HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
ON LINE COURSE SYLLABUS

Current Announcements

This course is not being offered during SPRING 2008.

Course Description and Objectives

Welcome to Psychology 2314 Internet course at Tyler Junior College. I hope this will be a pleasant educational experience for you. Please note that every student must complete an orientation, by "clicking" on the Orientation button above, and following the instructions. If you do not complete an orientation by email within 10 days, you may be dropped from the course roll. The majority of internet-student problems arise because students do not read the course syllabus and schedule. Internet courses are dependent upon the student taking responsibility for familiarizing himself/herself with the course materials and requirements. Please read this syllabus, and please check the "Current Announcements" on the website at least once a week. Good luck!

This course will acquaint the student with the hereditary and environmental influences that affect human development throughout the life span. Special emphasis will be placed upon social, intellectual, and emotional growth, and change, from conception to death. The course is being taught via the Internet, and the primary teaching method will be textbook readings, augmented by written lectures, student-teacher email interaction, writing assignment, and practice tests. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, the student will have demonstrated mastery of the following objectives by displaying at least minimum competencies on course tests and assignments. The student will have:

1. Demonstrated an adequate knowledge of the human body, its
developmental stages and the interaction of the nervous and endocrine systems in influencing behavior.
2. Discriminated between the effects of heredity and environment on
human development and individual differences.
3. Compared and contrasted the most prominent contributors to the
field of developmental psychology, their theories and terminology, with specific emphasis on personality, cognitive development and gender.
4. Compared different theories, as applied to human developmental stages, their research, methodology, application and predictive value.

Suggested Text:
Human Development, 3^rd ed., Kail and Cavanaugh, Wadsworth Publishing, 1999.
Any recent Human Development psychology text should suffice, but the chapters may not be in the same order. 

Testing: This course will have four Unit Tests and a comprehensive Final Exam. All tests, including the final exam, may be taken early, but cannot be taken later than the date shown in the course schedule. Tests taken after their scheduled date will receive a grade of zero. All tests will be taken at the TJC testing center, on or before the date scheduled. If you are not located within commuting distance of Tyler, Texas, you should contact the TJC Testing Center at 1-800-687-5680 immediately for testing arrangements in your area. Please refer to the course schedule for test dates, and contact the testing center concerning their hours of operation. Practice tests for each unit have been included in this web site, and the unit tests will be taken directly from these. Questions will be altered, however, to discourage memorization and encourage understanding of the material tested. The final exam will come from the four unit tests. Each unit test will have 33 MC questions and the final exam will contain 50. You may email me at any time to inquire about a test grade.

Grading: Your semester grade will be determined as follows; The average of your three highest unit test grades will be 2/3 of the course grade, and the final exam grade will be 1/3. You may miss one unit test. If you miss two tests, you will receive a zero grade for the second. If you take all four, unit tests, I will average your three highest grades.

Term Paper Requirements: An acceptable term paper is a requirement for passing this course. To be acceptable, the paper must be more than two pages in length, typed, double-spaced, with no cover sheet, and submitted on time. Papers that are not over two pages in length will lower your course grade one letter, and papers that are submitted late will also lower your course grade one letter. Your name, course number, and title should be typed and centered at the top of the first page. Do not list references and do not attach a reference list. Any psychological theorist discussed in your textbook may be used as a subject. You must not plagiarize (copy another author word for word), but write the paper in your own words. Plagiarizing will make the paper unacceptable. Papers may be turned in at the Dean of University Studies office in Jenkins Hall or to the Testing Center. Papers may also be mailed to Dr. Frank Glenn at the TJC address listed above. Please mail papers early enough to insure on time arrival. Papers will not be accepted via email and email attachments will not be opened.

It is the student’s responsibility to familiarize himself/herself with this course syllabus and schedule. The student is expected to read the assigned chapters in the text and the lecture notes. I will answer email almost every night of the week, so please email me when you have questions or requests. If you do not receive a reply within 24 hours, you should recheck the address and send the message again. Individual office appointments may be requested by email if desired. Please do not attempt to contact me by phone, except as a last resort. I will not return long distance calls. Finally, it is the student’s responsibility to drop the course, should he/she wish to do so. Tyler Junior College provides a tutoring program for students who request such services.