Syllabus

UNE Summer Session

Developmental Psychology – Summer Session 2 – 6 Weeks, 2024

Credits - 3

Description

This course will explore basic concepts and theories of human development with a focus on the nine major periods of life from prenatal development to death and dying. The nature of interactions between an individual’s biology and their environment will be examined by integrating information from a wide array of research studies. These studies consist of, but are not limited to, ground-breaking historic studies to recent studies of physical, neurological, and cognitive development.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the scientific methodology and research designs typically employed in research in human development
• Identify the nature of interaction between biology and environment and its influence on development throughout the lifespan
• Discuss human genetics and issues related to prenatal development, birth, and infancy
• Discuss the major developmental milestones in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional domains throughout the human lifespan
• Analyze significant theories of cognitive development, including those of Piaget, Vygotsky, and the information-processing approach
• Examine key issues of development in adulthood, including marriage and divorce, parenting, midlife, and careers choices
• Analyze the key issues of development in late adulthood, including retirement, living arrangements, cognitive changes, death and grieving
• Judge the alignment of expected milestones of development with observed/reported milestones reached by an individual in childhood or adolescence
• Judge the alignment of expected milestones of development with observed/reported milestones reached by an individual in early, middle, or late adulthood
• Explain how specific socio-cultural contexts (e.g., culture, society, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, etc.) shape human growth and development

Assignments

Discussions

Discussions will provide the student with a choice of topics from which they can choose to provide a discussion response. Students will post their initial replies to the discussion board prompts and will also respond to the posts of a minimum of 2 peers.

Reflection Papers

These written assignments ask students to reflect on different phenomena that occur across the life span in a manner that is informed by their own reading and research.

Problem-Based Learning Scenarios

These written assignments provide the student with a real-world example of a developmental issue and ask them to apply research from lifespan psychology to suggest a strategy for producing the best outcome.

Lifespan Development in Context Presentation

Each student will be required to create a slide presentation (PowerPoint or similar format) about any topic covered in class through the lens of another culture. The topic must also be related to a specific period during the lifespan (anywhere from perinatal development through death).

Lifespan Interview

In this activity, you will think critically and reflect on the lifespan. You will identify two people who represent two different stages of the lifespan—ideally, two people who do not identify with your own current stage of lifespan development—and set up a brief 15- to 20-minute interview with them. You should start this early, though it will be due in Week 6.

Final Cumulative Exam

This is a 50-item, multiple-choice exam. You will have several opportunities to practice for the exam using self-check quizzes.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Introduction	1
Week 1 Discussion	4
Week 1 Reflection Assignment	5
Week 1 PB Scenario	5
Week 2 Discussion	4
Week 2 Reflection Assignment	5
Week 2 PB Scenario	5
Week 3 Discussion	4
Week 3 Reflection Assignment	5
Week 3 PB Scenario	5
Week 4 Discussion	4
Week 4 Reflection Assignment	5
Week 4 PB Scenario	5
Week 5 Discussion	4
Week 5 Lifespan in Context Discussion	3
Lifespan Development in Context	8
Week 5 PB Scenario	5
Week 6 Discussion	4
Week 6 Interview Assignment	7
Cumulative Exam	12
Total	100

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00