Module 1 Assignment
For this module you are to complete the following
assignments:
Respond to the APPLY question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 16 in Chapter 1.
Respond to the REFLECT question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 41 of Chapter 2.
Submit your assignment in a Word document via the Assignment
box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
Module 2 Assignment
For this module you are to complete the following
assignment:
Teratogens may pose serious complications during pregnancy
and after the birth of the child. Using Chapter 2, choose one teratogen (e.g.,
smoking, alcohol, etc.) and create a poster in PowerPoint or Word that
discourages expectant mothers from engaging in that particular behavior.
Posters should contain creativity as well as accurate
information. You are encouraged to use both pictures and text. Use the
“Help” features in PowerPoint or Word if you need assistance with
inserting either of these.
Create your poster using PowerPoint or Word. Submit your
assignment via the Assignment box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
Module 3 Assignment
Child Observation Assignment
Purpose of Project
It is very easy to be around children without noticing
fascinating aspects of their behavior. Indeed, it is
rare when anyone intently observes a child for a continuous
period, looking for behaviors that
characterize an individual child or childhood. Conscientious
fulfillment of this project will help the
observer be a better and more appreciative student of child
behavior. If you have children, you may
observe your own children.
General Instructions
You will observe children in a natural setting for 1 hour.
This means that you may not be able to focus on
one child exclusively. For example, you might observe
children at a park, school, shopping center,
amusement park, etc.
While you are observing make detailed notes of the
following:
1. Age range of children
2. Number of children present. Number of adults
present?
3. What behaviors are children engaging in?
4. How do the children interact with one another?
5. How do the children interact with an adult who is
present?
6. Are the children engaging in age?appropriate activities?
7. Comment on the attention span of the children.
8. Are there any gender differences in any of the behaviors
you observe?
9. Does anything that we have covered in class or in the
text apply to this situation?
Report Criteria
1. Write up of project, 2?4 written pages (typed)
2. Give a general description of child (age, sex, etc.) and
the observation situation
3. Describe behavior or patterns of behaviors that
were interesting to you and analyze the
significance to child development
4. Do not just put a chronological list of what child did
during observation period, but do show
evidence that you make careful observation.
5. Discuss significance of behaviors for the child and child
development in general (use your text
and notes.
Module 4 Assignment
For this module you are to complete the following
assignment:
Respond to the APPLY question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 181 in Chapter 7
Respond to the APPLY question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 222 in Chapter 8
Respond to the REFLECT question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 222 in Chapter 8
Submit your assignment in a Word document via the Assignment
box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
Module 5 Assignment
For this module you are to complete the following
assignment:
Respond to the REVIEW question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 256 in Chapter 9. Make sure your response is
thorough
Respond to the APPLY question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 264 in Chapter 10
Respond to the APPLY question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 272 in Chapter 10
Submit your assignment in a Word document via the Assignment
box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
Module 6 Assignment
For this module you are to complete the following
assignment:
Respond to the REFLECT question under the “Ask Yourself”
section on p. 309 in Chapter 11
Respond to the REVIEW question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 321 in Chapter 12
Submit your assignment in a Word document via the Assignment
box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
Module 7 Assignment
For this module you are to complete the following
assignment:
Respond to the REVIEW question under the “Ask
Yourself” section on p. 365 in Chapter 13. Be sure to consider
characteristics of the students as well as characteristics of the college.
Respond to the REFLECT question under the “Ask
yourself” section on p. 393 in Chapter 14.
What are the most notable changes in development experienced
in early adulthood as compared to middle adulthood?
Submit your assignment in a Word document via the Assignment
box no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT
Module 8 Assignment
Interview with an Older Adult
This exercise has been adapted from the lesson
“Participation in Government: Interview of an Older
Adult” from Lesson Plans on Aging Issues: Creative Ways to
Meet Social Studies Standards produced by
the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute.
General Instructions
Using the questions below, you will conduct an interview
with a person at least 60 years of age. Feel free
to add questions of your own whenever one occurs to you. Be
sure to review the Historical Context
section on the following pages before beginning the
interview. The complete project will include your
questions and the interviewee’s answers (i.e., transcript of
the interview) as well as the three Reaction
paragraphs described below.
Report Criteria
1. Typed and double-spaced.
2. Include the interview questions in your report in a
format that enables the reader to know what the
person you are interviewing is referring to.
3. Discuss your personal reaction to the interview in three
paragraphs at the end of your report (see
final section below).
Interview Questions
1. Please tell me about your childhood, family and school
life.
2. Do you consider yourself old? At what ages (or stages)
did you notice that you were getting
older?
3. What is the most important historical event or period of
time that you have lived through?
4. How did it influence you personally?
5. What is the biggest change you have seen in how people
conduct their everyday lives?
6. What have been the best years of your life so far? What
are your plans for the future?
7. How are young people today different from when you were
their age?
8. What advice would you give young people to help them
prepare for their old age?
9. Have you ever experienced any negative attitudes or
discrimination because of your age? Please
explain.
10. Student question. Based on what you’ve learned, ask at
least one more question; what else
would you like to know about this person’s life?
Reaction
In three paragraphs, discuss your reaction to the interview:
1. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you?
2. How did you feel during the interview?
3. What changes (if any) have occurred in your perception of
older adults? (What did you think
before? What do you think now?)
Submission
Submit the final interview report to the Dropbox and
Turnitin.com no later than Sunday 11:59 PM
EST/EDT.
Historical Context
Before beginning the interview, you should familiarize
yourself with national events, trends, and U.S.
presidents from the 20th century to the present day that are
outlined on the following pages.
Important Events:
1900-1920
Development of big business
Development of transportation
Panama Canal
Airplane invented
One room schools
First automobiles
World War I in Europe
U.S. entry into World War I
Flu epidemic
Armistice Day
1920-1930
Women vote
Prohibition
Flappers
Progressive era
Stock Market crash
1930-1940
Great Depression
New Deal
Radio popular
1940-1950
Pearl Harbor
Draft and World War II
Atomic bomb
V-E Day and V-J Day
Cold war and anti-communism
1950-1960
Sputnik
Fear of nuclear war
TV becomes common appliance
Elvis Presley popular
1960-1970
Vietnam
Civil rights
Great Society programs
John F. Kennedy assassinated
Martin Luther King assassinated
Neil Armstrong, first man on moon (Apollo missions)
Beatles popular
1970-1980
Arab oil embargo
Inflation
Gas Shortage
Drug use more widespread
Computers become more common
Watergate
Richard M. Nixon resigns as president
1980-1990
John Lennon shot and killed
Bell telephone system divided into smaller companies
Sally Ride, first female astronaut
Space shuttle Challenger explodes
AIDS virus
Ruptured Exxon tanker spills oil
Texas elects first woman Governor since Reconstruction
1990-2000
Nelson Mandela, apartheid ends in South Africa
Persian Gulf crisis
East and West Germany reunited-Berlin Wall taken down
Soviet Union dissolved
First wave of “baby boomers” turns 50
2001-2003
Collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City
War with Iraq
2004-2006
Hurricane Katrina
2007-2010
Barack Obama, first African-American elected as President
Breakout of H1N1
Earthquake in Haiti
U.S. Presidents from 1897-present
1897-1901 William McKinley
1901-1909 Theodore Roosevelt
1909-1913 William H. Taft
1913-1921 Woodrow Wilson
1921-1923 Warren Harding
1923-1929 Calvin Coolidge
1929-1933 Herbert Hoover
1933-1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt
1945-1953 Harry Truman
1953-1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
1961-1963 John F. Kennedy
1963-1969 Lyndon B. Johnson
1969-1974 Richard M. Nixon
1974-1977 Gerald Ford
1977-1981 Jimmy Carter
1981-1989 Ronald Reagan
1989-1992 George Bush
1992-1900 Bill Clinton
2001-1908 George W. Bush
2009- Barack Obama
PSY 325 – Virtual
Pregnancy: The Project that Delivers
This project was originally developed by Shalynn Ford in
1999 and has been adapted for the purposes of
this course. A full description of the project can be found
in the reference below:
Benjamin, L.T., Nodine, B.F, Ernst, R.M, & Broeker, C.B.
(Eds.). (2002). Activities handbook for
the teaching of psychology (Vol. 4). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Foundation.
Concept
The purpose of this activity is to provide students the
unique opportunity of experiencing a hypothetical
pregnancy and its attendant costs (primarily financial but
including emotional, psychological, and lifestyle
costs as well). The idea behind this exercise is to give
students practical experience, information, and
insight into the daunting task of seeing a pregnancy through
from conception to delivery. This activity will
last the entire semester.
Instructions
Each student will select a hypothetical pregnancy vignette
from the list of five below. You are to calculate
the costs of hospital charges, layette items, maternity
clothing, and other miscellaneous items that you
think you will need for your pregnancy and delivery. After
you make a list of these items, begin making the
necessary contacts via telephone calls, emails, or community
visits to the pregnancy-related agencies.
You should keep a log (organized in a narrative fashion) of
each contact person by name, title, agency,
and telephone number or email address. In addition, you will
need to record the exact dollar amount or
cost range of items and services. For the purpose of this
exercise, you are to assume that no friends or
family members will “bail you out” and that neither adoption
nor abortion is an option. In addition, keep a
journal by recording thoughts and feelings as your virtual
pregnancy progresses. For example, you might
write about how being pregnant has changed your lifestyle or
your relationship with others. Please
contact the instructor if you have any questions.
Deliverables and due dates
1. Vignette selection: Submit by email to the instructor no
later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT of
Module 2.
2. Project materials: Submit to the Dropbox no later than
Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT of Module 7.
a) Log detailing prices of items needed and contact
information.
b) Journal detailing thoughts and feelings you have about
the pregnancy including answers to
“thoughts to keep in mind.”
Grading
The project will be graded in two parts for a total of 100
points—50 points for the log detailing the contact
and pricing information, and 50 points for the journal
portion. Past students have included a baby registry
from a department store detailing items needed for the baby.
In the journal, participants should take on
the role of the vignette and include short entries regarding
important stages of the pregnancy (first
doctor’s visit, first sonogram, etc).
Vignettes
1. Forget me not
You are 15 years old and forgetful, especially when it comes
to contraception. Unfortunately, your
forgetfulness, combined with a healthy dose of hormones, has
led to an unplanned, unexpected, and
unwanted pregnancy. However, you were raised to take responsibility
for your actions, so you will do
your best to see this pregnancy through to the end. What
will you do now?
Thoughts to keep in mind:
? You are a minor (find out the
legalities involved).
? Your education may be interrupted. Is
continuing or going back to school a consideration?
? You may be eligible for special help,
given your age.
? Unless this was a divine act, there is
a father involved. What’s his story? What are his legal
rights and responsibilities?
2. I’ll be missing you
You are 27 years old, single, and employed full time
(without health insurance coverage). Your
annual salary is $18,000. Your long-time boyfriend has made
it perfectly clear he does not like kids.
You do, which is good because as luck (and lack of planning)
would have it you will be getting the
opportunity to satisfy your maternal urge in about eight and
a half months. What is your course of
action?
Thoughts to keep in mind:
? You are employed, but without
insurance.
? You are too old to be eligible for much
in social services.
? The father says he will not help.
3. Oh, what a tangled web we weave
You are 36, the mother of two school-age children, and stuck
in a dead-end marriage. You’ve
considered leaving and recently did for three months. During
your sabbatical from marriage
monotony, you met a wonderful man, also unhappily married.
One thing led to another, and suddenly
you find out there will be a seven-pound addition to your
problem marriage. You are in love with
someone else, have no marketable skills, seem unwilling to
make it without a man, and are afraid of
losing the two children you already have. You’ve got a lot
on your mind. One thing is not an issue—
you will have this baby. Now what?
Thoughts to keep in mind:
? Your age will probably make certain
expensive prenatal tests mandatory.
? Several thorny legal issues need to be
resolved.
? You need to establish your priorities.
4. Just when you thought it was safe
You are 44 and free. Your children are safely in college.
Your husband is at the top of the corporate
heap. Life is good. Your consulting work provides you with a
real sense of accomplishment. You
never regretted that tubal litigation you had 18 years ago.
In fact, you never gave it a second thought.
Recently, at your annual checkup, you received the shock of
your life—the clips slipped and you have
involuntarily been drafted back into the baby stroller
brigade. How will you handle this?
Thoughts to keep in mind:
? Your age may have an impact on your
pregnancy.
? You and your family will face lifestyle
changes.
? The pregnancy may cause you to have
special health concerns.
5. Just say no
You are a college-student (any age) who is the first and
only member of your family to have the
opportunity to attend a prestigious university on scholarship.
The heat is on. Pressure from parents,
peers, and professors keep life simmering on miserable. Then
you meet him. He is every wonderful
thing you have ever dreamed of. He has the potential to make
you happy. He is forever. And all he
asks of you is to “prove” your love. You do. Then
unexpectedly you are forced to learn a painful
lesson about mistaking kisses for contracts. He is gone. But
he’s left a part of himself behind with
you. You are confused, hurt, angry, and to top it all off
you’re also two months pregnant.
Thoughts to keep in mind:
? The age you select will somewhat frame
your options.
? The father may or may not be legally
accountable for financial assistance with this
pregnancy.
? Your goals as a college student
and the level of investment your family has in your success
may need to be reassessed.
Timeline for completing the project
You should begin right away! Do not procrastinate! This
project will move rapidly since you will be
experiencing pregnancy and birth of the baby. Keep in mind
that you need to keep a log of expenses and
contacts as well as write a journal. Ideas for the journal
are found below.
Module/week 2
Choose a vignette and submit your choice to the instructor
by email. It is a good idea to start writing in
your journal and making contacts this week.
Hints for journal: You just found out you are pregnant. How
do you feel about the pregnancy? What are
your plans? Who will be your doctor? What do you do at the
first appointment? What symptoms are you
experiencing? Weeks 2-3 represents the first trimester.
Module/week 3
Hints for journal: The first trimester is continuing. Think
about resources that you might need, such as
insurance or WIC. What questions do you have at this point
of the pregnancy? Where do you find
answers? When will you tell people about the pregnancy?
Module/week 4
You are now in the second trimester.
Hints for journal: During week 4, you can begin learning
about the second trimester and incorporate this
into your journal. The second trimester will last from week
4 to week 5 of class. What changes can you
expect this trimester? What are doctor’s appointments like?
How much is the pregnancy costing you so
far? What contacts have you made? Have you registered for
any baby items?
Module/week 5
Second trimester continues.
Hints for journal: How is the baby developing? Are there any
necessary tests that must be performed
during this trimester?
Module/week 6
You are now in the third trimester.
Hints for journal: What changes have you experienced? Are
you exercising? How do you feel? What type
of birth experience do you want? Have you had a baby shower?
What are your fears?
Module/week 7
The end of the third trimester! The baby is born! You will
submit the completed project to the instructor.
