Final Essay. It consists of 3 parts. I’ll be online to help you if you have any questions about it.

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Final Essay. It consists of 3 parts. I’ll be online to help you if you have any questions about it.

To assist me in meritoriously grading your exams and to support a successful in-class activity:

  • Clearly label your responses with indication of the question to which you are responding.
  • Type your responses using Times New Roman 12-point font, double spacing, and 1-inch margins.
  • Use APA-style in-text citations and provide a reference list at the end of each response (i.e., at the end of Part I, Part II, and Part III). Helpful links: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/06/& https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/ ).
  • Combined, Parts I and II of your final exam should be between 5 and 10 pages in length.You choose how to allocate pages for those responses.
  • Staple a signed copy of page 3 of this document to the front of the hard copy of your final exam (Parts I and II).
  • Print Part III of your final exam separately without your name.

Part I. Mandatory Reflective Essay. Analyze your response papers for changes in your thinking about children, society, the changing world, life, your education, you as a learner and as a person, the way you understand yourself and others, etc. In other words, you and your learning experience in Children in a Changing World are the subject of the essay.

Within your essay, refer to a minimum of 3 different empirical articles that were assigned or posted on eLearning as supplementary from 3 different topics covered throughout the semester. This can include the “choose your own adventure” article and/or the article(s) that we covered the week of your presentation and literature review. You may also include mention of papers from your literature review.

Note: Question adapted from Brian Kaufman, as described by James M. Lang (2013)

Part II. Answer one question from Part A or complete Part B. Refer to a minimum of 3 empirical journal articles in your response, providing APA references for those articles. The references may include articles from class, articles from your literature review, and/or articles that you find as supplementary.

  • During the first day of classes, the course goal was described as an attempt to “learn more about what it means to be a child in this world”. A few relevant questions were mentioned. Answer one of those questions.
    • How do history and culture affect your understanding of child development?
    • How do poverty and rights affect the ways in which you think about how children develop and learn?
    • Does power have an effect on how people in the developing world perceive their own/others’ customs, values, traditions, and cultures?
    • Should we, in the developed world, change? If so, how?
    • How should we conceptualize childhood?
    • Critique child development theory/literature: Westernized? Outdated? Biased by social class/education?
  • Choose a “problem” that we discussed that children face today and discuss potential solutions to that problem, providing empirical research evidence as relevant.

Part III.Mandatory Predictions and Final Class Activity

Make Predictions. At the beginning of the semester, we addressed ways in which artists have depicted children and how those depictions have changed over time (e.g., Caravaggio, Millais). We also addressed ways in which generations in the United States have been defined (i.e., Silent, Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z). Consider the next generation – the children born after Generation Z, between 2015 and 2025, approximately – how will the children be depicted? How will the generation be labelled, defined and described?

  • On one page, present an image that captures the next generation. You may find an electronic image or create an image (by hand, electronic device, or using some other medium).
  • On another page, using easily-read typed font: Label the generation and describe the anticipated characteristics (nationally and/or internationally), probably in a bulleted list format. Your description may include mention of anticipated demographic characteristics, significant historical/technological events, and/or the prevailing zeitgeist. The page should be easily read and understood by a wide-audience in 2 minutes or less.

Final In-class activity. In class on the day that final exams are due, we will post Part III responses around the classroom. You will have the opportunity to view your classmates work and vote for the “best” predictions by placing a sticker. You may vote for your own predictions too. Votes may be considered as Dr. Grant grades the final exams.

At the end of class, you will be asked to go to YOUR predictions for a moment to reveal authorship.You will then also be asked to write your name on the front of both pages.