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

GRADE ITEM

Points (%) OF TOTAL GRADE

DETAILED EXPLANATION

PARTICIPATION

200 (20%)

This class is a fast paced summer class; attendance is mandatory and critical to your success. You will have the opportunity to earn participation points in class. Participation points are earned by 1) attending class (no points are awarded to persons not in class, or who leave early, arrive late, etc) 2) Actively participating in class activities by listening, speaking, commenting, asking questions, working in groups, contributing to your group 3) Completing assignments prior to class, during class and online.

Participation points can be lost by 1) late arrivals, early departures, missing class 2) texting, facebooking, smart-phoning, talking on your phone, etc 3) sleeping 3) rude behavior (talking out of turn, disrespect toward classmates or instructor) 4) other behaviors that take away from the learning experience of yourself and others.

In order to receive your participation points you must sign in to the class role each week. It is your responsibility to do so. In this class, missing even ONE class will have a negative consequence on your grade. Each class is worth 50 points (1/2 letter grade).

EXAMS

800 (80% total) (20%/exam)

You will take a total of 4 exams. Each exam is worth 200 points and is 20% of your course grade. There will be no comprehensive final exam in this class. Each exam will cover the material covered in the book, PowerPoint presentations, class, discussion boards, and videos and links provided online. All exams will be given in an online format. 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! If you miss an exam you will receive a 0 for the exam!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!

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

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

May 23, 2012	Introductions, Orientation, Syllabus, Ice Breaker Activity, Beginnings, Theorists, Research Methods, Prenatal,

May 30, 2012	Birth, Infancy, Preschool,
June 6, 2012	NO CLASS – Online Materials Review Online Videos, Weblinks, PowerPoints related to Chapter 1-4
June 12 2012	Exam One and Exam Two DUE Opens June 8^th –June 12^th midnight
June 13 2012	Middle Childhood , Learning and Developmental Disorders, Adolescence,
June 19, 2012	Exam Three DUE Opens June15th – June 19^th midnight
June 20, 2012	Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood , Late Adulthood, Death and Dying
June 26, 2012	EXAM Four DUE Opens June 22^nd – June 26^th midnight

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: