Developmental Psychology Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course provides an insight into the development and changes in emotional and social functioning, cognition and biology that occur from birth to late adulthood. Utilising the major developmental psychology theories, it explores the transitions from foetal development, to physical (including physical-motor), social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth throughout the lifespan. It stresses the interaction of social and cognitive factors and the interaction of the developing person with the environment that lead to typical and atypical development. Students gain an overview of different stages of human development (childhood, adolescence, adulthood and ageing) and learn about key conceptual areas within Developmental Psychology such as early attachment, development of early relations and how these will affect cognition and emotions and future social relationships and how individual and cross-cultural differences emerge in patterns of development. The course also explores research issues in developmental psychology by critically evaluating content, theories and methods used by developmental psychologists to study child and adolescent development.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/seminars/labs/studios/workshops

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1: all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups.

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within office hours, interactive teaching sessions, and/or the VLE. Summative grades are typically provided through the VLE.

Summative Assessments

The portfolio format can include a variety of assessment types, such as presentations, pamphlet creation, website analyses. Students will choose from a couple of human lifespan stages (e.g., childhood, adolescence, ageing), allowing them to adopt different perspectives in explaining human development.

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Indicative content of the portfolio might include written assignments (2500 words) and a 10 -15 min presentation.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments or through email or the VLE) and oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).    

Feedback on summative examinations is typically provided through generic internal examiners’ reports which are made available on the VLE. Feedback on all summative assessments is made available to the student through the VLE or another appropriate method. 

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.

• A Student’s Guide to Developmental Psychology, 2014, by M. Harris
• A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development, 1988, by J Bowlby

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as part of the approval/modification process only.

• Attachment
• Adolescence
• Aging