Course Contents

Week 1 Understanding Development and Learning Major areas of child development Developmental milestones and learning Week 2 Brain development specifically in early years of childhood and implication for practice Week 3 Freud’s Theory of psychoanalyses Week 4 Piaget and Cognitive Developmental Theory Week 5 Vygotsky and Sociocultural Theory Week 6 B. F. Skinner and Behaviorism Week 7 Albert Bandura and Social Cognitive Week 8 Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Human Development Week 9 Theory Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of Development Week 10 Maslow’s Self-Actualization Theory Week 11 Multiple Intelligences: A Theory of Individual Differences Week 12 The Role of Play in Development and Learning Week 13. The Importance of Individual Differences Week 14 Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments Week 15 Attachment theory by Bowlby WEEK 16 FINAL EXAM Final Assessment / Exam

Course Synopsis

This module based on the child development and learning theories. It would cover the physical, emotional, social and cognitive development of early stages of life. The module includes learning theories such as Behaviorism, cognitivism and humanism in addition to focusing on the works presented by Eric Erickson, Bandura, Piaget, Vygotsky etc. and their implications in ECE. This module is an introduction to child development from conception through adolescence with emphasis on physical, cognitive and psychosocial growth. The effect of environmental and cultural influences on development will be investigated. Developmental and learning theories will be analyzed and tested through practical applications such as child observations and interviews.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of course students will analyze major developmental milestones for children from conception through adolescence in the areas of physical, psychological, cognitive, and language development. They will be able to compare and contrast various theoretical frameworks that relate to the study of human development. They will able to apply development and learning theories to the analysis of child observations, using investigative research methodologies.