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, and you must participate weekly in order to stay in the class.

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 or an Associate Degree. It can also be used (as Psych 3) to meet 3 of the 16 General Education unit requirement for the Child Development Teacher Permit and to earn a CARES or CDTC stipend.

CD3/Psych3 also meets a Social Science lower division general education requirement for the Associate Degree or the California State University Breadth Requirements. Students pursuing a BA in Child & Adolescent Development at SJSU should complete both CD3/Psych3 and CD2/Psych2.

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). You will be evaluated on your online participation, written assignments, and online examinations. APA bibliographic format is required for 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/).

Recommended
Preparation:

Many students begin online classes, but far fewer are successful. If this is your first online class, or you have not done well in the past, I encourage you to attend an in-person or online orientation to Moodle, the software used for the online classes at Gavilan College and to complete the free self-paced course LI732, Introduction to Gavilan Online . Information about these offerings 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. Analyze major developmental milestones for children from middle childhood through adolescence in the areas of physical, psychosocial, cognitive, and language development using standard research methodologies.

2. Analyze how cultural, economic, political, historical contexts affect children's development from middle childhood through adolescence.

3. Compare and contrast various theoretical frameworks that relate to the study of human development.

4.Apply developmental theory to the analysis of child observations, surveys, and/or interviews using valid and ethical investigative research methodologies.

5. Differentiate characteristics of typical and atypical development at various stages.

6. Employ knowledge of the interaction between maturational processes and social/environmental factors and the effects on various areas of development.

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. To ensure that you are not dropped from the class for lack of participation, log in to class by February 1 and post an introduction in the Let's Get Acquainted! forum, then post weekly to the discussion forums and written assignment modules.   Dr. B.