Human Growth and Development CLEP

Social Sciences CLEP Human Growth and Development CLEP

PSYCH302A: Lifespan Development
Saylor.org
Open Courseware
Self-paced
Workload: 69 hours

This course is composed of a range of different free, online materials. After a brief introductory unit that will provide an overview of broad developmental issues, theories, and research methods, you will look at development in the womb, or prenatal development. The next three units examine development during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Within each unit, you will learn about key processes and issues related first to physical development, then to cognition (mental processes), and then to personality. Different subtopics will be emphasized in each lifespan stage. For instance, in the realm of cognitive development, language acquisition will be a major focus when you study childhood, since it is such a critical and amazing accomplishment of the early years. In adolescence, special attention will be given to how broad changes in thinking are linked specifically to growth in moral understanding. The course will conclude by exploring how humans approach and understand death.


Syllabus

Unit 1: Introduction to Lifespan Development

Unit 2: Foundations of Development
Unit 3: Child Development
Unit 4: Adolescent Development

Unit 5: Adult Development
Unit 6: The End of Life: Death and Grieving
Unit 7: Final Exam

Human Development Across the Lifespan in a Social Context
By The Ohio State University via iTunes U
Self-paced


This course is made up of 48 items including audio, video, and course materials covering common growth experiences across the lifespan from a social work perspective. We account for the many influences, including social influences, that can impact development and change across time.
The approach is general and broad, a great introduction to human development. It's also a great introduction into the unique perspective that the profession of social work offers to understanding the human experience.

Introduction to Psychology
University of Toronto via Coursera
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 46 hours

This course highlights the most interesting experiments within the field of psychology, discussing the implications of those studies for our understanding of the human mind and human behavior. We will explore the brain and some of the cognitive abilities it supports like memory, learning, attention, perception and consciousness. We will examine human development - both in terms of growing up and growing old - and will discuss the manner in which the behavior of others affect our own thoughts and behavior. Finally we will discuss various forms of mental illness and the treatments that are used to help those who suffer from them.

Syllabus

Week 1: A Brief History and Introduction to the Science of Psychology
Week 2: The Matter of the Mind
Week 3: Sensation, Perception, Attention and Awareness
Week 4: Learning
Week 5: Memory
Week 6: The Social Mind
Week 7: Mental Illness
Week 8: Your Requested Extra Lectures!

Introduction to Psychology: (PSYC 1310)
East Tennessee State University
Self-paced

This free, online college class is an introduction to the basic concepts, principles, and theories of the science of psychology. Topics included are biological and developmental processes, perception and awareness, learning and thinking, motivation and emotion, personality and individuality, adjustment and mental health, and social behavior.

The Clinical Psychology of Children and Young People
University of Edinburgh via Coursera
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 18 hours

The course will cover the basic guiding principles of the Clinical Psychology of Children and Young People and illustrate how theories of psychological development can be applied in understanding children and young people's mental health and well being within a wider societal and cultural context. We will also discuss current psychological models of prevention and treatment for Children and Young People.

Syllabus

  • What is Development
  • Attachment
  • Risk and Resilience
  • The Psychology of Adolescence
  • Applied Developmental Psychopathology part I
  • Applied Developmental Psychopathology part II

The Bilingual Brain
University of Houston System via Coursera
Scheduled MOOC
Worload: 48 hours

An introduction during the first week sets the stage for how the course will evolve in each of the subsequent weeks. After that the course is structured across the three main topics, age of acquisition, proficiency and control. For each of these topics, the first week of the course will introduce the nonverbal and single language literature in order to arrive at the key concepts for each fundamental principle. The following week will then take the concepts derived from the non-bilingual literature and apply them to the acquisition of two languages. The final week will involve a discussion of how each of the factors work together across time. It will consider computer simulations of bilingualism as well as a novel conceptual model of bilingual brain representation. This model proposes that bilingualism like other skills emerges from a set of different processing mechanisms that are layered over time. The implications of this model for the understanding of language learning in both adults and children will be discussed.

PSYCH202A: Research Methods
Saylor.org
Open courseware
Self-paced
Workload: 67 hours

This course is composed of a range of different free, online materials
which will introduce you to research methodologies frequently used in the social sciences and especially those used in the field of psychology. It is important that you are able to not only identify the techniques used by others but also employ them yourself. The course is designed to provide you with the foundation you will need to apply certain techniques in the search for your own answers. The course will begin with an overview of how research, and its appropriate methodology, came about in science and, more specifically, psychology. We will then go over the ABCs of conducting research, learning how to define “variables” and why they are important. While this course will also touch upon statistics and their importance, it will not require a comprehensive knowledge of the subject. The course will conclude with a section on experiment results and the ways in which experimental design and statistics can be used to ensure certain results. By the end of this course, you should understand why research methodology is important in scientific research, be comfortable reading method and results sections of journal articles, and understand a range of different research methods (as well as when to employ each).

Syllabus

Unit 1: An Introduction to Research

Unit 2: The Research Report
Unit 3: Ethical Research
Unit 4: Measurement Concepts
Unit 5: Observation, Survey, and Experimental Research Designs
Unit 6: Understanding Research Results
Unit 7: Final Exam

Quantitative Methods
University of Amsterdam via Coursera
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 40 hours

This course will cover the fundamental principles of science, some history and philosophy of science, research designs, measurement, sampling and ethics. The course is comparable to a university level introductory course on quantitative research methods in the social sciences, but has a strong focus on research integrity. We will use examples from sociology, political sciences, educational sciences, communication sciences and psychology.

Syllabus

  • Origins of the scientific method
  • The Scientific Method
  • Research Designs
  • Measurement
  • Sampling
  • Practice, Ethics & Integrity
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