Unit 1: Core Assessment Paper Overview

The Core Assessment for this course is a formal paper prepared in the professional style of the discipline – American Psychological Association (APA) Style.  This means you need a cover page, page number headers, proper heading, reference page, etc.    Whichever route you choose, your paper must be well developed and relate to the developmental topics discussed in this course. 

The student has a choice of two 

You will have a choice of two structures (routes) for the paper. You will choose ONE. 

Route 1 (formal academic structure with a focus on empirical peer-reviewed journal articles)

OR

Route 2  Applied structure with a focus on the course’s practical components (using theories and concepts) to describe the outcome of the My Virtual Child assignment.

More details for Route 1 – Formal Academic Structure

The paper for Route 1 is a research APA paper that includes a title page, page number headers, headings, introduction, a summary of peer-reviewed empirical journal articles for four developmental periods, conclusion, reference page, etc.

Each student should select a minimum of one peer-reviewed journal article to analyze each of four developmental periods:

1. Prenatal development and birth/ newborn
2. Infancy and Toddlerhood (0-2 years)
3. Early (Play) years (2-5 years)
4. Middle Childhood (School) years (5-12 years)

For each article/ developmental period, present a summary/ application for the following:

1. What topic did they study?
2. What was the purpose of the study?
3. Who did they test or study?
4. How did they test them or gather data?
5. What did they find (results)?
6. How does the public policy apply to this article?

Use this same set of questions for each of the four articles to address the four different developmental periods.

More details for Route 2 – Applied Structure

The paper for Route 2 is an applied APA paper that includes a Title page, Introduction, Summary of the four MyVirtualChild developmental periods, Conclusion, References.

Each student will address each of MyVirtualChild four developmental periods:

1. Prenatal development and birth/ newborn
2. Infancy/ Toddlerhood (0-2 years)
3. Early Childhood (Play) years (2-5 years)
4. Middle Childhood (School) years (5-12 years)

For each MyVirtualChild developmental period, address the following:

1. What were your expectations for this period?
2. What were the outcomes?
3. What were the greatest influences for the outcomes?
4. How could these have been different?
5. What are some protective factors?
6. How does the public policy apply to this period?

Use this same set of questions for each of the four different developmental periods.

Due Date: End of Unit 8

Research Paper Outline 

Use the following outline to guide to help you organize this assignment

1. Title Page- (Hint: Do not actually write the phrase “Title Page” on the title page itself, or any of these other labels like “Topic Introduction”, etc.)
2. Introduction-Introduce the topic (a good quote, old saying, or simple statement of a good example from everyday life is a great way to give the reader the idea and get them interested in reading more).
3. Summary- (repeated for the four developmental periods. Use headings to separate the periods)
4. Conclusion
5. References- (This should be on a new page. Be sure to provide a reference for every article that you cited.  Do not list anything in the references that you have not cited in the body of the text).