Teaching Assistant: Jane Barker Muenzinger D434 Office Hours: Th 12:30-1:30, or by appointment

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Teaching Assistant: Jane Barker Muenzinger D434 Office Hours: Th 12:30-1:30, or by appointment"

Vernon Richardson
5 years ago
Views:

1 Methods in Developmental Psychology Psyc , Fall 2014 Department of Psychology and Neuroscience University of Colorado Boulder Class: T/Th 2:00-3:15, E417 Labs: W 9-10:50 AM OR 11-12:50 PM, E311 Professor Yuko Munakata munakata@colorado.edu (the best way to reach me) , Muenzinger D251D Office Hours: M 3:00-4:00, T 3:15-4:15, or by appointment Teaching Assistant: Jane Barker jane.barker@colorado.edu Muenzinger D434 Office Hours: Th 12:30-1:30, or by appointment Class devpsychmethods@psych.colorado.edu (this reaches the Professor and TA) Class wiki: or and select from the list of Fall 2014 courses You may first see a Permission Denied message. You will be allowed access after entering username: 4744munakata, password: devmethods Course Goals The goal of this course is to give you a first-hand understanding of how research is conducted in developmental psychology. What goes on behind the scenes of the findings that you hear about in the popular press, or that you read about in psychology textbooks? How can we know what children and even infants are thinking? How can we study how changes in the brain support changes with behavior across development? What methodological and ethical issues arise when studying development? How can findings from developmental psychology inform questions about how to raise and teach children? This course will address questions like these, and will give you hands-on experience with the tools necessary both to conduct research in developmental psychology and to understand and evaluate the research that is the basis for this field. You should then be in a good position to think about how to answer questions about children s development via additional research. You should also be well-positioned to evaluate information you encounter on this topic in the future. The required book for the course is: Readings Miller, S. A. (2013). Developmental Research Methods, Fourth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Other required readings and course materials will be available on the class wiki. 1

2 Your grade will consist of the following: Evaluation Component Points Class participation 25 Reading reactions 25 Active learning projects 25 Final projects (presentations and papers) 25 Total 100 Class Participation This class will follow a graduate-seminar model. Much of the class and lab time will involve your participation in discussions and activities about research. Your attendance is crucial, because this time cannot be made up and the material covered cannot be easily absorbed from other people s notes. Your preparation and participation are also essential for this format to work. You are expected to read the readings for the day they are assigned and to come to class and lab prepared to ask questions and to actively participate in discussion and activities. Your participation and ideas will be crucial to our evaluation of the ideas in the field and the methods on which they are based. To support and encourage effective discussions, the first class meeting will include a discussion of What makes a discussion bad (and what we can do about it). Throughout the class term, we will evaluate the effectiveness of our discussions, and I will welcome suggestions on how to improve our discussions to help all of us to get the most out of them. Readings To make our discussions as productive and interesting as possible, it is essential for everyone to have the shared knowledge of our course readings. To ensure that everyone is getting the most out of the readings, you will be asked to your reactions to each assigned reading. Your reactions should include: 1) a general reaction to the overall points in the chapter, and 2) a specific reaction to one aspect of the chapter of particular interest to you. Please number your reactions as such. They should focus on your *reactions* to the reading we know what the reading covered so don t need a summary! Your reactions should be ed to devpsychmethods@psych.colorado.edu, by 11:00 PM the night before the discussion (Mon and Wed night for class readings, and Tuesday night for lab readings). Your reactions should be inserted as text directly into your do not send as attachment! Your reactions to each reading are worth 2 points one point for the general reaction, one point for the specific reaction. These reactions start this week, with Chapter 1 (reaction due tonight for discussion in lab tomorrow) and Chapter 2 (reaction due tomorrow night for discussion in class Thursday). 2

3 Active learning projects Most weeks, you will complete short active learning projects. As one example, you will assess the media coverage of a developmental research finding, to give us a sense of your interests and your understanding of methodological issues. Later in the course, you will complete a short writing assignment based on your experience coding videos of children participating in the classic marshmallow (delay of gratification) task. You will also write about your position on theoretical debates within the field, and about your ideas for research studies. These assignments will be provided during class meetings and labs. Some of these active learning projects will be completed within class or lab, and others will be assigned to be completed before we next meet. As with your reading reactions, your active learning projects should be inserted as text directly into your do not send as attachment! Final projects We will discuss the final projects in detail later in the course. These projects will be geared toward your interests as they develop throughout the course. They will focus on you getting first-hand experience with all aspects of the developmental psychology research process, including reviewing the scientific literature, developing research questions, designs, and procedures, collecting data, coding and analyzing data, and communicating all of this information via oral and written presentations of your project. These projects will be collaborative, with you working with a small group of other students, but you must independently write your own final paper (an APA-style research paper). Grading Policy Grades are not curved; they are based on percentages: A B C D A B C D A B C D- Class Schedule (with labs italicized) The first 6 weeks of the course are devoted to foundations of developmental research methods, and the remaining 9 weeks are devoted to building on this foundation for your own research projects. During the first 6 weeks, you will discuss many facets of development and participate in debates that are ongoing within the field; these activities will always be informed by our consideration of the developmental research methods used. You will also identify research questions of interest to you, prepare to test children by considering issues of ethics, conduct, procedure and measurement, and engage in a child-testing day in class. You will receive instruction and first-hand experience in the coding of child behavioral data, and in the finding and reading of research articles. During the remaining 9 weeks, you will apply and hone these skills through your work on your own research projects, on questions of interest to you. Course readings will include primary research articles on topics determined through our class and lab discussions. 3

4 Day Date Topic Reading Tue Aug 26 Introductions Wed Aug 27 Dev Psych in the Media Ch 1. Introduction Thu Aug 28 Media and Principles Ch 2. General Principles Tue Sep 2 Blooming, buzzing confusion? Ch 12. Infancy (up to Social Dev) Wed Sep 3 Ethics and conduct Ch 10. Ethics Thu Sep 4 Do parents matter? Ch 12. Infancy (Social Dev through end) Tue Sep 9 Piaget, Intelligence, Memory Ch 13. Cog Dev (up to Theory of Mind) Wed Sep 10 Experimental Procedure Ch 5. Procedure Thu Sep 11 Theory of Mind, Concepts Ch 13. Cog Dev (Theory of Mind through end) Tue Sep 16 Morality, Sex differences Ch 14. Soc Dev (to Peer Relations) Wed Sep 17 What are you measuring? Ch 4. Measurement Thu Sep 18 Peer Relations Ch 14. Soc Dev (Peer Relations through end) Tue Sep 23 Demo day! Test children. Wed Sep 24 Coding marshmallow task Check class wiki Thu Sep 25 Improving Children s Lives Ch. 8 Applied Research Tue Sep 30 Is it all downhill? Ch 15. Aging Wed Oct 1 Finding and reading research articles Check class wiki Thu Oct 2 Location, location: Museum testing Ch 6. Contexts Tue Oct 7 Lit Review/Questions Ch 7. Qualitative Research Wed Oct 8 Lit Review/Questions Check class wiki Thu Oct 9 Lit Review/Questions Check class wiki Tue Oct 14 Design and Procedure Ch 3. Design Wed Oct 15 Design and Procedure Check class wiki Thu Oct 16 Design and Procedure Get project approval this week! Tue Oct 21 WEIRD Subjects Check class wiki Wed Oct 22 Collect data Check class wiki Thu Oct 23 Motor Development Check class wiki Tue Oct 28 TBD, around class interests Check class wiki Wed Oct 29 Collect data Ch 9. Statistics Thu Oct 30 TBD: plasticity, stress... Check class wiki Tue Nov 4 TBD: education, sleep... Check class wiki Wed Nov 5 Collect data, Data coding & analysis Check class wiki Thu Nov 6 TBD: developmental disorders... Check class wiki Tue Nov 11 TBD: discipline... Check class wiki Wed Nov 12 Data coding & analysis, Presentations Ch 11. Writing Thu Nov 13 TBD: adversarial collaborations... Check class wiki Tue Nov 18 TBD: problems in science... Check class wiki Wed Nov 19 Presentations Check class wiki Thu Nov 20 TBD Check class wiki FALL BREAK Tue Dec 2 Present Projects Wed Dec 3 Writing Check class wiki Thu Dec 4 Present Projects Tue Dec 9 Present Projects Wed Dec 10 Writing Check class wiki Thu Dec 11 Grand finale 4

5 Student Information Card Please provide the following information: a. your name as it appears on our class registration list b. the name you use if different from your first name (such as middle name or nickname) c. year and major d. where you are from (city, state/province, country if outside of U.S.) e. hobbies or interests f. background in developmental psychology g. what you hope to get out of this course i. what you think we hope to get out of this course On the back of your card, describe the aspects of developmental psychology that are of greatest interest to you, and explain why. Statement regarding disabilities If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit a letter to me from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at or at dsinfo@colorado.edu. If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Injuries under Quick Links at Disability Services website ( and discuss your needs with me. Statement regarding religious observances Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. In this class, you should inform me of any such conflicts by September 2nd. If you notify me in advance and an appropriate document is turned in, it is possible for me to make appropriate accommodations. See full details at A comprehensive calendar of the religious holidays most commonly observed by CU-Boulder students is at Statement regarding class behavior Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veterans status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at and at 5

6 Statement regarding discrimination and harassment The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. The University of Colorado does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities. (Regent Law, Article 10, amended 11/8/2001). CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based upon Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of this CU-Boulder policy, Protected Classes refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or veteran status. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at or the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) at Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at Statement regarding the honor code All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; ). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at and at 6

IPHY 3410 Section 1 - Introduction to Human Anatomy Lecture Syllabus (Spring, 2017)

IPHY 3410 Section 1 - Introduction to Human Anatomy Lecture Syllabus (Spring, 2017) INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Leif Saul Office: TB01-108 (Temporary Bldg. 01 is attached to the West end of Clare Small) Phone: (303)