Lifespan Growth & Development Syllabus for 2020-2021
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Instructor Information

Course Information

COVID-19 Protocols

Recording Policy

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.

Amarillo College Web Accessibility Policy Statement

Amarillo College is committed to providing equal access to all programs and services, including all working, learning, and service environments that affect equal access for persons with disabilities. This commitment to provide equal access and opportunity for persons with disabilities is in compliance with federal and state law. Amarillo College also strives to provide Electronic and Information Resources (EIR) that are accessible to all authorized users.

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:

The Tutoring for Success policy applies to any student whose grade or performance in the course falls below a departmentally determined minimum threshold. In either of those cases, the instructor will direct the student to the appropriate tutoring service, which may be faculty-led, discipline-specific, and/or general. Under this policy, the instructor will follow specific departmental guidelines governing the use, duration, and grade component of the tutoring need.

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.

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 Lifespan Growth & Development

Prerequisites

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:

Melodie Graves
Justice Involved Advocate
Student Service Center 117
mgraves24@actx.edu
806-371-5995
Make appointment at https://melodiegraves.youcanbook.me

You can also contact 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

Online Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Human Development 10^th Edition, Crandell, Crandell, and Vander Zanden

Supplies

Access to a computer with an Internet connection. If you do not have your own computer, you will need to use AC computers located on the 4^th floor of the WARE building.

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 an understanding, the 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

Reading your textbook will enable you to do well in this class.  Exam questions are pulled directly from the textbook, so you will need the book (just the print version – we do NOT use an access code for online content). Although they are not the best quality, since this is an online-only class, watching the videos I made of my lectures for each chapter will help you identify the content you will need to learn for exams. As an 8-week course, we simply cannot cover everything in the book, but we do go over at least some content from all 19 chapters. By way of my recorded class lectures, I’ll guide you through the content that will be on exams.  

All students are expected to be tolerant and respectful of other students and of me. There will be zero tolerance for any type of harassment. In class discussions online and in videos, please be courteous and respectful of the different opinions of your classmates. AC also expects that each student will engage in academic honesty and refrain from cheating and/or plagiarism. I require each student to complete his/her own work independently rather than copying assignments from classmates or working collaboratively. 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. 

Typically, I expect all students to complete assignments in a timely manner and do not provide any extensions of any due dates; however, due to COVID-19 disrupting so much of our lives, I will be more flexible in this class. I still want you to try your best to complete all assignments on time. Please calendar all due dates (which you will find in our course calendar), take advantage of the time you have, plan ahead, and try to meet all deadlines. If something is going to prevent you from completing an assignment by the deadline, you will need to let me know, and I require you to tell me before 5:00 p.m. on the day the assignment is due. Provided you do let me know before the deadline has actually passed, I will work with you. By 5:00 p.m. on the due date, you should know if it will be possible for you to complete the assignment, so please do not procrastinate past 5:00 p.m. on all due dates.

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 – Social Responsibility Assignment, modified
15% of overall grade – Reading Quizzes (19 total, but 4 can be skipped or dropped); each 
                                         of the required 15 will be worth 1% of your total grade
15% of overall grade – Discussion Boards (3); each is worth 5% of your total grade

• There will be four 50-question multiple-choice exams taken online in Blackboard.   
  • I will drop your lowest exam grade.
  • The exam questions will be taken from the book.
  • Exams are open-book and open-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 all at once, 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.
    • You may take the exams anywhere, provided you do have a reliable Internet connection.
  • You will be able to see your exam grade immediately, but you cannot access all of the questions/answers until after the due date has passed.
• For the Social Responsibility Assignment (modified):
  • Historically, this assignment has required students to complete 4 hours of volunteer work at a local service agency. In light of COVID-19, AC is NOT requiring you to complete 4 new hours of volunteer service. Instead, we ask that you reflect on community service/volunteer hours you have completed in the past (perhaps for this very assignment – which is required by many AC classes – through your church, or as part of a high school program) OR decide what agency most interests you and conduct research on what you would have done, if there weren’t social distancing/shelter-in-place mandates still in place around the country.
  • If you have never volunteered anywhere before, look through the possible agencies in the Amarillo area.
    • NOTE: If you are not in the Amarillo area and would like to discuss previous volunteer experience outside of these Amarillo agencies OR would like to research an agency where you live to someday volunteer, start by looking at this list to get an idea of the types of places that are acceptable. You might be able to find a similar agency in your area, which you can ask me to approve. You will find a web link to a page listing the approved agencies in the “Instructions” document, available in our course in Blackboard, on the page in our course for this assignment.  Select an agency that interests you and where you could see yourself volunteering. (Or, get my prior approval if your agency isn’t on this page.)
  • By the date indicated on our course calendar, tell me which agency you plan to complete the template regarding – either one where you have volunteered previously or the one you think looks most interesting (from the webpage you are directed to in the “Instructions” document). You can also ask me ahead of time about completing the template on a different social agency that serves a community but is not listed on this page.
  • Then, either reflecting on the volunteer hours you have previously done OR keeping in mind the agency where you are interested in volunteering someday, you will conduct some research about your agency and then answer questions on the “Social Responsibility Assignment Template.”
    • If you haven’t actually completed any volunteer hours yet, you will need to research on the Internet and possibly call volunteers and staff who have worked at that agency to find out what volunteering there looks like. If you were to have completed these hours, what would they likely have asked you to do? What do you expect you would have learned there or gotten out of this experience?
  • After completing the “Social Responsibility Assignment Template” you will submit it through Blackboard as a Word document or Rich Text file.   
    • Do NOT create your own file – use the TEMPLATE, filling in your answers after each question.
    • Do NOT submit this assignment as a PDF.  Only Microsoft Word or Rich Text files are acceptable.
  • The template is the only thing you will need to turn in for this class. (Normally, I also require verification of your volunteer hours, but we will not be doing that in this class.)
  • 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 in Blackboard and in the “Instructions” document for this assignment.
  • Submit your own independent work for a grade.
  • If you have done this for another class in a previous semester, you cannot simply turn in the form that you used for that previous class. You must use the template I have provided in our course and tailor your answers to THIS class.
    • For example, you are required to cite our textbook – use the textbook we are using in this class.
  • See additional information about this project in our Blackboard class, including the rubric by which you will be graded.
  • I have created a video on this assignment, which will still help you identify where I deduct points and what I expect of you; however, please understand that in this video, I talk as if you will be completing these 4 hours for this assignment and that you’ll have to verify them. Normally, that is true, but in this case, for this class, I am NOT requiring you to complete any volunteer hours.
  • If you’re actually reading this, thank you. Please email me: “I read the syllabus” and I’ll give you a bonus point. My email is below.
• There is a Reading Quiz on every chapter in our book, and we will cover all of the 19 chapters in this course.
  • These quizzes are completed in Blackboard.
  • Each quiz includes 10 multiple-choice questions covering a specific chapter, (e.g. Reading Quiz #1 is over chapter 1).
  • Like the Exams, these are open-book, open-note.
  • Unlike the Exams, there is NO time limit, and you do not have to complete the quiz all at once. You can save your answers, exit Blackboard, and then see your answers again when you return.
  • Also unlike the Exams, you can take each Quiz as many times as you like. Your highest grade will be recorded in the gradebook.
  • Immediately after taking each Quiz, you will see your grade; however, you will not be able to access the full quiz with the questions/answers until after the due date has passed.
    • Because these quizzes are due before the opening of each exam (covering the same chapters), you will be able to use your answers to the quiz to help you with similar questions on the exam.
  • I will drop 4 of these quiz grades. Or, if you score a 100 on all 19, I will award you bonus points for the 4 that are not required.
• You will need to complete 3 Discussion Boards online in our course in Blackboard. Rather than using the more standard Discussion Board format, I use a website called Flipgrid. You will be making videos for your initial post as well as the 2 replies to your classmates.
  • Each Discussion Board will require you to submit an initial post responding to TWO of my prompts. This will be your initial post video.
  • Within two days, you will need to have replied to 2 of your classmates (2 different people) about their initial posts. These 2 replies will also be videos.
    • These replies must be substantive (not simply “good job” or “I agree.”)
    • Please make sure to select “Add a Comment” (appearing directly below your classmate’s initial post) to associate your reply with your classmate’s post. If you select “Record a Response” that will NOT be tied to the student’s initial post but will seem as if it’s another new initial post.
  • I will drop your lowest Discussion Board grade (just 1 of the 3).
• Finally, throughout this course, I will offer chances for you to earn bonus points that are added on to your final average in the class. This often helps people who are hovering near their target letter grade get bumped up to it. But you will have to take advantage of these opportunities as they come, all along the 8 weeks. I don't offer last-ditch chances to save a poor grade.

Attendance

As on online-only course, attendance is measured by your completion of assignments by their due dates. You must complete the first assignments in this course by their deadlines or communicate with me about why you are not participating, or you will be dropped from the class altogether.  Automatic withdrawals occur if students do not submit their first assignments through Blackboard. It is up to you to check our class online each day and to calendar and keep up with when all assignments are due. 

Periodically, I will make announcements, which will be posted in our class on the “Announcements page” in our course and also sent out via email, so checking your email regularly is also highly recommended, particularly as we continue to deal with COVID-19.

Do not expect that you can put off all of the work in this class until the last minute. Online classes are not usually easier; in fact, for many students, they are harder, since you are completing all of your work on your own, without easy access to your classmates or instructor.

That said, please contact me if you have questions or problems that are impacting your performance in this class.  As much as possible, I will be happy to help you.  My contact information is below.

Calendar

Additional Information

I will hold office hours by appointment.  I am happy to schedule times that are convenient for you, even after-hours or on weekends. 

The best way to reach me is by sending me an email (mseder@actx.edu) or a message using the Remind app. I check both relatively frequently, every day.

You can also contact me on my office phone (806)345-5582, but that will only work during my typical work hours (8:30-5:45 Mondays-Thursdays; 8:30-4:30 Fridays).  If you do not reach me when calling, leave me a message.  I will check voicemail messages periodically throughout typical workdays.  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 Online”). 

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.