Syllabus

UNE Summer Session

PSYO 1020: Developmental Psychology – Summer Session – 6 Weeks

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. 

Hardware

An external webcam is required for proctored exams. If you do not have one, you may order one here: External Webcam.

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 

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 life span psychology to suggest a strategy for producing the best outcome.

Creative Assignment

You will create a virtual poster that visually represents how you want to retire. 

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 (Proctored)

This is a 50-item, multiple-choice exam that is proctored. Students will have 1 hour and 1 attempt to complete the exam. This exam will allow 1 page of notes, front, and back. See UNE’s ProctorU page for information about signing up and scheduling your exam.

Proctored exams are closed for review. You will not be able to review them at any time. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.

Grading Policy

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

Grade Breakdown

Assignment4
Introduction4
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 Reflection Assignment5
Week 5 PB Scenaio5
Week 6 Discussion4
Week 6 Interview Assignment5
Week 6 Creative Assignment5
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  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, & Exam Due by 11:59 PM EST Sunday

2

Childhood

  • Discussion
  • Reflection
  • Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario

Discussion Initial Post Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

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

4 Early Adulthood
  • Discussion
  • Reflection Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario

Discussion Initial Post Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

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

5 Middle Adulthood
  • Discussion
  • Reflection Assignment
  • Problem-Based Scenario

Discussion Initial Post Due by 11:59 PM EST Friday

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

6 Older Adulthood
  • Discussion
  • Interview Assignment
  • Creative Assignment
  • Final Exam (proctored, 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.