The Psychology of Human Development, Crisis and Coping

Continuing Education Course

Breyer State University
Instructor: John Towler Ph.D.

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: This is a positive, applied and upbeat course designed for people who want to understand themselves, other adults, the things that happen to them and why they react the way they do. It focuses on normal development, the expectable events and why some people handle events easily while others experience great difficulty. We examine the development of the person throughout the lifespan focusing on the various tasks and potential crises at each developmental stage. These elements are viewed from the physical, emotional, cognitive, social and personality perspectives. The objective is to gain a better understanding of events and people’s reactions. The content includes an examination of common events, their impacts on individuals and groups, how we use various coping and defense mechanisms and the role of crisis interventions.

This course is designed to help you understand the normal events that occur over the lifespan. Normal means the things that one can usually expect to encounter in a normal lifespan. This would include growing up, going to school, marrying, having children, finding a job or a career, seeing your parents get older etc. Of course, not everyone experiences each of these things and I have included material in the course to cover topics like divorce, retirement, and mid-life crises because although they may not happen to you, they are no longer considered to be abnormal.

I think that you will enjoy the course and that you will find it practical and helpful. It will certainly help you understand some of the things that may be happening or will likely happen to you. The best way to make the material meaningful is to try to apply it. You can do this be seeing which ideas and theories apply to you and those around you. But keep in mind that we cannot examine at all of the things that can possibly happen to people.

TIMEFRAME: This course must be completed within six months once you begin as it is a 45 hour course. You may complete the course in less time. You will be awarded three semester hours of college credit, and a certificate of completion for 45 contact hours of study.

This course is self-directed with one-on-one mentoring by me. Communication is by email.

TEXTBOOK: The textbook was especially written for the course and is enjoyable, easily understood, yet authoritative, informative and practical. It contains checklists, exercises and links to self-tests on the Internet.

Book 1: A Love Affair With Life. .J.O.Towler, The Waterloo Resource Centre. 2002

It may be purchased from Specialty-Books, 6833 Industrial Drive, Athens, OH 43138. They can be reached at 800-466-1365. You can also order directly via the internet at: www.specialty-books.com

EXAMS: You should order the book as soon as possible since the course and the exam are based on the text. There is one final examination. It consists of 100 multiple choice questions. The exam is an open book exam, which means that you may consult your text as you take the examination.

GRADING: You will receive a letter grade, based on your achievement. Students who do not successfully pass the examination, may re-take the examination once more.
You will receive a letter grade for this course. It will appear on your CEU Certificate. The grading scale is as follows:

90%-100%    = A
80%-89%      = B
70%-79%      = C
Below 70%    = Fail

Upon your successful completion of the course examination, I will forward your grade and notice of completion to the administration of Breyer State University. Within two weeks, you will receive your official Certificate of Accomplishment, detailing the course, number of contact hours, your course grade, and the number of earned semester hour credits.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR: John Towler holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Alberta. He has taught at the universities of Alberta, Waterloo, South Florida, Lancaster, Aberystwyth, Reading and Purdue. He is currently a member of the faculty at the American College of PreHospital Medicine in Florida and Renison College, University of Waterloo where he served as Principal, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the college.

Dr. Towler has published more than 150 professional articles, and 8 textbooks. He wrote a monthly magazine column for five years and is a regular contributor to six online and print journals. He has conducted funded research for Labour Canada, The Humanities and Social Science Research Council of Canada, the US Office of Education, and the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

He holds memberships in the Canadian Psychology Association, the American Educational Research Association, Phi Delta Kappa and the Canadian Association for Gerontology.

Dr. Towler has lectured widely throughout Canada, the USA and the UK and is an invited speaker at professional associations, service, organizational and community groups several times a year.

REACHING YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I am available to you on an ongoing basis throughout the course. Please feel free to contact me at any time. You may reach me at the e-mail address provided.

To Apply, or if you have questions, follow the links below:

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