The purpose of this active learning assignment is to learn more about adult development through the use of popular technology (use of e-mail; discussion groups; web page development). I would like you to select one of these activities, collect data, and craft a short 5-7 page paper. A central requirement of the paper will be to present your data,as well as heavily integrate course material in the process. Major points off for papers that are poorly written, or fail to integrate the course material. Please keep in mind that becoming competent (e.g., building pretty web sites) in the technology that you use for this paper is not a central requirement. The quality of the paper and integration of the course materials is really the chief focus.
You are to choose one of the following activities over the course of the semester. A good write-up should be between 5-7 pages, and integration of the material presented in class and the book is required. While you are not required to do any outside reading on the topic, reading a review paper on the subject can not hurt. When referencing, please use APA format. Major points off for papers that are unorganized, sloppy, and/or ungrammatical in nature. Please refer to course guide for due dates. If you turn in an activity late, major points will be taken off.
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1. HOLD A "CYBERCONFERENCE" ON A TOPIC
The purpose of this activitiy is to gather a group of adults that you know and ask them questions about some aspect of adult development. Your objective is to get the adults to respond to a series of questions using e-mail or instant messaging. For those of you who are really good at this technology, the best paper would include data where the subjects actually respond to the responses of other participants (NOTE: RAW DATA, that is, sample e-mails from participants, must be appended to back of paper). This is possible through using a list serve, or via instant messaging, assuming everyone is logged on at the same time. The following represents some ideas:
* Interview, using e-mail, several older people who have remained in their professions for many years; professors, lawyers, teachers, executives, managers, doctors, for example. Why do they continue working? Do they have retirement plans? What are their secrets for maintaining a healthy career development? How do their responses fit with the material presented in class or in the textbook? Do the professionals seem to be in agreement or disagreement regarding this issues?
* Intervew, using e-mail, several young adults who have just started working in the "real world". What are the things that they like or dislike about their new situation? What were their expectancies going into this transition and how has reality changed these expectancies (might want to ask them about financial security, ability to get along with coworkers, job satisfaction, etc.)? Do they believe their educational training prepared them very well for coping with the realities of a first job?
* Interview, using e-mail, several couples
who have been married over 10, 20, and 30 years. What are their secrets
for having marriages that have remained intact? Ask them if they
are able to give several pieces of advice to young couples who about to
get married. How do their marriage profiles fit with research that
was presented in class or your textbook?
Keep in mind, the paper is not a "term paper" on your topic of choice. Rather, you are to analyze the data in light of the course material (i.e., material from textbook and lecture).
2. VISIT AND CRITIQUE WEBSITES DEVOTED TO
ADULTS (AND THEIR PROBLEMS)
There are many websites that are devoted to adults and their concerns. For example, there are websites on menopause, childrearing, retirement, health problems, depression, and the list goes on and on. You are to visit some websites devoted to a common adult issue, and critique the sites for accuracy (e.g., does the information dovetail with class/textbook discussion). In addition, many websites are interactive, in the sense that you can post messages for people to respond to. For this assignment, try posting some questions that pertain to the course material and document whether or not their answers dovetail with course discussion. Note: Some of the discussion group data must be appended at the end of the paper. Also, append the addresses of the website that you visited.
Let me give you one example (out of many) on how to do this.....For instance, you will learn in this class that most adults experience developmental changes (ranging from very subtle to very severe) during middle adulthood. These changes are due to many factors, and are influenced by biological (e.g., hormonal changes), cognitive (e.g., changes in perspective taking), and social (e.g., parenting teenagers) factors. While most adults experience a relatively minor transition when entering middle adulthood, there are some that experience a "midlife crisis". In order to gain some perspective on this issue, visiting discussion groups at Web sites devoted to middle adulthood can constitute a valuable learning experience.
Think about some of the following issues when visiting the discussion groups:
1. In terms of the adults proclaiming to be in a midlife crisis, what are the primary issues that are attributed to these perceptions? Are these the real issues, or do you suspect there are other issues that are occurring that the adult is not comprehending for the moment? Provide some examples, the reader may actually discuss these issues, yet fail to recognize that these issues may be the real antecedents to the crisis.
2. Is the person taking responsibility for their crisis, or do they tend to blame others?
3. Are there common themes to the stories? Can
you create a profile for an adult who might experience such a crisis?
4. Do males and females differ in terms of the stories? If so, how and why?
5. What solutions are offered? How do you think
these adults will resolve these issues?
6. Do you think these individuals are representative
of adults in general?
7. What might you do to prevent the occurrence of your
own midlife crisis?
Keep in mind, this example is just a template.
You can adapt this example for just about any form of adult issue.
There are thousands of websites out there that deal with adult issues, such as marriage, careers, parenting, retirement, caregiving, etc.
In your paper, you will analyze your data in light of the course material. Keep in mind the paper is not a "term paper" on the topic; rather, you should indicate how your data/information compares or contrasts to what was discussed in class on the topic, or contained in your textbook. Also, you must append some of the relevant discussion group data, and website addresses to demonstrate that you really visited some sites and are not making up the data.
3. CREATE YOUR OWN WEBSITE FOR ADULTS.
Your job is to develop a website that would be appealing to adults. In your paper, you must describe your website and indicate how the course material helped guide the development of the site, the rationale for the site, as well as relevant links. In terms of links, you can create your own pages, or you can access real websites to link to your site. You should indicate how information on the linked material relates to class material as well.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Creating a Web Site for Caregivers: One could develop a Web Site that targets individuals who care for individuals with Alzheimer's Disease. While actually mounting a Web Site on a server could constitute one direction, students that are less technologically sophisticated can develop a site on paper. For this activity you will develop a Web Site (not a single Web Page) that targets Alzheimer's Disease caregivers. It is important to spell out that the main objective of this site is to impart important information or services that is heavily guided by the course material (e.g., current statistics on problem behavior; information backed by empirical research; separate discussion groups for spouse versus adult child caregivers).
This is just one example....you can probably think of many sites that would be appealing to adults. Just keep in mind that your paper is not a "term paper" on the topic; rather, you should describe your site and indicate how the course material guided the development of the site and links.
Another hint; if you've never developed a website, try www.geocities.com. There is a link on this page that offers free website services. It's very easy and template driven, and your site actually appears on the world wide web!