Psychological Sciences and Techniques

The course presents developmental changes throughout the lifespan, discussing theoretical models of developmental psychology and the main methods of assessment. The course is divided into two thematic areas: Part 1 (30 hours) is about themes and questions of developmental psychology and introduces the main theoretical approaches. Furthermore, human development is described in the different domains (physical and motor, perceptive, cognitive, linguistic and communicative, emotional, social and moral) and contexts. Part 2 (24 hours) illustrates methods and assessment tools used in developmental psychology. A specific section focuses on the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying, with particular attention towards the assessment, prevention and intervention tools in educational contexts. Furthermore, optional interactive and collaborative activities will be proposed. These activities will be evaluated with extra points which will be added to the exam grade.

The critical skills of understanding and analyzing the textbook are necessary for the successful attendance of the course as well as the ability to study independently and the skills of communicating in a group for collaborative activities.

1. Leman, L. et al. (2023). Psicologia dello sviluppo. McGraw Hill (excluded Chapter 14). 2. Cassibba, R., & Salerni, N. (2023). L’osservazione nei contesti educativi. Tecniche e strumenti. Carocci. 3. Menesini, E., Palladino, E., & Nocentini, A. (2017). Prevenire e contrastare il bullismo e il cyberbullismo: Approcci universali, selettivi e indicati. Il Mulino.

It is recommended to follow the asynchronous video lessons in the suggested order and time for each week. Attendance at the webinars and interactive and collaborative activities is optional, but strongly recommended.

The exam is written and includes 3 open-ended questions about the topics of the course, one from each textbook. Questions are evaluated with a score from 0 to 10. To pass the exam it is mandatory to obtain at least a sufficient evaluation (score = 6) in each of the three questions. Therefore, the exam is considered passed with an overall score of at least 18 while the maximum score is 30. To this score, honors can be added if the student demonstrates excellent mastery of the topics covered during the course. Only for students that achieve at least a sufficient score (18), the extra points obtained in the optional activities will be added to the final grade. The exam questions aim to evaluate knowledge of the most relevant topics in developmental psychology, regarding theoretical approaches, research methodologies and the main changes over the life span in the different domains. The questions are also aimed at assessing the student's ability to critically analyze course topics and to use scientific language appropriately.

The course includes asynchronous video lessons presenting theoretical contents, as well as synchronous webinars finalized to promote group discussions and critical thinking about the course topics. Interactive and collaborative activities will also be proposed to encourage the application of the acquired knowledge.

The course presents developmental changes throughout the lifespan, discussing theoretical models of developmental psychology and the main methods of assessment. The course is divided into two thematic areas: Part 1 (30 hours) is about themes and questions of developmental psychology and introduces the main theoretical approaches. Furthermore, human development is described in the different domains (physical and motor, perceptive, cognitive, linguistic and communicative, emotional, social and moral) and contexts. Part 2 (24 hours) illustrates methods and assessment tools used in developmental psychology. A specific section focuses on the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying, with particular attention towards the assessment, prevention and intervention tools in educational contexts. Furthermore, optional interactive and collaborative activities will be proposed. These activities will be evaluated with extra points which will be added to the exam grade.

The critical skills of understanding and analyzing the textbook are necessary for the successful attendance of the course as well as the ability to study independently and the skills of communicating in a group for collaborative activities.

1. Leman, L. et al. (2023). Psicologia dello sviluppo. McGraw Hill (excluded Chapter 14). 2. Cassibba, R., & Salerni, N. (2023). L’osservazione nei contesti educativi. Tecniche e strumenti. Carocci. 3. Menesini, E., Palladino, E., & Nocentini, A. (2017). Prevenire e contrastare il bullismo e il cyberbullismo: Approcci universali, selettivi e indicati. Il Mulino.

It is recommended to follow the asynchronous video lessons in the suggested order and time for each week. Attendance at the webinars and interactive and collaborative activities is optional, but strongly recommended.

The exam is written and includes 3 open-ended questions about the topics of the course, one from each textbook. Questions are evaluated with a score from 0 to 10. To pass the exam it is mandatory to obtain at least a sufficient evaluation (score = 6) in each of the three questions. Therefore, the exam is considered passed with an overall score of at least 18 while the maximum score is 30. To this score, honors can be added if the student demonstrates excellent mastery of the topics covered during the course. Only for students that achieve at least a sufficient score (18), the extra points obtained in the optional activities will be added to the final grade. The exam questions aim to evaluate knowledge of the most relevant topics in developmental psychology, regarding theoretical approaches, research methodologies and the main changes over the life span in the different domains. The questions are also aimed at assessing the student's ability to critically analyze course topics and to use scientific language appropriately.

The course includes asynchronous video lessons presenting theoretical contents, as well as synchronous webinars finalized to promote group discussions and critical thinking about the course topics. Interactive and collaborative activities will also be proposed to encourage the application of the acquired knowledge.