Child Growth & Development
SYLLABUS
EPSY 327 Child Educational Psychology
(This syllabus is for those starting the course after June 1, 2009)
3 credit hrs from Black Hills State University- College of Education,
Instructor: Dr. Len Austin, Associate Professor lenaustin@bhsu.edu
Office Hours (see “Instructor’s Availability” below) Phone: (605) 642-6329
The Mission of the College of Education is to prepare competent, confident, and caring professionals.
EPSY 327 involves the learning of fundamental facts related to
the physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional development of children from early
childhood through early adolescence development.
None
As a result of taking this course students are able to:
1 Identify the multiple emotional, parental, and health issues that affect child
growth and development during the early childhood and middle childhood years.
2 Recognize the basic psychosocial developments through which children pass during
their early childhood and middle childhood stages.
3 Articulate the biosocial and cognitive developmental transitions associated with the
middle childhood years.
4 Enumerate the specific and effective components in the home environment that
influence positive child development.
The text is: The Developing Person: Through Childhood and
Adolescence (New York: Worth Publishers, 2009). ISBN: 1-4292-1647-6
Text by Berger, Kathleen Stassen (2009)
8th Edition Textbook
The text is at the BHSU Bookstore- Phone (605) 642-6287, or go online at
www.bhsubookstore.com http://www.bhsubookstore.com/
cover
Dr. Len Austin teaches educational psychology
courses and child growth and development courses on the Black Hills State University
campus. He has authored books in this area, including What Teachers Need To Know
About Their Student’s Religious Beliefs, and The Counseling Primer, which has
appeared on a psychology best-seller list. He has a doctorate degree in educational
psychology and counseling from the University of Wyoming. He personally teaches this
course and is available to students through e-mail. mailto:lenaustin@bhsu.edu
Dr. Austin is generally online each Monday, Wednesday and
Friday from 9 AM until 11:00 AM. He is available intermittently during the
afternoons too. Evenings he is usually not around, nor on weekends. An alternative
for contacting him is through his e-mail at lenaustin@bhsu.edu.
Grades: 50% (or 50 points) of the student’s grade
will come from the Projects listed below, which vary in weight. The other 50% (or 50
points) of the student’s grade will be derived from two quizzes (a mid-term, and a
final quiz) to be held online. Quiz questions will come from assigned readings and
assignments.
What is required of you?
The activities below comprise the work that is required of you. You will want to begin
your work as soon as possible, as summer courses require accelerated attention. The
Projects are listed in correct order of when they should be uploaded. Each Project is
more fully explained further down on this page.
Remember, the Key Questions require much more time, so start them early!
Weekly Timeline
 June
10- submit a resume (curricula vitae) according to a specific format.
 June
12- write a short paper on child violence after reading an article.
 June
13- critique group members who submitted their resumes (curricula vitas).
 June
14- comment on your group member’s short paper on child violence.
 June
14- answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of Chapter 10 in the text.
 June
19- read and respond to an article on obesity; a topic in Chapter 11.
 June
21- respond to group member’s reviews of the obesity article.
 June
21- answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of Chapter 11 in the text.
 June
21- create quiz questions for your group members to study for the Midterm.
 June
22- take the Midterm quiz today.
 June
26- read and respond on an article about emotional intelligence.
 June
28- respond to group member’s reviews of the emotional intelligence article.
 June
28- answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of Chapter 12 in the text.
 July
1-
create five practice questions for your group members for the Final quiz.
 July
2-
answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of Chapter 13 in the text.
 July
3-
take the Final quiz today.
Details of the 12 Projects
The 12 Projects are explained in more detail below, and are in the order in
which they are due to be uploaded by you into the course. Some go directly to the
instructor’s
DROPBOX,
while others go to your discussion group
(DISCUSS)
and the instructor
can look at them there and give you credit.
Some Projects will require that you start on them early in the course;
especially the Key Questions, as they take the most time to complete. Be sure and
make a timetable of the events and when they are due. Work ahead!
1) Submit a resume (curricula vitae) online by midnight June 10, Wednesday. The
proper format for your vita is given within the course. Submit your vitae to your
small discussion group and include a picture of yourself; unless you have some
adverse feelings about sending your photo into cyberspace. The photograph is
optional, but will help the instructor and your group members build a more personal
connection to you. A face is worth 1,000 words.
Then, before midnight on June 13th, Sunday, respond to each person who
submitted vitae from your small discussion group. What did you like about his or her
vitae? Discuss similarities between your experiences? Did you see any misspellings or
have a suggestion or two for improvement? Be helpful, please.
Project 1 is worth 15 points.
2) Read the article on violence at
http://www.naeyc.org/about/positions/PSVIOL98.asp then write a two page paper
discussing any first-hand knowledge you have concerning violence against children. If
you have no personal experiences, explain your current feelings about the topic and
the article. If you have questions about this topic (and who doesn’t?), ask them; as
members of your discussion group will try and answer them. Do this assignment and
post it to the group before midnight on June 12th.
Then, by midnight on June 14th, Sunday, comment on each submission made by
members of your small discussion group.
Project 2 is worth 9 points.
3) Read Chapter 10 in the textbook, and answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of
the chapter. Be sure to include the questions too. Then upload these to the
instructor’s
DROPBOX,
not to your group members, by midnight on June 14th, Sunday.
Project 3 is worth 14 points.
4) Read and respond to the important obesity article found at:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/990215ap/861.html -
which is a major topic in
Chapter 11. Share your thoughts, own experiences, etc., on this topic by uploading
to your small group members your one to two page comments on this subject. Do this
before midnight on June 19th. Then by midnight on June 21 read and respond very
briefly to each of their papers, offering whatever insights or thoughts/comments you
have.
Project 4 is worth 8 points.
5) Read Chapter 11 in the textbook, and answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of
that chapter. Be sure to include the questions too. Then upload these to the
instructor’s
Dropbox,
not to your group members, by midnight on June 21, Sunday.
Project 5 is worth 12 points.
6) Create and upload at least 5 questions (either multiple choice, fill in, or true/false)
to your small group members by the deadline of noon on June 21, Sunday. They
should come from your readings in Chapter 10 and 11. It would be better to upload
these questions as early as possible to help your group members study for the
midterm quiz on June 22, Monday. You too can look at all the sample questions that
others post.
Project 6 is worth 5 points.
7) On June 22, Monday, during daylight hours, take the Midterm quiz that covers
Chapters 10 and 11. You will have 40 minutes to complete the quiz, and will only be
allowed one attempt. It is worth 25% (25 points) of your grade.
8) Read and comment on an interesting article about emotional intelligence by going to:
http://www.connected.org/learn/school.html and exploring a topic which coincides with
content in Chapter 12. Then, by midnight on June 26th, Friday, upload a two page
paper to your discussion group explaining how you feel about integrating this into our
school system. Do you favor the idea? Why have we not done more of this by now?
Is this the parent’s responsibility or the schools? How much of this do we need in the
schools compared to knowing content knowledge?
Next, respond to your group member’s papers by the end of June 28th Sunday.
Comments on what they wrote. With what do you agree and disagree in their paper?
Project 8 is worth 8 points.
9) Read Chapter 12 in the textbook, and answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of
that chapter. Be sure to include the questions too. Then upload these to the
instructor’s
Dropbox,
not to your group members, by midnight on June 28, Sunday.
Project 9 is worth 12 points.
10) Create and upload at least 5 questions (either multiple choice, fill in, or
true/false) to your small group members by the deadline of noon on July 1,
Wednesday. They should come from your readings in Chapter 12 and 13. It would be
better to upload these questions as early as possible to help your group members
study for the final quiz on July 3, Friday.
Project 10 is worth 5 points.
11) Read Chapter 13 in the textbook, and answer the 10 Key Questions at the end of
that chapter. Be sure to include the questions too. Then, upload these to the
instructor’s
DROPBOX,
not to your group members, by midnight on July 2, Thursday.
Project 11 is worth 12 points.
12) On July 3 take the Final quiz that covers Chapters 12 and 13. Take it during the
daylight hours on July 3, Friday… the last day of class. You will have 40 minutes to
complete the final quiz, and will only be allowed one attempt to take the test.
It is worth 25% (25 points) of your grade.
Other Important Information
Since learning is “the process of constructing knowledge-- not merely obtaining
it” (Brooks & Brooks, 1993), students will engage in various individualized
constructivist projects to gain a “knowledge of human development and learning” (an
NTASC Standard 2). The projects will include writing expression exercises, text
readings, examining then critiquing articles, commenting on the written critiques of
fellow students, creating quizzes, creating a curricula vitae, taking cognitive
assessments, and working with others in small group discussion online.
Students will be able to do the following with the knowledge and skills gained
through successful completion of the four Learner Outcomes cited above:
1) Students will be able to identify the multiple emotional, parental, and health
issues that affect child growth and development during the early childhood and
middle childhood years by accurately responding to 40 key questions regarding
those topics.
2) Students will be able to distinguish between the basic psychosocial developments
through which children pass during their early childhood as opposed to the
middle childhood stages by scoring 70% or better on two tests covering
material from the text.
3) Students will be able to articulate the biosocial and cognitive developmental
transitions associated with the middle childhood years by reading articles
associated with this content and successfully responding to 40 key questions
regarding those topics.
4) Enumerate the specific and effective components in the home environment that
influence positive child development by writing a personal reflection paper, and
scoring 70% or better on two tests focused on content related thereto.
Students are responsible for learning the content
of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under SD Board of Regents and
BHSU University policy, student performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic
basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views
offered in a course of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is
unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal
opinion or conduct should contact the dean of the college which offers the class to
initiate a review of the evaluation.
Final grading in the class is based on the following scale:
A= 93-100%
B= 83-92%
C= 73-82%
D= 63-72%
F= 1-62
Reasonable accommodations, as arranged through the Disabilities Services
Coordinator, will be provided students with documented disabilities. Contact the
BHSU, Disabilities Services Coordinator (MikeMcNeil@bhsu.edu) (605) 6426099. (Jacket Legacy Room in the Student Union) for more information. Student
Services contact: http://www.bhsu.edu/StudentLife/tabid/83/Default.aspx
Students will need to pace themselves and
participate in the course according to its fast-paced Summer Session schedule.
Summer sessions differ in length from spring and fall semester terms, and it is
expected that students will devoted two-three hours daily during this one month
course.
It can reasonably be assumed that taking the midterm quiz on June 22 means
you are halfway through the course. Incomplete grades can be realized only through
documentation of a personal emergency or illness, or resulting from a universitysponsored activity.
Obtaining the textbook (8th edition) prior to Monday, June 8th
(the first day of class) is essential.
Note from the instructor:
I trust you will enjoy this course and I look forward to meeting you. I encourage
you to e-mail me during the course with questions or comments.
Len Austin, Associate Professor
lenaustin@bhsu.edu
The end