PSY 304: Introduction to Child Psychology (#43100) Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 9-10a, Spring 2017 Sarah M. and Charles E. Bldg (SEA) 2.108 COURSE INFORMATION Instructor: Dolly Rojo Teaching Assistant: Kelsey Kelley Office: SEA 1.318D Office: SEA 2.116 Office hours: Mon. 10-11:30a & Tues. 2-3:30p, Office hours: Mon. 1:30-3:30p & or by appointment Thurs. 10-11a, or by appointment Email: drojo@utexas.edu email: kelsey.kelley@utexas.edu Welcome to Intro to Child Psychology. I am excited to be teaching this course and to meet every single one of you. In this course, one of my main goals is to teach you how to understand study paradigms and also to be critical thinkers of study results and interpretations. Some of the topics that we will cover are more sensitive or controversial. I ask that we all be respectful of others experiences and opinions so that we can harvest a class environment in which everyone feels comfortable vocalizing their questions and comments. Course Overview: In this course, we will examine the cognitive, social, and emotional growth of infants and children, and the various factors (e.g., genetics, parenting, peer groups, schooling, culture, and the media) that influence development, from prenatal development to early adolescence. General topics that will be covered include brain development, motor development, cognitive development, social development, gender development, and more. Your class grade will be based on your performance on 2 writing assignments, 3 exams, and 5 quizzes. Course Objectives: 1. To introduce you to the field of child psychology. 2. To provide you with the skills and information necessary to be a critical consumer of research and media reports regarding child psychology. 3. To improve your writing skills (specifically, to improve your skills of using empirical evidence to support your claims). ***PLEASE NOTE: the Psychology Department will drop all students who have not previously completed PSY 301 with a C or better; there will be no exceptions to this. Also, you cannot receive credit for both PSY 304 and PSY 333D. If you have already taken PSY33D, you should drop this course. If you d like to stay for fun/learning however, you can ask me about auditing the course. The last add/drop day is January 20nd. Students "late-added" will require the Dean's signature. Canvas: The course schedule posted in Canvas should be considered the definitive current version and should be checked regularly. It is your responsibility to keep track of any
changes to the schedule and/or assignments announced throughout the semester. Please also check your message inbox frequently, as Canvas will be the primary platform for communication outside of class lectures. Links to videos shown in class will also be posted on Canvas. Computers: Science has shown that taking notes on laptops can be detrimental to learning (e.g., Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014)! For this, and other reasons, I REQUIRE that you take notes by hand, and that you leave your laptops, tablets, and phones inside of your backpack and out of sight. If this policy is problematic for you, please come talk to me. We can work out a compromise that suits us both. Lectures: Lectures will include a lot of material that is not in the readings. PDFs of class slides will be posted on Canvas after the lectures, however these will not be comprehensive. It is important to attend class to understand the material in its complete form. If material is ever unclear, please reach out to me for clarification. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Attendance & Participation: Attendance will not be recorded but I do expect you to be active in your learning; we will have thought-provoking discussions, writing workshops, and group activities that I believe will be fun and will also improve your understanding of the material and your writing skills. As a large component of your writing assignments, you will need to need to demonstrate a sound understanding of lecture material this will be made more difficult if you do not attend the lectures. If you miss a class, it will be your responsibility to find out what you missed (including handouts, announcements, and lecture content). Again, PDFs of lectures posted on Canvas will not be comprehensive; if you must be absent (e.g., due to illness), I strongly suggest making a friend or 2 in the course and asking for notes (I will do my best to facilitate a friendly atmosphere in the classroom). If, after acquiring notes from a missed class you still have questions about that material, please see me or Kelsey. Additionally, know that I will be a lot more sympathetic about making up materials or missing a class if you contact me PRIOR to absence (e.g., if you are feeling ill the night before a class or you already know you will be absent for a particular day, please email me before the absence, and not after). Readings: There is no textbook assigned for this course. Instead, you will be asked to read empirical articles to supplement class lectures. Occasionally, you will also read press articles in order to stimulate critical thinking of popular media reports. Links to and/or PDFs of the readings will be available through Canvas. ASSESMENTS Exams: Three non-cumulative (i.e., they will cover only the material assigned since the previous exam) examinations will be given during the semester and one optional cumulative final will be given at the end of the semester. Your top 3 exam scores will be included in the calculation of your class grade; if you feel content with your 3 noncumulative exam scores, you are not required to take the cumulative final exam. For all
exams, all course material is fair game. This includes all of the information in the readings, lectures, and films presented. The exams will assess both conceptual knowledge and factual information. All exams will include 30 multiple-choice questions. Exams are worth 55% of your final grade. Optional review sessions will be organized by Kelsey outside of class prior to each exam (dates TBA). Pop Quizzes: Six unannounced quizzes will be administered throughout the semester. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Each quiz will contain 4 questions, primarily based on the assigned readings. The 5 quizzes (after the lowest score is dropped) will account for 5% of your final grade. Writing assignments: You will be required to complete two writing assignments: 1) Issue Analysis (IA): A 2-3 page double-spaced critical analysis of a controversial topic in developmental psychology. I will provide 4 topic options, as well as readings regarding these topics; you must select 1 of these 4 (or, if you are particularly interested in a topic not listed, please see me and we can find empirical articles that we both think suit the topic you are interested in). This essay will be graded on your analysis of the topic, using evidence from the empirical articles provided for that topic. Additional details about this assignment will be provided later in the course. The IA will be worth 17% of your final grade. 2) Product Review (PR): A 3-4 page double-spaced evaluation of the developmental appropriateness of a product designed for children (e.g., a book, app, toy, game, one tv show episode). This essay will be graded on the quality of your ideas and your ability to integrate the information presented in class to the topic. Additional details about this assignment will be provided later in the course. The PR will be worth 23% of your final grade. *Writing assignments must be SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY ON CANVAS by the beginning of class on the date that it is due. Rough Drafts and Peer-Sharing: You will be required to have a thesis statement and at least three-quarters of your content (i.e., about 2 pages for IA and about 3 pages for PR) 1 week prior to when the writing assignments are due. On this day, we will do a peer-sharing activity. Your peers will confirm that you have completed at least three-quarters of the paper and will provide comments on your writing, on a handout document that I will provide. You will receive credit for peer-review. Additional details about this assignment will be provided later in the course. Late Work Policy: If you are struggling with the material or are dealing with a personal issue and need more time to submit an assignment, I strongly encourage you to see me about this BEFORE a due date so that we can plan a new strategy together that would suit us both.
Make-Up Exams: Unless under severe circumstances (please see me), I will not allow make-up exams. You will be asked to take the optional final instead. GRADING POLICY Grading summary: It is possible to earn 100 total points for the course, here is the breakdown: Assessment Exams Exam 1 = 15pts Exam 2 = 20pts Exam 3 = 20pts Peer-Review Assignments Peer-Review IA* = 2 pts Peer-Review PR** = 3pts Points Possible 55 5 Writing Assignments Final IA * = 15pts 35 Final PR ** = 20pts Quizzes (best 5 out of 6) 5 TOTAL 100pts *IA: Issue Analysis **PR: Product Review Letter grades for the course will be assigned based on the percentage of total points earned from the categories listed above. Your points will be posted in Canvas s grade center. Final grades including a decimal point of 0.5 or higher will be rounded up (e.g., if your final grade is 86.5, you will receive a B+, but if your grade is 86.4, you will receive a B). I will not be offering extra credit, so please take advantage of all opportunities to improve your grade throughout the semester, and see me in office hours if you are struggling with the material. A = 93-100 points A- = 90-92 points B+ = 87-89 points B = 83-86 points B- = 80-82 points C+ = 77-79 points C = 73-76 points C- = 70-72 points D+ = 67-69 points D = 63-66 points D- = 60-62 points F = <60 points
Grading policy: No grade adjustments will be made except in the case of error. All challenges to exam, quizzes, or writing assignment grades must be made with clear justification within 4 days after grades for these assignments are posted (i.e., not at the end of the semester). Incomplete grades will be given in extremely rare and extraordinary circumstances. Students are expected to plan ahead in starting assignments and to keep up with the coursework throughout the term. RESOURCES, CODES, AND OTHER POLICIES University of Texas Honor Code: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. You will be required to sign an endorsement of this honor code at the start of each exam. Academic Integrity, Plagiarism & Cheating: By plagiarizing or cheating, you are missing out on an opportunity to learn and to improve your skills. I will be happy to meet with you for as many occasions as it takes for you to feel comfortable enough with the class material that you can reframe it in your own words; I would much prefer this than to see you plagiarize. Academic dishonesty is against the university s policies and have can have severe consequences. A single instance of cheating or plagiarism will be reported to the Student Judicial Services (SJS) at UT. We will cover the concept of plagiarism in brief during a writing workshop, but if you would like to learn more about the various forms of ethical and unethical behavior, including a description of plagiarism, please visit the Student Judicial Services website (http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/index.php) Use of E-mail for Official Correspondence: E-mail is recognized as an official mode of university correspondence; therefore, you are responsible for reading your e-mail for university and course-related information and announcements. You are responsible to keep the university informed about changes to your e-mail address. You should check your e-mail regularly and frequently. You can find UT Austin s policies and instructions for updating your e-mail address at http://www.utexas.edu/cio/policies/universityelectronic-mail-student-notification-policy. Please treat email as a professional means of communication and allow at least 1-2 days for an email response. Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, or a half-sheet response in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work. Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): If you are worried about someone who is acting differently, you may use the Behavior Concerns Advice Line to discuss by phone your concerns. This service is provided through a partnership among the Office of the Dean of Students, the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC), the Employee Assistance
Program (EAP), and The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD). Call 512-232-5050 or visit http://www.utexas.edu/safety/bcal Students with disabilities: Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at (512) 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (video phone). Faculty are not required to provide accommodations without an official accommodation letter from SSD. Please notify me as quickly as possible if the material being presented in class is not accessible.