Psychology of Childhood – PSYC 221

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

Students will explore child growth and development from conception to puberty. Course content will emphasize developmental models, research, and best practices related to child development.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

In this study of human development, course materials and student interactions will introduce the methodologies and topics of the childhood years of human life. The stages of life from birth through middle childhood will be examined with respect to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial areas of development. An understanding of the behavior and thinking of the self and others will be an effective tool for intrapersonal and interpersonal Christian growth.

Course Assignment

Assigned readings and presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussion are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will post a new thread in the Discussion responding to prompts provided by the instructor. Each thread must be at least 250 words. In addition to the thread, the student will read and reply to at least 2 of his/her classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 150 words. (CLOs: A, B, C, D, E)

Read & Interact Textbook Reading Assignments (13)

There will be 13 Read & Interact Assignments in this course. These assignments allow the student to pinpoint what he/she does and does not know and also create a learning experience that is both productive and motivating.

Essay Assignments (2)

The student will select at least one full-text, scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal article that directly relates to the corresponding topic. Each essay will review a different topic from the text and will also link each topic with Scripture. Each essay must contain in-text citations, be at least 500 words of content (not including the Reference page), and must be in current APA format. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F) 

Observation Paper Assignment

For this assignment, the student will observe a child under the age of ten in a natural setting for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour and submit a paper of at least 1500 words reporting his/her observations. The paper must demonstrate the theories and concepts learned throughout the course and include at least 4 scholarly journal article references. (CLOs: A, B, C, D, E)

Quizzes (8)

Quizzes will consist of 30 multiple-choice questions. Each of these open-book/open-note quizzes will have a time limit of 1 hour and 30 minutes. The student will be responsible for reading and studying his/her textbooks in preparation, as not everything on the quizzes can be covered or discussed in the modules. (CLOs: A, B, C, F)