Land Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional,
ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

PSYO 321: Child Development

Instructor(s): Farzaneh Anjomshoae, PhD candidate

Instructor(s) Email: [email protected] (Please put PSYO 321 in the subject line of your
emails)

Duration: Term 2 Winter 2024

Delivery Modality: Online

Teaching Assistants: See details on Canvas

Prerequisites

Either (a) PSYO 220 and one of PSYO 219, PSYO 230, PSYO 241, PSYO 252, PSYO 270,
PSYO 271, PSYO 298

Course Description

This course provides a comprehensive overview of child development. We will explore the
physical, cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of development. In this course we will learn
about key theories, research methods, and contemporary issues in child development, with a

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focus on understanding how genetic, environmental, and cultural factors shape developmental
outcomes. Topics related to adolescent development will not be included in this course.

Course Structure

This course is delivered asynchronously, which means you can review lecture materials at your
own pace at a time that is convenient for you. There will be recorded lectures, readings, and
other activities designed to enhance your learning experience.

Learning Outcomes or Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to…

 Explain foundational theories and key themes in the study of child development.

 Analyze how genetics contribute to various aspects of child development.

 Evaluate the role of social and environmental factors in shaping children’s developmental
paths.

 Describe the stages and processes of prenatal development and childbirth.

Demonstrate an understanding of physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional growth during
childhood.

Methods of Assessment

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 Assessment Date Content Weight

Exam #1 Jan. 30, 2025 Chapters 1-4 15%

Feb. 25, 2025

Exam #2 Chapters 5-7 25%

Exam #3 March 18, 2025 Chapters 8-10 25%

Assignment March 27, 2025 Case study 10%

Exam #4 TBD Chapters 11-13 25%

SONA Credit N/A N/A 2%

Exams (90%)

All exams in this course are non-cumulative. Exam 1 will be multiple-choice questions, while
Exams 2, 3, and 4 will include a combination of multiple-choice, True/False and short-answer
questions. Once the exam begins, the timer cannot be paused. Exams will open at 9:00 AM on
the scheduled day and close at 11:59 PM PST. Each exam will consist of 40-60 questions and
may draw on content from lectures, textbook materials, assigned readings, and videos presented
during the course.

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Note: The exams are NOT open-book. Exams will utilize Respondus LockDown Browser, a
specialized web browser integrated into Canvas. This tool prevents students from navigating
away from Canvas or accessing other applications during online exams or quizzes. Please note:

 Chromebooks and tablets are not compatible with Respondus LockDown Browser at
UBC.
 Certain privacy settings in Apple Catalina OS may interfere with the proper functioning
of the browser.

For more information on how to install and use Respondus LockDown Browser, please refer to
the LockDown Browser Student Guide and the Accessing Online Courses Guide.

Case Study Assignment (10%)

The purpose of this assignment is to deepen your understanding of child development concepts
by allowing you to apply them in a practical context. The assignment must be submitted via
Canvas by 11:59 PM on March 27th. Late submissions will get a 10% penalty per day, and
assignments submitted more than 9 days late will not be accepted. Detailed instructions and the
grading rubric will be made available on Canvas.

Additional Learning Resource: MyVirtual Child

MyVirtual Child: This software program, included with the textbook, allows you to virtually
raise a child from infancy to adolescence. Through this interactive tool, you will make parenting
decisions that influence your child’s developmental trajectory and receive feedback on how these
decisions impact their physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. While the use of
MyVirtual Child is optional and not graded, it is strongly encouraged as it offers a unique and
engaging way to apply and deepen your understanding of the concepts discussed in class. Many
students find it both educational and enjoyable, providing practical insights into the real-world
implications of developmental theories.

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Course schedule

Date Content Chapte

r

Tues. Jan 7 Course Overview 1

Child Development: Theories and Themes

Thurs. Jan 9 Child Development: Theories and Themes 1

Tues. Jan 14 Research in Child Development 2

Thurs. Jan 16 Research in Child Development 2

Tues. Jan 21 Genetic Bases of Child Development 3

Thurs. Jan 23 Genetic Bases of Child Development 3 &4

Prenatal Development and Birth

Tues. Jan 28 Prenatal Development and Birth 4

Thurs. Jan 30 Exam 1 1-4

Tues. Feb 4 Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers 5

Thurs. Feb 6 Physical Development in Infants and Toddlers 5

Tues. Feb 11 Cognition in Infants and Toddlers 6

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 Thurs. Feb 13 Social and Emotional Development in Infants and 7
Toddlers

Tues. Feb 18 & Thurs. 20 Reading Week NO CLASS

Tues. Feb 25 Exam 2 5-7

Thurs. Feb Physical Development in Preschool Children 8

27

Tues. Mar 4 Cognitive Development in Preschool Children 9

Thurs. Mar 6 Cognitive Development in Preschool Children 9

Tues. Mar 11 Social and Emotional Development in Preschool Children 10

Thurs. Mar 13 Social and Emotional Development in Preschool Children 10

Tues. Mar 18 Exam 3 8-10

Thurs. Mar 20 Physical Development in Middle Childhood 11

Tues. Mar 25 Physical Development in Middle Childhood 11

Thurs. Mar 27 Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood 12

Assignment Due @ 11.59 PM

Tues. Apr 1 Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood 12

Thurs. Apr 3 Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood 13

Tues. Apr 8 Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood 13

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 Exams start. Fri, Apr 11-26 final, Exam 4: TBD

Learning Materials
Kail, R. V., & Zolner, T. (2021). Children: A chronological approach (6th Canadian ed.).
Pearson.

Missed Activity Policy:

Students requesting academic concessions for missed or late submissions must review UBCO’s
policy on Academic Concessions. This policy outlines the procedures for addressing missed
coursework due to unforeseen circumstances, such as medical circumstance or other legitimate
reasons. It is essential to familiarize yourself with all aspects of this policy, which can be
accessed on the UBCO website. Note that appropriate documentation may be required when
submitting a request for a concession. Academic concessions are handled on a case-by-case basis
to ensure fairness and consistency.

UBC Values

UBC creates an exceptional learning environment that fosters global citizenship, advances a civil
and sustainable society, and supports outstanding research to serve the people of British
Columbia, Canada, and the world. UBC’s core values are excellence, integrity, respect, academic
freedom, and accountability.
Policies and Regulations

Visit UBC Okanagan’s Academic Calendar for a list of campus-wide regulations and policies, as
well as term dates and deadlines.

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A statement on academic integrity

The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this
enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct
regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work
done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to
others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is
your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the
academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed.
For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating usually result in a failing grade or mark of
zero on the assignment or in the course. Careful records are kept to monitor and prevent
recidivism. A more detailed description of academic integrity, including the University’s policies
and procedures, may be found in the Academic Calendar.
A statement on academic misconduct

The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. Violations of academic
integrity (i.e., academic misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise, and
therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences
of plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more
serious consequences may apply if the matter is referred for consideration for academic
discipline. Careful records are kept to monitor and prevent recurrences. Any instance of cheating
or taking credit for someone else’s work, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can and often
will result in at minimum a grade of zero for the assignment, and these cases will be reported to
the Head of the Department and Associate Dean Academic of the Faculty.

Student Service Resources:

UBC Okanagan Equity and Inclusion Office

250.807.9291 | [email protected] | www.ubc.ca/okanagan/equity

UBC prohibits discrimination and harassment based on the following grounds: age, ancestry,
colour, family status, marital status, physical or mental disability, place of origin, political belief,

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race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or unrelated criminal conviction. If you require assistance
related to an issue of equity, discrimination, or harassment, please contact the Equity and
Inclusion Office (UNC 227C).

UBC Okanagan Ombuds Office

250.807.9818 | [email protected] | http://ombudsoffice.ubc.ca/ubc-okanagan-2/

The Ombuds Office offers independent, impartial, and confidential support to students in
navigating UBC policies, processes, and resources, as well as guidance in resolving concerns
related to fairness.

UBC Okanagan Disability Resource Centre

250.807.9263 | [email protected] | www.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/drc

The Disability Resource Centre ensures educational equity for students with disabilities, injuries,
or illness. If you are disabled, have an injury or illness and require academic accommodations to
meet the course objectives, please contact Earllene Roberts, the Manager for the Disability
Resource Centre located in Commons Corner in the University Centre building (UNC 227).

Sexual Violence and Prevention Response Office

250.807.9640 | https://svpro.ok.ubc.ca

A safe place for faculty, staff, and students who have experienced sexual assault regardless of
identity, expression, orientation, regardless of when or where it took place.

Health and Wellness

UBCO’s Health and Wellness provides many services and resources to the student body,
including individual in-person or online therapy appointments, self-help apps, groups, and
workshops. Visit their website https://students.ok.ubc.ca/health-wellness/counselling-mental-
health

SONA RESEARCH ACTIVITY

Students earn Sona credit points for their eligible courses from participating in research activity.

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This can be either through direct participation in research through the Sona online research

system (Option 1), by completing summaries of primary research articles (Option 2), or by a

combination of the two types of activities. First year courses (i.e., PSYO 111 and PSYO 121)

include 4% as part of the final course grade for participating in Sona research activity, while

second year and higher courses allow for a 2% bonus to be added to the final course grade for

participating.

Research Participation In Online Research System (Option 1)

As a participant in one of the numerous research studies posted at http://ubco.sona-systems.com/,

you will obtain 0.5% credit for each 0.5 hour of participation. Hence, studies requiring a 1-hour

time commitment provides a credit of 1%, 1.5 hours provides a credit of 1.5%, and 2 hours

provides a credit of 2.0%, etc.

Important Requirements

You may participate in more than one study in order to earn credits. It is important to sign up for

studies early in the semester in order to increase the odds that a timeslot is available. If you wait

until later in the semester, timeslots may no longer be available.

Students must participate in at least one study from List A (that is either in-person, uses Zoom

interactions, experience sampling, daily diary etc.) of any credit value for each in-person course

they are seeking credit for. Studies will be identified as coming from List A or List B on Sona to

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assist students in ensuring they can fulfill this requirement. This requirement is limited to in-

person courses only as there may be students who are taking courses fully remotely from a

different location/time zone, for whom in-person or online synchronous studies would not be

feasible, thus making it difficult to meet these requirements. Students registered in online courses

can complete their credits from participation in studies from either entirely List A, entirely List

B, or a combination of the two.

For 1st year:

This course will offer a maximum of 4 credits. You will only receive 4 credits if you complete at

least 4 credits worth of studies with at least one study completed from List A and at least one

study completed from List B. If you earn 4 credits only from a single list, you will receive a 0.5

credit penalty and only receive a maximum of 3.5 credits. This penalty is in effect regardless of

how many credits have been earned; it deducts from the maximum amount that can be earned for

the course.

For 2nd, 3rd, 4th year:

This course will offer a maximum of 2 credits. You will only receive 2 credits if you complete at

least 2 credits worth of studies with at least one study completed from List A and at least one

study completed from List B. If you earn 2 credits only from a single list, you will incur a 0.5
credit penalty and only receive a maximum of 1.5 credits. This penalty is in effect regardless of

how many credits have been earned; it deducts from the maximum amount that can be earned for

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the course.

Logging On To The System

Sona is only open for those students who are registered in a psychology course offering Sona

credit points. Please only use the request account option if you have never used the Sona system

before. If you have used the Sona system before, please use the most recent login information

you remember to log in.

Missed Appointments & Penalties

Missed appointments (i.e., failure to cancel the appointment at least 3 hours prior to the session)

will be tracked. The consequence will be that you will not receive credit for participation in the

study and you will be assigned an unexcused no-show. The unexcused no-show designation will

cause you to lose the credit value of the study from the total possible credit points you can earn

for your course. For example, if you are in PSYO 111 (or 121), you can earn up to 4.0 credits. If

you miss an hour-long session that you signed up for (i.e., 1.0 credit) and don’t cancel it in

advance, the maximum credits that you can now earn for your course is 3.0, regardless of how

many studies you complete.

If, after consenting to participate and starting a session (or survey), you decide to withdraw your

consent, to avoid receiving an unexcused no-show on Sona, you must do one of the following:

 if it is an online study, you must cancel your Sona sign-up and/or contact Shirley

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([email protected]) if you are unable to cancel your sign-up;

 if it is an in-person study, you must let the researcher know directly. Their email can be

found on the main description page for the study (little envelope icon). Depending upon

the study, they will either cancel your session or assign you an excused no-show

(meaning that you will not be penalized).

Your ability to withdraw your data will depend upon the study. Instructions for withdrawing

your data (including limitations) will be described in the study’s consent form.

Please email [email protected] with any questions or concerns that you may have

regarding the Sona system. Your professor or instructor does NOT have access to this

information.

Research Summary Assignment (Option 2)

As an alternative to participating in research studies, you may obtain Sona credit points by

completing library-writing projects to a satisfactory level. Each library-writing project is worth a

total of two credits.

Important Requirements

1. This project consists of reading and summarizing (in written form) a recent, peer-reviewed,

primary research article.

 A “recent” article has been published within the past 12 months.

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  A “peer reviewed” article is one that has been reviewed by other scholars before it is
accepted – for example, it cannot be a news item, an article from a popular magazine, a
notice, or a letter to the editor.
 A “primary” research article describes an experiment or study where data are collected by
the authors. In other words, the article you choose to review cannot be a book review,
literature review, or summary article.

2. You must choose an article published by one of the following agencies:

 The American Psychological Society - Psychological Science, Current Directions in

Psychological Science, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, or Perspectives on

Psychological Science.

 The American Psychological Association - www.apa.org/journals/by_title.html has a

full listing.

 The Canadian Psychological Association - Canadian Psychology, Canadian Journal of

Behavioural Science, or Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology.

 The Psychonomic Society - Behavior Research Methods, Cognitive, Affective, &

Behavioral Neuroscience, Learning & Behavior, Memory & Cognition, Perception &

Psychophysics, or Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

3. Other Assignment Guidelines

The summary should be about 300-500 words in length. The source must be cited and referenced

in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The

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review will be graded on a pass – fail basis (2% or 0%). At least 14 days before the end of

classes each term, submit the following to the course instructor:

 the article summary

 a copy of the article
 a cover page that specifies your name, student number, email address, and word count

of the summary.

 the course title and number

Submitting the assignment 14 days in advance is necessary to ensure that you have an

opportunity to make corrections, if required. If you do not check your email frequently, provide a
phone number on the cover page.

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