Assessment: Formal essay on human development and life transition issues
Aim of assessment: This assessment item aims to provide you with an opportunity to explore human development in depth. Throughout the unit, you will examine physical, sociocultural and moral/cognitive issues throughout the lifespan and understand the relationship of these aspects of development to an individual's self-concept. You will also be exposed to a variety of predictable (normative) and unpredictable (non-normative) life transitions which influence cognitive and social development (Hoffnung et al, 2016). This assessment item gives you scope to explore the cognitive and social development of children in more detail.
Please note the two topic choices for each option below are limited by the focus of the course you are enrolled in:
- Bachelor of Midwifery students write on Scenario Topic 1.
- Bachelor of Nursing students write on Scenario Topic 2.
Scenario topic 1: Bachelor of Midwifery students only
Read the following case study scenario:
Scenario topic 2: Bachelor of Nursing students
Read the following case study scenario:
Jack is 3 years old, and is attending day care two days a week for five hours a day while his mother Vanessa works. Vanessa is concerned that her son is not yet toilet trained during the day, especially since she has noticed that other children her son's age seem to have mastered this skill. Vanessa also has a couple of concerns in relation to her son's speech development with Jack only speaking one -to-two word sentences but "babbling" consistently most of the time. The Child and Family Health Nurse has reassured Vanessa that Jack is meeting all his milestones, and will soon gain continence and further speech development in his own time. The Nurse has referred Vanessa to a mother's group in her local area to discuss strategies for toilet-training and language development in a relaxed informal environment.
Topic: Drawing on relevant nursing, midwifery and social science literature, write an essay on the following topic:
What are some important aspects of cognitive and social development that occur in children between the ages of two and five years (2-5 years) and what factors influence this development?
Guidelines for Assessment
In your response, refer to the following components which are recommended for both scenario topics:
1. Refer to the work of at least one theorist in your discussion. You may of course, refer to more than one theorist.
Relevant theorists for Midwifery topic - Scenario 1: Relevant theorist(s) to use for the midwifery topic may include, but are not limited to:
- Piaget (cognitive development)
- Erikson (social development)
- Bowlby (attachment/parenting)
- Ainsworth (attachment)
Relevant theorists for Nursing topic - Scenario 2: Relevant theorist(s) to use for the nursing topic may include, but are not limited to:
- Piaget (cognitive development)
- Erikson (social development)
- Vygotsky (sociocultural development)
- Brofenbenner (sociocultural development)
2. Describe one or two examples of cognitive development. For example, Piaget's stage of cognitive development for the age-group chosen, or explain what cognitive development is and then give some examples of normative cognitive development for the age-group (criterion 2).
3. Describe one or two examples of social development. For example, Erikson's stage of social development /or discuss concepts of attachment and how this facilitates social development/ or you may wish to discuss the role of parenting or peers in social development (criterion 2).
4. Describe one or two examples of factors which influence cognitive and social development. For example, aspects of physical development may impact on cognitive development and parenting practices influence both cognitive (thinking and learning) and social (interaction) development. The environment and culture are also factors which influence the cognitive and social development of children (criterion 3).
5. Use at least two examples from the scenario provided to inform your discussion and refer to the scenario at least two or three times in your essay. This may be simply to name the age and identity of the character or to comment on other aspects of the scenario to inform your discussion. There is no need to reference the case study or write it out again for your submission.
6. Explain the relevance of understanding this life stage to nursing and midwifery practice.
Reference requirements -
You are required to include a minimum of five (5) recent references (2012 onwards), including two (2) journal articles, to support your discussion. Please note that you can use literature written within the last ten (10) years (2007-2017) as long as you include at least five (5) references that are published within the last five years (2012-2017).
Please make good use of peer-reviewed journals to provide evidence and examples to illustrate your points. The peer-reviewed journal collection holds examples of current research conducted with groups and individuals from all life stages, and reference to current research will greatly inform your discussion. A list of supporting references will be placed on vUWS to assist students to locate relevant material for the task.
Resources
i. Examples of helpful journal articles may be accessed via the Human Relationships and Life Transitions vUWS site on all topic choices. You are encouraged to start searching the e-journal collection and reading around your topics of interest early. Please refer to the unit's vUWS site for specific unit resources under assessment information.
ii. Refer to your academic literacy skills resource book from 401003 Professional Communication for assistance with academic conventions, writing paragraphs, paraphrasing, understanding paragraph construction (topic sentences) and referencing techniques.
iii. This submission is to be an essay format only. Please do not use headings in this assessment.
iv. A PCAL webinar session will be run to support students with developing the written paper for submission.
Attachment:- Resources.rar