COURSE ASSIGNMENTS All assignments should be completed using APA style. Use the Calibri or Arial font (not Times New Roman). Assignment #1: Reflection papers (20%) The purpose of learning theory about human behavior in the social environment is to strengthen our understanding of why people behave as they (we) do across development and in changing environmental contexts. This process is enhanced by consistent application of theory to particular behavior. To facilitate that process in this course, you will write 3 reflection papers in which you:  Reflect on a specific prompt I will provide on Blackboard (See assignments). They may include:  Reflection and discussion of peer reviewed article assigned;  Observation of behavior in someone in which you are paying attention to and writing on developmental themes and issues;  Reflection on yours or another family member’s/friend’s experiences in a particular stage of development, in which you pay attention to developmental themes and issues.  Engage with the readings, either through direct discussion of ideas (a), or by applying relevant theory, concepts, or research from the readings to interpret the behavior or interaction (b or c). What concepts are exemplified? How do these concepts contribute to your understanding of “what’s going on” and “why”? Your paper must have substantive content.  Use graduate level writing skills. Your entries should be 1.5 pages in length, double spaced, with a simple header and no title page or abstract. Do cite properly using APA style. When you discuss a theory from the text, please use the theorist’s name, for instance, “According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development”, and then cite the text. You should cite other articles as you use them. Assessment criteria (no rubric):  Depth of insight  Appropriateness of application of readings to reflection  Graduate level grammar  Capacity to express relevant ideas succinctly 5 Each reflection paper will have a specific prompt. See Blackboard Assignments for the prompts. Each paper will be graded on a scale of 100 points and all together are worth 20% of the final grade. Reflection papers are due by 11:59 pm on Blackboard on the dates given in Module Schedule. Assignment #2: Quizzes (2 quizzes | each 10% = 20%) There will be two quizzes in this course on content from the readings and lecture. Each will focus on major theorists, content of theories, and developmental themes and issues. Quizzes are a combination of multiple-choice questions and short answer. Quiz 1 is due 3/27/21 at 11:59 pm. Quiz 2 is due 4/24/21 at 11:59 pm. Assignment #3: Discussion Boards (10%) Several discussion boards will be assigned connected to film you watch or a case study, and a handout or prompts to which to respond. These are typically scheduled for asynchronous weeks. See Module Schedule for due dates. Class Participation including in class discussion and small group work (10%) Throughout the course, there will be weekly oppo.

1. COURSE ASSIGNMENTS All assignments should be completed
using APA style. Use the Calibri or Arial font (not Times New
Roman). Assignment #1: Reflection papers (20%) The purpose
of learning theory about human behavior in the social
environment is to strengthen our understanding of why people
behave as they (we) do across development and in changing
environmental contexts. This process is enhanced by consistent
application of theory to particular behavior. To facilitate that
process in this course, you will write 3 reflection papers in
of behavior in someone in which you are paying attention to and
yours or another family member’s/friend’s experiences in a
particular stage of development, in which you pay attention to
the readings,
either through direct discussion of ideas (a), or by applying
relevant theory, concepts, or research from the readings to
interpret the behavior or interaction (b or c). What concepts are
exemplified? How do these concepts contribute to your
understanding of “what’s going on” and “why”? Your paper
skills. Your entries should be 1.5 pages in length, double
spaced, with a simple header and no title page or abstract. Do
cite properly using APA style. When you discuss a theory from
the text, please use the theorist’s name, for instance,
“According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development”,
and then cite the text. You should cite other articles as you use
them. Assessment criteria (
succinctly 5 Each reflection paper will have a specific prompt.
See Blackboard Assignments for the prompts. Each paper will
be graded on a scale of 100 points and all together are worth

2. 20% of the final grade. Reflection papers are due by 11:59 pm
on Blackboard on the dates given in Module Schedule.
Assignment #2: Quizzes (2 quizzes | each 10% = 20%) There
will be two quizzes in this course on content from the readings
and lecture. Each will focus on major theorists, content of
theories, and developmental themes and issues. Quizzes are a
combination of multiple-choice questions and short answer.
Quiz 1 is due 3/27/21 at 11:59 pm. Quiz 2 is due 4/24/21 at
11:59 pm. Assignment #3: Discussion Boards (10%) Several
discussion boards will be assigned connected to film you watch
or a case study, and a handout or prompts to which to respond.
These are typically scheduled for asynchronous weeks. See
Module Schedule for due dates. Class Participation including in
class discussion and small group work (10%) Throughout the
course, there will be weekly opportunities for substantive
discussion based on the lecture, readings, case studies, films
and videos and other content. This grade will be related to both
your level of active participation in discussion in class and any
group work, and any in class written work. Both oral and
written contributions will form an ongoing grade according to
the following rubric: A (93-100%) B+ or B (83-92%) C+ or C
(70-82%) D or F (0-69%) Excellent engagement and effort
demonstrated in online synchronous and asynchronous
classroom discussions, integrating readings, lecture, and
reflection on a consistent basis. Written work actively integrates
readings, lecture, and in class material, demonstrating
engagement with learning, and completion of readings. Good
engagement and effort demonstrated in online synchronous and
asynchronous classroom discussions, integrating readings,
lecture, and reflection. Written work attempts to integrate
readings, lecture, and in class material with some success.
Minimal engagement and effort demonstrated in online
synchronous and asynchronous classroom discussions,
integrating readings, lecture, and reflection. Written work
shows little evidence of integration of readings, lecture, and in
class material. Student does not participate in class discussion,

3. is distracted by phone or computer, or contributes without
integrating readings and lecture. Written work is not completed
or shows no evidence of engagement with the readings, lecture,
and class material. Class participation is graded throughout the
term. Signature Assignment #4: Using theory to understand
difference PAPER (40%) People think, feel, and behave
differently toward the same event depending on their
developmental age 6 and the social environment around them.
For this assignment, you will analyze how different members of
your own family experienced the same important event in the
past; then compare their reactions to theories we learned in the
course and larger literature. Papers should be about 10-12
pages, doublespaced, using APA citation and reference style,
6th edition. The assignment will be conducted in the following
steps: Step 1 (Weeks 1 – 4): You will pick an event currently
happening or that has happened in the family (e.g.,
birth/adoption of a child, death of family member, divorce,
someone having cancer, a major accident, move abroad, going
to college, deployment to war-zone, etc.) or an event external to
the family but is remembered by the family (e.g., a hurricane,
earthquake or flood in the neighborhood, shooting at local
school, recession, election of the first African American
president, a big change in their community, 9/11, Iraq war,
etc.). Then you will select 3 family members to interview about
the same event. Ideally, you should pick family members with
different ages, gender, political beliefs, religious beliefs,
education, and so on. You must ask for permission from people
you want to interview (oral permission is enough, so you don’t
need to develop a written consent form). Ask your interviewees
also if they are comfortable with being taped; if not, you must
take careful notes. You must also discuss measures you will use
to protect their privacy and confidentiality. Week 4: Submit a
one-page proposal about what you plan to do for the paper: the
event you pick, family members you plan to interview, how to
plan to conduct the interview (where, face-to-face interview or
over the phone, taped or not, etc.), and key questions you want

4. to ask. Students will share their topics with each other during
class (TBA). Due February 6th at 11:59 pm on Blackboard.
Your proposals will receive comments, but no grade. You will
be sharing them briefly (verbally) with each other in class on
the 14th . Step 2 (Weeks 5 – 9): Conduct the interviews. I would
strongly encourage you not to wait until the last minute to
conduct these interviews! During these weeks, you arrange to
interview family members. You must conduct your interviews at
a place where the interviewees feel safe and comfortable talking
to you, especially if the event is something they do not want to
discuss publicly. Before each interview, you must state clearly
again the purpose of the interview, assure them of
confidentiality (only I will read them). You should state clearly
that interviewees can ignore any questions they do not want to
answer and stop the interview at any time. Ideally, you will
interview each family member at least once for about 45
minutes to an hour (longer if necessary). During the interview,
remember to ask specific questions to understand their thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors in relation to the event. Probe to
understand who/what shaped their reactions, how their reactions
changed over time (before, during, after the event). Compare
and contrast their memories to what you know as facts about the
event, their current framing of the event/experience. Pay
attention also to nonverbal behaviors of the interviewees. Step
3 (Weeks 10 – 14): Write the paper In your paper, you will do
the following (suggested page lengths are simply to indicate
parameters): 1. Introduction (.5 - 1 page): Briefly introduce the
purpose of the paper, describe the event you will focus on, why
you picked the event, then introduce the family members you
will interview. 7 2. Description of the interview process (.5 – 1
page): Describe how the interviews were conducted (e.g.,
whether they were done in person or over the phone; separately
or jointly, audiotaped or not, how long was the interviews).
Here you can also discuss any particular responses, emotional
reactions, or behaviors of the interviewees as well as your own
emotions and thoughts that you might not have expected.

5. Reflect on the process of interviewing and how you might have
done it differently, whether the way in which you conducted the
interviews may have affected what you learned. 3. Results of
the interviews (3 – 4 pages): In this part, you organize materials
from the interviews into key themes where you can compare and
contrast the interviewees’ responses to the same event,
depending on their age, gender, background, religious beliefs,
etc. You can have subheadings for these themes. This is the
heart of your paper. 4. Applying and connecting theory to
people’s reactions to the event: (2 – 3 pages): You will use at
least two theories we discussed in class to discuss similarities
and differences in the interviewed individuals’ experiences. Use
theories and evidence to discuss why these similarities and
differences exist and manifested in the ways they did. Discuss
not just the content of their experiences but also the language
and the way they talked about these experiences (including
emotion and wording). 5. Connecting theory with people’s
reaction and larger literature (2 – 3 pages): For this part, you
must search the literature to know what researchers have said
about people’s responses to the same event and what explained
these responses. Compare and contrast these research findings
(at least two) with what you found from the interviews with
your family members. Did their responses fit what the literature
found or differed, and why? 6. Application to social work
practice (1 page): What lessons did this exercise teach you
about social work practice in general and your own practice as a
social worker in particular? What insights did you develop
about professional identity and self-awareness as a social
worker? In order to protect privacy, either create pseudonyms
for the people you describe in order to protect their identity, or
get their permission to use first names. Please do use names. A
rubric will be provided for this paper. The signature paper is
worth 40% of your grad