Independent learning Activities: Growth and Development
Growth and Development
Independent Learning Activities (5%):
CNUR 106 Winter 2021
Instructions: For each of the 5 development units, you are tasked with an independent learning activity to complete outside of seminar time. Most activities will take you approximately 1 hour to complete. Once you complete the activity, you will write a brief written reflection and submit it to your instructor prior to seminar. During the weekly seminar related to that growth and development topic, you will have an opportunity to share what you learned with your colleagues.
Written reflection summary: Within approximately 250-500 words, reflect on the following 3 questions:
1. What did you learn from this activity/experience?
2. How does what you learned connect back to course content? (Provide links to specific example/concept or theory in CNUR 106)
3. How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally? (For the interview options, as you write your reflection, compare and contrast your own answers to the questions and those provided by the person you interviewed. Were there similarities in your answers? What were some of the differences? Any discoveries of your own biases related to the stage of development.)
Note: For learning activities that involve an interview, ensure you convey at the beginning of the interview that participants can choose not to answer a given question. As a reminder, your professional responsibility re: confidentiality is expected throughout your interview, in your written work, and when sharing your learning in seminar. Keep the participants information confidential by using pseudonyms. Consider your communication skills from CNUR 106 including interview stages (preparation, orientation, working, closure/termination), your therapeutic communication techniques (TCT’s), and trauma-sensitive practice.
Evaluation: For each activity completed and submitted on time, you will receive 1% towards your final mark in the course. See rubric for more information.
Independent learning Activities CNUR 106 Winter 2021 2
ACTIVITY 1: EARLY/MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: EARLY CHILDHOOD TOY ANALYSIS
STEP 1: For this activity, you are tasked with either going to a toy store, use toys in your home, or find some toys online. Pick toys that would be appropriate for the early childhood or middle childhood stage of development. Focus on toys that will assist children as they develop age-appropriate skills in the following domains of development:
1. Physical skills including fine and/or gross motor skills
2. Cognitive skills including language, operational thought, and/or theory of mind
3. Social and emotional skills including self-concept, self-control, gender identity, and/or resilience
Consider the following questions as you explore the toy options:
Which toys seem to be the most popular?
How do the toys facilitate physical and/or cognitive development?
Do the toys appear to facilitate or hinder social interaction/cooperation? Why?
Do these toys appear to encourage imaginative play, or do their sounds, lights, colors, and gadgets prevent the need for imagination? Describe some examples.
What differences do you notice among the toys that may contribute to gender identity?
What do you notice in the toy store that you have not thought to consider before?
STEP 2: For your 1-page written reflection summary of this activity, reflect on the following questions:
What did you learn from this experience? (Describe the toys and their purpose and explain why the toys you chose are appropriate for early or middle childhood).
How does what you learned connect back to course content? (Focus on how each toy supports the development of physical, cognitive, and social and emotional skills.)
How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally?
For seminar this week, come prepared to show your selected toys with your seminar group, provide a brief explanation of your rationale for choosing the toy, and how it relates to early and/or middle childhood development.
Independent learning Activities CNUR 106 Winter 2021 3
ACTIVITY 2: ADOLESCENCE/EARLY ADULTHOOD
Students may choose to complete one of the following options:
Option 1: Adolescents/Early Adults in the Media
STEP 1: Find an example of a character from a movie or a television show that is likely in the stage of emerging adulthood. Find a short clip from YouTube with a scene that shows a character that is roughly between the ages of 18 to 25 that is going through at least one of the five distinctive features of emerging adulthood.
STEP 2: Within your written summary, include the URL to your chosen clip and your
1. What did you learn from this activity/experience? Include an explanation as to why you believe this character is in the stage of emerging adulthood to this discussion board.
2. How does what you learned connect back to course content? (Link to specific example/concept or theory in CNUR 106) Be sure to cite the course readings this week when discussing the features of emerging adulthood.
3. How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally?
STEP 3: Be prepared to share your clip and parts of your summary within seminar.
Option 2: Parents of Early Adults Interview
STEP 1: For this assignment, you need to interview the parent of an emerging adult (18 – 25). Examples of questions to discuss, which are based on research by Arnett & Schwab (2013), are found below.
Some questions to consider:
1. Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of a role model as a parent?
2. How often are you in contact with your emerging adult child?
3. What means do you most frequently use to keep in contact (face-to-face, phone calls, texting, social media, etc.)?
4. How has your relationship changed with your emerging adult child over time?
5. How much financial support do you provide to your child? How does this compare with what your parents provided when you were in your twenties?
6. If you feel comfortable to share, what are the main sources of conflict, if any, that you have with your child at this stage of life?
7. What are the main worries and concerns that you have about your child?
8. Which of the following factors do you consider to be important in reaching adulthood? (accepting responsibility for oneself; becoming financially independent; making independent decisions; finishing education; getting married; move out of parents’ house)
9. Do you see your child as an adult?
10. Many people believe that young people today take longer to reach adulthood than 30 or 40 years ago. Do you see this as positive, negative, or both? For what reasons?
STEP 2: For your written submission, summarize your interview experience by reflecting on:
1. What did you learn from this experience?
2. How does what you learned connect back to course content? Identify and explain at least two specific course concepts or principles that are relevant to your interview experience.
3. How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally?
Source: https://getlibraryhelp.highlands.edu/c.php?g=837680&p=5983263
Independent learning Activities CNUR 106 Winter 2021 4
ACTIVITY 3: MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
STEP 1: Students can choose to complete one of the following interview options listed below.
STEP 2: Once you have completed one of the interview options below, complete your written reflection summary. Within approximately 250-500 words, reflect on the following 3 questions:
1. What did you learn from this activity/experience?
2. How does what you learned connect back to course content? (Link to specific example/concept or theory in CNUR 106)
3. How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally?
Option 1: Middle Adulthood Interview Discussion
Interview someone that is between the ages of 40 – 60. Use the questions below, or other questions of your choosing, to gain a better understanding of development that has occurred up to this stage of life.
Questions to consider:
1. What is the best part about your current stage of life? What is the worst?
2. Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of a role model?
3. How have you changed since you were in your twenties and thirties?
4. Do you consider yourself to be “old”? In your opinion, what makes someone “old”? (Note: Consider how you would ask this question in a respectful manner).
5. How have your priorities changed over the past twenty years?
6. Are you married or in a committed relationship? If you feel comfortable sharing, how has your relationship changed over the years?
7. Do you have children? If so, in what ways have you changed as a result of being a parent? How has your relationship with your children changed over the years?
8. How is your life different than you thought it would be when you were younger?
9. Have you experienced any changes in your career or job description? If so, what kind of impact have those changes had on your life?
Option 2: Cultural Influences on Development
Find a person between the ages of 40 and 65 who is from a different cultural background as yourself—someone who themselves or their parents were born outside of your own birth nation.
Some examples of questions you might ask could be:
1. What is your best child memory and for what reason?
2. Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of a role model?
3. How does your culture tend to view aging—including things like menopause?
4. How are the elderly generally viewed in your culture?
5. How is marriage and divorce generally viewed in your culture?
6. How would you describe the traditional relationship between parents and children in your culture? What is parenting traditionally like? Are there differences in your family experience?
7. In what ways do you think your cultural background most affected your development?
8. What is a goal that that you would like to accomplish in the next five years? How does your cultural perspective shape that goal?
9. How is life most similar being a teen as compared with life for teens today? Would you want to trade places with today’s teenagers and live in the world they have grown up in rather than the way that you grew up?
Independent learning Activities CNUR 106 Winter 2021 5
10. What is a piece of advice that you would offer to someone younger than you?
Source : https://getlibraryhelp.highlands.edu/c.php?g=837680&p=5983263
ACTIVITY 4: OLDER ADULTHOOD
STEP 1: Elder Interview- Choose an Older Adult/Elder who no longer has children in the home, such as one of your grandparents, to interview. Create a list of 5 – 10 questions that you would like to ask this individual that will help him or her to reflect on life.
Some examples of questions you might ask could be:
1. What is your best childhood memory and for what reason?
2. What do you feel has been the most important success in your life so far?
3. What are some of the turning points that you have experienced in your life?
4. Who are some people that have had the most profound impact on your life? Why?
5. What do you wish you had known earlier in your life that you know now?
6. What are some of the major difficulties that you experienced in your life? How did you deal with them?
7. If you feel comfortable sharing, are there things you wish you had done differently?
8. How have your views, philosophies, and the way that you see people changed over time?
9. What would you like your children and grandchildren to remember about you?
10. Do you think about what happens after death as you grow older?
11. In your opinion, how has society changed since your 30s?
12. Have you noticed a change in how you think since being 40? What about your memory?
13. What do you see as your life’s purpose? How did you come to such a conclusion?
14. What advice would you give to people in different stages of life, such as teens, young adults, young parents, or older parents?
STEP 2: Once you have completed your interview, complete your written reflection summary. Within approximately 250-500 words, reflect on the following 3 questions:
1. What did you learn from this experience? Summarize your experience and share your general impressions about it.
2. How does what you learned connect back to course content? After your introduction, identify and explain at least two specific course concepts from your readings that are relevant to your interview.
3. How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally?
Activity 5: Closure Seminar Activity
Defining Happiness
STEP 1: Watch this TED talk by Robert Waldinger, psychiatrist and professor at Harvard Medical School. He discusses some of the results of the Grant study, which has followed groups of men over a 75-year, longitudinal study, and explains some of the factors leading to a happy life.
https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness?language=en (12:39 mins)
Independent learning Activities CNUR 106 Winter 2021 6
STEP 2: After viewing this video about lessons from the longest study on happiness, ask yourself and write down your answers the following questions.
1. How do I define happiness for myself?
2. Do I consider myself a happy person right now?
3. What do I need in my life in life in order to be happy?
4. Who are the people in my life who affect my happiness?
5. Do you think you will feel the same when you turn 65? Why or why not?
STEP 3: Talk to a grandparent or another relative or person you know who is at least 60-years old and ask them the following questions:
1. How do you define happiness for yourself?
2. Do you consider yourself a happy person right now?
3. What do you need in your life in life in order to be happy?
4. Who are the people in your life who affect your happiness?
5. Did you feel the same way when you were my age?
6. What is the biggest difference between what you thought would make you happy when you were younger and what did make you happy as you got older?
STEP 4: Once you have completed the interview, complete your written reflection summary. Within approximately 250-500 words, reflect on the following 3 questions:
1. What did you learn from this experience?
2. How does what you learned connect back to course content? (Link to specific example/concept or theory in CNUR 106)
3. How can I apply what I am learning professionally or personally?
As you write your reflection, compare and contrast your own answers to the questions and those provided by the elder you interviewed. Were there similarities in your answers? What were some of the differences? Do you think happiness means something vastly different for younger vs. older people? Explain.
