Lifespan Growth & Development Syllabus for 2024-2025
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Instructor Information

Course Information

AI Statement

Collusion is defined as “the unauthorized collaboration with another person or by any other means, including artificial intelligence (AI) and computer translators, in preparing work for fulfillment of course requirements.” Using AI like (ChatGPT or Google Gemini) to create a document is considered colluding. <strong>The use of Generative Artificial Intelligence on specific assignments is at the discretion of the instructor. </strong>

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 Enrollment Center, Suite 700. 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:

Tutoring for Success applies to any student whose overall performance in the course falls below 75%. The instructor will create the task in the Student Engagement Portal (Watermark) to direct the student to the appropriate tutoring service, which may be faculty- or SI-led, discipline-specific, and/or general. The tutoring service assigned, the due date for when the tutoring must be completed, and the amount of tutoring required are at the discretion of the instructor. Additionally, the task will alert the student’s success team. Students who do not fulfill the assigned tutoring task may be subject to program- and course-specific penalties that could result in a grade reduction and/or in not being allowed to progress in the course until the tutoring requirement has been satisfied.

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-2314-006 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

Lifespan Development: Lives in Context, 2nd Edition (2019) OR 3rd Edition (2023) by Tara L. Kuther

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 in The Underground (the basement of Ware) or on the 4th floor of Ware.

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

Particularly because this is an online-only course, you will need to study the course materials on your own. I have provided videos on each chapter that you will need to watch. I do not require a textbook in this course; however, I do recommend getting the book that goes with this course, because that will provide you with more in-depth coverage of the course materials. Exam questions are taken from my chapter videos, but you will also find explanations and information in the textbook about what I cover in lectures, since I used the textbook as a guide when creating my presentations. Because I do not require the textbook, you do NOT need an access code for online content through the publisher – you only need to get the print book. You can get either of the two most recent editions: either the 2nd or the 3rd edition will work for this course – you choose. To help guide you as you study for exams and as you listen to my chapter videos, I have provided my PowerPoint lecture presentations in our Blackboard course. These materials will help you identify what will and will not be covered 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, please be courteous and respectful of the different opinions of your classmates. Remember that I (and potentially the entire class) will be reading what you post. AC also expects that each student will engage in academic honesty and refrain from cheating and/or plagiarism. I require each student to complete their 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. For the Common Assessment assignment, using AI to complete your essay is plagiarism, and if plagiarism-checking software identifies your essay as AI-generated, you will likely receive a 0 on the assignment. Penalties for cheating as well as plagiarism are outlined in the Amarillo College Student Handbook. 

In our course calendar, in the last column, I list due dates for all assignments. Due dates are also listed below in this syllabus, and I post regular reminders using Announcements in our course in Blackboard. Please try to complete all assignments on time. Calendar all due dates, use phone reminders, take advantage of the time you have, and plan ahead. If an emergency is going to prevent you from completing an assignment by the deadline, you will need to let me know as soon as possible, before the assignment is due. If you allow a deadline to pass without communicating with me, you will receive a 0 on that assignment. I rarely grant extensions on due dates because you almost always have at least a few days to complete all assignments – more often, you have the entire 8 weeks to complete assignments at your own pace. Most of my assignments are open (available to be completed) for the duration of our course, so you can work ahead and submit assignments before their deadlines. Although I do not often extend deadlines, I will always open things up early for you, if that would fit better into your schedule.

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 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

AC has adopted a tutoring policy, with mandatory tutoring required for every student with an overall grade in the course below a 75. Around midterms (Weeks 4-5), I will assign every student falling below a 75 to mandatory tutoring. As long as I receive an emailed tutoring report from your tutor, I will give you a few extra points on a pertinent assignment. For example, prior to submitting the Common Assessment, if you go to The Writers’ Corner for some help, I will give you points added onto your score for that assignment.

The points will be earned:

30% of overall grade – Exams (4) – your lowest exam score will be dropped
20% of overall grade – Common Assessment – Suicide
20% of overall grade – Cornell-Style Notes for at least 14 of the 19 chapters
15% of overall grade – Class Participation in the online forum
15% of overall grade – Myth Research Article & Video

• Exams taken online in Blackboard.   
  • There will be four 50-question multiple-choice exams completed in Blackboard.
  • I will drop your lowest exam grade, sometime during Week 6, so that before the last day to drop 8-week classes, you will have a better idea of what your final grade will be.
  • The exam questions will be taken from my chapter videos.
  • 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 (except for the last exam, which will be due by Noon on the last day of the course). 
  • 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. Ideally, 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. (If you do not have reliable internet service, check with the AC Library about the hotspot program – 806.371.5400).
  • You may take each exam from any location – from home, in an AC computer lab, at the public library, etc.
  • 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 – at that point, you can access your full exams (with all of the correct answers).
• Mandatory Pop Quiz:
  • There will be ONE mandatory pop quiz that you will need to schedule with me, at a time that is convenient for you (and possible for me – you will find a calendar in our course in Blackboard listing my availability. Please let me know what day/time works for you as soon as you can). The quiz will take no more than 30 minutes but must be scheduled to take place sometime between the dates posted in our course calendar.
  • Please make any necessary arrangements NOW to your work or childcare schedules to ensure that you will be available for 30 minutes (for an online session like Zoom) sometime during the 3-day window that is posted in our calendar.
• Common Assessment – Suicide. This one assignment is worth 20% of your overall grade, so doing well on this is the best way to raise your grade in this course.
  • You will find full instructions and detailed information about what you are expected to do to receive full points on this assignment in the LibGuide: actx.libguides.com/suicide-
  • In general, this assignment requires you to conduct research to locate a case study about a suicide as well as 3 scholarly sources exploring a theme identified by the case you selected. You will then write a 700-word (minimum) essay that should represent your own original thought. Do not plagiarize by copying full phrases and sentences from the research articles that you found. You may not use AI to write this assignment; it is a form of plagiarism. If a student is found to have plagiarized on this assignment, they will receive an F on the assignment.
  • Use in-text citations within your essay and provide a References page with full citations for all of your sources. The word count should not include the References page. For help with formatting, consult a tutor in The Writers’ Corner or a librarian.
  • In your essay, make sure that you answer all of the following questions:
    • What stage of life and cultural context is presented in your chosen story?
    • According to your research, how do different cultural or social groups perceive suicide at this stage of life?
    • Based on your research and/or your personal observations, what are the cultural, societal, or developmental factors that influence stigma or acceptance of suicide?
    • Based on your research and/or your personal observations, how do prevention and treatment approaches vary across different cultural or social groups AND life stages?
    • What could you do (as an individual) to aid in suicide prevention at the stage of life reflected by the story/case you chose?
    • What could you do (as an individual) to support family members who have lost a loved one to suicide?
      • Please note: Some of the questions above are asking for YOUR opinions. If you use others’ opinions from your research articles, you must cite those sources properly, following APA style. You do not have to provide sources for your responses if they are exclusively your opinions.
  • In our course in Blackboard, you will submit PDF files of your sources (at least 4: your suicide case and 3 scholarly articles). You will also submit your essay, as a Microsoft Word or .rtf file. If you are using Google Docs, simply select Download as and choose Word or .rtf. Then, once you are logged into our Blackboard course, even without opening the file, you will be able to select and upload it.
  • Are you actually reading this syllabus carefully? If so, please email me “I read the syllabus” and I will give you a bonus point. You will find my contact information below.
• Following the Cornell style for note-taking, take hand-written notes while watching my pre-recorded chapter videos and/or while reading the textbook (if you have one). These notes must be hand-written and then scanned/uploaded to Blackboard OR submitted to me in person. (OR, if you have a stylus that you use on your tablet, that will be fine. Even though you do not use notebook paper while taking notes on your computer, you will still be taking notes by hand and can simply upload those files to Blackboard – as long as they are image files viewable on any type of computer, like PDFs.)
  • You will find a video in our course providing an overview of the Cornell note-taking style. Please follow this style as closely as you can.
  • I understand that not everyone’s handwriting will be as easy to read, but I must be able to make out at least most of your writing, so please try hard to write legibly.
  • Although there is no strict page requirement, because each textbook chapter is at least 30 pages, submitting only a page or two of notes for a chapter will not adequately cover that content, so to receive full credit, aim for several pages of notes, each time you submit these. (Most students average 4 pages on most of the chapters.)
  • To receive full credit in this category, you will need to take notes while listening to at least 14 of the 19 video lectures (or while reading 14 of the 19 textbook chapters) – notes on only 14 of the chapters are required. But, if you submit notes on the remaining 5 chapters, you will receive bonus points.
• Participation: I want to reward your effort and participation in class. There are 2 ways you can earn participation points.
  • Option 1 – Post comments/questions in the online forum. 
    • I will be using the Blackboard tool for online Discussion Boards, but this is not a typical Discussion Board. You will NOT be expected to post an initial post and two replies by specific due dates.
    • There are no strict due dates for posts. This discussion forum will be open all 8 weeks. You can post and reply whenever convenient for you.
    • “Deadlines” will need to loosely follow along with the chapters as scheduled in our course calendar. In other words, if our course calendar indicates that chapter 4 will be covered that week, that’s when you should post a comment or question regarding Chapter 4. You are tested on Chapter 4 in Exam 1, so waiting until long after Exam 1 was due to post about that content would not be helpful. Please try to follow along with the course calendar. 
    • I ask that you routinely check this forum and reply to people who direct their comments to you (myself included).
  • Option 2: Additionally, there are Chapter Video Quizzes that will count toward your Participation Grade.
    • All quizzes are completed in Blackboard.
    • All are open-book/open-note.
• • • The Chapter Video Quizzes gauge your understanding of content from the videos I created.
    • While you will see a grade for each of these Chapter Video Quizzes, the grade only lets you know how many questions you missed and does NOT reflect what your final Participation Grade will be. You are merely accumulating points toward this grade. You get credit simply for attempting these quizzes.
    • The Chapter Video Quizzes are NOT timed.
    • You can retake the Chapter Video Quizzes as often as you’d like – your highest grade will stay in the gradebook. BUT, remember that you will not be able to access the full quiz with the questions/answers until after the due date has passed.
      • You can use the full quizzes as you take the Exam covering that content (Exams are open-book/open-note). After the due date for each quiz has passed, you can access those quizzes to see the correct answers.
• • The Participation Grade is determined by how much you (and your classmates) actually participate in this class. In other words, if you only complete 3 Chapter Video Quizzes, scoring 100s on all 3, you will NOT receive an A for the final Participation grade. If those are the only 3 activities that you complete, ignoring the online Discussion forum and the other video quizzes, you will only receive partial credit for your overall Participation Grade.
  • I will assign grades for your participation toward the end of our course and will base it on how often you contributed to discussions (in the online forum) and how many points you accumulated after taking quizzes, compared to your classmates.
  • Although I cannot predict how active a particular class will be, historically, students who earned a 100 for their overall Participation Grade posted in the online forum 15+ times AND accumulated around 1,500 points after taking Chapter Video Quizzes. Students who only took a few (under 5) of the Chapter Video Quizzes did NOT receive full points.
• Myth Research Article & Video –
  • This assignment is divided into 2 parts.
  • Part 1:
    • During Week 1 of this course, you will be provided with a list of common myths pertaining to psychology. Choose 1 of the myths that surprised and interested you.
    • Then, using one of the Amarillo College Library’s databases, find 1 article that addresses the myth you have chosen (ideally, one that provides evidence disproving the myth). You may use sources that were published within the last 10 years.
    • If you work with a librarian for some assistance with your research, please ask that librarian to let me know that they met with you, and you will receive extra points on this assignment. Librarians can meet with you in person, help you over the phone, or via the online chat box (which you will see when you visit the Library’s homepage: www.actx.edu/library).
    • You will also find a video I made walking you through how to use the Library databases in our course – please watch this if you are unable to work directly with a librarian.
    • Part 1 is usually due at the end of Week 1.
  • Part 2:
    • After analyzing your 1 article, use VidGrid (you will find the link in our course in Blackboard) to create a 3-minute video:
      • briefly explaining the article’s findings,
      • giving more detail about why you either agree or disagree with those findings,
      • if you think the article’s authors failed to address something that might prove/disprove the myth,
      • and how can you apply all of this to your own experiences.
    • You can find the rubric that will be used for grading the videos in our course in Blackboard, but you will be assessed for:
      • how well you answer the above questions,
      • whether you find a credible source from an AC Library database,
      • whether you correctly interpreted and applied the information you learned from the article,
      • and how well you apply the information and explain everything using your own words, while making eye contact with the camera. I am not a speech teacher, so I don’t care if you say “uh” or pause to gather your thoughts. I don’t mind if you flap your hands and arms (I do that myself!) I don’t need you to follow a strict structure of providing an intro and then summarizing everything at the end. I DO however want you to use your own words. Do not simply read something you found online. Do not read the article you chose. During the majority of your speech, look into the camera (making eye contact with future viewers). You can certainly briefly refer to your notes, but, again, do not simply read them. Informally teach me what you learned and give me your own words and thoughts.
      • The video is typically due Week 2.
• Grade Replacement Opportunity:
  • I already drop your lowest exam grade, but of the 3 exams that do count toward your overall course average, if you would like to complete a special project, I will enter the grade you earn on that assignment in place of your 2nd lowest exam grade. OR, you can replace your overall Participation Grade with this special project’s grade.
  • Follow the instructions you will find in our course in Blackboard to conduct your research and create a video.
  • The same rubric used to grade the Myth Assignment will be used to grade your Grade Replacement video.
  • This will be due by Noon on the last day of our course (Thursday of Week 8).   
• 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 find and take advantage of these opportunities as they come, all along during the course. I won’t tell you where to find these chances and I don't offer last-minute chances to save a poor grade. You will find these chances incorporated in class materials in Blackboard all along, throughout our course. You MIGHT have already found one here, in this document?!
• In our class in Blackboard, you will find additional information about all assignments.

Attendance

As an online-only class, attendance is measured by your completion of assignments by their due dates. If you do not complete the first assignments in this course by their deadlines or communicate with me about why you are not participating, you will be automatically dropped from this class altogether, during Week 2. 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 on our Blackboard course on the Announcements page. Often these announcements are also sent out via email, so checking your email regularly is also highly recommended. It is the primary way I will communicate with you.

Calendar

Additional Information

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.

I work full-time in the AC Library. Even though I work at AC full-time, I do not have regularly scheduled office hours. I will hold office hours by appointment. I am happy to schedule times that are convenient for you, even after-hours or on weekends. If you are unable to meet with me in person, we could arrange a time for a call or a Blackboard Collaborate session (like Zoom).

The best way to reach me is by sending me an email (mseder@actx.edu). You can send me an email any time of day, but I will not respond quickly to many that are sent after 8 p.m. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can on the following day.