Ed11a:

Child and Adolescent

Learners and Learning
Principles

Module 2:
Basic Concepts and Issues
on Human Development

Prepared by:
Maya R. Sanchez
Faculty, Institute of Arts & Sciences

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 MODULE 2
Basic Concepts and Issues on Human Development
Learning Outcome:

At the end of the unit, the students shall:

 Define human development
 Describe the developmental tasks in each developmental stage
 Discuss research findings related with the issues on human development particularly on
child and adolescent development

Overview:
The course deals with understanding the concepts of human development as well as the
characteristics and principles of the life span approach. The different issues concerning human
development which includes the issue on nature vs. nurture, continuity vs. discontinuity and
stability vs. change will be tackled to further give ideas on the emphasis on the study of human
development.
This module will also cover the topic about different research designs and data gathering
techniques used in the researches conducted about child and adolescent development.

Preliminary Activity:
Answer the following questions.

1. Have you conducted a research before? if yes, proceed to no. 2. if no, search
for a sample study on the Internet and answer the questions from 2-6.
2. What was the title of the research?
3. What was/were the hypothesis/hypotheses?
4. What was the research design?
5. How did you or the researcher gather the data?
6. What were the conclusions?
7. How were the results of the study being utilized?

Definition of Terms:
Cephalocaudal – development proceeds from head to tail.
Plasticity - refers to the potential for change.
Proximodistal – development proceeds from inner to outer extremities.

Content:
Human Development – is the multidisciplinary study of how people change and how they remain
the same over time (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2016).

Characteristics of the Life-span Approach by Paul Baltes

1. Development is lifelong.
2. Development is plastic.
3. Development is multidimensional and multidirectional.
◦ Development as a process is complex because it is the product of biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional processes (Santrock, 2002).
◦ Development is relatively orderly (proximodistal and cephalocaudal patterns)
◦ Development takes place gradually.
4. Development depends on history and context.
5. Development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation.

Stages of Human Development

Prenatal
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 Infancy (birth to 2 years)
Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)
Middle and Late Childhood (6-12 years)
Adolescence (13-18 years)
Early Adulthood (19-29 years)
Middle Adulthood (30-60 years)
Late Adulthood (61 years and above)

Developmental Task - is a task that arises at or about a certain period in life, unsuccessful
achievement of which leads to inability to perform tasks associated with the next period or stage in
life.

The Tasks of Infants thru 18-Month-Olds

 learning to trust their environment
 believing that their needs are important
 feeling loved and worthy of being cared for
 establishing a bond with their caretakers
 exploring their world

Tasks of 18-Month-Olds thru 3-Year-Olds

 becoming more independent
 beginning to see themselves as separate from the parent
 “owning things” – this age group does not like to share (even things that are not their own!)
 continuing to explore their world
 beginning to identify feelings and express them in appropriate ways

The Tasks of the 4 and 5 Year Old

 learning how to plan out and engage in a task
 continuing to explore their world and discover how it works
 learning how to use power
 learning that behaviors have consequences
 acquiring socially appropriate behavior

The Tasks of 6 thru 11 Year-Olds

 mastering difficult tasks
 accepting and following rules and internalizing them
 developing responsibility
 learning many new skills, including social skills (especially same-sex peer relationships)
 selecting adult role models of the same sex
 continuing to learn how the world works
 increasing their independence
 enhancing their ability to reason
 becoming more cooperative

Issues in Human Development

1. Nature vs. Nurture – nature refers to heredity or the biological inheritance. Nurture refers to
environmental experiences.
2. Continuity vs. Discontinuity – is an issue whether development is a gradual and cumulative
change or development involves distinct changes.
3. Stability vs. Change – this issue is on whether it involves stability or change.

Research in Child and Adolescent Development

The Scientific Method

1. Identify the problem.
2. Determine the hypothesis.

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 3. Collect and analyze data.
4. Formulate the conclusions.
5. Apply conclusions to the original hypothesis.

Research Design Description Strengths Weaknesses

Case Study An in-depth study Provides information Can be subjective
of an individual. about the individual’s hence, the need to
experiences that help exercise caution in
the psychologist making conclusions
understand the about the individual.
background of the
person’s development.
Correlational Study A research design Useful because the Does not involve the
that determines more strongly two manipulation of factors. It
association of two events are correlated, cannot establish cause
or more variables. the more we can predict and effect.
one from another.

Experimental Determines cause The only true reliable Limited to what is

and effect method of establishing observable, testable and
relationships. It cause and effect. manipulable.
involves
manipulating one
variable to
determine if
changes in on
variable cause
changes in another
variable. This
method relies on
controlled methods,
random
assignment and
the manipulation of
variables to test the
hypothesis.
Naturalistic Focuses on It allows the researcher It is difficult to determine
observation people’s to directly observe the the exact cause of a
experiences in their subject in a natural behavior and the
natural settings. environment or setting. experimenter cannot
control outside variables.

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Longitudinal Studies and follows Allows the researchers Expensive and time-
up through a single to record and monitor consuming.
group over a period developmental trends.
of time. The same
individuals are
studied over a
period of time
usually several
years or more.
Cross-sectional A research strategy Allows researchers to It gives no information
in which individuals record and monitor about how individuals
of different ages developmental trends. change or about the
are compared at The researcher does not stability of their
one time. have to wait for the characteristics.
individuals to grow up or
become older.
Sequential This is the Allows researchers to It is complex, expensive
combined cr0ss- record and monitor and time-consuming.
sectional and developmental trends. It
longitudinal provides information that
approaches to is impossible to obtain
learn about the life- from cross-sectional or
span development. longitudinal approaches
alone.
Action research It is a reflective Appropriate in a Typically takes place in
process of particular setting when one organization only at
progressive the purpose of study is a particular time and
problem-solving led “to create changes and could not be interpreted
by individuals gain information on within different
working with others processes and outcome organizations in the
in teams or as part of the strategies used”. same way. Therefore
of a “community of research findings are
practice” to impossible to generalize.
improve the way
they address
issues and solve
problems.
In the context of
teaching, action
researches of
teachers stem from
their own questions
about and
reflections on their
everyday
classroom practice.

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Data Gathering
Techniques Definition/Description
Observation Observations can be made in either laboratories or natural settings. In
naturalistic observation, behavior is observed in the real world like
classrooms, home in neighbourhood.
Physiological Certain indicators of children’s development such as, among others, heart
measures rate, hormonal levels, bone growth, body weight, and brain activity are
measured.
Standardized These are prepared tests that assess individuals’ performance in different
domains. These tests are administered in a consistent manner.
Interviews and Involve asking the participants to provide information about themselves
Questionnaires based on the interview or questionnaire given by the researcher.
Life-history These are records of information about a lifetime chronology of events and
records activities. They often involve combination of data records on education, work,
family, and residence.

Ethical Guidelines in Conducting Researches

• Research procedures must never harm children, physically or psychologically.
• Children and their families have the right to full information about the research in which they
may participate, including possible risks and benefits. Their decision to participate must be
based on what is called “informed consent”.
• Children’s questions about the research should be answered in a truthful manner and in
ways that children can understand.
• There should be respect for privacy. Information obtained through research with children
should remain confidential.

The DATA PRIVACY ACT of 2012 (RA 10173)

• This law is passed “to protect the fundamental human right privacy of communication while
ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and growth.”
• This law states that the collection of personal data “must be a declared, specified, and
legitimate purpose and that… consent is required prior to the collection of all personal
data.”
• [Link]

Impact of Teachers’ Research Involvement

• Teachers who have been involved in research may become more reflective, more critical
and analytical in their teaching, and more open and committed to professional
development.
• Helps teachers become more deliberate in their decision-making and actions in the
classroom.
• Teacher research develops the professional dispositions of lifelong learning, reflective and
mindful teaching, and self- transformation.
• Engaging in teacher research at any level may lead to rethinking and reconstructing what it
means to be a teacher or teacher educator and, consequently, the way teachers relate to
children and students.
• Teachers’ research has the potential to demonstrate to teachers and prospective teachers
that learning to teach is inherently connected to learning to inquire.

Assessment:
Research review. Form a group with 6 members each. Download a recently
conducted research (between 2018 to 2023) in child and adolescent development in
the Philippines. Summarize the content of the study and discuss the findings and
contribution of knowledge. Do not forget to include the title, authors, and
methodology. Prepare to present your output in the class.
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Module Summary:
Module 2 presents the overview of the life-span approach and developmental stages. It
also tackles about the issues in human development which are the bases for researches
conducted on child and adolescent development. Moreover, research designs and data gathering
techniques commonly used in human development researches were also discussed.

References:

1. Corpuz, B. (2018). The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles. Quezon
City: Lorimar Publishing Incorporated
2. Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2016). Human Development: A Life Span View.
Philippines: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.
3. [Link]
tasks/