I am a clinical neuropsychologist who has been asked by my
department to teach an Adolescent Psychology course next year. This is
an area quite distant from my core competencies (the traditional
neuroscience and clinical psych domains)... The course usually enrolls
approx 35 students, mainly education majors but with a few psychology
majors. The text most often used here has been Santrock. Our
department wants to maintain a psychological, not educational, emphasis
in the course coverage. I would be very interested in hearing from
those of you with expertise/experience in this area regarding : (a) what
you feel to be the most important psychological issues/concepts to
cover; (b) problem-based approaches to these issues that you have found
to be successful; (c) assignments (brief or extended, in-class or
out-of-class) you have found to facilitate insight; (d) preferences in
texts and/or supplemental reading; and (e) sample syllabi, if you would
be willing to share such.
To be candid (and, most probably, to fully reveal my ignorance of
the content domain...), I've not been overwhelmed by the breadth and
importance of psych theory covered in the standard texts for this
topic. The content strikes me as primarily descriptive, with a
smattering of theoretical concepts/topics more typically covered in
meaningful depth in other courses. What am I missing?
I would be tremendously appreciative of any direction more
experienced Tipsters could lend.
Andrew A. Swihart, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI 48710
voice: 517-249-4647
fax: 517-790-7656
