This is a legacy website of The University of Manchester. The information it carries was frozen on 30th September 2004 and may no longer be accurate.

The process of migration to www.manchester.ac.uk is in progress.

Home Postgraduate Programmes Course Units MD645

Aims:

• To develop understanding of theory and research in psychological aspects of child development
• To develop individual and co-operative research, learning and presentation skills
• To design a group presentation for a target audience
• To understand assessment criteria for learning at masters level

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this unit successful students will be able to:

• Research in depth aspects of child development
• Write a critical report on the area of in-depth study
• Work independently and co-operatively in planning, researching and presenting findings on a chosen area of development psychology
• Select appropriate readings to stimulate debate and discussion to supplement the group presentation in the seminar session being led by your group
• Take part in debate and discussion using readings provided by the presenting group in seminars
• Provide summative and formative feedback on other groups’ work following the seminars using masters level assessment criteria

Key skills

• Written and spoken presentations
• Individual and co-operative research
• Individual and co-operative learning
• Debate and discussion
• Literature searches
• Critical evaluation, analysis and synthesis of current literature

Content:

The class will be divided into six groups. Each group will do an in-depth study of one of the following topics:-

Ecology of development: the family and outside influences

Personality, gender and moral development

Development of language, communication skills and play

Theories of cognitive development

Cognitive development: information processing perspective

Intelligence: measuring mental performance

Teaching and learning methods:

Session one will be spent in general discussion looking at debates and issues surrounding research in child development. Time will be given to reinforcement of the use of electronic databases and other methods of literature searches.

Sessions 2-6 will be used to work co-operatively and independently to produce a research plan, search the literature, and produce material with which to run a student led poster seminar to disseminate the information gathered on the chosen topic under investigation. Each group will be responsible for setting up information sharing sessions either face-to-face or by email with the rest of their research group. Tutors will be available for consultation during each of the 5 research sessions.

Sessions 7-12 will be led by the research groups when they will present their findings in the form of a poster with a 5 minute overview of the area to the rest of the class, lead a discussion/debate which will be informed by a) the information delivered by the group, b) pre-session readings selected by the group and c) pre-existing knowledge and experience of other class members.

Learning hours

Assessment

Core texts

There is no set books for this course but tudents will be expected to access current academic journals related to psychological aspects of child development e.g.

British journal of Developmental Psychology

British Educational Research Journal

British Journal of Educational Psychology

British Journal of Psychology

Child Development

Child Psychiatry and Human Development

Child Study Journal

Developmental Psychology

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Educational Psychology

Journal of Child Language

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Other Allied Disciplines

Journal of Education Psychology

Journal of Experimental Psychology

Memory

Memory and Cognition

This list is not exhaustive and any other relevant and current journal will be equally valid to use

Weekly reading of current journals is an integral part of the course. You should expect to spend at least one hour a week in the library in addition to the timetabled research times.