the college’s two other divisions: Mathematical and Natural Sciences; and Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies. More information about New College offerings may be found at http://newcollege.asu.edu.

For details about the new online psychology program, call (602) 543-6443 or 1-877-395-2961, or email psyonline@asu.edu.