PSYC 2513: Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychology

Fall 2008

Ø  My website address: http://www.usao.edu/usao-psychology/walkerc.htm

Required Text

Santrock, J.W. (2007). Child Development (11^th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.

Course Description

This course is designed to study human growth and development from conception through adolescence.  Emphasis is placed on the physical, social and cognitive progression of human development.  

Course Objectives:

1. Students will demonstrate the ability to think critically and analytically, and to reason logically about issues in child development using course information and past experiences.
2. Students will demonstrate an understanding between theory and practice and be able to apply classroom learning to situations in life outside the classroom.
3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the scientific methods used to learn about child development.
4. Students will understand the basic physical changes in the body and brain during childhood and the factors important for healthy growth. 
5. Students will understand the cognitive changes during childhood from  Piagetian and Information Processing perspectives and the factors important for healthy growth.
6. Students will understand the social and emotional changes during childhood, and the factors important for healthy growth.

Course Requirements

A.       Participation (50 points):

Class participation will be based solely on attendance.  Everyone will begin the semester with 50 points and each absence will result in a 2-point deduction. You are allowed to miss two class periods without penalty. It is your responsibility to collect the information that was covered in class when you are unable to attend.  

Note: Attendance is also important as I will not be emailing the overheads that I use in class.

 B.       Exams:

Ø  2 unit exams @ 100 points each; 1 final exam @120 points

This course includes two unit exams and a final exam.  Exams will be composed of a combination of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer items.  See course schedule for exam dates.  Learning objectives will be provided prior to the date of the final exam as the final is comprehensive.  Make-up exams will only be given in case of emergency. 

Ø  You must contact the instructor before class to schedule a make-up test.

C.       Cognitive Development Application Project (50 points):

For this project you will select a skill to teach a child or teen preferably of the age group you wish to teach.  The task or skill you choose should be new and challenging for your participant, but not so difficult to learn as to be upsetting.  Things that have worked well in the past are: tying knots, magic tricks/card tricks, puzzles of various kinds, arts and crafts, hitting a golf ball etc.

Your paper (3 - 4 pages) will describe your participant and the tasks or skills you chose to teach.  Then you will analyze the learning episode from two different points of view: Piaget’s and Vygotsky's theories of cognitive development.  Be sure to include the following:

1. A description of your participant (age, gender) and the tasks/skills you taught him/her.

2. A description and analysis of your respondent's affect and behavior, and your affect and behavior, during the learning episodes from Piaget's point of view.  You must include in your discussion the following seven (7) terms:

a.         the specific stage of cognitive development                   f. accommodation

b.         disequilibrium (too much? too little? just right?) g. schema

c.         equilibrium

d.        signs of the equilibration process

e.         assimilation

3. A description and analysis of your respondent's behavior and affect, and your behavior and affect, during the learning episodes from Vygotsky's point of view.  You must include in your discussion the following six (6) terms:

a.         the ZPD (is the task in their ZPD or not)

b.         scaffolding

c.         the process of internalization

d.        social speech

e.         private speech

f.          inner speech

Note: If something did not happen that you expected based on Piaget’s or Vygotsky's theory, talk about that as well.

4. End with a brief summary of what you learned about children/teens and teaching from this project and what you would do the same or differently next time.

D.       Developmental Autobiography (50 points):

This exercise will require that you integrate textual and theoretical information with personal experiences to write a Developmental Autobiography.  Gather information from relatives, older siblings, friends, baby books, scrapbooks, personal memories, etc.  If there are gaps or missing information note that in your paper.  The following outline will provide a framework for your autobiography.  However, do not limit yourself to addressing only the points in the outline.  Include any pertinent information. 

Note:  Include only information that you feel comfortable sharing.  Information shared in your autobiography will be confidential.

1)      Demographic Information

Describe the following and discuss how these factors contributed to your development:

Date of Birth

Parents (age, marital status)

Siblings (ages)

Community and Cultural Background

Socio-economic status (i.e., middle class, upper middle class etc.)

2) Physical Development (infancy, early childhood, middle child and adolescence)

Note your height and weight at birth and general information about your growth pattern throughout childhood and adolescence. Discuss any health factors that have had an impact on your development.  Discuss development of fine and gross motor skills and other markers of physical development.  Discuss the impact that puberty had on you and your development.

3) Cognitive and Language Development (infancy, early childhood, middle child and adolescence)

Describe your language development during childhood.  Discuss any impact that you believe your early language development has had on your development. Describe your cognitive development and provide examples from your past of how various cognitive developments have impacted your life. (i.e. how a decision in adolescence has affected your life today).  Use Piaget’s cognitive stages and Vygotsky to describe your cognitive development. 

4) Social/Personality Development (infancy, early childhood, middle child and adolescence)

Why are you the person you are today?  Discuss your temperament and attachment based on information presented in class and from your textbook. Also, using Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development describe how you have resolved each of the stages thus far and discuss factors that have influenced your resolution of those stages.  Within this section you should also discuss family patterns, parenting style, peer relationships, or intimate relationships that have had an impact on your development.  

E.       Service Learning Project (50 points)

To be discussed the first day of class 

Grades will be assigned based on the following point totals:

Course Schedule

Policies

Reasonable Accommodation Policy: Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities.

Professionalism: Students are expected to be organized and professional enough to: 

1)   come to class prepared and on time.

2)   complete and turn in assignments as indicated by the course calendar. Assignments handed in late will only receive partial credit (at best).

3)   take tests at the scheduled time.  Make-up exams will only be given when arrangements have been made prior to the scheduled testing date.

Plagiarism/Cheating: Students are expected to maintain high standards of academic integrity. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this or any other class on campus. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, assisting another student in academic dishonesty, and forgery or alteration of documents (see page 23 in the student handbook for definitions and descriptions of each of these).  All instances of dishonesty will be result in penalty without exception. Any student who engages in any form of academic dishonesty will be assigned a failing grade and reported to the Vice-President for Academic Affairs. A second and all subsequent offenses (in any course across the university) may result in the student's expulsion from the university. We're really not kidding about this. Don't cheat, seriously

Turn off all pagers and cell phones while class is in session.

Americans with Disabilities Statement: Any student needing academic accommodations for a physical, mental or learning disability should notify student services and the course instructor within the first two weeks of the semester so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged.

Syllabus subject to change with notice.