Course:

CD 3 and PSYC 3: Child Development Through The School Years, 3 units,

I am very much looking forward to facilitating your learning experience this semester. Fostering the optimum growth and development of children is my passion, and I hope it will soon become yours as well.

Plan to give the class all the attention you would an in-person class, however. You will need to spend 54 hours in our virtual classroom and approximately twice that reading the text and preparing assignments. You participation in discussion forums must take place during the week(s) in which they appear and before the due date in order to receive credit. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO FALL BEHIND! It is impossible to catch up once you do.

This class will be taught entirely on the internet. You must log in during the first week of class or you will be dropped to make room for other students.

Office hours by appointment: (send me an email to arrange in-person or telephone meetings).   

See you online!

Dr. B.

Introductory
Statement:

This course is offered as part of Gavilan College's Child Development major programs for a Certificate of Completion in Early Childhood Education or an Associate Degree in Child Development. It can also be used (as Psych 3) to meet 3 of the 16 General Education unit requirement for the Child Development Teacher Permit.

CD3/Psych3 also meets a Social Science lower division general education requirement for the Associate Degree or the California State University Breadth Requirements.

Students will be required to the read the textbook, online lecture modules, and linked articles, as well as to participate in weekly online discussions (asynchronous). Students will be evaluated on their online participation, written assignments, and online examinations. APA bibliographic format will be required in all written assignments. Please prepare yourself by reviewing the APA Guide that will be posted in the Resource section of the class, and/or the APA website (http://apastyle.apa.org/).

Optional Class Meetings

All students are encouraged to attend an online or live orientation to Moodle, the software used for the online classes at Gavilan College. Information about these orientations can be found on the main Distance Education web site, http://www.gavilan.edu/disted/.

Course
Description:

Continuation of the study of the principles of child development with an emphasis on children from six years through adolescence. Includes developmental theories and topics relevant to these ages. This course is listed both as CD 3 and PSYC 3, and has the option of a letter grade or credit/no credit. It is not required that you complete CD2/Psych2 before enrolling in this class.

Required
Text:

Order online or from the Gavilan Bookstore

1. Students requiring special services or arrangements because of hearing, visual or other disability should contact their instructor, counselor, advisor, or the Disabled Students Services.
2. Limited English language skills will not be a barrier to admittance to and participation in vocational programs.
3. Students are expected to exercise academic honesty and integrity.   Violations such as cheating and plagiarism will result in disciplinary action which may include recommendation for dismissal.
4. The college policy on attendance, as stated in the catalog is: "students missing one more class hour than the unit value for a particular course, without making prior arrangements may, at the instructor's option be dropped without possibility of credit." (You can expect to spend just as many hours in your “virtual” classroom as in a regular, face-to-face, classroom.)

Educational
Objectives
to be
Achieved:

At the end of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

1. Define the study of human development and discuss some of its major themes.

2. Define developmental theory, and give concrete examples of how theories can help explain human behavior.

3. Explain how scientists attempt to distinguish the effects of genes (nature) and environment (nurture) on human development.

4. Identify the major causes of obesity, and outline some approaches to preventing and treating obesity.

5. Describe how learning disabilities are diagnosed, and identify some of the basic deficiencies in schools' ability to effectively serve children with learning disabilities.

6. Compare and contrast techniques that have been tried in efforts to educate children with special needs.

7. Restate Kohlberg's stage theory of moral development.

8. Identify the common themes or emphases of different theoretical views of he psychosocial development of schoolage children.

9. Identify five essential ways that functional families nurture schoolage children.

10. Describe the development of the primary and secondary sex characteristics in males and females during puberty and explain the implications for early and late developing youngsters.

11. Compare sex education today with that of your own youth, and describe current global trends in teen pregnancies and births.


Course
Grading
System

Final course grades consist of a percentage of the total points accumulated -- a possible 100 points.  

A Note
from the
Instructor:

GOOD LUCK!   You are about to embark on a very exciting field of study.   I will try to assist you in any way that I can to make this class a rewarding experience.   Please email me by August 25 using CD3 or PSYC3 as the subject line and let me know you are registered in the course.  Dr. B.