This assignment gives you the opportunity to explore significant events in your life and analyze them through a human development lens, applying various theories or concepts toward greater understanding.
You’ll write a paper in which you select just three nodal events (becoming homeless at 19 years old; leaving my homecountry (france) when i was 14 years old, and starting my faith journey as an active memver of chuch at 19 years old) and explore them through a developmental lens. That is, you’ll Siegel’s Interpersonal Neurobiology, family life cylce, and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems, theories and concepts from the course readings in such a way that helps you and me understand your experience better – what led to the situation, what influenced your experience and choices, what factors shaped its outcome, and so forth. For each event, you will apply Siegel’s Interpersonal Neurobiology, family life cylce, and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theories/model.
So, for example, someone writing about a divorce could apply attachment theory to highlight/make sense of a response of separation distress, Bronfenbrenner’s theory to show how work stress intersected with relational stress to make things that much worse, and epistemic cognition/reflective judgment to show how their limitations in this domain contributed to how unsettling the divorce was because they just couldn’t wrap their mind around their ex-spouse’s perspective.
The paper should be in APA format, between 5-8 full pages, address all developmental domains to some degree, and smoothly incorporate course material in a useful way.
A “B” paper will generally meet the following requirements. Falling short will merit a C or F and exceeding them will merit an A. Percentages indicate relative weight of each set of criteria.
Content (40%)
[ ] paper shows how developmental theories and concepts helped student make sense/enriched their understanding of various events, developmental milestones, etc.
[ ] includes discussion of all five domains of development: cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual/moral
[ ] applies Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to each event
[ ] includes a brief intro with a brief overview of the paper and a conclusion with suggestions for growth
[ ] follows most assignment prompts above
Quality (50%)
[ ] reasonable depth for graduate work and evidence of thoughtfulness
[ ] generally accurate use of developmental theories and related concepts
[ ] effectively utilizes course readings to support, challenge, or contextualize your analysis
Style/Logistics (10%)
[ ] well-organized; narrative flows smoothly
[ ] scholarly tone; avoids colloquialisms, contractions
[ ] minimal errors in grammar and spelling such that readability is not hindered (or only minimally)
[ ] uses APA style for overall formatting, title and reference pages (necessary only if citing non-course resources), in-text citations, headings (no abstract needed)
