WEST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE Psychology 41 Life Span Psychology Course Syllabus Spring 2016 Note: This course runs for 8 weeks only! INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Carley Zanders, Psy.D. Office: Contact via email: zanderc@lasc.edu Note: The best way to contact me is via Etudes message. I check our classroom much more frequently than I check faculty email (response within 24-48 hours except weekends/holidays). Office Hours: Available Thursday, 7:00-8:00pm **Via Elluminate Live Session. Email instructor to set appointment. Please note: I do not have an office on campus. All office hours are conducted online or by phone. I am happy to speak with you. Please take the time to thoroughly review this document. Most of your questions will be answered here. The next step (if you can t find the answer here or in our classroom) is to send me a message on Etudes. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will provide an overview of the biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development from the prenatal period through death. Topics include prenatal and neonatal development, the first two years of life, early childhood, middle childhood, emerging adulthood, adulthood, late adulthood, and finally, attention will be given to the processes of death and dying. Discussion will focus on theories of development, heredity and environment. COLLEGE SLO Ethics: Practice and demonstrate standards of personal and professional integrity, honesty and fairness; apply ethical principles in the submission of all college work. COURSE SLO Upon completion of the course students will be able to: Understand the major theoretical approaches in developmental psychology from both the historical and socio- cultural context. Identify the major theories of development. Understand the major theoretical approaches in developmental psychology from both the historical and socio- cultural context. Integrate and identify psychosocial, cognitive and biosocial influences on development from infancy through late adulthood. Identify major factors that influence human development during the lifespan. Describe and explain the major theoretical models of human development. Identify and list psychological factors that impact aging and the process of death and dying. Students are expected to demonstrate a 70% or higher mastery level of all course content as evidenced by their performance on assignments. ATTENDANCE Regular sign- on to this on- line course is a requirement as it is your responsibility to keep up with Announcements (in the online classroom and emailed to you each time a new post is created), and all other course happenings. Checking in 3 times a week would be helpful to the student seeking to excel in this course. All assignments must be completed by their respective due dates.
LATE WORK POLICY It is important to note that this is not a self- paced course. The Course Schedule (located at the end of this document) should be printed and utilized weekly in order to stay on track. All work must be submitted on time and it's worth mentioning that this course requires a good deal of reading and attention to detail. If you foresee that you are not able to meet a course deadline, it is your responsibility to communicate with the instructor in advance of the due date to work out an alternative arrangement. In an emergency situation, contact your instructor as soon as possible. Note: Discussions and exams cannot be made up except under extreme circumstances unless approved by instructor and then only up to one week late. Late papers will incur a 10 point (per day) penalty. Late papers will not be accepted more than 1 week past the original deadline. DROP POLICY Please note that it is your responsibility to drop this course. The instructor may do so if you do not meet stated deadlines (stated via Announcements posts) at anytime, particularly during the first three weeks of the course, but is not responsible for doing so. It is important to be aware of all withdrawal deadlines with regard to refunds, the ability to earn a W, or letter grade. Check with WLAC administration for details on this. Again, this is YOUR responsibility as the student. REQUIRED MATERIALS 2 Books Required Required Textbook (1) Title: DEVELOPING PERSON THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN Author:Berger, Kathleen Stassen ΙSBN-10:1-4292-8381-5 ISBN-13:978-1-4292-8381-6 Date: 2014 Publisher(s): Worth Publishers; Ninth Edition http://www.wlac.edu/bookstore/index.aspx The ebook is also available for purchase directly from the publisher s website and costs about half of the printed copy. This is a great opportunity to save money. Just know that you will not have a printed copy in your hand and will need web access in order to have access to the text. Required Additional Book (1) Title: Raising Children Who Think for Themselves Author: Medhus, Elisa ISBN- 9781582700472 Format: Paperback or Hardcover Publisher: Atria Books/Beyond Words Date: 2011 Available on Amazon or any notable book selling website. I have seen it selling at between $4.00- $17.00, including shipping. 2
NOTE: The Midterm Assignment will be based on this book, so you will need to purchase it or check it out from your local library. It will make a great addition to your personal parenting library. By the way, if you are a parent or a caretaker of a child, I highly recommend that you start a parenting book library! After all, parenting/caretaking is by far one of the most influential and important roles we will play in our lives. It is imperative that we do our best to continue learning! GRADE COMPOSITION Discussion Questions (1 at 50pts., 2 at 100pts. & 1 at 150pts.) Midterm Assignment Exams (4) TOTAL 400 points 300 points 300 points 1000 points Letter Grade A = 1000-900 points B = 899-800 points C = 799-700 points D = 699-600 points F = >600 points GRADE FEEDBACK Note: Grades can be found on our Etudes site under Gradebook. Discussion Boards (4 DBs) = Will be graded within 2 weeks of the close of each discussion. Midterm Assignment = Will be graded within 2 weeks of the due date. "..NOTE!!! Please be aware that due to the large number of points attached to this project, an Incomplete grade will not be given or allowed under any circumstances because you failed to complete this project. Exams (4) - Objective, Textbook Based = As soon as you finish the exam your grade will be available. ASSIGNMENTS General Information Regarding Assignments Content We all have different methods of learning that work best for us. I like to provide as many learning tools as possible because there are at least four different learning styles that people generally fit into. Whether you are visual/verbal, tactile/kinesthetic, visual/non verbal and auditory/verbal, I want to try to help you learn! These four learning styles will help you to understand and process any information given to you. If you have not considered what type of learner you are, now is a great time. Once you know which style you fall in to, you can begin learning the best ways for you to study. The graded assignments vary from Discussion Boards, to an objective Final Exam, as well as a more creative, Midterm Assignment. These offer a good mixture of assignments and give students a chance to utilize and build diverse academic skills. All graded assignments have a posted opening date and close date. Exams are not timed and can be taken one time. You can however save your work where you stop and come back to it. Just be sure to complete the exam by the appropriate date. Be certain of your answers before submitting for grading, as you may only do so one time. Readings Students are responsible for all material in the assigned textbook(s). Each week I have assigned supplemental materials under the Modules area along with a power point lectures on each chapter that will assist students in 3
preparing for quizzes and helps highlight some important concepts from that chapter. If you stay on track with reading and studying, Discussion Questions will be much easier to answer and the Midterm Assignment and Exams will also be easier tasks. Discussion Boards (DBs) Recommended strategy to follow when writing responses to DBs in this course: Be aware that this is a college level course and your reading/writing skills are expected to be at college level. Therefore, if you are not qualified for college level English, I highly recommend you drop the course and take it later on after you have taken more English courses. Use the information found under the Resources area in our classroom to help prepare yourself develop your posts. Also, pay careful attention to the discussion guidelines posted in the discussion area. Lastly, read the guidelines within each actual discussion. Note that your work will be graded based on those guidelines. Must Include: Make sure you read the instructions of the assignment very carefully and stay on task with your writing. Don't be lengthy without purpose. Answer all parts of the Discussion Question substantively (answer the why, explain your answers clearly and provide support in the form of scholarly citations, and examples drawn from your personal or professional life. One of the major purposes of participating in discussion is to demonstrate your understanding of and ability to apply course concepts. Therefore, integration of course concepts with appropriate APA citations/references is necessary. Note that you must include scholarly references in at least your main post for each Discussion Board in order to earn full points. Make it easy on yourself! Use our textbook and resources from the library. http://www.wlac.edu/library/index.aspx o If you refer to our text, it is okay to simply include a page number regarding where you found the information. o If the post is from an outside source, cite APA style in- text to clarify where you utilized the information and also include a full reference. Additionally: When answering discussion questions, think short college level essay Make sure your writing flows well when you read it out loud. Do not start several sentences in a row with the same one or two words. Your writing should be free of grammar, punctuation and sentence structure errors. Points will be deducted if errors are notable. PROOF READ PROOF READ PROOF READ!! Use the writing resources offered on campus if you need help with your writing. http://www.wlac.edu/online/owl.asp and http://www.wlac.edu/online/tutoring.asp Midterm Assignment: Based on the book, Raising Children Who Think for Themselves. Assignment guidelines are available under Assignments, Tests & Surveys. A thorough Integration of concepts from our main textbook (Berger) will be expected. Exams Instructions for taking the exams will be released with each exam in our Etudes classroom. The exams are based solely on textbook information. Keep up with your textbook reading and you will have a much easier time with these open- book, untimed exams. They do have strict open and close dates (available on the Course Schedule at the end of this document). 4
COMMUNICATION/OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION Announcements Check the Announcement section in the course each time you enter our course shell because: I will post occasional assignment reminders and other pertinent bits of information. Don't miss the important details! Etudes Email & Your Personal Email When you have questions send me an Etudes email. I respond to Emails within 24-48 hours, except on weekends and holidays. If you have not heard from me within 72 hours, send me another Etudes email. Be sure to check your Etudes e- mail at least three times a week. Netiquette Faculty, students, and administrators are committed to uphold an environment conducive to learning characterized by academic integrity. The same rules apply online as they do in person. Be respectful of other students. Foul discourse will not be tolerated. If you would like further explanation on general rules of netiquette please take and cut and paste this link into your browser and review the rules listed. http://www.albion.com/netiquette/ Students With Disabilities If you know, or think that you have any learning or physical disabilities, please contact Dr. Duke in the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) Office in the Student Services Building room 320 or at (310) 287-4423. The DSPS will then contact your instructors to notify them of needed accommodations. Etudes Help (usually within 24 hours M- F): http://www.wlac.edu/online/helpdesk.asp Etudes Tutorial: Here is the online link to student resources: https://etudes.org/help/students/ General Strategies for Success in this Course Each week for the course will be tied to specific chapters within the text. Read the assigned text chapter(s), review the PowerPoint presentation and any other resources provided in our classroom related to the chapter and then work to answer some of the review questions provided in the text. Read posts from your classmates/instructor (Discussion Board) and ask questions, as that may help further your understanding on a topic. Read read read everything in the course room. Attend to and incorporate any feedback from your instructor both general and specific, and pay careful attention to assignment instructions (your grade will be based on completion of all criteria and level of performance in each), so that you are sure to meet all requirements for every assignment offered. Pay attention to the Resources area of our classroom and utilize if need be. You are also encouraged to utilize the Help/Questions area of the classroom early (rather than just before an assignment is due) if you feel you need clarity on anything. In General ü Be sure Participate in all aspects of the course. The class is designed to support student interaction. Print the syllabus and stay on track with the schedule (that is why I create such a detailed schedule for you)! ü Manage your time effectively. Taking a course online requires students to be disciplined in their time commitment to the course. You should expect to devote between 15-20 hours per week studying because this is a short terms course. Many students erroneously think that taking an online course is easy. If you add up the time used for travel from school to home and back, time in class, and the time you normally study- - - this class will be at least that. Most students who are self- motivated do very well and 5
ü ü really enjoy this style of learning. If your schedule does not permit you to invest this amount of time for this class you should not take the class. Stay on task (print the syllabus), as there are no make up assignments available. Read all assignments and directions CAREFULLY. Because the Internet and email are the primary source of gathering information, you must read all text with care. BE POSITIVE and respectful of others' ideas. Be constructive and helpful when participating in group discussions. Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner. 6