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Stockholm University Masters Program
Psychology Department Spring 2016
INFORMATION
POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, 7.5 HP
Contents and Course Aims 2
Course Management 2
Assessment 3
Literature 4
Schedule See Fastreg
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POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, 7.5 HP COURSE CONTENT
The positive youth development or PYD movement within the social, behavioral, and health sciences considers youth as assets. This is an emerging interdisciplinary field of scholarship that steps beyond the historic and simplistic view of young people as inherently troubled. A wider scholarly framework for PYD is Applied Developmental Science or ADS. ADS scholars focus on the real world
application of what we know about human development in order to better people’s lives and often work across subfields within psychology as well as across disciplinary boundaries. ADS researchers develop and evaluate new interventions as well as examine the impact of existing policy and services on communities, families, and individuals across the lifespan. ADS is broader than PYD and can encompass the entire lifespan. PYD can fall under the ADS umbrella, but is distinct in that it is concerned with understanding and promoting well-being and health in the earlier part of the lifespan, from prenatal development up through young adulthood. This course is designed to provide a master’s level survey of theoretical, empirical, and practical issues involved in the multidisciplinary field of applied developmental science, with primary emphasis placed on topic areas related to the exploration and promotion of positive youth development.
COURSE AIMS/LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing the course, students will:
Be able to explain and critically analyze core theoretical perspectives relevant to positive youth development.
Be able to explain and critically analyze a selection of research efforts to explore, describe, and promote positive youth development, with emphasis placed on intervention research studies and methods.
Develop many of the skills needed for scientific inquiry such as scientific writing and critical thinking through the synthesis and application of relevant research literature and theory.
COMMONLY USED, IN CLASS TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES will include:
conceptual maps, participation in question and answer activities, group work, as well as break out discussion groups, and plenary sessions.
COURSE MANAGEMENT
Laura Ferrer-Wreder, PhD., Docent, universitetslektor is in charge of the management of this course:
Email: laura.ferrer-wreder@psychology.su.se Tel: 08-163898
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ASSESSMENT Grading Criteria
The discussant activities, submission of a project prospectus, participation in a seminar and peer review activities are mandatory assignments. The final course grade is determined by the grade on the project paper (which is letter graded on a 7 point scale, A to F), and completion of all mandatory course assignments.
Discussant Activities:
Before several of the regular class meetings, each student will create and answer one question of their own making (the question and answer should be between 200 and 300 words, not including
reference). The question and answer should relate to at least one of the course readings for that day.
Students’ questions and answers will be used as a foundation for discussion during class time.
Important: Twenty-four hours (or 1 day) before the scheduled class time, students will post their question and answer in a Fast reg forum set up for the task. If the deadline for submitting the question and answer is missed, this late submission will not count towards a student’s total tally of questions and answers created by the student. You are asked to participate in this discussant activity for at least four class meetings – participation is defined by submitting a question and answer according to the guidelines above and to be present in class and participate when the discussant activities take place. If students do not fulfil this requirement, they can complete a complementary paper. Please contact Laura if this becomes applicable.
During the discussant time in class, students will work in groups to discuss and reflect on a subset of the questions and answers that were sent in. Student’s names will be identified in the question and answer list that groups work with. Each group will select one of the question and answers to orally present to the rest of the class, and they will include their group’s own reflection on or answer to the question. The author of the chosen question will give feedback and comment on the group’s
discussion the selected question and answer. The exchange between each group and author should take 10 minutes.
Project Paper: For this paper, you will be able to integrate and apply the content knowledge you have learned about interventions and the field of positive youth development to a specific situation. In addition, this assignment offers the chance to develop scientific writing skills, which can be of value in a variety of contexts.
For this assignment students will:
Design and argue for the value of conducting an experimental trial of an original or existing positive youth development program/intervention. The project paper will consist of the students’ response to several specific points which are common in grant applications and intervention oriented empirical articles (e.g., specific aims, background and significance, research design, methods, ethical considerations).
You should submit a project prospectus to a Fast Reg forum set up for this assignment (see course schedule for the submission date). Your prospectus should give a brief description of the project that you have in mind and the reasons why this is a worthwhile study to pursue (the prospectus should be between 250 and 700 words in length). You will turn in a written copy of your prospectus to your course leader as a way to develop ideas about your project paper.
You should submit a written copy of a first draft of your project paper a Fast Reg forum set up for this assignment (see course schedule for the submission date). Two peer evaluators will provide feedback on your first draft of your project paper during a seminar. Your project
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paper will be letter graded by your course leader, after you have made revisions to it based on the peer feedback received during the Seminar and related activities (see course schedule for the final paper submission date).
Letter grades are calculated using a seven-point rating scale of A to F. The grade for the project paper is recorded as a letter grade. More details about the grading criteria for the project paper are described in the paper guidelines document on the course website.
A-Excellent D-Satisfactory F-Fail B Very Good E-Sufficient
C-Good Fx-Insufficient LITERATURE
Required Books
*Fraser, M. W., Richman, J. M., Galinsky, M. J., & Day, S. H. (2009). Intervention research:
Developing social programs. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
*This book is not available via the university library website and should be bought in the traditional way.
+Lopez, S., & Snyder, C. (2011). (Eds.). Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (2nd ed.). New York City: Oxford University Press.
+ We will read selected chapters out of this book, I do not recommend to buy this book for the course, the book are available for free as an e-book from the Stockholm University Library Website, put the title of the book in quotation marks. For example, “Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology” and you will be taken to the search engine that provides access to the book and its chapters, which one can read on line, print, or download, make sure you log in on the university library website before you search for this e-book and you will then get access to the book.
Reading 1 (from Lopez): Lerner, R. M. The positive youth development perspective:
Theoretical and empirical bases of a strengths-based approach to adolescent development.
Reading 2 (from Lopez): Masten, A.S., et al. Resilience in development.
Reading 3 (from Lopez): Lopez, S. J., & Gallagher, M. W. A Case for Positive Psychology.
Reading 4 (from Lopez): Diener, E. Positive Psychology: Past, Present, and Future.
Reading 5 (from Lopez): Brown Kirschman, K. J. et al., Positive Psychology for Children and Adolescents: Development, Prevention, and Promotion.
Reading 6 (from Lopez): Nakamura, J. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. Flow Theory and Research.
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Required Articles
All articles and chapter listed below are available through the Stockholm University Library website on the PsychInfo PRO QUEST database.
Catalano, R.F., Berglund, M.L., Ryan, J.A.M., Lonczak, H.S., & Hawkins, J.D. (2004). Positive youth development in the United States. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 98-124.
Ferrer-Wreder, L. (2013). Advancing child and adolescent well-being through positive youth development and prevention programs. Ben-Arieh, A., Frones, I, Casas, F., & Korbin, J.E. (Eds.), The Handbook of Child Well-Being (pp. 2035-3041). New York: Springer.
Masten, A. S. (2014). Invited commentary: Resilience and positive youth development frameworks in developmental science. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1018-1024.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2011). Adolescent thriving: The role of sparks, relationships, and empowerment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(3), 263-277.
Spencer, M. B. & Spencer, T. R. (2014). Invited commentary: Exploring the promises, intricacies and challenges to positive youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1027-1035.
^Eccles, J. & Gootman, J. A.(2002). (Eds.). National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development, National Academy Press, Washington D.C., 2002. (ISBN 0- 309-07275-1) Can be read online at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10022.html#toc
^ Eccles and Gootman (2002) is a supplemental reading and not a required reading.
TEACHERS
LFW = Laura Ferrer-Wreder, PhD., docent, universitetslektor, Psyk.inst., SU NP = Ninni Persson, doctoral student, Psyk.inst., SU
RD = Radosveta Dimitrova, PhD., Psyk.inst., SU
