ECE109 CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOLOGY I

Course Code:4110109
METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week):3 (3.00 - 0.00)
ECTS Credit:5.0
Department:Early Childhood Education
Language of Instruction:English
Level of Study:Undergraduate
Course Coordinator:Assoc.Prof.Dr. VOLKAN ŞAHİN
Offered Semester:Fall Semesters.

Course Objectives

This course will introduce students to the field of child development, including a description, theories and principles of development, the factors affecting development. The course will also focus on prenatal, birth and postnatal period, as well as the physical, motor, language, cognitive, social, emotional development of infants, preschool and primary school children.


Course Content

Starting from the prenatal development, human lifespan will be discusses in terms of physical, social, cognitive and eminotal developmental domains.Theories of child development
and key scholars contributions to the field will also be emphasized throughout lectures. Participant will explore the extent of the relationhship between the environment and genes and how this relationship affects family and school life. Current debates surronding the child the child development issues will be discussed in light of the recent research findings.


Course Learning Outcomes

  • Familiarize to the field of child development,
  • Describe developmental theories and principles of development,
  • Understand the factors affecting development.

Program Outcomes Matrix

Level of Contribution
#Program Outcomes0123
1To have the knowledge about 0-72 month old children's cognitive, motor, language, social and emotional development and self help skills and to be able to make applications to support this area.
2To be able to take measures for the protection of children's health.
3To know the importance of game in pre-school education and to support the education and development of the child through play.
4To recognize the pre-school education institutions in the scope of the purpose, structure and functioning of the Turkish education system.
5To have information about classroom management approaches to be used in educational environments and to effectively implement these approaches.
6To have information about international programs that are applied in the field of pre-school education and to use these programs' aspects that are appropriate to our culture in classroom practice.
7To be able to conduct research in the field of pre-school education and analyze and interpret research findings.
8To be able to prepare, implement and evaluate Turkish, science, math, art, music, movement, games, reading and writing preparation and field trip activities that support different areas of development (cognitive, motor, language, self-care, social and emotional) of pre-school children and can be planned as individual, small group, large group and integrated groups.
9To be able to use and to allow students to use audio-visual teaching materials appropriate for pre-school age children for their development.
10To be able to take responsibility and to fulfill these responsibilities in individual and group work.
11To understand the importance of family involvement in children's education and to plan activities related to family involvement.
12To have knowledge about literary genres prepared for pre-school children and to examine existing publications in terms of literary and artistic perspectives.
13To have knowledge about the importance and purpose of the use of formal and informal assessment methods appropriate for the age level and developmental level of pre-school children, and to apply and interpret different evaluation methods and to be able to interpret findings.
14To be able to follow/access, understand and question scientific publications for pre-school education.

0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution