HD 101-01, Human Development Across the Lifespan

Fall 2009

Instructor Information:

Marcelo Diversi
McClaskey Building, Room 203
Phone: 360-546-9170
Fax: 360-546-9076
Office Hours: T, 1:00-2:00; W, 1:00-2:00; or by appointment
Email: diversi@vancouver.wsu.edu
Home page: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/diversi/diversi.html

Course Information:

Schedule:

M, W , 2:50-4:05 p.m.

Location:

Multi-media Classroom Building , Room 16

Description:

HD 101 (3 semester credits). Overview of lifespan development from a psychosocial ecological perspective; individuals, families, organizations, communities, and their interrelationships. This course is part of the General Education program and fulfills a requirement for Social Sciences [S] credits.

Objectives and Rationale:

HD 101 is part of the WSU Vancouver General Education course offerings that are interrelated to the Vancouver Campus Theme, Global Change in a Local Context. The course is designed to provide a unified, integrated introduction of human development and reflect an understanding of human development change as a universal (or global) experience. In this course, we will discuss research that shows how human development in far away places of the planet can and does affect our local existence. Students will be introduced to human development concepts, issues and theory spanning infancy through aging and death with emphasis on interrelationships between individuals, families, schools, communities, and culture within a local as well as global context. Furthermore, this course is a foundational introduction to more specialized courses in Human Development (e.g., Child Development, Adolescent Development, Adult Development, Gerontology), as well as in related fields such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Communications.

The course will help students recognize the reality of diversity in human development by exploring historical and cultural differences, and by individual characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, and physical ability. Concepts will be covered in an introductory but integrated manner providing both an overview of the field and prerequisite understanding for students entering a variety of fields requiring knowledge of human development.

Upon completion of this course, students will:

  1. Understand the impact and interrelationships of the cognitive, biological, social, and psychological domains in human development.
  2. Be aware of basic theories which guide the study of human development including psychosocial, learning cognitive, and humanistic, and their applications in human development.
  3. Demonstrate the ability to use human development knowledge to understand and interact in age appropriate ways with people at various stages of the life span.
  4. Understand the personal, family, organizations, community, and cultural human development experiences through analysis and application of human development research, theories, and concepts.
  5. Develop knowledge of effective preventive and interventive school and community based human services programs.
  6. Develop an awareness of, and appreciation for, diversity including individual, family, community, national and cultural.

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Required Texts and Other Materials:

Required Text:

Santrock, J. W. (2007). A topical approach to lifespan development, (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. (The 4th Edition is acceptable as well.)

Other Materials:

Additional short readings might be required for in-class and/or out-of-class activities. These readings will be made available through the library and/or Angel.

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Classroom Requirements:

Class Participation:

the success of this course also depends on your participation and respect for others and their views about topics pertaining to this course. Of course, you do not need to agree with a different opinion, but ideas must be expressed, always, in ways to foster positive and constructive dialogue. Personal experiences shared in class are to be kept confidential. Students are expected to come to class having read the assigned material for the day and be prepared to participate in discussions.

Academic Integrity:

Academic integrity is the cornerstone of the university and will be strongly enforced in this course. Any student found in violation of the academic integrity policy will be given an "F" for the course and will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. For additional information about WSU's Academic Integrity policy/procedures please contact (360) 546-9573.

Disability Accommodation:

Accommodations may be available if you need them in order to fully participate in this class because of a disability. Accommodations may take some time to implement so it is critical that you contact Disability Services as soon as possible. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Services, on the Lower Level of Student Services Center, (360) 546-9138.

Emergency Notification System: 

WSU has made an emergency notification system available for faculty, students and staff. Please register at myWSU with emergency contact information (cell, email, text, etc). You may have been prompted to complete emergency contact information when registering for classes on RONet. In the event of a Building Evacuation, a map at each classroom entrance shows the evacuation point for each building. Please refer to it. Finally, in case of class cancellation campus-wide, please check local media, the WSU Vancouver web page and/or http://www.flashalert.net/. Individual class cancellations may be made at the discretion of the instructor. Each individual is expected to make the best decision for their personal circumstances, taking safety into account.  Safety plan website - http://safetyplan.vancouver.wsu.edu/.

Other Important Links:

WSU Vancouver Police: www.vancouver.wsu.edu/police
WSU Vancouver Police Lieutenant: dstephenson@vancouver.wsu.edu or 546-9004

Inclement Weather and Other Class Cancellations:

When students have questions about classes being held during inclement weather, please contact the faculty support for the department.  Faculty support will have information regarding class closures and will post that information on their voice mail messages. Please see the faculty support telephone number listed: Lynda Dezellem, 360/546-9721.

Important Dates and Deadlines :

www.registrar.wsu.edu/Registrar/Apps/AcadCal.ASPX

Academic Requirements:

Electronic Mail:

All students are required to be on email to further communication between students and the instructor.  As of May 2009, all students are required to use a WSU Vancouver email address.  Email will no longer be sent to non-WSU email accounts.  You can sign up for your WSU Vancouver email account by going to http://my.wsu.edu/.  If you have any questions during this process please contact the helpdesk in Pullman at email.wsu.edu or by phone at 509 335-4357.

Assignments:

Exams

There will be four exams in this course. Each exam will include material from assigned readings and class discussions. Further specific guidelines will be given prior to each exam a week in advance. There will be NO STUDY GUIDES in this course.  The first exam is worth 10% of the final grade.  Exams 2, 3, and 4 are worth 20% each.

Self-Reflective Short Paper

You will be asked to write a short paper on your views of how you have developed into the person you have become so far. Technical specifications: One typed page, 12-point font, one inch margins, letter size paper. It is worth 10% of the total grade.

Project

Your final will be the presentation of a semester-long project on “Human Development and Social Justice.” This will be a group project (5 students). We will discuss more details about it in the first few weeks of class. The group will write a short paper (no more than 5 typed pages) and prepare a 10 minute presentation. In order to discuss the progress of this project throughout the semester, you will be asked to turn in two outlines for feedback (see Schedule below for dates). The paper will be due on the day of your presentation toward the end of the semester (specific dates to be announced). This final project is worth 20% of your total grade (paper = 5%, presentation = 15%). I will provide you, later in the semester, with a rubric for this assignment detailing how your paper and presentation will be graded.

E-Portfolio:

Students in this course will produce several artifacts that can be used in the creation of their WSU Vancouver E-portfolios. Specifically, students will produce written papers on topics of Human Development related to Self in Society, as well as a final group project on applied developmental research in community outreach programs, promoting WSU Vancouver Learning Goals such as Self in Society, Communication, Information Literacy, and Critical Thinking. Students will be encouraged to include these artifacts in their E-portfolio at the end of the semester.

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Grading:

Exam 1
10%
Exams 2, 3, 4
@ 20%
60%
Self-Reflective Paper
10%
Final Group Project
20%

Grading Scale:

The standard Human Development grading scale is as follows:

Grade Percent
A 100-94
A- 93-90
B+ 89-87
B 86-83
B- 82-80
C+ 79-77
C 76-73
C- 72-70
D+ 69-67
D 66-60
F 59 or below

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Schedule:

Tentative Schedule:

Week Date Topic/Reading Assignments
1
Aug 24 Introduction and Syllabus  
Aug 26 The Lifespan Perspective/Ch 1
Self-reflective Short Paper Due
2
Aug 31 Biological Beginnings/Ch 2  
Sept 2 Evolutionary Human Development  
3
Sept 7 Labor Day Holiday - NO CLASS  
Sept 9 EXAM 1  
4
Sept 14 21 Up in America (film)
 
Sept 16 Physical Development and Aging/Ch 3
 
5
Sept 21 Health/Ch 4;  
Sept 23 Motor Development/Ch 5  
6
Sept 28 Cognitive Development Approaches/Ch 6  
Sept 30 Cognitive Development Approaches/Ch 6  
7
Oct 5 Cognitive Development approaches/Ch 6  
Oct 7 EXAM 2  
8
Oct 12 Information Processing/Ch 7;
Intelligence/Ch 8
 
Oct 14 Language Development/Ch 9  
9
Oct 19 Emotional Development/Ch 10 First Project Outline Due
Oct 21 Emotional Development, part 2  
10
Oct 26 The Self/Ch 11  
Oct 28 Exam 3  
11
Nov 2 The Self/part 2  
Nov 4 Gender and Sexuality/Ch 12  
12
Nov 9 Moral Development/Ch 13  
Nov 11 Veteran's Day - NO CLASS  
13
Nov 16 Families and Parenting/Ch 14 Second Project Outline Due
Nov 18 Exam 4  
Nov 23-27 Thanksgiving Vacation  
14
Nov 30 Peers/Ch 15  
Dec 2 School, Achievement and Work/Ch 16
Endings/Ch 17
 
15
Dec 7 Student Presentations  
Dec 9 Student Presentations  
16
Dec 14-18 Student Presentations
Th 1:00-3:00, MMC 214
Final Project Due

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Useful Links:

You may find some useful information at web sites listed on the department resources page.