On-Line Life-Span Developmental Psychology: PSY 6347; summer, Communication

Transcription

1 On-Line Life-Span Developmental Psychology: PSY 6347; summer, 2015 Professor: Office & Office Hours: Dr. James Forbes 204B Academic Building: MTWRF 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; or by appointment & Phone: Course Web site: Communication We will communicate during the semester using Blackboard, , and SKYPE/telephone (for those of you who would like to meet with me but who do not live in town). Students are responsible for checking BlackBoard Discussion Board Forums, BlackBoard announcements, and on at least three different days during the week for any class announcements. I will communicate with individual students using the Blackboard Discussion Boards Forums, , and SKYPE/telephone. Of course, for those of you would will like to speak with me in person, I am always available in my office during office hours and by appointment. There will be course information forums on the discussion board regarding essays you will write, assignments, discussion forums, the proposal, as well as course administration topics. If you have questions about any of these topics, you should post them under the appropriate discussion forum. Generally, I reply to discussion board posts during within a day during the week. Questions and answers will serve as a FAQ for other students in the course. If you me, it would be helpful if you would use a signature element, which helps me understand your comment or question in the context of this class. Your signature element should have your full name and the course name. Typically, I check my browser daily-during the week, so you should expect a reply within a day. On-Line Course Issues This course will be taught entirely on-line. We will not meet in person, unless you choose to visit me in my campus office. Consequently, much responsibility for learning about Life-Span Developmental Psychology and its applications rests with you. I will give you a schedule of events (viz., readings, applications, discussion topics, exams, other assignments, and due dates); you will have to ensure that you keep pace with the schedule. If you manage your time effectively and focus your interests and energy on the course objectives, you will fare well in this on-line course. Your challenge is to make Life-Span Developmental Psychology and its applications more immediate and relevant to your professional and personal goals. Your informed imagination, your curiosity about the world, and your conscientious effort will allow you to derive a meaningful experience. Course Description & Goals This course reviews current thinking about social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development throughout the life span as well as hereditary and environmental influences on 1

2 development. This online course will add to your understanding of life-span development, give you experience in proposing applied empirical research, help you become an informed consumer of empirical research, and further your professional development. You will have additional readings on specific topics to give you greater depth of understanding in areas of particular interest with the MS Applied Psychology Program (viz., improving health, increasing safety, improving education, increasing prosperity, enhancing decision making, promoting democratic principles, and informing public policy). You will have opportunities to: Course Objectives Develop specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals in fields related to this course. Learn to apply course material to improve thinking and address practical problems. Learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view. Develop skill in expressing ideas and arguments in writing. You will learn: Student Learning Outcomes A variety of empirical findings from psychological research along with their applications, especially in developmental contexts. How to apply to apply psychological research findings and methods to understand developmental, personal, and professional issues. How to write a proposal for addressing an applied developmental issue important to you, using published behavioral science research. Required Text 2

3 Sigelman, C.K., & Rider, E.A. (2014). Life-Span Human Development 8 th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. This book is available at the bookstore. But of course you may purchase or rent the books elsewhere (viz., online). Plan on having the book by the first week of the semester. You will be unable to complete any of the exams and many of the assignments without the Sigelman textbook. Methods of Assessing Learning Outcomes Learning outcomes will be assessed via one empirical applied research proposal, weekly discussion posts, a variety of assignments, and four exams. 1. Applied Empirical Proposal (25% of your course grade). You will write a proposal addressing an applied life-span development issue using published psychology research. To help you with your proposal, we will discuss applications of psychology findings and methods, as well as details of drafting an empirical proposal. Your proposal should be organized according to the format posted under Proposal Format. The proposal will be written in APA style and should not exceed 6 pages in length. The proposal will count as 25% of your course grade and will be due at the end of the semester. BlackBoard Location: Module 1 will contain all assignments related to the applied empirical proposal and will remain open and accessible from the beginning until the proposal due date at the end of the semester. 2. Exams (40% of your course grade). There will be three exams, which you will be taking on-line using Respondus LockDown Browser software. Links to all exams will be posted on our course Bb site under Assessments. Each exam will count as 13.33% of your final grade. Examination format will be mostly multiple choice questions with a few short answer questions about your chapter and other supplemental readings. The exams will be non-cumulative; each one will cover the material immediately preceding it. No make-up exams will be given. More information about testing procedures is posed on our course Bb site under Respondus LockDown Browser. BlackBoard Location: All Exams will be posted under the Exams tab on BlackBoard. Exams will be accessible only during the posted exam dates. Respondus Lock down Browser. All exams must be accessed with software called Respondus Lockdown Browser (RLB). This software is already loaded in computer labs on campus, but if you want to take tests from other locations, you will need to download the software onto the computer where you take the test. The Respondus LockDown Browser software is located on Blackboard. Go to your Bb "Support" tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Download LockDown Browser" link. Follow the download instructions. To take a test, click on the RLB icon and it will take you to Blackboard. Then, click on this course, click on the Exam link, then click on the test you are to take. If, after you click on the exam, a text box asks you whether the instructor provided a password for accessing the exam, click "NO," then click the submit button. The exam will immediately deploy. Once you begin a test, you will have the posted amount of time to complete it. If you try to take a test without going through the RLB, you 3

4 will be asked to provide a test password that you don't have, so you cannot take the test. 3. Assignments (20% of your course grade). Throughout the semester I will ask you to complete assignments, which I will post within the Modules tabs on our Bb course web page. To access an assignment, click on the module, then click on the assignment located in the table of contents. Plan on checking the open modules at least three times per week for assignments. Some of these assignments will help you learn skills needed to design and disseminate an empirical research proposal. Other assignments will help you relate developmental topics to your own experiences and give you an opportunity to construct or reveal your own beliefs about life-span development and its applications. Assignments will be graded using a 5-, 10-, 15, or 20-point scale, where a 5, 10, 15, and 20 are the highest scores obtainable. Your assignment score will be the proportion of the total points you obtain. At the very end of the semester, I will sum your assignment scores, evaluate the class assignment score distribution, then assign assignment grades that reflect the difficulty of the exercise. The highest total assignment scores will receive an "A," the next group of scores will receive a "B," and so on. Hence, your assignment grade will be based on your performance relative to your peers-not to some arbitrary standard of excellence. Your assignments grade will count as 20% of your final course grade. Blackboard Location: All assignments related to topics in specific chapters of the Sigelman & Rider textbook will be posted in modules 2, 3, & 4. Currently, Modules 1 & 2 are open and accessible. 4. Discussion Boards (15% of your course grade). Discussion forums posted on the discussion board include: applied proposal, assignments, exams, as well as course administration topics. I will add forums as we progress through the semester. You must regularly contribute as a participant in these discussion forums throughout the semester. Participating in the discussion forums will help you relate topics from the Life-span Development Psychology to your own experiences. Thinking about forum topics will help you examine your own beliefs about life-span development. Reflecting on others posts, and posting your thoughts about these issues may help you clarify and enrich you thinking. Your discussion forum contributions will be graded satisfactory (85% or more), unsatisfactory (< 60%) at the very end of the semester, and count as 15% of your course grade. The highest scores will be awarded to those who make insightful comments or responses at regular intervals throughout the semester. Echoing others' opinions and comments made only at the very end of the discussion forum due date or only at the end of the semester will be awarded the lowest scores. Blackboard Location: Discussion board forums are posted under the Discussion Boards tab on Blackboard. Each forum will have availability dates posted during with time the forum will be open and accessible. Grades Final course grades will be calculated as follows: Course Grade = Average Exam Score (40%) + Applied Empirical Proposal (25%) + Assignment Score (20%) + Discussion Board Score (15%). The grading scale for the course will be as follows: 4

5 Letter Grade Percentage Grade A % B 80-89% C 70-79% D 60-69% F Below 60% Honor Code. Angelo State University expects its students to maintain complete honesty and integrity in their academic pursuits. Students are responsible for understanding the Academic Honor Code, which is available on the web at Angelo State University s Academic Honor Code. Disabilities. Persons with disabilities which warrant academic accommodations must contact the Student Life Office, Room 112 University Center ( ), in order to request such accommodations prior to their being implemented. You are encouraged to make this request early in the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Normal On-Line Course Hours Our normal course hours will be Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur, & Friday mornings, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. During these times I will typically post most of your assignments, exams, as well as be available on the discussion boards, via , or by telephone. Having normal course hours gives our on-line course a regular predictable schedule, which will help all of us stay on track. 5

6 Course Schedule The course schedule will vary at my discretion during the semester. When there is a change, I will post an announcement and the updated schedule on Bb. Assignments. Assignments are posted within modules. Plan on checking the open modules at least three times a week for new assignments. To access an assignment, click on the module, then click on the assignment located in the table of contents. Assignments related to the applied empirical proposal will be posted in module 1. Assignments related to topics in specific chapters of the Sigelman & Rider textbook will be posted in modules 2, 3, & 4. Exams: Exams will be posted within the Exams link on the Bb web page on the following dates: Exam 1, Jun; Exam 2, Jul; Exam 3, 3-4 Aug. 1 st Week Assignment Read the syllabus, post self-introduction, buy required book and begin reading. The syllabus assignment is located in the Orientation Module. 1 Jun 3 Aug Module 1: Writing a Proposal Addressing an Applied Life-Span Development Issue All assignments related to the applied empirical proposal will be posted within module 1, which is open and accessible from 1 Jun to 3 Aug. Your proposal is due on 3 Aug. 2 Jun 19 Jun Exam 1: Jun Module 2: Major perspectives & research methods; genes & environment; prenatal development; life-span physical development Read Life-Span Human Development, Chapters 1, 3, 4, & 5 (Sigelman & Rider). All assignments related to the topics in chapters 1, 3, 4, & 5 of the Sigelman & Rider textbook will be posted within module 2, which is open and accessible from 2 Jun through 19 Jun. 19 Jun 17 Jul Exam 2: Jul 17 Jul 4 Aug Exam 3: 3-4 Aug Module 3: Describing and explaining cognitive development: Piaget s genetic epistemology, information processing, psychometric approach Read Life-Span Human Development, Chapters 7, 8, 9, & 13 (Sigelman & Rider). All assignments related to the topics in chapters 7, 8, 9, & 13 of the Sigelman & Rider textbook will be posted within module 3, which will be open and accessible from 19 Jun through 17 Jul. Module 4: Social Relationships with parents, family & others; personality & gender roles; psychopathology Read Life-Span Human Development, Chapters 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 (Sigelman & Rider). All assignments related to the topics in chapters 11, 12, 14, 15, & 16 of the Sigelman & Rider textbook will be posted within module 4, which will be open and accessible from 17 Jul through 4 Aug. 6

7 Proposal Format 1. Title page (page one). Proposal title, your name, and course. 2. Summary (one page). A concise statement of less than 150 words summarizing the entire proposal s motivation, objectives, methods, and expected results. Write this after your have finished your proposal, but include it as page Literature Review (4-5 pages). The literature review begins on page 3 of the manuscript. Start the literature review section with the title of the manuscript, exactly as it appears on the title page, centered at the top of the page. The interpretative literature review has three basic objectives. One objective is to introduce the problem under study. For applied problems, the description could include information about its rate, scale, or extent, the population(s) affected, as well as an explanation of why the problem s importance is sufficient to warrant the effort required to address the issue. A second objective is to review relevant previous published research to provide an appropriate history of what has been accomplished and how it was done, citing works that are pertinent to the issues but not works of marginal or peripheral significance. When summarizing previous research, emphasize principal findings, relevant methodological issues, and major conclusions. Do not include nonessential details. But you may include succinct assessments about the quality of the findings and methods along with how your proposal would address any shortcomings. A third objective of the literature review is to explain the purpose and motivation for your proposal. You should explain your approach to solving the problem, define the variables, and state your hypotheses. The proposed solution(s) and expected outcomes should be motivated by published research in psychology, or other behavioral/social science. 4. Method (1-3 pages). The method section begins wherever the literature review ends; it does not begin on a new page. The method section describes exactly how the proposal would be conducted, in sufficient detail that the study could be replicated by an informed and motivated reader. The method section is subdivided into as may subsections as necessary. The most common subsections are participants, materials, and procedures. The participants subsection includes a description of the projected participants and how they would be recruited. A materials subsection describes any testing materials to be used, inventories, stimuli, equipment. You may use existing stimuli, surveys, and scales or develop custom instruments and stimuli. Validity and reliability issues should be addressed for any survey or scale used. The procedure subsection summarizes each step in the conduct of the research. This subsection begins with informed consent, then details any instructions given to participants, describes any experimental conditions, any experimental manipulation, counterbalancing, randomization, control features. Your method may be experimental, correlational, archival, qualitative, or case study. Method selection and design are determined by the questions being asked. If your design is particularly complex, you may want to include a design subsection which would precede the procedure subsection. 5. References (one page). List all of the works you cite in your proposal. 6. Attachments. Include any custom designed surveys, scales, stimuli used such as photos, text, stories, vignettes, documents, 7. Use a consistent version of APA style in writing your proposal. 7