Need help with Theory App. Paper

Syllabus/PSY235 Rubrics.html

Discussion Guidelines

Quantity

The goal for module discussions is to have an interesting and academic dialogue where we will explore various developmental issues. For each discussion, you will be required to write an initial post and respond to a minimum of two other students' posts. Continuous interaction throughout the module discussion helps to build community. Enhanced learning will occur through interaction with your peers and the instructor. Spread your posts over different days during the time the module discussion is open. Posting all discussions in the same day or meeting the quantity requirements on the final few days of any module discussion will earn minimal points. Please refer to the Discussion Rubric for details.

Quality

A quality post includes efforts to synthesize your learning by using course terms and concepts in replies. Critical thought is expected. Draw connections between current and past material, other courses you may be taking or have taken, personal experience, current events, web resources, and so on to enhance the discussion.  In replying to fellow students, the goal is always to say what you agree or politely disagree with or what you find interesting about your peers' posts and expand the conversation! To earn full credit, your replies must bring new information and/or thoughts to the discussion. Community building is important in the online classroom. Refer to the "Course Policies" section of the Start Here! module for a brief explanation and link to further information on the Mutual Respect in CCC-Online Communications policy. In addition to this policy, community is demonstrated by integrating the comments of your peers (including the instructor) in elaboration on a question to expand the discussion. The discussion should be interactive, not a series of monologues!

Length

Try to keep your discussion posts concise and meaningful. You are required to write an initial post of no less than 500 words. You are also required to reply to two other students’ posts with posts of no less than 200 words each. Think of your peers before posting and ask yourself if you would want to read the post you are about to make. What does it add to the conversation? How does it enhance the discussion? If you can provide solid answers to these questions for both your initial post and your replies, then you likely have very good posts. 

Citation

Your initial post must include two resources (textbook + one peer-reviewed scholarly journal article) and be appropriately cited in APA. Refer to the Course Policies section of the Start Here! module for an explanation of plagiarism. Remember, you must cite all information you take from other sources. Many students make the mistake of citing only when they directly quote a source. You must also cite when you paraphrase information from a source.  Review the APA style guide provided on the Purdue Owl Website at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Essay Guidelines

Students must submit a substantial, detailed, and well-thought-out 1000-word essay for modules 2-5. Essays will require you to show a clear comprehension of the material covered in the module in addition to a clear and thorough evaluation of that material. These essays will be submitted in the Dropbox. Please be aware that all Dropbox submissions will be checked for plagiarism. 

Each essay must include a thesis statement in the opening paragraph and reference page at the end. Please see the Course Schedule in the Syllabus to determine when the essays for each module are due. 

All essays must use Times New Roman 12 point or Verdana 10 point font, be double-spaced, have 1" margins, and include a total word count (not including the reference page at the end). You must use and reference at least three different academic sources, two of which must come from an academic, scholarly, peer-reviewed journal (see the following list of acceptable journals). If you use a website, please make sure that it is high quality, scholarly, well-cited, and well-researched before referencing it. Wikipedia or similar references will not be accepted. 

Students must use APA style to cite within the body of the essay and for the references listed at the end of the essay. Review the APA style guide provided on the Purdue Owl Website at  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

Acceptable journals include:
  Developmental Psychology   Health Psychology   Journal of Counseling Psychology   Journal of Family Psychology   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology   Journal of Counseling & Development   Counseling & Clinical Psychology Journal   Journal of College Counseling   Journal of Mental Health Counseling   Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology	  Journal of Clinical Child Psychology   Journal of Clinical Psychology   Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development   International Journal for the Psychology of Religion   Journal of Individual Psychology   Journal of Social Psychology   Psychology and Aging   Psychology of Religion and Spirituality   Journal of College Counseling

Click the Rubrics link to view the requirements for all assignments.

Theory Application Project

200 points total  (Thinking Ahead = 10, Bibliography = 10, Paper = 180)

Complete the project as instructed and submit it through the Dropbox by the due dates. There are a few small steps along the way, so be sure to follow the instructions and check the due dates in the Course Schedule. 

1) Choose a movie and a theory/theorist.

You will watch one of the movies listed from the perspective of a developmental theorist. This gives you an opportunity to dig deeper into one of the major theories/theorists we studied this semester and apply that theory in a more concrete manner. Please choose only ONE theory or theorist to focus on. You may reference other theories/theorists, but I want you to focus on ONE overall theory or theorist for the paper. Make sure that you state which theory you will be using in your introduction paragraph so that I know what to look for in the rest of the paper. You will also want to include a solid description of the theory in the first few paragraphs to give the rest of the paper context. Choose only one character in the movie to focus on! Pretend you are writing a case study on the character from the perspective of the theory that you choose.

• Eat, Pray, Love
• Dan in Real Life
• It's Complicated
• Kids
• Parenthood
• Precious
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Sixteen Candles
• The Bucket List
• The Outsiders
• The Squid and the Whale

Examples of developmental theories/theorists include the following:  Erikson's Psychosocial Theory (Stages); Learning Theories (Behaviorism/Skinner); Social-Cognitive Theory (Bandura); Cognitive Theories (Piaget); Sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky); Information Processing Theory; Ethology and Evolutionary Biological Psychology; and Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner).

I recommend that you choose your theory/theorist before watching the movie and do enough research to feel comfortable with the theory/theorist. You will have to use outside sources beyond the textbook to get a more comprehensive understanding of the theory/theorist. You will then be able to find solid examples of the observed developmental stages that fit the theory. You can choose to watch a movie other than those listed above, but you must get previous approval from me. If you do not get approval, you will not earn credit for the project. Please know that some of these movies have offensive language, graphic scenes, and so on. It is fully your responsibility to do research into the film content before viewing it if you are concerned about these issues. I accept no responsibility for any negative impacts these movies may have on you, because it is up to you to make an informed decision about which movie to watch. 

2. Your paper should have a strong integration of both theory and movie excerpts throughout the paper. 

I do not want a summary of the movie. I want an explanation of the observed developmental stages presented in the movie and examples to support them. For each example you provide, please say how or why that example fits the theory. If a particular example does not fit the model, please include a few sentences about how it does not fit. There will likely be some parts of the movie or the characters that do not fit the model well. In this case, feel free to talk a bit about another theory/theorist that might better explain the developmental stage. 

3. Cite your sources throughout the paper and provide a reference page.

APA style is required throughout the paper. Please use www.apastyle.org.aspx, http://owl.english.purdue.edu, ccconline tutor - Brainfuse, or your home school writing lab if you are not familiar with APA style. As part of APA style, you will include a cover page, reference page, headers with page numbers, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double spaced, and so forth. There is no need to include an abstract.

REQUIREMENTS:

• The minimum word count for this paper is 2,000 words. 
• You must include at least five sources, three of which must come from academic journals (see list of academic journals that follows).
• I expect an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. College-level writing is required.
• There will be a few small steps to take throughout the semester in writing the paper.  Remember, each of these steps will be graded as part of your overall points for the project:

1. Thinking Ahead (10 points): You will send me a brief description of the developmental stages you are considering writing about, which theorist you are leaning towards and why, and the movie you are considering watching. Please submit this to the Dropbox by the due date in the Course Schedule. 
2. References (10 points): You will send me a rough draft of your reference list (APA format only) indicating the sources you intend to use in your paper. Please submit this to the Dropbox by the due date in the Course Schedule.  
3. Final Paper (180 points): Your final paper is to be uploaded to the course Dropbox by 11:59 p.m. on the due date. No late papers will be accepted! Make sure that your name is in the filename that you upload to the Dropbox. For example:  FROTTINI.TheoryPaper.doc Make sure that you save your paper as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file. Apple .pages format will not upload to the Dropbox.

Remember to observe conventions of APA format as presented at  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/ and refresh your memory on what constitutes plagiarism (Student Handbook: Academic Integrity). All your papers are run through Turn It In after they are submitted to the Dropbox; Turn It In alerts instructors to the possibility of plagiarism. Submitting work from a previous course is not acceptable.

Acceptable journals include:
  Developmental Psychology   Health Psychology   Journal of Counseling Psychology   Journal of Family Psychology   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology   Journal of Counseling & Development   Counseling & Clinical Psychology Journal   Journal of College Counseling   Journal of Mental Health Counseling   Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology	  Journal of Clinical Child Psychology   Journal of Clinical Psychology   Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development   International Journal for the Psychology of Religion   Journal of Individual Psychology   Journal of Social Psychology   Psychology and Aging   Psychology of Religion and Spirituality   Journal of College Counseling