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The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only. For a definitive list of materials, please check the online catalog 3-4 weeks before the course start date.
PSYCH 212 (GS) : Introduction to Developmental Psychology(3 credits): Developmental principles; physical growth; linguistic, intellectual, emotional, and social development from infancy to maturity.
Overview
This course is designed to survey the basic history, theories, and concepts associated with the field of Developmental Psychology. Specifically, we will study the physical, mental, social, and psychological development of humans from conception up to and including adolescence. The topics we will cover range from looking at biological systems and their effects on our behavior (e.g., how do hormones affect babies or teenagers?) to social and cognitive behaviors that affect how we develop and interact with other people (e.g., Why do babies develop stranger anxiety?). This course is a great way to survey all the topics that are included in understanding how children develop.
Objectives
At the completion of this course students will be able to:
- Identify the basic principles of child psychology
- Develop an understanding of how human beings change physically, cognitively, and socially from conception until adolescence
- Apply what you learn in this course to observations in your personal life
Materials
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.
Library
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
Technical Specifications
Recommendations for viewing the Child Development Museum
-
If you are using a PC, we recommend that you use Firefox. You may download Firefox for free at getfirefox.com.
- If you are using a MAC, you should view this site using the Firefox or Safari browser.
Your experience of the site will be enhanced a relatively contemporary computer. If your computer has limited memory or processing speed, some learning modules may run slow.
Some learning exhibits include streaming video and many involve narration. Thus it is essential for your computer to have a sound card. If you regularly study or work in quiet environments where others are present or working, you may wish to consider using inexpensive headphones as a courtesy.
The primary exhibits are best viewed at screen resolutions at least 800 x 640 pixels or greater. Most contemporary graphic cards will support this resolution easily. In Windows, you may adjust your graphic card's resolution by right clicking on an empty space on your computer desktop and clicking Properties and then Settings.
Finally, most of the learning modules at this site involve animations require Macromedia's Shockwave Flash browser plug in. You can download it for free.
- For Windows users go here: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash
- For Mac and others go here: http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/alternates/
| Operating System | Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8*; Mac OS X 10.5 or higher *Windows 8 support excludes the tablet only RT version |
|---|---|
| Processor | 2 GHz or higher |
| Memory | 1 GB of RAM |
| Hard Drive Space | 20 GB free disk space |
| Browser | We recommend the latest ANGEL-supported version of Firefox or
Internet Explorer. To determine if your browser fits this criterion,
and for advice on downloading a supported version,
please refer to the following ITS knowledge base article: Supported Browsers and Recommended Computers.
Note: Cookies, Java, and JavaScript must be enabled. Pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. Due to nonstandard handling of CSS, JavaScript and caching, older versions of Internet Explorer (such as IE 6 or earlier) do not work with our courses. |
| Plug-ins | Adobe Reader [Download from Adobe]
Flash Player (v7.0 or later) [Download from Adobe] |
| Additional Software | Microsoft Office (2007 or later) |
| Internet Connection | Broadband (cable or DSL) connection required |
| Printer | Access to graphics-capable printer |
| DVD-ROM | Required |
| Sound Card, Microphone, and Speakers | Required |
| Monitor | Capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.
For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!
Course Project
The Child Development Museum is dynamic and changing. We would like you to contribute to the Museum by creating a new exhibit that could possibly be used in future online classes. Your exhibit should be instructive, as well as entertaining, and add to or replace what is already available in the Museum. It is not sufficient to make changes to one of the existing exhibits. Instead, your exhibit should provide a fresh approach to one of the issues in developmental psychology.
You will work in teams of 5 or 6 students on this project. You can go to the message board in the Course Project Folder to introduce yourself to your team members so everyone knows who's on the team. This message board can also be used to communicate with the other members in your team for the duration of the project.
Step 1: Selecting a topic
To determine a topic for your exhibit, you should pick one of the following subjects (these subjects correspond to chapters in your textbook):
- An introduction to child development
- Prenatal development and the newborn period
- Biology and behavior
- Cognitive development
- Seeing, thinking, and doing in infancy
- Development of language and symbol use
- Conceptual development
- Intelligence and academic achievement
- Social development
- Emotional development
- Attachment
- Family
- Peers
- Moral development
- Gender development
If you wish to create an exhibit on a subject that is not in the list, you should send me an email explaining why you think your subject would be a valuable addition to the Museum. We are always interested in creative contributions. Your topic needs to be related in some way to the material discussed in these chapters.
Step 2: Creating an outline
Once you've determined what your topic will be, you should create an outline for your exhibit. Describe what your exhibit will look like and what you're aiming to teach any future users of the Museum. Leave your outline (as a Word document) in the appropriate drop box.
Step 3: Writing the content and submitting a draft
I will read your outline and provide you with any comments I may have. Use my suggestions to write the content of your exhibit, creating a draft that includes all the information you're planning to present. Some general guidelines: you should provide scientifically sound information on the subject you've chosen; you are encouraged to use the textbook, other books on psychology and/or human development, and internet sources to find your information; if you use pictures or pieces of text from other sources, be sure to cite these sources. The draft does not have to include any graphics, videos, animations, or other design features of the exhibit; these you will develop in the next step. Leave your draft (as a Word document) in the appropriate drop box.
Step 4: Creating your exhibit
I will look at your draft and let you know if I think you should make any changes or additions. Once your draft is approved, you're ready to create your exhibit. Use any means you consider helpful in conveying your message, including written text, pictures, graphs, audio, video, animations, or whatever else you think will make your exhibit interesting and instructive. Remember that the more entertaining and creative your exhibit, the higher your score will be. Leave your exhibit in the appropriate drop box. Individual members of the group should at this time also email me directly and explain and outline their contribution to the group project as well as assign a grade (on a scale of A-F) on the contribution and effort of their group teammates.
To submit your final work, you can use the following formats:
- A word document (if you've only used text, graphs, and pictures)
- An html document (if you've used video, audio, or animations). Don't forget to include any associated files.
Grading
Your grade will be based on originality, completeness, relevance, clarity, and the caliber of the scholarship. We will use the following rubric:
Scientific quality of content: 60% of grade (max 60 points).
Your work should be scientifically sound, and any data you present should be reliable and up-to-date. Remember that the internet is generally not a very reliable source, so data taken from the web should be used with caution (which means: checked for credibility). In your draft you should include a complete list of references to scientific publications and other sources you have used.
Clarity: 20% of grade (max 20 points).
Your exhibit should be clear and to the point, and your message should be obvious. Any navigation involved (between different sections of the exhibit, for example) should be straightforward. Avoid errors in grammar and spelling or things like the improper location of items in the exhibit.
Originality and creativity: 20% of grade (max 20 points).
It is difficult to give clear guidelines regarding originality and creativity. All we can say is: we like to be surprised! Use your imagination.
IMPORTANT: The project will be team graded, but team members will also have an opportunity to outline their individual contributions to the overall project and to provide feedback on the contributions of the other team members. This information will be used to adjust individual team members’ scores upwards or downwards.
Course Requirements and Grading
Your letter grade in this class will be determined by your scores on Quizzes and Participation.
1. Quizzes: There is a 15 point quiz for each chapter we will cover for the course. The quizzes are timed and you will only have one opportunity to take the quiz. Each quiz is automatically graded and the results are immediately available to you. You will also be able to track your progress on the ‘Report’ tab located on the course homepage. The quizzes are non-cumulative. In other words, they will not include testing you on previous chapters’information.
2. Class Participation – Discussion Postings: In order to receive full credit, you will be required to post at least 2 postings per FORUM to the discussion board using the posted forum topic as a guide. There is also one 4-part introduction posting. The primary goal of these postings is for you to “talk” to each other about what you are learning – so it perfectly fine to be conversational and informal (i.e., not formal like the written assignments).
- Your two (at least) postings per forum should be at least 7-8 sentences in length.
- In order to receive full credit for discussion, your postings need to include:
a. Responses or comments about the forum topic.
b. Comments regarding something one of your classmates has posted.
- Appropriate postings include: Responding to the forum question or topic, asking questions of your classmates, discussing topics that are of interest to you that you learned about in the readings and you believe are relevant to the forum topic, or sharing a relevant web-site that you found interesting about the forum topic we are covering at that time.
Course Grade:
At the end of the summer session your grade will be assigned based on the cumulative points for your quizzes, assignments, and participation.
- * Course Project (1 @ 100 points)
* Orientation Quiz (1 @ 10 points)
* Multiple Choice Quizzes (14 @ 15 = 210 points)
* Multiple Choice Quiz 5 &12 (2@ 10 = 20 points)
* Class Participation – Postings (14 @ 10 = 140 points)
| TOTAL POINTS: |
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A
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446-480 points
|
|
A-
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432-445 points
|
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B+
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416-431 points
|
|
B
|
398-415 points
|
|
B-
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384-397 points
|
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C+
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369-383 points
|
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C
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336-368 points
|
|
D
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288-335 points
|
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F
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287 and below
|
Missed Exams & Assignments:
All postings, and quizzes must be posted or emailed by 11:55pm on the due date. I encourage you to not wait until the last minute to complete your work – you may turn work in ahead of deadlines. Please do not rely on excuses such as “the network was down” or “I couldn’t figure out how to send the assignment through the email system.” Please keep pace with these assignments. No make-up or late assignments will be accepted and the summer session moves very quickly.
Attendance:
Because we are a virtual classroom, your attendance will be considered based on:
- Participation in weekly forums by posting to the discussion board
- Completing chapter quizzes on or before 11:55pm on the due dates.
Accommodations:
Students with disabilities, including but not limited to physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities, who wish to request accommodations in this course should notify me early in the summer session so that the appropriate arrangements may be made. In accordance with federal law, a student requesting accommodations must provide acceptable documentation of his/her disability.
Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Undergraduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies. If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.
For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.
Course Schedule
- Important: All assignments, quizzes, and discussions are due by 11:55pm on the last day of the week’s deadline.
| Lesson/Unit/Exhibits to Visit | Reading and Activity |
|---|---|
Lesson 1: Getting Started and Unit 1: Introduction to Child Dev; Themes, Theory and Methods of Child Development; Prenatal Development and The Newborn Visit the following exhibits this week:
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Introduction Activities
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Lesson 2: Unit 1 Continued: Biology and Behavior; Seeing, Thinking, & Doing in Infancy Visit the following exhibits this week: |
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Lesson 3: Unit 2: The Development of Emotions and Emotional Relationships Visit the following exhibits this week: |
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Lesson 4: Unit 2 Continued: The Development of Emotions and Emotional Relationships Visit the following exhibits this week: |
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Lesson 5: Unit 3: The Thinking Child: The Thinking Child: Cognitive & Language Development Visit the following exhibits this week: |
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Lesson 6: Unit 3 continued: The Thinking Child: Cognitive & Language Development
Visit the following exhibits this week: |
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Lesson 7: Unit 4: "Hello, It's Me:" Self and Values Visit the following exhibits this week: |
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Lesson 8: Unit 5: Development and the Family Visit the following exhibits this week:
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Lesson 9: Unit 6 : Development With Peers and the Wider World Visit the following exhibits this week:
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Lesson 10: Unit 6 Continued: Development With Peers and the Wider World Visit the following exhibits this week:
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Lesson 11: Conclusions No exhibit visits this week. |
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Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
NOTE: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please see "Graduation" on the World Campus Student Policies website.Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity , an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.
Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity ). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and
personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and
property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all
can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment
of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and
others, as well as a civil community.
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, the Policy on Academic Integrity indicates that procedure requires an instructor to inform the student of the allegation. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If that committee recommends an administrative sanction (Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, Expulsion), the claim will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page .
Accommodating Disabilities
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has resources for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contacts for disability services at every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the SDR website.
In order to apply for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Additional Policies
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change, and you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.