Child Development (CAS 315)
TERM PROJECT ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
The term project must be completed individually. Students will identify a social problem that is germane to children or adolescents. In describing and analyzing this social problem, the focus will be on ONE developmental period. Students will utilize ONE of the developmental periods outlined on pages 12-16 in your text. In identifying a social problem, students will provide statistical evidence from a data source. Data and information from one or more of the following sources should be used.
2. California Department of Education (Data & Statistics)
3. Centers for Disease Control (Adolescence and School Health)
4. Centers for Disease Control (Reproductive Health: Teen Pregnancy)
5. Conditions of Children in Orange County Report (Most recent or within 2 years)
6. Kid’s Data
8. Let’s Get Healthy California (Healthy Beginning Indicators)
9. United States Department of Education (Data and Statistics)
10. United States Office of Juvenile Justice (Statistics Briefing Book)
11. National Institute on Drug Use
12. United States Department of Health and Human Services
13. United States Department of Justice
For this assignment you will have to analyze your selected social problem using course content. Specifically, you will describe how course content contributes to our understanding of the social problem. In your selection of a social problem do NOT focus on clinical/mental disorders, rare medical diseases (e.g., Tourette’s syndrome, depression), or exceptionalities (e.g., attention deficit disorder) as they are outside the scope and emphasis of the class. An example and rubric are provided in a separate document.
The six sections of the paper include the following.
I. Problem Statement
Here you will present the problem in statistical terms, provide and link your data source. In addition, you will provide terminology and other information that specifies the nature of the problem. Focus on a particular issue (e.g., abuse of a specific substance versus substance use; children who bully versus bullying in general). Linked information from the website, or specific page numbers from the text should accompany the description(s) and terminology. Finally, one developmental level (from pages 21 – 24 in the text) should be the focus of this paper and must be identified in this section. Use bold font when identifying the developmental level.
II. Why We Should Care
In this section you will provide information about why one should care about your identified social problem. Make a compelling case that your identified problem should be of concern. Provide two distinct and explicit reasons as to how the social problem is detrimental to children, adolescents, families, or society. Specify your sources of information (e.g., from relevant website, page numbers from the text, names of interactive lessons).
III. Contextual Analysis of Social Problem
Analyze your social problem using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of development as indicated below. Discuss how issues at each system contributes to the problem. Present your analyses of the respective system in numerical order as presented below, using bold font to denote each system. Furthermore, incorporate how developmental level interacts with a given contextual element (e.g., older adolescents in relation to parenting style or peers) in at least one instance. Underline said interaction. Finally, incorporate specific aspects of your social problem (e.g., bath salts versus drug use) into your analysis.
1. Identify at least two relevant microsystems and explain how they can contribute to your social problem. Specify the course content used in your analyses (e.g., tittle of interactive lesson, page number in text).
2. For the Mesosystem, discuss how the extent of the continuity or discontinuity among the identified microsystems can facilitate or contribute to said social problem.
3. Identify and explain how one exo-system may facilitate or contribute to the social problem. Specify the course content used in your analyses (e.g., tittle of interactive lesson or text).
4. Identify and explain how one issue at the macro-system level may facilitate or contribute to the social problem.
5. For the chronosystem, speculate about how change and/or consistency over time contributed to the social problem.
Provide at least one course content source for either the macro-system or chronosystem (e.g., page number from the text, title of interactive lesson)
IV. Developmental analyses of Social Problem
This section addresses and explains how specific developmental characteristics of children/adolescents (e.g., level of perspective taking, phase of identity) contribute to and explain the prevalence of the social problem. Incorporate at least two of the following domains of development. Physical development, cognitive development, and social-emotional development. This analysis must be aligned with the chosen development period. You will identify 3 issues that span at least TWO of the domains. You will use bold font to note key concepts/issues. The key concepts you address must be distinct from prior issues addressed in this paper. Each of the 3 issues must be sourced (i.e., page numbers from the text, tittle of interactive lesson, or hyperlinked from a relevant website. Finally, present the developmental analyses in numerical order (i.e., 1 -3)
V. Cultural/Theoretical analysis of Social Problem
Identify one cultural or theoretical issue and explain how said issue contributes to the social problem. Cultural issues can reflect demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity) or societal characteristics. Use bold font to highlight the key concept(s). Identify your source(s) (i.e., hyperlinks, title of interactive lesson, page number from the text). This should be distinct from prior analyses in this paper.
VI. Strategies of Redress the Problem
Put forth two distinct and developmentally appropriate strategies guided by the course content to redress the social problem. How said strategies redress issues put forth in section I -V should be clear. In other words, there must be alignment between your strategies and your analyses of issues contributing to the problem. Strategies must cover multiple issues put forth in the paper that contribute to the social problem. Source(s) from the course must also be indicated (i.e., hyperlink, title of interactive lesson, page number from the text). Strategies should be numbered.
Students must use numbers and headers to depict each system. An example along with a rubric detailing what are considered excellent, acceptable and unacceptable for each section is provided in the Term Project section canvas. Students CANNOT use the topic the instructor uses in this example (i.e., bath salt use among late adolescents). You will be graded according to the extent to which you follow the guidelines specified for this project, the criteria in the rubric, and by your use of appropriate grammar. Use this rubric as a guide in developing the sections of your paper! It is estimated that the final draft of the term project will be between 4 – 5 pages, double spaced, using 12-point font, and 1 inch margins.
Turn it in and Term Project
Students are required to submit the rough draft and final draft of the term project to “Turn it in†via the course site on Canvas. Turnitin.com will provide to the instructor (and students) a “similarity (originality) report†that indicates the similarity of content in your paper to other sources. Turn it in is used to facilitate original papers as indexed by the similarity (originality) report. Spelling and grammar checks are also provided through Turn it in. I will NOT accept papers with an overall similarity (originality) index higher than 16%. Please limit your direct quotations as they will contribute to your originality score. Also, for Internet links or URLs, please use your own description (e.g., CDC teen alcohol statistics).
Students may submit their paper as a draft through Canvas before they turn in the final paper. IF the similarity score (originality) is higher than the allocated amount (16%), students may resubmit their paper to reduce their score but ONLY BEFORE the due date. For papers submitted AFTER the deadline there will be no such opportunity.
Students with a similarity (originality) score higher than 16% will receive 0 on the term project.
Per university policy, the instructor will report students with papers having a similarity (originality) index higher than 16%.
TIMELINE
A rough draft consisting of the problem statement, why we should care, and contextual analyses sections ONLY is due by, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. I estimate this will be between 2 and 21/2 pages (double-spaced). A link to turn this in (i.e., “Rough Draftâ€) will be provided in the Term Project Section on Canvas. The rough draft is worth 2% of your final grade.
The final draft is worth 14% of your final grade. This should be between 4 and 5 pages (double spaced). The final draft is due Sunday, May 14, 2023. Term project assignment MUST be submitted to the Turn it in link in the Term Project Module provided on Canvas.