EDUCATION 521
HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Spring, 2010
Longwood University
Faculty: Stephen C. Keith Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Education
Email: keithsc@longwood.edu
Office 219 Hull (Education) Bldg.
Time: 6:15-9:00 Thursday
Room 129
January 17-May 1st
Phone 395-2516
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The principles and processes of human development covering the entire life span. Major aspects of
development (social, physical, mental, emotional) are traced through the various stages of
development, and their interaction in organized behavior examined.
COURSE CORE OBJECTIVES:
Knowledge based objectives:
1. The student will be able to identify major aspects of past and present trends and controversies
in the field of child development and apply the aspects in solving current national and
international, social and educational problems. TC 1,4,5,9
2. The student will be able to identify the major theories of human growth and development and
implications for current or future national and international social, economic and
educational problems. TC 1,3,4,5,7
3. The student will be able to describe the stages of pre-natal development, including genetics and
sexual choice, as well as environmental influences and implications. TC 4
4. The student will be able to detail the various aspects of physical and motor development in the
infant and factors that promote or deter normal development. TC 1,2,3,4,5,9
5. The student will be able to describe the ways in which the infant learns, cogitates and
adapts according to various developmental theories. TC 1,2,3,4,5,9
6. The student will be able to identify implications for social/emotional development,
cognitive/language development including potential problems in development for the individual
and for children on an international and national basis. TC 1,2,3,4,5,9
7. The student will be able to identify the impact of home, school, and culture on child rearing and
child development as well as implications for children on a national and international basis. TC
1,2,3,4,5,9
8.The student will be able to identify issues related to the adolescent and early adulthood as well
as implications for adulthood in terms of being a responsible citizen and economically
independent. TC1, 2,3,4,5,9
9. The student will identify those social and political forces at a local and national level that either
reinforce or are counter productive to a sense of community and how the individual, and later as
part of a family, becomes a part of the community. TC 1,2,3,4,5,9,
10. The student will identify those research-based practices related to cognition, social/emotional
and physical development as they relate to successful practices in schools. TC 1,2,3,4,5,9,
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Skills based objectives:
11. The student will utilize the acquired knowledge to become an effective parent in the context
of various family configurations. TC 4,5,8,9
13) The students will develop personal and professional strategies that will result in an effective
child and family advocate. TC 4,6,7,9,
14) The student will utilize those professional strategies developed from the research in
Human Growth and Development that will result in enhanced teaching and learning. TC
1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9
Non-content Objectives and Competencies
1. Use appropriate written communication skills in terms of vocabulary, grammar, spelling
and sentence construction.
2. Use appropriate verbal communication skills in terms of fluency of expression, grammar
and appropriate active listening skills.
3. Use appropriate social skills in terms of monitoring their own behavior and the perceptions
of others related to their behaviors.
4. Use communication skills in formal and simulated presentations.
COURSE OBJECTIVES & PROFESSIONAL TEACHER OUTCOMES
Educators as Reflective Citizen Leaders (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher
Education)
TC 1 Plan for Instruction
TC 2 Implementation and Management of Instruction
TC 3 Evaluation and Assessment
TC 4 Knowledge of Subject
TC 5 Classroom Behavior Management
TC 6 Communication Skills
TC 7 Professional Responsibilities
TC 8 Technology
TC 9 Diversity
TEXT:
Child Development and Education, McDevitt and Ormond, Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007. In addition,
the course will consist of articles as handouts and lectures related to the topic, all for which the
student will be held accountable.
HONOR CODE:
Students are expected to live by the Longwood College Honor Code; see the graduate catalog for
specifics. All work done for the class must be pledged. For each OFS, the pledge and signature
must be at the bottom of the last page to enhance assessment objectivity by the instructor.
ATTENDANCE:
This is a Graduate Class and given the intensive nature of the schedule, attendance is mandatory.
Any absences must be discussed with the instructor. Students may arrange to video any missed
classes as a result of professional commitments and they will be responsible for the material.
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WEATHER:
The professor will monitor the weather should the need arise. If the university is open, you are
expected to be present. If the university closes unexpectedly or instructor illness, the instructor will
send an email and make phone calls to work or home (cell) starting from the farthest point of travel.
ANTICIPATED CLASS SCHEDULE:
Jan.
17th Overview and Chapter 1
24th Chapter 3
31st Chapter 4,
7th Chapter 4
Feb 14th Chapter 5 Take Home OFS 1 Due 19th 9:00 a.m. by attachment
21st Chapter 6
28th Chapter 7
March 6th Chapter 8
20th Chapter 9
27th Chapter 9 Take Home OFS #2 due 25th by 9:00 a.m. by attachment.
April
3rd Chapter 10
10th Chapter 11 & 12
17th Chapter 13
24th Chapter 14
Final Cumulative OFS Take Home Due May 1st by attachment 9:00 a.m
Application of Knowledge Project Due Monday April 21st 9:00 a.m. either by attachment or hard
copy.
EVALUATION:
All Opportunities For Success (OFS) are extended answer format. In that this is a Graduate class, it
is expected that all thoughts be organized, succinct, as well as correct in terms of sentence
construction, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. There are no circumstances under which credit
can be obtained when the above criteria, as well as content, are not met. For each error, one point
will be deducted. In general, it is anticipated that the Opportunity for Success questions will be
application in nature. Responses should obviously reflect the readings where appropriate. There
may not necessarily be a correct or incorrect answer, but where opinion, there should be statement
of fact related to/cited from the articles as well as an identification of possible relationships that
support or negate the issue. It is expected that the responses be thorough in terms of developing
relationships. Where there are citations, APA style is expected; any errors in style use will result in
a point deduction for each error.
The OFS may be completed on a laptop or in the computer lab. If so, please turn off spell check
etc. Please be sure, regardless of whether it is paper or pencil or computer, to confine your
responses to the space provided. Responses that can not be deciphered obviously can not count
towards the question. Also, regardless of format, place your name and pledge on the back of the last
page. In the upper right hand corner of each page, place a “T” for teacher or NT for not a teacher.
The responses will be judged accordingly.
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Each question will have a given point value stated at the beginning of each prompt. It may be
possible to obtain extra credit points for a response that clearly exceeds the instructor’s
expectations for competency. Where possible, a choice of questions to answer will be provided.
The OFS's are worth 75% of the grade and the application of knowledge project is worth 25% of
the grade. The end-of-the-course grades will be calculated on a percentage of earned and total
possible points using the scale below:
A=100-94, A-92-90,B+=89-87, B=86-83, B-82-80,C+=79-77,C=76-73,C-=72-70,F=Below 70.
There are no D’s in Graduate School
ORGANIZATION and FOCUS:
There are a number of themes that permeates all of the content and issues in the class. The
instructor will initially identify one of the themes as an illustration. It is the students’ responsibility
to continue to identify additional themes and use them to build a scaffold for the rest of the course
content.
In addition, a major goal for the class is for the student to become a pragmatic, child and family
advocate. That is, given a desirable context in which children learn as well as live, what can the
learner do in order to begin to change or create an appropriate environment either for an individual
or a group. At the beginning of each class, the instructor will ask what have the learners done to
begin to create that appropriate environment. To accept or witness an inappropriate behavior or
institutional practice that impacts children, and not attempt to change it, is to tacitly validate or
condone it. As professionals with a knowledge base regarding human growth and development, it is
our responsibility to address those inappropriate practices. In addition, it is our responsibility to
reinforce appropriate practices.
For some members of the class, an important goal of the class content is to provide a knowledge
base for either becoming a more effective future parent or changing parental behaviors. It is
important that students who are parents contribute focused observations and anecdotes about their
own experiences.
For either current or pre-service teachers, the class content should provide an opportunity for you to
reflect on your own teaching behaviors, classroom culture and structure.
For students in the Counseling program, your clients have not developed, nor do they function, in a
vacuum. The class content provides you an opportunity to look at the entire individual
developmentally and the context in which they have lived or are currently living in.
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APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE PROJECT:
The course content obviously involves a great deal of theory and information. While certainly
integral as a knowledge base, it is far more important as professionals to be able to use the
information in a pragmatic manner. To that end, one of the course requirements is to be able to
collect and analyze data in some meaningful manner regarding issues raised in the class material.
The student must arrange to investigate a specific topic for a specific population in depth, or a
cluster of related topics to a lessor degree, that is of interest to the student and has the approval of
the instructor. By the end of the sixth week of class, the student must present an outline of the
project for approval.
The intent of the project is not that of a traditional research paper. Instead, the intent is to provide
the student with an opportunity to collect data, either through observation, interviews or surveys
related to the parameters of the topic(s) for a target age range. Those topic(s) must be related to
material or issues raised in class.
Format:
The format should be an 8 to 12 page single spaced paper using 12 point Times New Roman print
that: 1) introduces the importance of the topic and how it relates to the material, 2) organization of
the investigation (time, location, method of data collection and other significant features), 3) data
collection strategies, 4) actual questions, rubric for observations etc. 5) summary of the data, 6)
analysis of the data in terms of the topic and class material, 7) implications or recommendations.
For students who have taken EDUC 502, Research Design, those competences are expected to be
manifested depending upon the topic. The Application of Knowledge Project should be in a clear,
plastic binder unless sending as an attachment and it is due April 21st . It will be returned if a self
addressed stamped envelope is provided. The numerical value of the letter grade is as follows:
A 95, A- 92, B+ 88, B 85, B- 82, C+ 78, C 75, C- 72, D+ 68, D 65, D- 62, F 50
Suggestions for the project:
If the investigator was interested in the issue of parenting, they might arrange to go to the local mall
and observe how parents parent in terms of style in relationship to age. Just as important, they
would describe the context in which the behaviors occur, the reaction of the child, and possible
subsequent adult reactions to the child.
If the investigator was interested in the cognitive features of teaching and learning for adolescents,
they may choose to establish a focus group of adolescents and then ask questions related to generic
class material and then summarize the responses in terms of themes and discuss the implications.
If the investigator was interested in the issue of emerging sexuality of middle school aged children,
they may choose to create parental focus groups, pose specific questions related to the material
from the class and then summarize the responses and discuss the implications.
If the investigator was interested in the cognitive, motor and social/emotional value of toys for preschool children, and or how they are purchased or utilized by parents, they may wish to design a
format that includes visit(s) to Toys R Us.
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Professional Behaviors
It is the intent of the instructor to conduct this class in a seminar fashion. That is, the instructor will
assume that students have read the material in advance; the salient features of the material will be
reviewed and, where appropriate, elaboration and examples will be provided. It is the intent of the
instructor to provide examples that are as nearly related to your intended career goals as possible.
However, given the wide variety of programs represented in the class, this is not always possible.
In addition, much of the material has a strong socio-cultural, economic and political base and as
such there are controversial issues that will periodically surface. Your input is valuable but must be
respectful of others’ backgrounds and beliefs. Growth cannot occur unless there is systematic,
appropriate exposure to different theories and belief systems.
As a result, you are expected to contribute to the class with insights and your own examples as
well as additional questions that pursue subtle permutations of the topics. As professionals, we
must be keenly aware as to the nature of our discourse and our own behaviors that either reinforce
or negate our message. Unstated goals of this class is to develop observation skills but also
reflection skills related to ourselves and the messages, intended and unintended, that we send.
Insights to our own beliefs and how they developed, as well as a tolerance of others’ beliefs, are
indications of a mature, insightful professional.
To that degree, it is expected that you monitor your own level of contributions to the class. To
dominate conversations is just as inappropriate as to make no contributions. In addition, the
instructor asks that you not wear hats in class, chew tobacco or blow bubble gum, wear strong
perfume or aftershave nor exhibit any other behaviors that others may find distracting or
inappropriate for a learning atmosphere. The instructor reserves the right to share his concerns with
students on an individual basis.
Despite these seemingly rigid expectations, students are free to leave the class as needed.
Coffee, for a minimal fee, is available in the faculty lounge; I would ask that you bring your own
cup and storage is available. If you are a consumer of beverages encased in aluminum or plastic,
please recycle at home.
When entering class, turn off or put on vibrate your cell phone. If you get a phone call and it is
of predictable importance rather than a routine call, you may leave class to respond. Otherwise, the
instructor reserves the right to answer your cell phone call. This is not an invasion of privacy on my
part; answering a cell phone call in a professional scenario is simply unprofessional and rude.
Confidentiality of Content
Human Growth and Development is all about group and individual stories. In some instances as
part of the sharing of stories, there may be content that is best held in confidence. Confidentiality is
a requirement for all professions. Whether the content is about a specific circumstance or
individual or self-disclosing, it must stay within the confines of the classroom. Any instances of
“names and tales” will result in an automatic conference with the appropriate program coordinator
or VP for Academic Affairs responsible for graduate programs and could, depending upon the
circumstance, result in dismissal.
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