Course Syllabus, Weekly Schedule, and Grading Criteria

 

Course Syllabus: Explore the full course syllabus for basic course information, including the Course Description and Essential Objectives.

I offer one "Free Week" of 5 points for personal use (e.g., debilitating sickness or family emergency) for non-exam weeks; other than that, no points can be earned for a missed discussion. Due to the collegial, interactive nature of the Discussion Q&A, assignments can neither be made up in the following week's Discussion, nor emailed to me for credit.

You may be penalized for work posted after the four specific due days. Even so, if you miss those deadlines, please post as much of the assigned work as possible before the week ends. All of it and on time is best, some of it and late is better than not at all.

For non-exam Discussion weeks when you need more time to complete the assignments, I offer two 48-hour late passes to avoid possible penalties. See "Free Week & Late Passes" in the Course Resources Module.

 

Weekly Schedule: Summer 2026 (May 26 - August 17)

• Interacting with classmates is an essential part of online discussions and cannot be made up after the fact.

Interacting with your course colleagues is not only required, it's the cornerstone of our online discussions and your learning, and it cannot be made up after a week has ended. Your work should be posted no earlier than Tuesday morning and no later than Monday night, including participating fully in the Q&A.

You must post at least once during the 24/7 class week to be marked Present. While it's always better to post late before the week ends than not at all, if you miss a week, you can't make up the old assignments and must move on to the new week.

If you miss two or more weeks of class, you cannot complete the course for academic credit, although you're always welcome to participate for learning's sake.

Start your work by carefully reading the current week's Announcement, Guide, and Discussion instructions. Taken together, they provide the information you need to successfully complete the week's assignments and the course.

If you encounter technical problems with your computer or connection--which happens to all of us periodically--please post from your nearest CCV academic center, your local public library, a wifi cafe, or by using a public wifi hotspot.

 

Week One, May 26 - June 1: Why Study Human Growth & Development? Read the prologue and chapter 1 of Dicey's Song, our primary case study. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work at your own thread. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts at their threads. Essential Objectives: 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development, and 7. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Two, June 2 - 8: Stages & Development. Read chapters 2 - 3 of Dicey's Song. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work at your thread. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts at their threads. Essential Objectives: 5. Apply the main concepts and principles of one developmental theory to the development of an individual, and 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, and 7. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Three, June 9 - 15: Family & Development. Read chapters 4 - 5 of Dicey's Song. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development, and 5. Apply the main concepts and principles of one developmental theory to the development of an individual.

Week Four, June 16 - 22: Creativity & Development. Read chapters 6 - 7 of Dicey's Song. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objective: 5. Apply the main concepts and principles of one developmental theory to the development of an individual.

Week Five, June 23 - 29: Friendship & Development. Read chapters 8 - 9 of Dicey's Song. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 1. Compare and contrast two major theories of developmental psychology, and 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development.

Week Six, June 30 - July 6, Midterm Exam: Death & Development. Read chapters 10 thru 12 (the end) of Dicey's Song. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least FIVE (5) of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development, and 5. Apply the main concepts and principles of one developmental theory to the development of an individual.

Week Seven, July 7 - 13: Romantic Love & Development. Find and describe an example of popular entertainment that relates to romantic love to use as a case study. Also read, listen to, or view the required references provided. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing your case study and quoting from all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development, and 5. Apply the main concepts and principles of one developmental theory to the development of an individual.

Week Eight, July 14 - 20: Spirituality & Development. You and your growth & development will be the case study this week. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Essential Objectives: 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development, and 7. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Nine, July 21- 27: Gender, Race, Class & Development. You and your growth & development will be the case study this week. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Essential Objectives: 2. Identify and discuss issues in human growth and development arising from differences in gender, race, and socioeconomic status, and 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.

Week Ten, July 28 - August 3: Work, Retirement & Development. You and your growth & development will be the case study this week. Also read, listen to, or view all required references for the week. Inside the Discussion forum, create and host your own thread where you’ll post your personal reflection and your case study report (describing and quoting from the case study and all required references). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least three of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objective: 3. Select one theory and discuss the major aspects of each stage of growth according to physical, cognitive, language, and social dimensions, and 4. Explain how both environmental and genetic factors influence growth and development.

Week Eleven, August 4 - 10, Final Exam, Part 1: Who Leads for Healthy Human Growth & Development in Vermont? Identify your nominee in your personal reflection, post your leadership nomination with embedded media (describing your case study and quoting from all required references), and then reply to any questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least FIVE (5) of your colleagues' posts. Essential Objectives: 2. Identify and discuss issues in human growth and development arising from differences in gender, race, and socioeconomic status. and 7. Distinguish between fact and opinion, recognize unstated assumptions, and evaluate arguments according to the quality of supporting evidence in the literature.

Week Twelve, August 11 - 17, Final Exam, Part 2: First-Person Human Growth & Development. Post your self-assessment of learning in this course and a fictional account of your future career in a field that promotes healthy human growth and development in Vermont (for example, in education, health, mental health, human or family services). Reply to any and all questions and comments about your work. Quote from, comment on, and ask questions for at least FIVE (5) of your colleagues' posts. Course Description: This course is a survey of human growth and development throughout the life cycle including physical, cognitive, linguistic, ethical, and psychosocial dimensions.

 

 

Grading Criteria:

The grading system is simple: You can earn up to 5 points for each of the 9 regular Discussion weeks, 15 points for the midterm exam, and 40 points for both parts of the final exam. This is a total points system of 100 points (with no weighted assignments).

1. DISCUSSIONS. Participation at our nine regular Discussions will account for 45 percent of your grade (for 0 to 45 possible points). You can earn a maximum of five points each week by:

-- Hosting your own thread by posting a personal reflection and a case study report (500 words or more with correct APA references). Your case study report will focus on the week's case study while quoting from it and the required references. By the end of the week you must reply to any and all comments and questions about your work.

-- Reading every post made on time and replying with comments and questions for at least three different posts by your colleagues, directly quoting from their work when you do.

Roughly, a personal reflection = 1 point, case study report = 2 points, Q&A = 2 points, although it's your overall participation, the whole of it, that most determines your points for the week. For example, you can be lacking on one assignment (say, the case study report), but doing advanced work on another (the Q&A), which balances out or "sugars off" to full credit.

After the week ends (and before Thursday of the new week), I'll enter your score into the online grade book with brief feedback, which you may check at Grades or by clicking on Recent Feedback at your Dashboard and in a side bar at the Home page.

2. EXAMS. The midterm exam takes place in Week Six, and it is the culmination of your work during the first half of the course. It will be worth 15 percent of your total grade, or 0 to 15 possible points.

The final exam is in two parts:

--A mixed media presentation about a Vermont leader for human growth and development that culminates in Q&A during Week 11. It will be worth 20 percent of your grade, or 0 to 20 possible points.

--And a self-evaluation of your learning and a reflection on becoming a professional in the field that culminates in Q&A in Week 12. It will be worth 20 percent of your grade, or 0 to 20 possible points.

I offer one "Free Week" of 5 points for personal use (e.g., sickness or family emergency); other than that, no points can be earned for a missed discussion. Due to the collegial, interactive nature of online learning, assignments in a missed discussion can neither be made up in the following week's discussion nor emailed to me for credit.

You may be penalized for work posted after the due days. Even so, it's always better to post your work before the week ends than not at all.

 

Points and Grades:

Your current Total points and a corresponding letter grade are available at Grades and are updated weekly. You'll also find at Grades the points you earned each week, along with my comments about your work and tips for improving it, which I'll add after the week ends (and no later than Thursday of the new week).

Your final Total points convert to letter grades as follows:

CCV Letter Grades, "CCV's Evaluation System Policy." (2020, July 1). http://docs.ccv.edu/CCVPolicyFiles/Evaluation_System_CCV_Policy.pdf 

A+ through C- indicates satisfactory completion of course objectives and expectations as specified in the course description.

D+ through D- indicates marginal performance that will not count as credit for specific program requirements or competence area requirements.

F indicates failure to meet course objectives and/or failure to meet grading criteria for successful completion as specified in the course description.

You also have the option of choosing the pass/fail system (Pass or No Pass) or auditing this course (AU), as long as you let me know before the start of the third week of class.

P Equivalent to D (+/-) or better and therefore course will not count as credit for specific program requirements or competence area requirements. 

NP indicates failure to meet course objectives and/or failure to meet grading criteria for successful completion as described in the course description.

If you are not taking this course at any point for any reason, you must notify the College or receive an F for a grade under CCV grading policies. Just disappearing from class or never participating does not constitute "dropping" or "withdrawing."

With some exceptions, it's possible to withdraw officially before July 13 and receive a W for a grade, which will not affect your grade point average (GPA), even if you were failing the course when you withdrew.

For more information, contact your academic advisor or read the basic info provided by CCV.

If you miss two or more weeks of class, you cannot complete the course for academic credit, although you're welcome to participate for learning's sake.