Developmental Psychology

Welcome to PSYC A230 Developmental Psychology! This is a ten-credit DL undergraduate course within the Bachelor of Social Sciences, Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) in Psychology Studies programmes.

This course intends to introduce the scientific study of developmental psychology, and establish a solid foundation for further exploration in developmental psychology. It broadly covers the major concepts, theories, theoretical approaches, and empirical findings in the field. It also demonstrates the applications of developmental psychology across the human lifespan.

This course will be delivered in a custom textbook format, supplemented by a Study Guide, online multimedia components, and face-to-face sessions.

Course aims

PSYC A230 aims to introduce you to physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development throughout the human lifespan. Basic theories will be studied to provide you with insights on developmental changes and the primary theoretical, empirical, and methodological influences. It will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of human behaviours.

Course learning outcomes

Upon the completion of PSYC A230 Developmental Psychology, you should be able to:

• explain and critique the nature and facets of development, factors influencing development, and key theories of development;
• evaluate the key propositions of research approaches in development;
• assess the biological foundations of development;
• analyse the process of conception and the key changes in the prenatal period; and
• for each of the developmental periods of infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood, identify and analyse the patterns and mechanisms of physical, cognitive and psychosocial development.

In this custom textbook approach, different learning modules have been carefully selected by the course team from two leading developmental psychology textbooks and organised into a single volume specifically designed for PSYC A230 students. By incorporating the latest editions of book chapters, exercises and self-tests, the custom textbook will provide you with comprehensive coverage of the major concepts, key theories and perspectives, empirical findings and real-world applications in the field of developmental psychology.

In addition to the custom textbook, you will be working through the course using an HKMU-produced Study Guide. The Study Guide leads you along your study pathway unit by unit, providing commentary on each textbook chapter and supplementary self-learning and self-assessment opportunities.

The third main point of reference for learning resources during the course is HKMU's Online Learning Environment (OLE). There, you will have access to multimedia materials such as the introductory video, and you will be able to discuss topics with other students and your tutor on the course discussion board. This course is further supported by regular face-to-face meetings in the form of tutorials and day schools.

Introductory video

To start off, you should watch the introductory video for the course in the ePub version of this Course Guide or on the OLE. Then turn to the Study Guide for further guidance through the course.

The custom textbook

The title of the custom textbook is PSYC A230 Developmental Psychology. The chapters are selected from the following textbooks:

• Papalia, D., & Martorell, G. (2021). Experience human development (14th ed.). McGraw Hill.
• Santrock, J. (2021). Life-span development (18th ed.). McGraw Hill.

The Study Guide will indicate at which point you should read each chapter of the custom textbook.

The Study Guide

The Study Guide sets out your study pathway through the custom textbook and other course learning resources. It serves as a guide to the textbook chapters, helping you to organise major ideas with tools like tables and diagrams. It also contains activities and self-tests to facilitate your learning. You'll therefore need to keep it by your side as you work through the course.

The Study Guide is divided into 11 units. The titles of the units and the custom textbook chapters (or parts of chapters) that they will cover are set out in the following table.

E-Library E-Reserve readings

In the Study Guide, you may be instructed to read articles in the E-Library E-Reserve. To read these items, go to the University's E-Library homepage and click on 'E-Reserve'. Log in, click 'Accept/Agree' on the Copyright Restrictions page, fill in the 'Course Code' box, and click 'Search'. Alternatively, you may access the readings via a hyperlink in the online course materials.

The Online Learning Environment (OLE)

This course is supported by HKMU's Online Learning Environment (OLE). You will find course materials and the latest course information on the OLE. You can also communicate with your tutor, the Course Coordinator and classmates through the OLE discussion board.

Face-to-face support

You will be supported throughout the course by regular face-to-face meetings in the form of tutorials and day schools. Essentially, every unit will be covered by one to two tutorial(s) whilst three day schools will be arranged around the beginning, middle and end of the course. Details of the dates and times of these sessions can be found in the Course Schedules page of the OLE.

Assessment

This course is designed to enable you to move easily from the stated objectives, through the study units to the assignments. During the course, you will have your progress assessed both formally (through summative assessment) and informally (through formative assessment).

• Formative assessment includes various self-assessment activities (e.g. self-tests, activities, and online discussions) that you will undertake while working through the study units. These activities allow you to develop and monitor your own progress.
• Summative assessment consists of five assignments.

Assignments

Your performance is assessed by continuous assessment, taking up 100% of course grade.

There are five assignments for the course. The best four scores out of the five assignments will be counted towards your course grade (i.e. 4 × 25% = 100%). You will be expected to apply concepts and techniques acquired during the course when completing assignments.

• Assignment 1, worth 25%, evaluates materials covered in Units 1 and 2.
• Assignment 2, worth 25%, evaluates materials covered in Units 3 and 4.
• Assignment 3, worth 25%, evaluates materials covered in Units 5 and 6.
• Assignment 4, worth 25%, evaluates materials covered in Units 7 and 8.
• Assignment 5, worth 25%, evaluates materials covered in Units 9 to 11.

How to submit assignments

You must use word processing software (such as Microsoft Word) to prepare the assignments. The Assignment File gives you details on how to present and submit your assignments. Please refer to the OLE Assignments → General Information section. Please also read the Student Handbook for HKMU's policy on late assignments.

Assignments must reach your tutor by the due date shown on the Presentation Schedule (available on the OLE). If, for some good reason, you are unable to submit your assignment on time, you should, before the due date, ask your tutor or Course Coordinator for permission to submit it late. In general, you are expected to submit your assignments via the OLE. Assignments will be returned to you, marked and with commentary, as soon as possible.

Please note that there is no extension of the due date for the final assignment. For more information, please refer to your Student Handbook.

Course overview

The following table gives a general overview of the course structure. It suggests the amount of time you should allow for completing units and provides a broad schedule for you to plan your work. This estimation includes time for reading the units and custom textbook, completing activities, self-tests and assignments, and attending tutorials and day schools.

PSYC A230 aims to introduce the scientific study of developmental psychology, and establish a solid foundation for further exploration in developmental psychology. Developmental psychology is a scientific approach which describes and explains the growth, changes and consistency throughout the human lifespan. After studying this course, you should have gained a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development throughout a person’s life. This knowledge can be useful in analysing individual differences and human behaviours. Moreover, it can bring valuable insights to the community and to institutions for building a positive environment for people in different stages of life.