PSY 231—CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
INSTRUCTOR: Carol Topping, PhD
Please feel free to call me at home (227-0639), leave a message on my voice mail (452-8600, ext 2421), or e-mail me at: carol.topping@volstate.edu. If I am not available when you call, please leave a message, and I will do my best to return your call within 24 hours.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Child Development, Laura E. Berk, 6th ed.
Writing Papers in Psychology, Ralph and Mimi Rosnow, 5th ed.
PREREQUISITE: Psychology 101 must have been taken and passed before taking this child psychology course.
This course is designed to provide the student who has already taken and passed an introduction to psychology course with an in-depth study of child development. The course specifically addresses the psychological and physiological growth and development of the human organism, beginning with conception and stopping at adolescence. The course also provides an in-depth study of the major historical and modern theories of human development.
GENERAL EDUCATION GOAL: The general education goal of this course is to provide information which enables students to identify, analyze, and understand the social, psychological, and physical aspects of the child’s culture and development.
The primary educational goal of Psychology 231 is to scientifically study the quantitative and qualitative changes in children over time. The course examines ways of describing, predicting, explaining, and modifying the child’s behavior in the four stages of growth from conception to adolescence.
OTHER GOALS: In addition, this course seeks to encourage and facilitate the student’s interest and knowledge in research related to child development; to help the student research assigned topics of interest using theoretical concepts (behavioral, cognitive, etc.); and to help the student to develop critical thinking skills by contrasting theories, questioning research, exploring historical events and utiilizing modern technology to assess the advantages and problems associated with research methodology.
GENERAL EDUCATION OUTCOMES: As a result of successful completion of this course, the student will have demonstrated an acceptable level of mastery of child development concepts, theories, and vocabulary. The student will also have demonstrated an understanding of how these concepts are researched and applied.
SPECIAL NOTICE: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, students are encouraged to register with the Office of Student Disability Services for assistance with accommodations, It is the student’s responsibility to voluntarily and confidentially disclose information regarding the nature or extent of a disability. The College does not assume responsibility for providing accommodations or services to students who have not identified themselves as having a qualifying disability. Disability Services is located in the Campus center, Suite C206B.
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Volunteer State Community College is an equal opportunity Affirmative Action Education Institution. No person shall be excluded from participation in, be denied of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of the College because of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation or physical appearance. The College also complies with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1957, as amended and with the Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Act of 1974. The commitment to equal opportunity applies to all aspects of recruitment, employment and education of individuals at all levels throughout the college.
EXAMINATIONS: Six (6) multiple choice exams worth forty (40) points each will be given. You must receive permission in advance in order to miss an exam (except in the case of a DOCUMENTED emergency). There are NO alternative exam dates, and it is not my policy to leave exams at the College at Home desk. Your lowest test score will be dropped. There will be NO extra credit assignments in this course as extra credit is built into the exams. NOTE: If a student is caught cheating on an exam, the action will result in an automatic grade of “F.”
CLASS PRESENTATION: Students will give a presentation of approximately 5 minutes in length on a topic chosen in class. Presentations will receive up to ten (10) points: organization, 2 pts; presentation, 2 pts; knowledge presented (facts), 2 pts; interesting examples, 2 pts; personal example(s) or opinion, 2 pts.
CLASS PAPERS: Four (4) discussion papers worth up to ten (10) points each should be 2 – 3 pages in length on any topic of interest related to child psychology. See guidelines and example for more information.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance WILL be taken. Information from lectures that is NOT in the textbook WILL be on the exams. It is YOUR responsibility to get class notes from your classmates as I DO NOT give out my notes. It is also YOUR responsibility to let me know reasons for your absences immediately after they occur so that I can excuse you (if possible) and log it on my attendance cards. You are expected to be present and on time for all classes. NOTE: Students who are frequently late will lose attendance points. (Absences:
0 = 5 pts; 1 = 4 pts; 2 = 3 pts; 3 = 2 pts; 4 = 1 pt; 5/+ = 0 pts).
GRADING SCALE:
Examinations (5) up to 200 points
Class Presentation (1) up to 10 points
Class Discussion Papers (4) up to 40 points
Attendance/participation up to 5 points
TOTAL: up to 255 points
The following grade scale is used:
A = 255 - 230; B = 229 – 204; C = 203 – 178; D = 177 –152; F = 151 and below
INCOMPLETE POLICY: The grade of “I” will ONLY be given under the following circumstances: 1) if the student has experienced an illness or emergency situation which could not be avoided (appropriate documentation MUST be provided); and 2) the student has completed AT LEAST 50% of the coursework and is receiving a passing grade of C or better.
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CONFERENCES: If you or I feel the need to schedule a conference, we will need to get together to schedule a time. Please feel free to meet with me before or after class to do so or call or e-mail me at the above addresses.
CHEATING: Cheating is defined as plagiarism, talking to another student during an exam, looking at another student’s work during an exam, using notes or books during an exam, turning in a paper that is the student’s own work, or copying from another student’s answer sheet. Any student caught engaging in these behaviors will be given an automatic failure for the course, regardless of the grade up to that point.
CLASSROOM DEPORTMENT: All policies and procedures for classroom misconduct are discussed in the Student Handbook. As a point of emphasis, the instructor will NOT tolerate any activity that is disruptive to the classroom setting, which adversely affects others, and which is considered by the instructor to be unethical, immoral, or illegal. Students will be dismissed from the class and the issue of misconduct will be brought before the Associate Deal of Students.
In addition, there is to be NO smoking, drinking, or eating in the classroom. Parents are asked not to bring children to class. Cell phones need to be turned off before entering the class.
INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY: If Volunteer State Community College is officially open, all classes WILL meet as scheduled. All assignments WILL be due and any scheduled tests or exams WILL be given. Any missed work will be subject to the policies outlined in this syllabus. If classes are closed, work will be due on the NEXT class date and scheduled exams will be moved to the NEXT class date (for example: if a test is scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday and classes for Tuesday or Wednesday are cancelled, the test will be given on Thursday or Friday). Check Channel 5 for closings.
TENTATIVE TIMELINE FOR SPRING SEMESTER 2004
Week One (1/14): Intros, syllabus overview; how to write a discussion paper
Week Two (1/21): Chapter 3: Biological Foundations
Week Three (1/28): Chapter 5: Physical Growth; Review Chapters 3 and 5;
PAPER #1 DUE
Week Four (2/4): EXAM #1; Chapter 4: Infancy
Week Five (2/11): Chapter 6, 7: Cognitive Development; Review Chapters 4, 6, 7
Week Six (2/18): EXAM #2; Chapter 8: Intelligence
Week Seven (2/25): Chapter 9: Language Development; PAPER #2 DUE
Week Eight (3/3): SPRING BREAK!!!!
Week Nine (3/10) Review Chapters 8 and 9; EXAM #3; Chapter 11: Self and
Social Understanding
Week Ten (3/17): Chapter 12: Moral Development; Review Chapters 11 and 12;
PAPER #3 DUE
Week Eleven (3/24): EXAM #4; Chapter 10: Emotional Development
Week Twelve (3/31): Chapter 13: Sex Differences, Gender Roles; Review
Chapters 10 and 13
Week Thirteen (4/7): EXAM #5; Chapter 14: The Family
Week Fourteen (4/14): Chapter 15: Peers, Media, and Schooling; Review of
Chapters 14 and 15; PAPER #4 DUE
Week Fifteen (4/21): EXAM #6
Week Sixteen (4/28) FINAL
NOTE: This is a TENTATIVE timeline and changes may occur which will be announced in class. It is YOUR responsibility to keep up with these changes, especially if you miss class.
The objective of this assignment is to encourage the student to become familiar with the mechanics of scientific research as it relates to psychology and human development. The student is to submit four (4) discussion papers on any subject related to the study of psychology. Each discussion paper is worth 10 points; however, in order to receive credit, ALL papers must be submitted. Submission of only a portion of the required number of papers will result in an INCOMPLETE. Incomplete assignments will not be graded.
The general psychology text for the class is unacceptable as a resource for the discussion paper. The discussion papers must be based on information from professional journals, scientific research or published books, NOT on opinions or discussions of specific topics. Newspaper articles and magazines are NOT acceptable. Discussion papers submitted that are not based on research are unacceptable. If you are not sure what constitutes research, please refer to the chapter in the book that discusses scientific research and the book Writing Papers in Psychology.
Each paper MUST include the attached “title page for discussion papers” and answers to the following questions:
1. Where is the abstract located?
2. What is the general purpose of an abstract?
3. Was a hypothesis stated? What is the general purpose of a hypothesis?
4. What was the hypothesis found in your article?
5. What information can be found in the methods section? What information was found in the methods section of your article?
6. What information can be found in the conclusion section? What information was found in the conclusion section of your article?
7. How is this article significant to the study of human behavior?
8. What is your opinion of the article? How was it written? (This is a critical portion of the paper, so give it some thought. Simply stating that it was a good or bad article is NOT acceptable).
NOTE: All of these points MUST be addressed in your paper. Omission of any will result in lost points in grading your paper. Grading scale: effort = 1 point; title page = 3 points; questions 1 - 4 = 2 points total; questions 5 - 8 = 1 point each.
(This title page MUST be turned in with each discussion paper)
*Student Name:
*Title of the professional publication or journal:
*Title of the article:
*Date the article was published:
*Name(s) of the author(s):
*What type of research is the article discussing? (survey, experimental, naturalistic observation, correlational, etc—refer to the research section in the book)
*Describe this particular type of research (meaning: describe what survey, experimental, naturalistic observation, etc research entails):
*What chapter(s) in our textbook does this article relate to?