FSHD 117 - Human Development Across the Life Span - ONLINE VERSION
INSTRUCTOR: James E. Hunt M.S.
E-mail: jhunt@ag.arizona.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This introductory course is designed to give the student a deeper understanding of the field of Family Studies and Human Development across the life span. Topics include methods for researching human development, theories of development, physical growth and development, cognitive development, personality development, and social/relationship development across the continuum of human development. Additionally, major theorists and how Family Studies research is reported by the mainstream media will be covered. The emphasis of the course is on normative life span development.
Ultimately this course provides an introduction to the FSHD major or minor, as well as a foundation for anyone interested in human development form a psychological, sociological and anthropological perspective.
MAJOR PURPOSES:
• To help the student gain a fuller understanding of effective and reliable research methodologies.
• To help the student understand how pre-natal development, genes, and environment interact to set life course development in motion.
• To explicate the role of research in understanding how development changes in individuals over the course of their life.
• To encourage active questioning of what we as a science know and to help students to become critical consumers of developmental research.
• To understand the different phases of an individuals' life, and how relationships, personality, and cognitive factors influence their interaction with the world around them.
• For the student to leave the course with the framework for later studies in Family Studies and Human Development.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
• To describe effective research techniques and the role of reliability, validity, and application in developing research questions.
• To describe major theories of development and their inherent strengths and weaknesses.
• 3. To grasp the various theories of stage development in early childhood, and identify shortfalls and benefits inherent to our understanding of early child development.
• 4. To describe the physical, cognitive, and emotional changes that occur during adolescence.
• 5. To describe normal early and mid-adult development of emotions, personality traits, and relationships.
• 6. To identify how the development of the person changes during the "golden years," and the effect of these changes on the individual and the family.
TOPICAL OUTLINE
READING SUBJECT & ASSIGNED READINGS
MODULE 1
Chpts. 1-2 Introduction of course: course outline, study tips, and assignments.
The history of and basic issues involved in the research of human development.
Research methods, and the questions to ask when reading for the course.
Quiz 1
MODULE 2: EARLY DEVELOPMENT
Chpts. 3-7 The effects of genetics, prenatal development, and environment on the developing infant.
Stage theories of infant development, and their authors.
The effects of:
• Temperament
• Attachment
• Reflexes
• Parent child interaction
Quiz 2
MODULE 3
Chpts. 8-11 Childhood
• Child rearing
• Play
• Intelligence
• Moral development
• Development in context
• Key theories
Quiz 3
MODULE 4: ADOLESCENCE AND YOUG ADULTHOOD
Chpts. 12-15 Adolescence
• Identity Development
• Cognitive Development
• Friend and peer relations
• Risk taking behaviors
• Family Relations
Early Adulthood Issues
• Health and well being
• Developmental tasks
• The college, and non college experience
• Mate selection, and sexual orientation
Quiz 4
Additional Readings :
Werner, E.E. (1993). Children of the garden island. In Gauvain, M. & Cole, M. (Eds.) Readings on the Development of Children (pp. 114-120) .
Fischoff, B. (1992). Risk taking: A developmental perspective. In J.F. Yates (Ed)., Risk-taking Behavior (pp. 133-162).
MODULE 5: ADULTHOOD
Chpts. 16-20 Middle Adulthood Issues
• Work and Family
• Stress
• Parenting
• Midlife Crisis
• Generativity
Late Adult Issues
A. Health and well being
B. Aging and cognition
C. Grandparent roles
D. Losing ones partner
E. Death and dying
Chpt. 21 Death and Dying
Quiz 5
Additional reading:
Peterson, B.E. (2002). Longitudinal analysis of midlife generativity, intergenerational roles and care giving. Psychology and Aging. 17 (1), pp. 161-168.
TEXTS
Required:
Life-Span Development (10 th Edition), John W. Santrock; Madison, WI : McGraw Hill.
Additional OPTIONAL readings will be available on E-reserves. They may be accessed via the internet at http://eres.library.arizona.edu/eres/courseindex.aspx?page=dept The course password is development .
These readings will include interesting current topics for the course, common media representations of developmental research, and examples of both poor and superb research on the topics at hand.
Suggested periodicals for research work:
• Journal of Marriage and the Family
• Journal of Adolescence
• Journal of Close Relationships
• Journal of Aging
• Journal of Death and Dying
• Child Development
• Journal of Research on Adolescence
For help in finding additional readings please see Jim for a tutorial on using EBSCO and PsychInfo.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Readings :
See course outline.
Quizzes:
There will be 5 quizzes given during the course of the term. All quizzes will be multiple-choice/guess J . Questions will be taken from your readings and online PowerPoint's. Since this is a non-traditional class these quizzes will be made available online for you to respond to with open notes and open book. Due to this open format the quizzes will hold only a moderate weight in your class points.
Chat sessions:
Twice a week in the evening there will be a one-hour chat session. Since the instructor works during the day these sessions will be limited to the evening hours (roughly 8pm Tucson time). These sessions will be designed to ask questions and provide examples to correlate with the readings. In some sense these sessions will substitute for lectures in a traditional class. By this I mean that during chat sessions the instructor will be able to explain terms and content in a more real world and in depth manner, and students will be allowed to voice their opinion. Grading of chat sessions will be a combination of participation (no lurking in the back ground and not contributing), and time online. All students are expected to commit to being involved in the chats for at least one half hour per session .
Discussions:
For each section of each module the instructor will start a discussion thread. These threads are designed to make the students think and to try and answer questions that may be sensitive. You are expected to respond at least twice to each thread. You will be graded on the clarity and thoughtfulness of your argument and your ability to bring course material to bear on real life situations. The discussion section is intended to give the students a chance to discuss the material as it regards real world situations. In essence, the discussion board is designed to allow students to gain a more in-depth understanding of how the course material is relevant to our everyday lives. This of course means that students must be willing to listen to alternative points of view to their own, and to accept that not everyone views the world the way they do, nor does everyone fit the statistics of the course text and research.
Paper:
Students will be asked to submit a final paper for the course. These papers will be described in more detail later. The paper will ask students to design a study of one of the topics they find most interesting in the course. You will be asked to provide a theoretical background for your study, the research methods and design you would use, your hypothesis and research questions that you expect to answer, and research to support why you think the study you are designing will fill an existing gap in the field. The total assignment requirements will be posted at the end of the first week of class.
EVALUATION:
Your course grade will be based on quizzes, chat participation, participation in discussion, and your final paper.
Assignment Value
Quizzes (5 @10) 50
Paper 50
Discussion (9 @ 10) 90
Chat Sessions (8 @ 5) 40
Total 230
DETERMINATION OF CLASS GRADES:
Score Grade
90-100% (207-230) A
80-89% (184-206.9) B
70-79% (161-183.9) C
60-69% (138-160.9) D
Below 138 E
POLICIES:
Extra Credit Policy:
There will be no extra credit assigned for this class.
Late Policy:
An assignment turned in late will be reduced by 5% of its total value for every day it is late including weekends.
Attendance Policy:
Since there are no class sessions to attend, the only attendance to be considered is in reference to online chats and discussions.
Class Courtesy Policy:
• 1) It is expected that students may disagree with the research presented or the opinions of their fellow classmates. To disagree is fine but to disparage others views is unacceptable. All comments should be kept civil and thoughtful.
Disruptive Behavior:
This Class runs under university policies regarding disruptive behavior. http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/disrupt.shtml
Actions that are considered disruptive in this class include, but are not limited to:
1) Rude or negative comments during chats or discussions.
Missed Classes or Exams Policy:
Students will be allowed to make-up an exam only on rare occasions for justifiable, extenuating circumstances. Students need to submit a written request attaching supporting documentation (e.g. doctors verification). Students will not be allowed to make-up exams for non-academic reasons (e.g. family vacation, early holiday travel). If a student is allowed to make up an exam, it will most likely be in an essay format. Students will not be allowed to make up in class quizzes, or writing assignments without letting the instructor know in advance (via e-mail) that they will be missing class on a given day. Since this course is administered online students are not held to a set schedule except to complete materials prior to midnight on the calendar day that the assignment or quiz was given.
Incomplete Grade Policy:
Incomplete grades will be given only in special circumstances as outlined in university policy as stated in "The University of Arizona Record General Academic Manual"
Academic Integrity:
Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and application of course materials. However, all graded requirements (exams, writing assignments) must be executed independently. This course operates under the UA academic code as described in the General Academic Manual. Students are highly encouraged to read the UA code of academic integrity as it appears at:
http://info-enter.ccit.arizona.edu/~studpubs/policies/cacaint.htm .
Special Needs Policy:
Students needing special accommodations or special services should contact the Learning Disabilities Program/Salt at 621-1242, and/or the Center for Disability Related Resources/CDRR, second and Cherry Streets (621-5227). The needs of specialized services must be documented and verified by one of these units. I will do everything in my capacity to accommodate students with special needs, but need to have this information in advance.
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