PS 241: Developmental Psychology

Instructor:      Prof. Catherine L. Harris  Rm 123  353-2956  charris Office Hours: Mon 4-5, Tues 4-5

This is a large lecture (100 students) for undergraduates who have taken Introductory Psychology. I teach this course almost every semester.

Current course syllabus (PDF)

Course webpage is maintained via courseinfo.bu.edu Clicking here will take you to this year's courseinfo site.   The courseinfo site has details about course themes, assignments, discussion forums, etc. Many Lecture Overheads  are available.  Main point of each lecture (PDF)

Course Requirements for Developmental Psychology

(See the syllabus for the current year for specific details.)  

1. Tests Drawn from both lecture and reading:  Mostly multiple choice which assess your grasp of basic facts and concepts, plus a short-answer "challenge question."  We will not select a question from the reading just to scare you into reading every word.  Try to read for enjoyment as much as possible.  

2. Newsgroup postings and comments on other students' projects  The idea here is:  participate in an electronic postings about your project.  Receive feedback from others. You may choose to be anonymous. Be constructively critical so that your fellow classmate can receive feedback that is helpful.

3. Course Project. Formats possible:

• Poster presentation. Note:  Bring a one-page handout to your poster so that attendees can take away a summary of what you have done.   Include your name and title of project.  This helps attendees have a summary on which to base their comments.

• Paper on original research or library research.

• Skit/video

• Web site. (Example)  Note:  this web page was written in the dawn of web pages, back in 1995.  It is an example, not a model! You may also do something which incorporates the ability to do an online survey of attitudes relevant to developmental psychology, such as the Star Trek and Leadership survey I initiated in the early 1990s with my colleague Robin Pearce.

How we assess the project:  (more information on courseinfo website )

• -Made connections with the discipline of developmental psychology

• -Dream on themes of the course (e.g., multiple causality, vulnerability vs. risk)

• -Clarity of presentation

• -Student looked for opportunities to challenge him/herself.

Readings

Laura Berk,Child Development, 6th Edition.  At bookstore and on reserve.  Publisher's Website.

Child Growth and Development (Collection of articles).  At bookstore and on reserve. Publisher's WebSite.

Books and articles available from Mugar reserve

Consult Mugar listings.