EDUC 115 : Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development

Education and Social Work

2024 Semester One (1243) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Study of factors influencing children's development and socialisation within the culturally and linguistically diverse context of New Zealand. Research from developmental psychology and from family and parenting will be drawn upon to explore physical, emotional, social, cognitive and language development during childhood and adolescence.

Course Overview

The course will consider a small set of enduring themes that unify all areas of child development. The themes are represented in the following questions that child-development research tries to answer: 1) How do nature and nurture together shape development? 2) How do children shape their own development? 3) In what ways is development continuous and in what ways is it discontinuous? 4) How does change occur? 5) How does the sociocultural context influence development? 6) How do children become so different from one another? 7) How can research promote children's wellbeing? In considering these questions, this course will focus on particular areas of child development such as cognitive development, language development, conceptual development, social development, emotional development and moral development. Prominent theories will be considered within these domains.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Understand and describe the seven enduring themes in child development and give examples of theories and research that address each of the themes (Capability 3 and 6)
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of and compare key theories of child and adolescent development (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
  3. Explain and evaluate key methods used in research about child and adolescent development (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
  4. Describe, identify and explain how children’s social, emotional, language, and cognitive development changes with age (Capability 3 and 6)
  5. Evaluate and apply key factors that influence child and adolescent development (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
  6. Demonstrate an ability to help, challenge and influence other students in positive, constructive and collaborative ways. (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Quizzes 10% Individual Coursework
Case Studies 20% Individual Test
Essay 20% Individual Coursework
Formative Assessment & peer review 10% Group & Individual Coursework
Online Discussions & peer review 4% Group & Individual Coursework
Article Critique & peer review 6% Group & Individual Coursework
Short answer and multi-choice test 30% Individual Test
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Quizzes
Case Studies
Essay
Formative Assessment & peer review
Online Discussions & peer review
Article Critique & peer review
Short answer and multi-choice test

To pass this course students must achieve at least 50% for the overall course.

Workload Expectations

Following University workload guidelines, a standard 15-point course represents approximately 150 hours of study.

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

During a typical teaching week, there will be 2 hours of lectures and a 1 hour of tutorial. For the 12 teaching weeks, this totals 36 hours. Since the course as a whole represents approximately 150 hours of study, that leaves a total of 114 hours across the entire semester for independent study, e.g. reading, thinking about the content, working on assignments and preparing for tests and exams.


Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is expected at scheduled activities, including tutorials, to complete components of the course.

Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including tutorials will not be available as recordings.

The course will not include live online events.

Attendance on campus is required for the tests and formative assessments.

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

The required course text book is: Siegler, R., Saffran, J., Gershoff, E.T., Eisenberg, N., & Leaper, C. (2020). How Children Develop, (6th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.
Students should purchase the eBook, hardcopy or a Launchpad access card for How Children Develop, from the University bookshop (ubiq), either as a standalone product or packaged with the hardcopy of the text.
The Launchpad access card gives access to Launchpad resources, which include the interactive e-Book version of the Siegler text, online activities and learning tools for each chapter of the text. 

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

In response to feedback received in 2023, detailed information will be provided earlier to allow students more time to complete assessments. In additon, the number of assessments will be reduced. The quantity of weekly reading will remain at a maximum of 35 pages, which is within the expected weekly reading requirements for a stage 1 course. Lectures will include more opportunities for interaction, including greater use of interactive technologies.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

The use of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, in coursework is not permitted.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Published on 02/11/2023 05:11 p.m.