Life-Span Developmental Psychology Syllabus for 2011-2012
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Instructor Information

Instructor

Kara Larkan-Skinner (Curriculum Vitae)

E-Mail

Phone

Phone number not available

Office Location

Office Hours

Course Information

Recording Policy

Disability Statement

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.

Statement for Mental Health and Advocacy & Resource Center:

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

Amarillo College Tutoring for Success Policy:

Administrative Drop Policy

N/A

Student Withdrawal Procedures

N/A

Privacy Statement

The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students. If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .

Course

PSYC-2314-002 Life-Span Developmental Psychology

Prerequisites

RDNG 0331-minimum grade of C or a score on a state-approved test indicating college-level reading skills

Course Description

The development of human physical, mental, emotional and social characteristics from infancy through maturity, the life span.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Hybrid

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

\ TEXTS:
\
\ Feldman, Robert S. Discovering the Lifespan, Pearson. ISBN-13:978-0-13-606167-0 Older editions, International editions, e-books are fine.

\ Additionally, the Amarillo College Reader is recommended but not required. See instructor for details.

Supplies

\ \ \ \

\ * Textbook is REQUIRED!!!
\
\ * Access to word processor (2nd & 3r

Student Performance

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
The general goals and objectives of Lifespan Developmental Psychology are to help the student:

Learn and gain mastery over the basic facts and research findings, terminology, principles, and theories important in the various areas of lifespan developmental psychology.
Develop understanding, skills, and techniques for analyzing human behavior using a scientific approach.
Gain a basic understanding of the interaction between genetic and environmental influences on human development.
Gain a basic understanding of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development across the lifespan.
Gain a basic understanding of family, school and work achievement, and death and dying as they apply to lifespan development.
Analyze current issues and controversies in the field of developmental psychology.
Practice and develop critical thinking skills, and written communications skills.
Find ways to apply psychological findings to everyday life.

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

\ \ \ \ \ \ \

\ CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE:
\ In order to maximize the group’s learning, some basic guidelines for the class are helpful. The following issues rarely occur in class. However, it is helpful for us all to be clear about my expectations in order to prevent any misunderstanding.

\ 1. Turn off all pagers and cell phones before class. Do not text message during class. It is distracting and sends the message that you are not present and you will receive a 0 for your participation grade.
\
\ 2. Please do not bring children to class.
\
\ 3. When two or three students carry on conversations while another student has the floor, other students report that they feel resentful because they are distracted by the talking and cannot focus on the student who is speaking.

\ 4. Please do not fall asleep in class, you will be asked to leave and receive a participation grade of 0.

\ 5. Coming to class intoxicated or under a controlled substance will not be tolerated. You will be asked to leave the class and receive a 0 for your class participation grade. If this occurs more than one time, you will be referred for AC disciplinary action.

Grading Criteria

Desired Grade	Points Needed
Maximum Score	1000 points
A	900-1000
B	800-899
C	700-799
D	600-699
F	599 and below

THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS, NO MAKE-UP PARTICIPATION, THERE ARE NO DROP GRADES

EXAMINATIONS:

You will take a total of 3 exams. Each exam is worth 150 points and is 15% of your course grade. There will be no comprehensive final exam in this class. Each exam course will cover the material covered in the book, PowerPoint presentations, class, online worksheets, web links and videos provided online. All exams will be given in an online format; they will be open from Friday at midnight - Tuesday at 3pm. There will be approximately 50 questions per exam and you will have 1.5 minutes per question to finish the exam. For example a 50 question exam would be open for 75 minutes. THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS OR DROP GRADES! If you miss an exam you will receive a 0 for the exam!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!.There is no final exam in this class

GRADE ITEM	Points (%) OF TOTAL GRADE	DETAILED EXPLANATION
PARTICIPATION	250(25%)	Class participation is critical and you will receive points for each class you participate in. You will receive a 0 if you are absent or do not participate. There are no makeup classes. Please note that participation is defined as actively listening to the instructor and classmates, as well as providing input during discussions and group sessions. Sleeping, answering cell phones, sending text messages, or talking about unrelated subject matter to peers during class will result in a 0 for your participation grade. Some participation points will require you to do outside of class work. Your instructor will inform you when these situations occur. This class is a project based class. What that means is that we will do projects each week. These projects represent your participation grade. Some projects will be done in class, some will be assigned as homework for you to do prior to the next week of class. These will be mini-projects that will take approximately 1 hour or less of time. **** In order to PARTICIPATE in class, you must read the chapter, watch all videos, and be prepared to discuss the material in class. If you have not prepared for class, you will be asked to leave class and you will not receive any participation credit. Your instructor will monitor this by in class questions, quality of your responses on in class projects and homework projects.
EXAMS	450 (45% total)	You will take a total of 3 exams. Each exam is worth 150 points and is 15% of your course grade. There will be no comprehensive final exam in this class. Each exam course will cover the material covered in the book, PowerPoint presentations, class, discussion boards, and videos provided online. All exams will be given in an online format; they will be open from Friday at midnight through Tuesday at 3pm. There will be approximately 50 questions per exam and you will have 1.5 minutes per question to finish the exam. For example a 50 question exam would be open for 75 minutes. THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS OR DROP GRADES! If you miss an exam you will receive a 0 for the exam!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!
Post Exam Review	200 (20%)	Another component of your grade is up to 150 points for completing an exam review AFTER each exam is over (50 points/exam for the first 3 exams). You will receive a handout describing this in more detail. In order to get these points you will have to answer the questions identified in the handout.
Assignments	100 (10%)	You will have 2 assignments for points in this class. One if given in class during the week we cover Early Adulthood. (If you are absent on the day we cover Early Adulthood you will miss out on the 50 points given for the activity, there are no options to make up this assignment). The second assignment is the Death and Dying Activity and it is due the week of Thanksgiving. You will receive more information on these assignments in class.

Attendance

\ Class participation is critical and you will receive points for each class you participate in. You will receive a 0 if you are absent or do not participate. There are no makeup classes. Please note that participation is defined as actively listening to the instructor and classmates, as well as providing input during discussions and group sessions. Sleeping, answering cell phones, sending text messages, or talking about unrelated subject matter to peers during class will result in a 0 for your participation grade.

\ Some participation points will require you to do outside of class work. Your instructor will inform you when these situations occur.

\ This class is a project based class. This means that we will do projects each week. These projects represent your participation grade. Some projects will be done in class, some will be assigned as homework for you to do prior to the next week of class. These will be mini-projects that will take approximately 1 hour or less of time.

\ **** In order to PARTICIPATE in class, you must read the chapter, watch all videos, and be prepared to discuss the material in class. If you have not prepared for class, you will be asked to leave class and you will not receive any participation credit. Your instructor will monitor this by in class questions, quality of your responses on in class projects and homework projects.

Calendar

Course Schedule is subject to change at Instructor's Discretion.

8-23-2011

Class orientation,

Syllabus,

What is a hybrid course?

Navigate the website

Photo Project

Scavenger Hunt – 10 points

8-30-2011

Orientation to Lifespan Development

Introductions,

Chapter 1.1

Research Project- 10 points

9-6-2011

Beginnings: Chapter 1

1.1, 1.2,

Come to class with an example of a research project violating ethics

Teratogen Project

Prenatal Stages

9-13-2011

Short Class… Class ends at 6:15

9-20-2011

Beginnings: Chapter 1

1.3

In class Lecture on the Spot

APGAR

Debate medicate for labor?

Low birthweight babies

Postpartum Depression

9-27-2011

Infancy: Chapter 2

2.1, 2.2

Reflexes

Infant Motor Skills

Breast or Bottle

Sensorimotor Stages

Language Infancy: Chapter 2

2.3

Attachment Patterns

Temperament

Gender

Exam Review

Exam One

10-4-2011

Preschool Years: Chapter 3

3.1,3.2

Toy Store Assignment

Children’s TV Assignment

10-11-2011

Preschool Years: Chapter 3

3.3

On the Spot Mini Lecture

10-18-2011

Middle Childhood: Chapter 4.1-4.3

Alligator River

10-25-2011

Autism/ADHD (supplemental readings)

11-1-2011

Adolescence 5.1-5.2

Remembering my Adolescence due

11-8-2011

Adolescence 5.3

Exam Two

Exam Review

11-15-2011

Early Adulthood 6.1-6.3

Emerging Adulthood Concept

H. Questionnaire

11-22-2011

Middle Adulthood 7.1-7.3

Type A/B Quiz

Will Writing Activity Due

11-29-2011

Late Adulthood 8.1-8.3

Death and Dying 9.1-9.3

Exam Three

12-6-2011

Exam Review Due

End of Semester Reflection

Discussion on Will Writing Activity and Death and Dying

Additional Information

This course surveys the major areas of lifespan developmental psychology - the science of individual human development. The course emphasizes an understanding of the important methods, terms, theories, and findings in the field of lifespan psychology.

Syllabus Created on:

11/30/-1 12:00 AM

Last Edited on: