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Spring, 2002 Gail Overbey, Ph.D. Telephone: 573-651-2254 (please
leave message) Office:
405D Scully Building
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE: This course offers an in-depth investigation of selected topics in cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development from conception through late childhood. Prerequisite: PY120 or PY220 or PY222 or consent of instructor.
TEXTBOOK AND READING ASSIGNMENTS: Textbook: Vasta, R., Haith, M. M., & Miller, S. A. (1999). Child psychology: The modern science. (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Textbook: Miller, P. H. (1993). Theories of developmental psychology (3rd ed.). New York: W. H. Freeman. Students are expected to read the textbook chapter(s) and outside reading assignments designated in the reading lists before each class period. Outside reading assignments will be available at Kent Library (check the periodicals section or the Circulation Desk) or available through on-line sources. In addition, you may be responsible for other reading assignments which are announced in class. It is important to keep up with the reading assignments since they may be the focus of in‑class activities and/or quizzes. ATTENDANCE, ACTIVITIES, ASSIGNMENTS, PRESENTATION: The class is structured to allow students to be active participants in the learning process, and attendance at all class meetings is expected. Class meetings will contain additional material not found in the textbook, and points may be allotted for both in-class and out-of-class activities. The activities, discussions, videos, and assignments are designed to provide variety and to foster critical thinking about the concepts being presented. Students are encouraged to ask questions and to debate controversial issues. Except for University‑sanctioned absences, students will not be allowed to earn the points allotted for in-class activities/discussions/short assignments if they are not in class. Formal assignments will be handed out in class, with specific instructions and other important information (e.g., number of points possible, due date, etc.) designated on the assignment sheet and/or discussed in class. A student who is absent from class for any reason is responsible for getting copies of any assignments distributed in class. If help is needed with writing skills, see the instructor individually and visit the Writing Center at Kent Library. Students are expected to uphold the principles of academic honesty and to avoid any acts which would constitute academic dishonesty. All assignments submitted for the course must be the work of the individual student submitting the work. The single exception involves group projects, which must be the work of the group submitting the project. Students are cautioned to scrupulously avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism may include using the exact words of a source without quotation marks OR presenting information, ideas, or facts summarized from a source without using the appropriate citation. Please DO NOT COPY sentences or phrases from other sources or material, and please remember that mere rearrangement of the authors’ words is NOT acceptable. Plagiarized papers may be returned with a grade of 0 points, and other penalties also may apply. Students who are not in class at the time assignments are returned should pick up their papers at the next class meeting. Assignments that have not been picked up by the last day of finals week will be discarded. One of the assignments will be to write a term paper which reviews some topic related to cognitive, social, emotional, or physical development of children. You also will present your topic to the class at some time during the semester. The presentation should take about 20 to 25 minutes and should include visual aids such as transparencies, PowerPoint, or handouts. Other details concerning the presentation will be discussed in class. There will be FOUR exams given at designated points in the semester. Refer to the course outline for their dates. The exams may include multiple‑choice, matching, short‑answer, short essay, and take-home essay items. The first three exams will be worth 50 to 80 points each, and the fourth (final) exam will be a comprehensive exam worth 100 points. Each exam will cover the textbook reading assignments, lectures, outside reading assignments, videos, and class discussions/activities since the previous exam. The final exam will be comprehensive. Please note: In general, there will be no make‑up exams. Exceptions to this policy will be made only in the most extraordinary of circumstances. You MUST inform the instructor BEFORE the date/time of the exam if you will be unable to take the exam on the scheduled date, and documentation as to the reason for your absence may be required. If you know in advance that you will be absent on an exam date (e.g., for a University-sponsored activity), you should arrange with the instructor to take the exam BEFORE you leave. Make‑up examinations may be of a different format than the original examination and will be given during the week prior to the final examination period, so students are strongly encouraged to take examinations when scheduled. Each student will have an opportunity to know his/her current standing in the course throughout the semester. When the major assignments and exams are returned, the scores and totals-to-date will be posted either on-line or on the bulletin board of the classroom in which the class meets. In order to protect confidentiality, each student will be assigned a special code that will be used to post that student’s grade for the remainder of the semester. Your grade can be accessed via the Web by going to the instructor’s Web site (http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/overbey). After clicking on the Grades button for your course, follow the links for grades that correspond to your course and section number. You will need your user name and password (distributed in class) to access your grades. Please note that both username and password are case-sensitive, so if your password is gail and you type Gail or GAIL, you will not be able to get in. If a student believes that there is any error with regard to his/her posted grade, it will be the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor within two weeks of the time the new grades are first posted. If a student does not contact the instructor within that two-week period, he/she will forfeit the right to challenge the score given for a particular paper/exam/activity. This grading policy should provide a number of benefits. First, it will allow the student to know his/her current standing with regard to grade at any point throughout the semester. Second, it will allow any potential errors to be corrected in a timely fashion. Although every effort is made to double-check the entry of grades, mistakes are possible, and the instructor wishes to correct any mistakes that are made. Third, if there are any disagreements about a grade, it allows time for discussion shortly after the time a paper/exam/activity is returned, when events surrounding the paper/exam/activity are fresher. The instructor believes that the time to discuss grades is while the semester is in progress, not after final grades have been distributed. The final course grade will be determined by the number of points earned according to the following schedule:
Grades will be based on the following percentages of total points:
PLEASE NOTE: Dates that assignments are due are listed on each assignment sheet. The student is encouraged to write them in on this syllabus when each assignment sheet is given. The instructor also reserves the right to make changes in this syllabus. You are responsible for noting the changes as they are announced.
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