For this project you will be conducting an observation and interview with a child between the ages of 3 and 10. In preparation for this you need to start thinking about who you will want to observe/interview and make contact with their parent or caregiver to gain permission and schedule at least 2 to 3 hours for the observation/interview.You will create an informed consent form for the parent/caregiver to sign giving you permission to observe and interview the child and parent and explaining the purpose of the observation and interview and what the information will be used for (comparison to child development theory) as well as identifying that you are not qualified to, nor will you be diagnosing any disorder or recommending any interventions for this child. You should also avoid the words “research” and “study” as you are not conducting a research study. It is best not to copy and paste an informed consent so you can avoid wording that does not fit this assignment. The parent/caregiver must sign and date the form as well as the child if the child is school age and above and able to understand the process.Here is a helpful website to get you started:
Part I – Describe the Observation
Recommendations: Prior to the interview/observation thoroughly read the sections in the text and other resources that relate to the age range of the child you are observing.
Observe for a minimum of 1 hour how the child interacts with others, how they play, any social, cognitive, emotional/psychological, sensory/perceptual, moral, physical, and/or motor characteristics or qualities. Take detailed notes of his or her behavior so you can analyze the behaviors and functioning in terms of developmental stages and theories related to these areas.
You may write this section in paragraph form describing your observational time with the child.
Part II – Interview of the Primary Caretaker
After observing the child, you will interview the parent or guardian about how this particular child functions. You should design a questionnaire that will help you to better understand your earlier observations of the child. You will also want to ask questions that will help you further understand the child’s social, cognitive, emotional/ psychological, sensory/perceptual, moral, physical, and/or motor functioning.
Examples of questions:
You may do this section in paragraph form or as Q&A. Part III – Interview of the Child The final step in the observation/interview is to interview the child as long as they are old enough to answer your set of questions. You should prepare ahead of time a list of questions to help you further determine his or her social, cognitive, emotional/psychological, sensory/perceptual, moral, physical, and/or motor functioning. You should also come prepared with a series of tasks in the form of games, puzzles, physical activities, etc. to further determine the stage of his or her social, cognitive, emotional/psychological, sensory/perceptual, moral, physical, and/or motor achievement. You may do this section in paragraph form or as Q&A. Part IV – Write your analysis of the observation As you prepare to write your paper try to identify this child’s functioning as it compares to normative information found in the text (e.g., Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, standard physical characteristics such as height and weight categories, Brown’s stages of language development, Kohlberg’s moral development stages, etc.) and/or your other readings (be sure to include appropriate citations). Write a well integrated paper (be sure to use APA format) that includes an analysis of this child’s functioning as it compares to at least three (3)of the theories of child development presented in the book over the areas of functioning mentioned above (social, cognitive, emotional/psychological, sensory/perceptual, moral, physical, and motor). In other words, you will use at least three different theories of development to explain the child’s social, cognitive, emotional/psychological, sensory/perceptual, moral, physical, or motor functioning. Discuss any discrepancies you discover or other influences that may explain functioning unique to the child you observed. Conclude your paper with a thorough and comprehensive conclusion paragraph. Be sure to use three scholarly sources in addition to your textbook(4 total sources). You may use sources from your annotated bibliography. Your paper is expected to be at least 1500 words but no more than 3000 words. |