University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Psychological Brain Sciences Tobin Hall 135 Hicks Way Amherst MA 01003 9271 Psychology 355 Adolescent Psychology Spring 2018 3 credits T Th 8 30 a m 9 45 a m Section 1 Professor David G Scherer Ph D 610 Tobin 545 4304 dscherer psych umass edu Office Hours Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 00 11 00 and by appointment Graduate Teaching Assistant Lauren Haliczer MA 603 Tobin Hall lhaliczer umass edu Office Hours Wednesdays 10 30 11 30 and by appointment Text Steinberg L 2014 Adolescence 11th Edition Boston McGraw Hill Course Description and Objectives This course is an overview of adolescent development and the major psychological issues that occur during adolescence The course is designed to provide students with a foundation for understanding key issues that affect the lives of adolescents Specifically students taking this course will learn about the physiological and psychological changes that adolescents undergo how the ecological contexts that adolescents inhabit affect their growth and behavior how their interpersonal relationships with family members and peers transform and the risks and vulnerabilities of adolescents for developing problem behaviors and psychopathology This course is a good prerequisite for students who anticipate working in applied settings with adolescents or who aspire to pursue graduate studies in psychology and human service fields There are several goals I hope to achieve in teaching this course First I intend to acquaint students with the major psychological themes that dominate adolescent development and the empirical foundations that support this knowledge A second goal is to develop students understanding of the physiological and neurological changes that occur during adolescence and how these changes interact with adolescents social Please note that lectures in this course are scheduled to be recorded Every effort will be made to not video any student the system is designed to capture the instructor and the front of the classroom However students audio participation might be recorded If you are concerned about the recording of lectures please speak with Professor Scherer You have the option of purchasing the book directly from McGraw Hill http connect mheducation com class dscherer psych 355 spring 2018 dr scherer and getting access to the Connect Smartbook version of the book which has many excellent features to improve your comprehension of the readings Also check Moodle for additional information about the Smartbook option ecology to affect their development and behavior Lastly it is the objective of this course to develop students understanding of how theory and research on adolescence can be applied to real life settings to enhance the lives of adolescents Course Requirements The knowledge you acquire and the work habits you develop as an undergraduate student help to prepare you for participation in the professional work world Consequently the requirements of the course are intended to mirror the expectations you are likely to encounter in your future work You will need to prepare for class by doing the assigned readings Most students find it useful to highlight important passages this practice is helpful for remembering important concepts and preparing for quizzes and exams If you have access to the digital version of the textbook and the Connect Smartbook program you may find some of the features of this textbook useful for studying see this tutorial for information on Smartbook features https www youtube com watch v PTOr6clmkyo You should also check out our Course Moodle page We post grades and other useful course information on Moodle and have a variety of additional videos and readings you might find interesting Class attendance is necessary Please be courteous arrive on time turn off all cell phone alarms during class and give the class your full attention e g don t read the newspaper or surf the internet There are several different ways to earn your grade in this course We use different methods of evaluating because we recognize that students learn and demonstrate comprehension differently For example some students can explain what they know but don t do quite as well on multiple choice tests while others do just fine on multiple choice tests but don t like to write papers In this course there is a mix of evaluation methods to meet the needs of a variety of student learning and testing preferences So final grades for this course will be derived from the following four quizzes six homework assignments one midterm exam and a comprehensive final exam The quizzes will be worth 15 points each and are comprised of several short answer questions derived mostly from information covered in the lectures They will be unannounced and occur in class Similarly the homework assignments will be worth 15 points each and will involve watching a video and submitting a 500 word essay two double spaced pages one inch margins 12 point font providing answers to several questions posed by the course professor These homework assignments will give students the chance to see how other people think about some of the ideas we discuss in class and that are presented in the book and to think about the real world implications of these themes Homework assignments will be assigned on Moodle and students must submit their responses as hardcopies at the beginning of the class on the assigned due dates to receive credit You will receive 15 points if you address all homework questions provide at least 500 of your own original words and hand the assignment in on time You will receive 10 points if your response is too short or doesn t answer all the questions You will receive 5 points if you hand in an essay on time but your response is completely inadequate No credit will be given for homework assignments that are not submitted on time Please put your student ID and first and last initials not your full name on all quizzes and homework assignments This ensures that when we read them we cannot immediately tell whose work it is and therefore won t be biased by what we may or may not know about you You can earn a maximum of 120 points by taking quizzes and completing homework assignments We would urge you to complete all the quizzes and homework assignments but once you have reached 120 quiz and homework assignment points you have maxed out and cannot earn additional points from quizzes and homework assignments The midterm exam is