Course Description

PSYC 2308 Human Growth and Development: Childhood and Adolescence

PSYC 2308 is a study of normal physiological,  cognitive, and psychosocial development and functioning of the human life from conception to the end of adolescence.

This course is taught as a distance education course on the internet via WebCT.

Prerequisites

Psychology 2301 or 2308.

Course Goals (includes core competencies, incorporation of SCANS, etc.)

1. Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of normative sequences in physical, cognitive,  and psychosocial development. This knowledge should include the principles associated with the theories of Piaget, Skinner, Bandura, Chomsky,  Freud, Erikson and Kohlberg.
   
2. Students should also know the behaviors and traits typical of the four major chronological age periods, i.e. infancy,  early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence

Instructor Information

This course will be taught by a qualified psychology instructor.
The course is currently taught by Dr. Madeleine Wright.

Textbook Information

Berger, K. (2000) The Developing Person: Through Childhood and Adolescence. Fifth edition. New York: Worth Publishing.

Lab Requirements (if any)

No lab requirements

Students with Disabilities

Students who are in need of special accommodations related to a condition or disability should contact ADA Counselor at each college to obtain the proper documentation. Special accommodations will be provided to those students who show proper documentation.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by the HCCS policy and the rules of this class. A student found guilty of the first offense will receive a grade of (F) for that particular assignment. For the second offense, the student will receive a grade of (F) for the course.

Attendance and Withdrawal Policies

The course information and materials are in the course syllabus and at the Psychology 2308 web site. Most Houston Community College campuses have computer labs that access the internet. I encourage all students to use these facilities, if they do not have an up to date computer at home.

I encourage you to contact me by email with your questions. Often covering the homework questions alone, students have many subtle misunderstandings, that I am happy to clarify. Please use me as a resource. On line discussion questions will posted approximately ten week before the exam your active participation in the discussion will be a source of extra credit and concept clarification.

Grading Policy

The grading scale at HCC is 90-100 A, 80-89 B, 70-79 C, 60-69 D, 59 and below F.  Each student's average of the three exams will count 60% towards the final grade. Each student's average of the three sets of multiple-choice questions (homework) will comprise 40% of the final grade. Discussion participation may earn students between 0-10 points for each unit.

Course Requirements for example: Testing, Projects, Assignments, Portfolios, Service Learning, Internships, etc.

This course is taught on the internet via WebCT.
Please go to www.webct.com to familiarize yourself with the various features of the webct format. When you reach the WebCT Home Page:

1. Click on Students
2. Under the Professor Logo click on I have question related to using WebCT or online learning.
3. Review getting started with WebCT.
   You need to understand how to: Log on to MyWebCT
   I will give you your grades and feedback through the WebCT mail.
   Questions that you have you may ask via email or the WebCT mail.

The discussion list will be used to analyze course materials. Part of your grade comes from participation in the discussions online. Discussion questions will be up for two weeks. So to get credit you must participate regularly.

The course materials include the exam questions and other materials that I post.

Course Organization
This course is divided into three units.
Unit one: chapters 1-5 
Unit two: chapters 6-10 
Unit three: chapters 11-16

Homework
To master the subject matter students will respond to a set of multiple-choice questions that cover the same material as your essays.

Exams
There will be three open book exams in this class. Each examination will cover the chapters in that unit. Each exam will be an essay exam. You may select five questions from unit one and two and six questions from unit three. Your exam answers should synthesize information from the text and your life experience. You will email your answers to me on or before the due dates.

Make-up policy

There will be no make-up tests.

Course Content

A list of core learning objectives will be covered in the course.

Course Calendar with Due Dates for Assignments and Testing

The following was Dr. Wright's schedule for Fall 2001:

Orientations set by distance education 8/24/01

Discussion Sessions: Review materials and discussion questions will be posted on line ten days before the exam

ESSAYS DUE ON OR BEFORE 9/28/01

Discussion Sessions: Review materials and discussion questions will be posted on line ten days before the exam

ESSAYS DUE ON OR BEFORE: 10/26/01  


Discussion Sessions: Review materials and discussion questions will be posted on line ten days before the exam

ESSAYS DUE ON OR BEFORE: 12/7/01  

Other Student Information (clubs, tutoring, web resources, student services, etc.)

The Berger textbook has an accompanied website: http: //www.worthpublishers.com/newberger/

Psi Beta is a systemwide honors organization for psychology majors in community colleges. Psi Beta - HCC chapter's website can be found at http://nwc.hccs.edu/psyc/psibeta.html.  In addition, some colleges (for example, Southwest College) have Psychology Clubs.

Some useful links to web resources in psychology can be found at http://nwc.hccs.edu/psyc/LINKS.HTML