Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | PSY-1050-VO04 - Human Growth & Development

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Erin Valentine
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Kate Hughes

General Education Requirements

VSCS Social Sciences

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course is a survey of human growth and development throughout the life cycle including physical, cognitive, linguistic, ethical, and psychosocial dimensions.

Essential Objectives

1. Compare and contrast two major theories of developmental psychology.
2. Identify and discuss issues in human growth and development arising from differences in gender, race, and socioeconomic status.
3. Select one theory and discuss the major aspects of each stage of growth according to physical, cognitive, language, and social dimensions.
4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development.
5. Apply the main concepts and principles of one developmental theory to the development of an individual.
6. Describe the process of empirical and ethical research (both cross-sectional and longitudinal) as it is commonly practiced and applied in the field of developmental psychology, including how that research informs contemporary issues.
7. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course only uses free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials. For details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) Policy Statement

CCV recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools are widely available and becoming embedded in many online writing and creative applications.

Prohibited: The use of generative AI is not allowed in this course, with the exception of spellcheck, grammar check and similar tools. This course rests in the value of students engaging in the learning process without relying on AI-generated content. Students will develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills independently, owning their learning journey from start to finish. If you use these tools, your actions would be considered academically dishonest and a violation of CCV's Academic Integrity Policy.

Methods

Teaching methods include:
Reading from the textbook: Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective 2nd Edition
Other assigned readings, presentations, and videos
Whole-class online discussions

Evaluation Criteria

Students are evaluated in the following ways:

• weekly through whole-class discussion forum posts,
• once via a reflection paper
• once via a structured online exam
• once via a presentation

Over the course of the semester students are evaluated using on a 100-point scale. Students gain points by fully participating in class activities and completing assignments. The point breakdown for the four course evaluation methods is as follows:

48 points – whole-class discussion posts
8 point – reflection paper
24 points – final course presentation
20 points – final exam

DISCUSSION FORUM GRADING:

Each week discussion forum prompts will be given for students to respond to. Students’ responses to these prompts are graded on a 4-point scale (i.e. each forum response is worth 4 points toward the overall course grade).

The grading criteria for the forum discussion posts are outlined below. Comments to other students are not graded individually, but are required. Students are required to make two substantive comments to their classmates or teacher each week. Comments are worth ½ point toward the total forum grade, two comment per week is required. The word “substantive” is used to describe the type of comments that engage one another in conversation, not just a comment along the lines of “Nice post.” A substantive comment reflects on what someone wrote and provides more information, insight or opinion, or asks a question to further conversation.

The following guidelines will be used in grading students’ responses to discussion forum prompts:

4 points = A

• Assignment is carefully and systematically answered.
• Responses illustrate the student has a thorough understanding of the subject matter as evidenced through appropriate use of subject specific vocabulary and key concepts, and the ability to relate the subject matter to their own experiences and/or other areas of knowledge.
• Responses are thoroughly researched and referenced using APA format with at least one scholarly primary or secondary source cited.
• Arguments, theories and conclusions are well developed and show evidence of critical thinking and reflection.
• Writing is succinct with no spelling or grammatical errors.

3 points = B

• All major pieces of the assignment are responded to.
• Responses illustrate the student understands the subject matter as evidenced through appropriate use of subject specific vocabulary and key concepts; limited ability to relate subject matter to their own experiences and/or other areas of knowledge.
• Limited amount of primary or secondary research is cited; sources are not cited in APA-style.
• Arguments, theories and conclusions are developed.
• A small number of spelling and grammar errors may be present.

2 points = C

• Student responds to most elements of the assignment.
• Response illustrates basic understanding of subject matter.
• There is little to no use of primary or secondary sources research; research is not cited at all.
• Arguments, theories and conclusions are not fully developed.
• Spelling and grammar errors impede the student's ability to communicate the main points of their argument.

1point = D

• Student responds to some elements of the assignment.
• Response illustrates limited understanding of subject matter.
• There is little to no research cited.
• Spelling and grammar errors make it difficult for the student to communicate the main points of their argument.

0 point = F

• Student does not respond to the components of the assignment.
• Response does not illustrate an understanding of the subject matter.
• No research is cited.
• Spelling and grammar errors make it impossible for the student to communicate the main points of their argument.

• Late work:All work submitted after the posted deadlineseven if what is submitted is an otherwise well constructed post.

REFLECTION PAPER GRADING:

The Reflection Paper is to be written and submitted at the midpoint in the semester as a way of thinking about what has already been learned and how this information will affect/apply to the second half of human development we will look at.

The completed reflection paper should be 1-2 pages in length, written in 12-point font, double-spaced, in a Word document or similar format. Because this is a ‘reflection’ paper students do not need to include any references.

In the paper students must identify 3 aspects of development in the life stages already studied so far inheritance (prenatal), infancy/toddlerhood, childhood, and/or adolescents that they think are particularly important to life-long development and are likely to have the most influence on the next phases of life (those phases which we are going to cover in the coming weeks). As a reflection paper students should discuss areas we have studies that were of interest to them and/or they are interested in learning more about, or any unanswered questions they have about aspects of development in the early years of life, equally students can pose questions they have about later life and what they look forward to learning more about in the coming weeks.

This paper is worth 8 points toward the overall grade in the class. Students will be graded on their ability to follow the parameters of the assignment and to think critically about what they have learned and apply this to thoughts about their continued learning in the second half of the semester. Late assignments will not be accepted.

EXAM GRADING:

There is one online, open-book, exam in this course. It is timed, 60 minutes, contains 30 questions, and is worth 20-points toward the overall course grade. The exam takes place during the last week of class and is available to students for 1 week to take at the best time for him/her. The exam questions are multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, and matching. If the exam is not completed by the deadline a score of 0 will be given.

COURSE PRESENTATION GRADING:

The final course presentation is designed to be an independent learning experience that students work on throughout the semester and then present to the class during the last week of the course. The course presentation is meant to assess the degree to which students have mastered and synthesized the general subject matter of this course. It will be graded with regard to the student’s ability organize, summarize and clearly present information, as well as the student’s ability to keep to the following guidelines.

Students must selectone age groupto highlight (i.e. infants, early childhood, middle age, etc.),a target audiencefor their presentation (e.g. new parents, nurses, middle school teachers, etc.), anda specific topic area(i.e. breastfeeding, diabetes, obesity, sex education, etc.). The presentation should be designed to provide information (learned through outside reading and in the course) around these parameters. This presentation should focus on important aspects of development (i.e. cognitive, physical development, educational, temperament, etc.) as they relate to the selected age group, intended audience, and topic of the presentation.

For example, one might selectinfantsas an age group anddietitiansfor an audience and focus the presentation on the topic ofbreast feeding vs. bottle feedingand nutritional benefits of both. In this case the presentation would emphasize how nutrition is connected to physical, cognitive, and social-emotional growth and development. As additional examples, previous titles for presentations completed by students have included: What Nurses Need to Know about The Benefits of Infant Massage,How Type 1 Diabetes Effects Children: Information for Teachers, Cyber Bullying: What Parent Need to Know to Prevent Potential Deadly Consequences in Early Adolescence.

Completed presentations needs to be presented in PowerPoint, Prezi, PowToon, Keynote, or a similar slide-based media. Presentations must be posted to the appropriate discussion forum during the last weeks of the semester (see week-by-week syllabus for deadlines).

Presentations need to be a minimum of 15 slides and no more than 30 slides. The first slide of the presentation should be the title slide, which includes the student’s name. The final slide of the presentation should be entitled ‘References’ and must list a minimum of5 scholarly referencesthat were used in researching the topic.Acceptable scholarly references include:books, journal articles, and scholarly news reports.Website references do not count toward the total of 5 scholarly references needed, but students can gather information from websites to build their own knowledge on a topic. Websites used in research about the topic can and should be listed as references at the end of the presentation too, but there must be a minimum of 5 scholarly sources referenced. Students must properly cite all references (both in the presentation, as necessary, and on the ‘References’ slide) using APA format.

This project is worth a total of 24 points toward the student’s final course grade. The final presentation is submitted at the beginning of the last week of the semester.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Participation is a key components of this course; in fact, this course is dependent upon student participation and collaboration. In order to participate in this course, students must be present in the discussion forums. Each student is expected to contribute actively on a weekly basis. If a student is not present in at least one of the discussion forums during the class week (Tuesday-Monday) they will be considered absent for that week. Posting to a forum after the week is over will not change this absence. Additionally, and to emphasize the importance of weekly class participation, original posts submitted after the stated deadlines receive a grade of 0, regardless of the quality of the post.

These participation guidelines are in place to help facilitate discussion, shared learning, and cohesiveness in the course. If a student anticipates being unable to participate in a weekly discussion forum, the student must discuss his/her absence with the instructor as soon as possible in order to determine if an extension can be granted. Extensions are never granted after the deadline to post has passed (i.e. don’t wait until after deadline has passed to let the instructor know why you were absent). Arrangements can often be made to address absences in the forums if students are proactive about contacting the instructor as soon as possible before the end of the weekly discussions.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Discussions forum posts are not accepted late. Original posts are due by the end of the day Friday as specified in the course calendar and weekly schedule. Original posts submitted after the due date/time will not be graded and will receive a grade of 0. All discussion forum comments are due by the end of the day Monday as specified in the course calendar and weekly schedule. Late comments will not be counted toward the weekly discussion forum grade. A late comment will mean an automatic half-point deduction from the discussion forum grade.

The mid-term reflection paper is due around the mid-point in the semester as specified in the course calendar and weekly schedule. If the reflection paper is not submitted on time a grade of 0 will be given. There is no make-up for this assignment.

The final exam is open to students to be taken anytime in the final week of the semester as specified in the course calendar and weekly schedule. If it is not completed during that time a grade of 0 will be given. There is no make-up for a missed exam.

The final presentation is due by the end of the day on the last Tuesday of the semester (the first day of the last week of class) as specified in the course calendar and weekly schedule. If the presentation is not uploaded by the due date there will be 1-point deducted for each day or portion of day that the presentation is late, up until the end of the semester. Presentations will not be accepted for grading once the semester ends and a grade of 0 will be given. There is no make-up for this assignment if it is not submitted by the end of the semester.

Personal, family, and work emergencies that may affect a student’s ability to complete an assignment are always taken into consideration and a mutually agreed upon extension can be made in these circumstances. But, please note, an extension will never be granted after the due date for an assignment has passed. If a student believes they will not be able to make any assignment deadline they should contact the instructor as soon as possible so appropriate arrangements can be agreed upon. If a student contacts the instructor after the due date has passed, no extension will be granted.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

Apply Now for this semester.