Lifespan Growth & Development Syllabus for 2017-2018
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Disability Statement

If you have a disability (learning, mental, physical) that affects your ability to participate effectively and have access to any program or service at Amarillo College please contact Disability Services at (806) 345-5639 . Our offices are located in the Student Service Center office 112. More information may be found at www.actx.edu/disability.
Disability Services facilitates access to all programs and services according to the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as other federal and state laws.

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If you find you are unable to access material in an accessible format please contact the Disability Services Office at (806) 345-5639 . This office will work in conjunction with other campus resources to address and accommodate your issue in a timely manner.

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

Students who do not attend class on or prior to the census date will be administratively dropped. Effective Fall, 2016

Student Withdrawal Procedures

Students who wish to withdraw from a course must complete all steps indicated on the Academic Withdrawal Request form by the course withdrawal deadline.

NOTE: Students who are attending Texas institutions of higher education, for the first time fall 2007 and later, may not withdraw from more than six courses during their academic career. This withdrawal limitation does not include dual credit or developmental classes (Senate Bill 1231 Rule 4.10.) For more information on Drop and Withdrawal Policies, please visit the Registrar's Office Web site.

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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-2314-003 Lifespan Growth & Development

Prerequisites

<p>Prerequisite: RDNG 0331-minimum grade of C or a score on a state-approved test indicating college-level reading skills</p>

Course Description

Life-Span Growth and Development is a study of social, emotional, cognitive and physical factors and influences of a developing human from conception to death.

Student ResourcesStudent Resources Website

Department Expectations

Occupational License Disclaimer

Notice to Students enrolled in an educational program for preparation of issuance of certain occupational licenses:

Students enrolled in an educational program in preparation for obtaining certain occupational licenses are potentially ineligible for such license if the student has been convicted of an offense. For further information, please contact your advisor, the Legal Clinic, or the faculty member in charge of the educational program that you seek to enroll in. The further information you will receive will include notification to you of your right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the licensing authority in order to clarify your particular situation.

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Hybrid

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Human Development 10^th Edition Crandell, Crandell and Zanden

Supplies

pencil, pens, spiral notebook, and access to a computer. If you do not have your own computer, you will need to use AC computers located on the 4^th floor of the Library.

Student Performance

Student performance and learning outcomes for PSYC 2314:

1.    Learn and gain mastery over the basic facts and research findings, terminology, principles, and theories important in the various areas of lifespan developmental psychology.

2.    Develop understanding, skills, and techniques for analyzing human behavior using a scientific approach.

3.    Gain a basic understanding of the interaction between genetic and environmental influences on human development.

4.    Gain a basic understanding of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development across the lifespan.

5.    Gain a basic understanding of family, school and work achievement, and death and dying as they apply to lifespan development.

6.    Analyze current issues and controversies in the field of developmental psychology.

7.    Practice and develop critical thinking skills, and written communications skills.

8.    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

Your grade will not be docked for missing a class; however, in class, I will lecture over material that will be on the exams, and I will provide you with additional guided questions to later answer on your own and turn in for a grade.  These worksheets will cover content that will be on exams.

While in class, please do not use electronic devices for purposes other than notetaking.  If you are waiting on an important call, please tell me beforehand.  If you receive that call during class, you may then step out of the room to answer.  I would prefer you not to leave and reenter the room throughout the session as that can be disruptive.

All students are expected to be tolerant and respectful of other students and of me.  This includes refraining from talking with one another while I am lecturing – not only does this distract me, but it also distracts other students.  I will ask you to stop, and if it continues, I will ask you to leave the class.  Attendance is voluntary, so please do not come if you do not intend to pay attention.  There will be zero tolerance for any type of harassment.  AC also expects that each student will engage in academic honesty and refrain from cheating and/or plagiarism.  I expect each student to complete his/her own work independently rather than copying assignments from classmates.  Exams should be completed independently, as should all other assignments for this class.  Penalties for cheating as well as plagiarism are outlined in the Amarillo College Student Handbook. 

I expect all students to complete assignments in a timely manner.  No extensions of any due date will be provided.  Take advantage of the time you have and plan ahead.  Even on exams, you will have at least four days to complete them.  If you would like to complete an exam before it opens, please contact me as soon as you can.  If you are unable to complete an assignment by deadline, you will receive a 0.  I do not accept late work.

Grading Criteria

You can check your grades in our course in Blackboard.  For your final overall course grade, I will round up at the standard .5 and above.  Grading will be on the grade scale:

100-89.5% = A
89.4-79.5% = B
79.4-69.5% = C
69.4-59.5% = D
59.4% and below = F

The points will be earned:

50% of overall grade – Exams (4); each Exam is worth 12.5% of your total grade
20% of overall grade – Service Learning Project
15% of overall grade – Exam Prep Homework (no more than 8)
15% of overall grade – Discussion Boards (2) are each worth 7.5%

• There will be four 50-question multiple-choice exams taken online.   
  • I will drop your lowest exam grade.
  • The exam questions will be taken from class lecture notes and the chapters in the book.
  • Exams are open-book and -note.
  • Exams will open at 12:00 a.m. on the date indicated on the course calendar and will close at 11:59 p.m. on the indicated day. 
  • You must complete the exam in the allotted time of 90 minutes.
  • Please do not wait until the last minute, when you will not find anyone to assist you with technical problems.  I will be unavailable to answer questions after 8 p.m. each night. 
  • Do NOT take exams on a laptop connecting to the Internet wirelessly, a cell phone, or when using an unreliable connection.  Use an actual computer that has a dedicated cable for the Internet connection.
• For the Service Learning Project:
  • You will be required to complete 4 hours of community service at your chosen agency in the community. (A list of agencies is provided in our class in Blackboard or you may ask me to approve a site not listed.) 
  • You must provide signed documentation verifying that you completed all of the hours.  
    • If you do not provide verification of all 4 hours completed, you will receive a 0 for your overall Service Learning Project assignment. 
  • After you have completed your hours, you will then answer 5 short questions about the experience. 
    • You will complete the “Service Learning Project Template” and submit it through Blackboard as a Word document or Rich Text file. 
    • Do NOT submit this assignment as a PDF.
  • Each question has a rubric which will be used for grading. The questions are worth different amounts of points.  You will be able to access the rubric within the assignment.  
  • While you can complete your volunteer hours with other classmates, you are required to complete the template on your own.  Submit your own independent work for a grade.
  • See additional information about this project in the Blackboard class, including the rubric by which you will be graded.
• As a hybrid class, we simply will not have enough class time to cover all of the material that will be on each exam.  I will occasionally hand out pages of questions to help you get fully prepared for the upcoming exam.  To give you some points for completing this exam prep work, I will grade each of these homework pages.  Cumulatively, these homework pages will be worth 15% of your final grade.
• There will be 2 Discussion Boards completed online in our course in Blackboard. 
  • Each Discussion Board will require you to submit an initial post responding to my prompts. 
  • Two days later, you will need to have replied to 2 different classmates about their initial posts. 
    • These replies must be substantive (not simply “good job” or “I agree.”)

Attendance

It’s college; I know you will want to skip, but if you show up, you will do better in this class. It’s an 8-week hybrid class, so if you miss, you will get behind very quickly. Traditional classes were twice as long (16 weeks) and had twice as many lectures (with a hybrid class, you meet half as often and do most of the work on your own time). 

Although I will not count off points if you miss a class, I will track attendance.  You will be required to sign in (on a paper attendance sheet) each class session. If you are over 30 minutes late, then you will not be counted present. I understand that things come up, but please try your best to be in class and be on time. 

When determining final grades for the course, attendance and class participation also contribute to rounding beyond the standard 0.5.  In other words, your final course grade might be an 89.4, but if you have attended and participated in most all of our classes, I will be more inclined to round up to an A.

Calendar

Additional Information

Office Hours:

I will hold office hours by appointment.

The best way to reach me is by sending an email: mseder@actx.edu or sending me a message using the Remind app.

You can also contact me on my office phone (806)345-5582, but that will only work during typical business hours (8:00-5:00).  If you do not reach me when calling, leave me a message.  I will check voicemail messages periodically throughout typical workdays (from 8:00-5:00).  If you do not leave a complete message, I may not be able to help you.  Please tell me your full name and which class you are attending (for example, “Sue Smith in Lifespan at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays/Thursdays”). 

I cannot guarantee that I will respond to any messages after 5:00 p.m.  I can guarantee that I will not respond to any messages left on my office number after 5:00 p.m. or to very many messages sent via email or Remind after 8:00 p.m.