Principles
of Child Development (85-221): Fall 2008
When: Tuesday - Thursday
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Instructor: |
Teaching
Assistant: |
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Erika Taylor |
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Office
hrs: Tue-Thur 11:00-12:00 or by appointment |
Class web page:
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~rakison/POCD.html
Required textbook: How Children Develop. Siegler,
R., DeLoache, J., & Eisenberg, N. Worth, 2006 (2nd Edition)
Note:
You must purchase the second - not the first - edition of the book
Overview
The goal of this course is to provide
an introduction to the study of developmental psychology from conception
through to the onset of adolescence. The emphasis is on basic concepts and
theories of child growth and development as these apply to the psychological
processes of perception, cognition, social interactions, affective, and moral
development. In addition to learning basic developmental concepts, students are
expected to become familiar with various research designs and procedures that
have been used in the research literature. Students are also made aware of
existing controversies in the literature, and they are therefore encouraged to
view developmental psychology as an evolving discipline.
Course
Goals
The
purpose of this course is for you to learn about the fundamentals of child
development. Specifically, the goals of
the course are for you to develop the following skills:
(1) An understanding of the basic
principles, theories, and experimental findings of scientific research in
developmental psychology.
(2) An appreciation of the special
methodological challenges of developmental research.
(3) The ability to communicate and
work with young children as research participants.
(4) A consideration of ethical issues
associated with research involving children.
(5) The ability to use the library and
other resources to find out what is known about a research topic.
(6) The skills to conduct an
observational project with young children.
(7) The potential to evaluate others’
research critically and constructively.
Assessment
Strategies
The course consists of a lecture module that meets twice
weekly. There will be four exams in total, of which only three will contribute
to your final grade. Thus, you may use the highest three exam scores toward
your overall grade. Each of three exams will contribute 15% to your grade. The
total percentage of the exams toward your final score will therefore be 45%. The
exact format of the exams will be discussed in class.
You will also
be required to complete three papers, the scores from two of which will
contribute 45% to your final grade (22.5% each). All three of these papers are mandatory.
The first two will be based on observations of 3- and 5-year-olds at the CMU Children’s
School. The other paper will involve discussing views on child development with
your own family. There will also be four short “surprise” quizzes in class that
will cover material from the previous lecture. Finally, 5% of your final grade
is determined by class attendance (see below).
Participation and attendance:
There is a “five strikes and you’re out” policy:
If you miss more than four classes during the semester, you will be
assigned a zero for the attendance component of the course. If students miss a
class for a valid reason (e.g., illness) and it is documented, that
missed class will not count against them. Appropriate documentation for illness
is a note from the Health Centre that is signed by a physician or nurse. You
should present such documentation to the TA.
I
also hope that despite the size of the class, you will contribute to discussion.
Constructive contributions derive from coming to class well prepared, with
questions and suggestions based on the readings. Impressive contributions in
class can contribute to your overall grade by pushing you beyond a grade
cut-off if you are close to it.
Grading
Because grading is not based on a
curve it is theoretically possible for everyone to receive an A (or an F). It
is possible to earn a total of 100 points for the course:
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Exam 1 |
15% |
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Exam 2 |
15% |
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Exam 3 |
15% |
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Paper 1 |
22.5% |
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Paper 2 |
22.5% |
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Pop quizzes |
5% |
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Attendance |
5% |
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TOTAL |
100% |
The grading system for the course is
as follows (Note: I reserve the right to adjust slightly this grading system at
a later time):
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A |
= 90- 100 |
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B |
= 80 – 89 |
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C |
= 70 – 79 |
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D |
= 60 – 69 |
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F |
= below 60 |
Policies
Late Work:
Assigned work will lose 5% for each day late.
All assigned work is due at the beginning of class and will be considered late
if it is handed in at any point after class. Extensions must be requested
before work is due, and will be granted only on the grounds of serious problems
on a case-by-case basis. Documentation – for example, a written and fully
justified explanation from a physician - will be necessary for a student to
avoid losing points for late work. Stating that your computer or the network
crashed, that a printer failed to work, or that a disc is unrecoverable will
not be accepted as a valid excuse for late work. Be sure to back up your
work on separate formats and do not leave printing until the last minute.
Students who miss one examination for
reasons other than illness will have to take the other three exams that are
offered. If the first exam is missed because of illness and a student is also
ill for one of the other exams he/she must inform me - by phone, email, or in
person – before the exam to be exempt from taking the test. Any student
who misses an exam without making prior arrangements will be given a
zero for that exam. There are no exceptions to this rule. Any student
who misses the exam, having made prior arrangements with me, will take it as
soon as possible after the original test date. No matter how good your excuse,
a written and fully justified explanation from a physician will be necessary
for a student to miss the exam because of illness. If you are allowed extra
time to take an exam, the paperwork must be presented to the instructor
within two weeks of the start of class.
Cheating and Plagiarism: Cheating and plagiarism are defined in the
CMU Student Handbook, and include (1) submitting work that is not your own for
papers, assignments, or exams; (2) copying ideas, words, or graphics from a
published or unpublished source without appropriate citation; (3) submitting or
using falsified data; and (4) submitting the same work for credit in two
courses without prior consent of both instructors. Any student who is found
cheating or plagiarizing on any work for this course will receive a failing
grade for that work. Further action may be taken if necessary.
Working at the Children’s School: Policies for research at the CMU Children’s
School will be reviewed in class. When working at the Children’s School,
students will be expected to abide by all school policies. Students who fail to do so will not be permitted to work at the
Children’s School, and will consequently be unable to complete the course.
Important
Contacts at the Children’s School |
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For
subject scheduling, administrative issues: |
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Professor Sharon Carver, Director, 8-1499 sc0e@andrew.cmu.edu |
Mrs. Annie Smith, Administrative Coordinator, 8-2199 smithal@andrew.cmu.edu |
Other points:
Office
hours are provided for assistance in understanding the readings or lectures,
questions about exams or papers, and for general problems with the course. You
do not need to book an appointment, just turn up and drop in. Try to formulate
your questions before arriving so that the largest number of students can use
the office hour productively. However, please do not come to the office hour
for help until you have attempted first to find a solution to your problem. If
you would like to make an appointment with me or with the TA, please contact us
to arrange a time suitable to everyone. Almost
without exception, the best way to contact me is via email.
To
get to Erika’s office, enter the glass double doors by the elevator in Baker
Hall. Immediately on your left, you will see a phone on the wall and a door to
the grad wing offices. Dial 8-8117 on the phone. This rings directly into Erika’s
office. She will then come down and let you in.
Please
turn up to class on time. It is distracting to me and to the other students if
you arrive late (or try to leave early). If you do arrive late, then please try
to enter as quietly as possible. Students who arrive on time may be privy to
information about the exam/papers that will not be repeated at a later date.
Material presented in the lectures will not always be covered in the text, and
material in the text will not always be covered in the lectures. If you miss a
class, please find out from a classmate what went on in class, including the
content of the lecture, handouts, assignments, and announcements.
I
make the lecture notes available to the class on the website approximately three
or four days before the lecture. To get the most out of lectures you should
read these notes, and complete the readings before class on the day for which they
are assigned. The lecture notes have “gaps” that will be completed in class –
if you miss a class you should obtain the missing information from one of your
fellow students. Note that these “gaps” will not be completed by me in the
on-line files (what would be the point of having them in the first place?).
How
to do well in this class:
Completing
the assigned reading and thinking about the content of the text is essential to
doing well in this class. You will get more out of the class if you put in
approximately 3 to 5 hours of reading (and thinking) a week. I actively
encourage you to engage in discussion during the class; the more discussion we
have, the more enjoyable the course will be, and the more we will all learn.
The
papers require you to think about the question at hand, and to be creative,
perform a small observational project (for Papers 1 & 3), and to write and
present in a clear, concise, and interesting manner. A good writing style is
important, and the TA will be happy to see drafts of the lab paper. The exams
will be a test of your understanding and knowledge of the material. They will
consist of multiple choice questions and short answer questions. If you are not
clear about something covered in the text or in class, ask me in office hours
or bring up the topic during class hours. The surprise quizzes will be at the
beginning of class and will consist of a few short answer questions.
Some
of the material will be difficult, and we shall endeavor, as a class, to work
through such material together. If you are finding the course hard to cope
with, come see me and we can discuss how to make thinks easier for you (for
example, changing your study habits, note taking, working in groups).