Syllabus for PSYC 125, Lifespan Human Development
Augustana College, Spring 2005

• Course basics
• Course requirements
  • WebCT chapter quizzes (quiz instructions)
  • Grading breakdown (WebCT grades)
  • Research participation instructions (Research report form)
• Course policies
• Course schedule
• Course materials
  • Lecture materials
  • Study questions

Texts Sigelman & Rider (2003). Life-span human development (Fourth edition). Textbook and study guide. Thomson/Wadsworth.

Course overview

This course primarily addresses the neurological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes that occur in human psychology over a lifetime. Biological, social, and cultural forces are considered as they impact an individual at various stages of development. We will also explore the relationship between developmental research and the reporting of that research in the popular media. At the end of this course, you should have acquired a knowledge and understanding of the biological, psychological, and social influences and interactions in development.

Course assignments

Class attendance

Students should attend class every session to take part in class discussions and to listen to lectures. Attendance will be recorded every class session, although attendance per se is not included in final course grade calculations. Students should also attend to class; to this end, please turn off cell phones and pagers when class is in session.

Quizzes

There will be a short quiz over each chapter of the textbook. Quizzes will be available through the Internet on WebCT. These quizzes must be taken by the beginning of class on the first day that the chapter is assigned. You will be allowed three minutes to complete each quiz. There will be sixteen quizzes; the highest twelve scores for each student will be used in calculating the final course grade.

Exams

There will be three exams. Each exam will have between 50 and 80 multiple-choice questions to assess knowledge and understanding of developmental theories and research.

Papers

A multi-part library research project will emphasize Information Literacy; specifically, exploring the relationship between original, peer-reviewed research and reports about such research in the popular media. The focus of this project will be the so-called Mozart effect. More detailed instructions for these papers will be handed out later in the semester.

Research participation

Students are required to participate in one psychological research session taking place at Augustana College. These sessions will last up to one hour, and will consist of one or more separate psychology studies. To get credit for research participation, students must turn in a completed Participant Report Form, signed by the student researcher. Students who do not wish to participate in research will have an alternative assignment available. See the Instructions for Research Participation for more details.

Extra-credit opportunities

Students have an opportunity to earn extra-credit points by attending the Augustana Symposium on the afternoon of April 16. (Students presenting at the Symposium may also receive extra-credit, of course.) The Symposium typically offers several sessions of presentations of Augustana student research, with four or five presentations in each session. The Symposium also includes an evening keynote address.

Course grades

At the end of the course, a final grade will be computed using the following breakdown.

Final grades will be assigned based on the total points at the end of the term.

Course policies

Policy on written work

All written assignments (i.e. lab reports and papers) must follow the usual rules of grammar, word usage, spelling, and punctuation. Papers with too many such errors will be returned ungraded to the student. The corrected paper should then be returned to the professor by the next class session; it will receive a late grade. Late revisions, or papers that still contain errors, will receive a zero. If you have any questions about how to write correctly, please consult a general style manual or a tutor in the Writing Center (HUM 220). On an unrelated point: When turning in written work of two or more pages, please make sure to staple (not crinkle or clip) those pages together. Lost pages will not be the responsibility of the instructor.

General policies

There are two types of assignments not turned in by the due date: missed assignments (without the instructor’s prior approval) and delayed assignments (with approval). Missed assignments will receive a zero. Prior approval for delayed assignments will be given only for documented medical or family emergencies. In the case of sudden illness, leave a message in my office or send me an email. Those students involved in recognized school activities should let me know personally which days will be missed as soon as they know, so that alternative plans can be made. Delayed assignments must be made up as soon as possible after the due date. Unfinished assignments at the end of the term will receive a zero, unless the student has contacted the instructor beforehand to arrange an Incomplete (as per the college catalog).

Academic dishonesty (e.g. cheating on exams or quizzes, plagiarism) runs contrary to standards of scholarship; it will not be tolerated. Penalties for incidents of academic dishonesty will follow the guidelines listed in the Augustana College General Catalog.

If there is a student in the class who has a need for academic accommodations due to a disability, please discuss this with the instructor as soon as possible. When reasonable accommodation requires a change in evaluation procedures, alternate procedures will evaluate students according to the same criteria used for the rest of the class. Accommodations will be made in consultation with Susan Bies in the Disabilities Office (MC 140).

Schedule of topics, readings, and assignments:

Note that assignment due dates and exam dates may be subject to change.