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

Textbooks

Lally, M. & Valentine-French, S. (2019). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective (2nd ed.). Creative Commons. 

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

Introduction1
Week 1 Discussion4
Week 1 Reflection Assignment5
Week 1 PB Scenario5
Week 2 Discussion4
Week 2 Reflection Assignment5
Week 2 PB Scenario5
Week 3 Discussion4
Week 3 Reflection Assignment5
Week 3 PB Scenario5
Week 4 Discussion4
Week 4 Reflection Assignment5
Week 4 PB Scenario5
Week 5 Discussion4
Week 5 Lifespan in Context Discussion3
Lifespan Development in Context8
Week 5 PB Scenario5
Week 6 Discussion4
Week 6 Interview Assignment7
Cumulative Exam12
Total100

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

Schedule

Course Schedule

Week 1: short week – Jul 3 – Jul 7
Week 2: Jul 8 – Jul 14
Week 3: Jul 15 – Jul 21
Week 4: Jul 22 – Jul 28
Week 5: Jul 29 – Aug 4
Week 6: short week – Aug 5 – Aug 9

Week  Topic  Assignments Due Dates
1 Prenatal, Infancy & Toddlerhood
  • Introductions
  • Discussion
  • Reflection Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario

Discussion Initial Post – Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

Response Posts & Assignments – Due by 11:59 PM EST Sunday

2

Childhood

  • Discussion
  • Reflection
  • Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario
  • Self-check quiz

Discussion Initial Post – Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

Response Posts & Assignments – Due by 11:59 PM EST Sunday

3 Adolescence
  • Discussion
  • Reflection Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario

Discussion Initial Post – Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

Response Posts & Assignments- Due by 11:59 PM EST Sunday

4 Early Adulthood
  • Discussion
  • Reflection Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario
  • Self-check Quiz

Discussion Initial Post – Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

Response Posts, Assignments & Exam – Due by 11:59 PM EST Sunday

5 Middle Adulthood
  • Discussions (2)
  • Problem-Based Scenario
  • Lifespan Development in Context
  • Self-Check Quiz

Discussion Initial Post – Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

Response Posts & Assignments – Due by 11:59 PM EST Sunday

6 Older Adulthood
  • Discussion
  • Interview Assignment
  • Final Exam (Cumulative)

Discussion Initial Post –  Due by 11:59 PM EST Wednesday

Response Posts & Assignments, & Exam – Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

Student Resources

Summer Session Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Email: summersessiononline@une.edu.

Instructor and Support Contact Information

Check Brightspace for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.

UNE Libraries

Further Assistance

Your student support specialist monitors course progression and provides assistance or guidance when needed. They can assist questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Brightspace, and more.

To request an accommodation a student needs to go through the process with our UNE office. If the student has a current/already established accommodation in place with UNE it is the responsibility of the student to notify the program at summersessiononline@une.edu to ensure it is applied properly.

If you need to inquire about a possible accommodation, please reach out to the Student Access Center by calling 207-221-4418 or send an email to pcstudentaccess@une.edu.

Policies

Summer Session & Academic Engagement Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm EDT of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion by 11:59 pm EDT on Sunday of the first week, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the Student Summer Session Manual for full details.

Proctored Examinations

The University of New England has contracted with ProctorU to provide students with the most convenient online exam proctoring system. This system provides a simple, no cost to the student, secure, online proctor for exams and allows the student to take all the exams at home and on their own schedule.

Upon enrollment into the course, if the course has proctored exams, each student will register with ProctorU and establish a login name and password. This will give the student access to all of ProctorU's services. When ready, students will schedule each of their proctored exams with ProctorU. Exams must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance to avoid fees. Prior to taking their exams, students must be sure that they have downloaded the ProctorU Chrome or Firefox extension and are using the most current version of Chrome or Firefox. They must also be sure their testing site's connection meets the minimum requirements by using ProctorU's "Test It Out" utility.

Upon the exam day and hour, students will log in to ProctorU and click on "exams". After following the procedures outlined at ProctorU's website, the student will log in to Brightspace and locate their correct exam. The proctor will then allow student access to that exam.

Students must use ProctorU and must follow all proctoring requirements for their exams to be credited.

Information about exam attempts can be found in your course.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Programs: Technical Requirements.

Course Length

A schedule of lectures and assignments is included in this syllabus.

Courses in the program are equivalent to one-semester courses designed to be completed in 6 or 12 weeks.

  1. Enrollment in the course begins the day your section opens which is listed in the Academic Calendar.
  2. Course due dates, start and end dates are in respect to Eastern Time.

Withdrawal and Refund Policies

Please review the policies in your confirmation email. Contact summersessiononline@une.edu with any questions.

Grade Policy

Students are expected to attempt and complete all graded assignments and proctored exams by the end date of the course.

Transcripts

Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, only the student may request official transcripts. This may be done online by going to the University of New England Registrar website and following the directions on the page.

To view your unofficial UNE student transcript:

  1. Log into uonline at http://uonline.une.edu
  2. Select Student Services
  3. Select Student Records
  4. Select Academic Transcript

To request your official UNE student transcript:

Please review your Unofficial Transcript prior to requesting an Official Transcript.

  1. Log into uonline at http://uonline.une.edu
  2. Select Student Services
  3. Select Student Records
  4. Select Request Printed/Official Transcript
  5. Follow the prompts

After you click Submit Request, your official transcript will be put into the queue to be processed in the Registrar's Office.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submission of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the College. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.