PSYC 250: Child Development
Course Overview
Child development is characterized by an increase in biological, behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social complexity. In this course, we seek to understand how new capabilities emerge in each of these domains, and how they change from infancy to adulthood. Consider changes that take place in self‐concept. The young child who describes himself as “six years old, black, and a good boy”
matures into an adolescent who defines his identity as “self‐reliant, liberal, and creative.” What accounts for these changes? In this course, we will explore the theories, methods, and research findings that aim to answer this and similar questions about child development.
Course Structure
The course is organized in lessons that follow the layout of chapters in your text. Each lesson
includes a chapter overview, chapter objectives, a reading assignment, video assignments, discussion forum assignments, an online quiz, and self‐help and supplemental exercises.
The overview is our equivalent of a classroom lecture.
Objectives will help you focus on important topics during your reading.
Reading assignments will be primarily from the textbook, but also information on the same topics from online sources including Web sites and popular magazines and academic journals available through InfoTrac.
The discussion forum gives you the opportunity to answer specific questions that I pose, ask your questions about the material, voice your opinions, and respond to the questions and opinions offered by others on key issues in child development. The forums are our equivalent of classroom discussion.
You will complete an online quiz for each assigned chapter in the text. Quizzes are graded on a pass/fail basis.
Self‐help exercises are designed to help you organize, remember, and apply the textbook material in different contexts. These are not turned in for grading, but you are expected to discuss them on the discussion forum.
There is a midterm exam and a final exam.
See course description for current materials.
Class Discussion
I have found that my own learning is reinforced by asking questions and answering other people’s questions. Classes for distance learning courses tend to be more diversified than is typical in traditional face‐to‐face classes. One advantage of an online course is that it encourages individuals with very different life experiences to engage in discussions of key issues relevant to the topic of study. To capitalize on this strength, this course places heavy emphasis on your interactions within discussion forums.
You are expected to participate as instructed on the lesson pages, and your grade will be determined by your responses to the prompted questions. You may also pose questions and discuss your
reactions to the readings, self‐help exercises, and quizzes. Talking about your own experiences is also acceptable as long as you use these experiences as vehicles to respond to the questions posed, to illustrate a point made in your textbook, or to raise questions concerning the theories or the empirical facts you will read about.
Participation in the discussion forums is not optional. Reading other students’ contributions to the
discussions without posting something does not constitute “participation.” Posts made to a
discussion forum after 5 pm Eastern Time on the Friday of the lesson are considered late and will not be read nor will they count toward your grade.
We will form discussion forum groups. When class size exceeds fifteen, it is difficult to maintain an online conversation. Therefore, the class will be divided into two groups. You will participate in only one, but I expect you to read the other group’s discussion at the conclusion of each lesson.
I generally do not participate in the forums, but I will be monitoring to ensure that all comments are respectful. If at any time you feel that someone’s comments are inappropriate, please notify me via email. Your discussion forum participation will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. Mastery of course material: You are to read and respond to a minimum of one of the prompted questions for each lesson. Your initial post should be 100 or more words in length and should
be focused on one of the proposed questions. Your post should be an original, thoughtful
analysis with clear and fluent writing. It is very important that you integrate the course
material. Begin a new thread for your initial post with a meaningful subject line that includes
the topic discussed and your name (topic by name).
2. Interactivity: The extent to which you respond to other students’ ideas in an appropriate and constructive manner (even where you disagree) is important. Students who participate in well developed “threads” of discussion will do well in this category. Avoid simply restating,
paraphrasing, and agreeing with other students’ post. You should plan to post to the forum and respond to two other students during each lesson as a bare minimum. Remember, credit
will not be given for late posts.
Your participation in discussion forums will contribute 30 percent to your grade in the course. I will
such a large percentage of your grade, your participation can significantly raise or lower your final grade. If you are new to online courses or discussion forums, it’s best to dive in fearlessly—you will soon be swimming with ease.
Selfhelp Exercises
Self‐help exercises are provided in many lessons to help you get a better grasp of the material. They might also be fun! Do not turn them in for grading. Do talk about them in the discussion forums.
Quizzes and Exams
Quizzes
To make sure that you keep up with and understand the textbook material, you will be asked to complete online quizzes on each chapter. These quizzes generally consist of ten questions and will be good practice for the midterm and final. The quizzes should be taken closed‐book.
You will take your quizzes using Sakai’s Quizzes and Exams application. The quizzes are available until 5 pm Eastern Time on the individual due dates. You may take the quiz at any time, but you must submit your answers before 5 pm on the due date. When you are ready to take a quiz, click on the appropriate link to enter the quiz site. Once you have entered the quiz, you must complete and submit it. You can view your grades in the Gradebook section of Sakai.
You will be graded on a pass‐fail basis for each quiz. Cumulatively, the quizzes will account for 10 percent of your course grade.
Exams
There will be a midterm exam and final exam (each counting for 30 percent of your grade in the course). The exams will cover material from the textbook and supplementary readings. The final exam is not cumulative—it will cover Chapters 8 through 15 (material assigned after the midterm exam).
Each exam will be composed of three parts: twenty‐five multiple‐choice questions worth two points each, five short‐answer questions worth five points each (you will choose four out of the five to answer), and three essay questions worth ten points each.
You will take your midterm and final exams using Sakai’s Quizzes and Exams application. You will be quite familiar with Sakai by the time of the midterm because you will have used it for the quizzes and discussion forums. You have two hours to complete the exam (once you enter the exam site, you must submit the exam within two hours). Your exam must be submitted before 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the last exam day.
See the schedule for exam dates.
Very Important Notes
The exams will be active only on exam days from 6 am until 11:59 pm Eastern Time. See the schedule for exam dates
Once you click on the exam link, you will have started the exam. Do not enter the exam until you are ready to take the test. You have 2 hours to complete and submit the exam—no longer. Sakai will inform me of the exact time you entered the test site and the exact time you
submitted your exam. You cannot stop the clock once you enter the exam site (saving your work does not stop the clock.) It is a violation of the Honor Code to take more than 2 hours for the exam.
The exams are closed‐book. It is a violation of the Honor Code to use your books, lesson notes, or any other materials, including resources on the Web.
Be certain to follow the instructions that appear on the exam carefully. You have only one opportunity to take each exam.
Grading
Your grade will be based on the following percentages. Special grading considerations or extra credit assignments will not be offered so please do not ask.
Quizzes 10 percent
Discussion forum 30 percent
Midterm exam 30 percent
Final exam 30 percent
If even one of these four requirements is neglected, it is very difficult to achieve a passing grade for the course. If you pass all quizzes and exams but do not participate in the discussion forums, it is highly unlikely that you will pass the course.
Grade reports will not be emailed or mailed. You can access your grades in the My Grades section, and your final grade through ConnectCarolina. Because your midterm and final exams include essay questions, your grade will be incomplete until I have time to grade everyone’s essays.
Office Hours
I will schedule and announce weekly office hours during which you can talk to me in real time via the Chat Room on Sakai. If the scheduled times are not convenient for you, please email me to schedule a Chat Room appointment.
Feel free to contact me with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. (There is an email link to me at the top of every lesson page.) Please include “PSYC 250 CCO” in the subject line of your email. I get a lot of email, and adding this flag to the subject line will prevent your message from getting deleted by mistake.
By enrolling as a student in this course, you agree to abide by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill policies related to the acceptable use of online resources. Please consult the Acceptable Use Policy on topics such as copyright, net‐etiquette, and privacy protection.
As part of this course, you may be asked to participate in online discussions or other online activities that may include personal information about you or other students in the course. Please be
respectful of the rights and protection of other participants under the UNC‐Chapel Hill Information Security Policies when participating in online classes.
When using online resources offered by organizations not affiliated with UNC‐Chapel Hill, such as Google or YouTube, please note that the terms and conditions of these companies and not the University’s Terms and Conditions apply. These third parties may offer different degrees of privacy protection and access rights to online content. You should be well aware of this when posting content to sites not managed by UNC‐Chapel Hill.
When links to sites outside of the unc.edu domain are inserted in class discussions, please be mindful that clicking on sites not affiliated with UNC‐Chapel Hill may pose a risk for your computer due to the possible presence of malware on such sites.
Honor Code
Remember that as a student of UNC‐Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University’s Honor Code, which states that “It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic
personnel acting in an official capacity.”
All graded academic work must include a pledge comprised of the following: “No unauthorized assistance has been received or given in the completion of this work.”
An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism. If you are uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, contact me and/or familiarize yourself with this plagiarism tutorial, courtesy of UNC Libraries.
Course Outline
Introductions: Orientation and Introduction
Chapter 1: Child Development: Themes, Theories, and Methods Chapter 2: Heredity and the Environment
Chapter 3: Prenatal Development and Birth
Chapter 4: Infancy: Sensation, Perception, and Learning
Chapter 5: The Child’s Growth: Brain, Body, Motor Skills, and Sexual Maturation Chapter 6: Emotional Development and Attachment
Chapter 7: Language and Communication
Chapter 8: Cognitive Development: Piaget and Vygotsky
Chapter 10: Intelligence and Achievement Chapter 11: The Family
Chapter 12: Expanding the Social World: Peers and Friends Chapter 13: Gender Roles and Gender Differences
Chapter 14: Morality, Altruism, and Aggression Chapter 15: Developmental Psychopathology
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