Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: Grad or ND
Office: Simpson Hall 116
Accreditation Information for this course is available online.
Overview
The focus of this course is on the principles of
life-span development,
and the implications of these principles for educational practice,
social policy formation, and self-understanding. The aim of the
course is to provide you with a foundation of knowledge that will
help you become a more skillful researcher, effective policy maker,
insightful practitioner and compassionate human being. The course
will provide you with experiences that will help you
The format of the class will
include a range of activities: seminar discussions, lectures, small group
discussions and application assignments, examinations and videotapes.
Please come to class prepared to discuss, analyze, question, explain,
and/or critique the assigned reading materials and projects. As in all
graduate seminars, students will also be expected to actively explore the
scholarly and empirical literature within their own areas of professional
specialization and interest. Detailed information
about course requirements and evaluation procedures will be provided on
the course syllabus. If you decide to take the course, you will have a
chance to assess your mastery of the subject matter by way of one or more
written examinations. A term paper and brief, written assignments are
also required. Students enrolled in my section of EDPSY 503 will also be expected to
have access to a recent textbook on lifespan human development this
semester. The book can be obtained from the UNM library, borrowed from a
friend, or purchased. Your reference textbook (you get to pick title!)
should have been published within the past 5 years and should cover human
development through the lifespan (birth to old age). Other readings will be available
on e-reserves and in a readings packet. Reading requirements vary from one
semeseter to the
next. Additional information provided on the first day of class.
Psychological Abstracts, Education Index, PsychLit & ERIC databases
Developmental Psychology, Child Development,
American Psychologist, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, Youth and Society, Adolescence, Journal of
Adolescence, Journal of Gerontology, Journal of Youth and Adolescence,
Psychology of Aging, Developmental Review, Mind, Culture and Activity,
Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, Journal of Genetic Psychology,
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Omega: Journal of Death and
Dying, History of Childhood Quarterly, Contemporary Psychology,
Anthropology and Education Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology,
American Review of Psychology, Lifespan Development and Aging
Note: Psychology Today (the magazine) can be
a very useful source of "reader-friendly" information about
contemporary psychological research areas. However, it is not considered a
scholarly journal and generally should not be relied upon as a
source of documentation in formal research papers. Use it, rather, as a
source of interesting ideas and as a way to discover the names of
psychologists working on research problems that are of interest to you.
Then, head for the original sources whenever
possible! [The New
York Times is another useful resource for identifying interesting new
issues and topics related to human development. Subscription is free, and
the NYT website allows visitors to conduct keyword and other types of
online searches.] This page
was last modified January 13, 2007 / jka.
Course Format
Course texts and reading materials
Useful indexes,journals, and handbooks in
Human Growth and Development (partial list)
Course links
Human Growth and
Development Home Page.
Pedagogical Notes and Advice for Students.
The Mind's Eye Project Home Page
Educational Psychology Home Page Ed.
Psych. Links