Small Group Discussions

Introduction:

The small group discussion is an assignment to be submitted for a grade.  This is the first of five small group discussions to be submitted during the semester.  Read the directions carefully and read the Grading Rubric, which can be viewed by clicking the three vertical dots in the upper right hand corner of the assignment, and then by clicking the words Show Rubric, then compose your response and submit your response by clicking Reply.   

Directions: 

Imagine that you are at a park sitting on a bench, and you meet a parent who sits down and starts talking to you about the parent’s child, who is in middle childhood, which is age 7 to age 11.  Given what you have learned from the material in Chapter 10, complete the following Tasks. 

Tasks: 

1. Create a fictitious child with an age in middle childhood, which is 7-11.
2. Describe the fictitious child in terms of Erik Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development, which is industry versus inferiority.
3. Discuss how the family structure of the fictitious child, meaning the composition of the family, such as two parents and the child living together in the home, or two parents living apart and the child goes from one house to the other, or a single parent household, or siblings, or step-parents, or step-siblings, might affect the fictitious child’s psychosocial development.
4. Discuss the peer relationships of the fictitious child, for example, good or poor or average peer relationships.  
5. Discuss whether the fictitious child has a mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, a phobia, or another mental disorder in the fictitious child, or, if there is a lack of a mental illness in the fictitious child. 
6. Reply to five classmates’ responses by asking a question, answering a question, offering a suggestion, giving praise, agreeing, politely disagreeing, providing encouragement, sharing a story, or offering a comment.  

How to Complete the Assignment: 

Read the six task items, and then compose a response to each of the six task items in the order in which they appear.  Be as specific as possible.  The responses should show that you have an understanding of the concepts being addressed. 

How the Assignment will be Scored: 

The assignment will be scored using the Grading Rubric for the assignment, which can be viewed by clicking the three vertical dots in the upper right hand corner of the assignment, and then by clicking the words Show Rubric.  The Grading Rubric is based on the Task items, which are aligned with the Learning Objectives of the chapter, which are aligned with the Course Objectives that are on the Syllabus, and which are aligned with the Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) for the course that are on the Syllabus.  If a response meets the criterion set forth in the Grading Rubric, then the response will earn 1 point.  If a response does not meet the criterion set forth in the Grading Rubric, then the response will not earn 1 point.  Each assignment is scored independently from previous assignments and each assignment is scored independently from future assignments.  

Where to Access the Score:  

The score for the assignment will be visible in the Grades area.  To view how the score was derived, you can view the points earned on the Grading Rubric by clicking the word Show Rubric in upper right hand of the page in the Grades area for this specific assignment.  If there is individual feedback on the assignment, then there will be individual feedback in the Assignment Comments area, which is right hand side of the page. 

Student Success Tip: 

Two Samples of Good Work are provided for students to use as a guide for how to gear their responses.  One sample is in a paragraph format and the other sample is in a numbered format.  Either format is acceptable to use when submitting your response.    

Samples of Good Work: 

Sample 1

While at the park yesterday, the parent of a seven year old boy sat next to me on a bench and started talking about her son, Steve, and thoughts of what stage he was in, according to Erik Erikson, came to mind.  The mother described her son as being industrious at home and at school.  It sounded like her son was in the fourth stage of psychosocial development and had resolved the psychosocial crisis with a positive outcome.  The mother went on to tell me that she and her husband had a warm relationship with their son, and my response to her was that it sounded like her family structure was contributing to the positive outcomes of her son.  She also told me that her son was popular and had joined the bully prevention team at school, which led me to believe that it sounded like her son had good peer relationships.  She said that her son was a happy, confident, child, who bounced back from set-backs, with no signs of a particular mental illness that ran in her family. 

Sample 2

1. Tom, a 10 year old boy, is in Erik Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development, industry versus inferiority, as described by his father, who sat next to me at the park two days ago, and spoke freely about his son, who he described as having a zest for school and extracurricular activities and art projects and constructing model airplanes. 
2. Tom, comes from a two parent family and has three sisters, all of whom get along nicely together, and he is growing up in a harmonious family atmosphere that is supportive of his social and emotional needs.        
3. The father described Tom as having many friends, partly due to personality factors and partly due to his exposure to many extracurricular activities and involvements, getting along well with everyone and showing leadership qualities.
4. The father spoke of how grateful he was that Tom did not have any mental illnesses, like some of the other children had at the school. 

Alignment of Assignment to the Course:  

This small group discussion ties into Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) 1:

Student Learning Outcomes 1.  Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical constructs among the 4 main areas of human development (Physical, Cognitive, Social, and Emotional) throughout the lifespan.

This small group discussion ties into Course Objectives 1, 6, and 14:

Course Objective 1.  Discuss the classical theoretical approaches to understanding human development across the lifespan. 

Course Objective 6.  Explain and discuss the 8 stages of psychosocial development proposed by Erik Erikson. 

Course Objective 14.  Examine how child and adolescent development are effected by environmental factors, such as working parents, siblings, friendships, divorce, adoption, education, and abuse. 

This small group discussion ties into Learning Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for Chapter 10: 

Learning Objective 1.  Explain Erik Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development.

Learning Objective 2.  Discuss Erik Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development.

Learning Objective 3.  Identify family structures that affect the development of children.

Learning Objective 4.  Examine the peer relationships of children.

Learning Objective 5:  Identify mental disorders that can occur in childhood.

Learning Objective 5:  Discuss aspects of mental health in childhood.  

Rationale for the Assignment:

The purpose of the small group discussion is to apply the course material to the real world and to your own life by giving examples that are from evidence-based research and that are meaningful to you, and to show an understanding and mastery of the material, and to promote interaction with engagement with other students in the class.  This is due by Sunday night at 11:59 p.m.  Please see the Grading Rubric for the Small Group Discussion, by clicking the three vertical dots in the upper right hand corner of the assignment, and then by clicking the words Show Rubric.