Student Originated Studies: Human Development

Student Originated Studies: Human Development offers advanced and well-prepared students an opportunity to design a course of study that acts on an academic interest in an area of human development; for example, a student musician who is interested in how humans develop musicianship, a student writer who wishes to document how the process of writing is developed, or a student who wonders how morality and a commitment to social justice is developed. The first two weeks of the quarter will ground students' understanding of stage theory as a model of human development, review research methodology, and introduce the workshop method of instruction. At the same time students will identify their interests in a specific area of human development. During the third week, students will design an independent human development research project and submit it for faculty approval. During week four, the program will attend the Western Psychological Association Annual Convention at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront. THe student fee/expense for attendance varies according to selected trasnportation and accomodations. Centered independent research and individual progress meetings with faculty follows week four. The last two (or three) weeks of the quarter will be devoted to "intra-disciplinary" collaborative learning, which requires each student to design and conduct a workshop that involves program participants in actively learning about the student's chosen area of human development.