mportance of Theory and Research in Child Development

Prior to completing this journal assignment, please read Modules 1and 2 in your textbook, view the “Endless Questions” video, and review any relevant Instructor Guidance. You may want to look specifically at the interactive media tools demonstrating information on theory which are provided in the Section 1.5 (within Module 1) of the textbook.

In a Journal entry of 500-1000 words, begin by reflecting on this anecdotal phrase that one might hear, “I did that with my children and it worked fine for them.”  Describe your own thoughts about this statement and explain why this may be true in some cases, but not in others.  You may use personal experiences or examples to support your evidence-based statements and opinions, if you wish.

Then, watch the “Endless Questions” video analyzing child development research and find one additional scholarly source of your choice (see tips and a link to tutorials below) and use them to reflect on and answer the following questions:

• Why is it important to utilize developmental theory to explain a foundational knowledge of children’s development?
• What makes scholarly research different from anecdotal evidence (or personal experience) in explaining child and adolescent development?  [Hint: Consider the methodology of the article you are reading.
• Identify and briefly describe the key points of one of the major developmental theories and why you feel that theory is applicable to child and/or adolescent development.

Finally, relate the value of continued learning with a concluding reflection on why we should incorporate both personal experience and scholarly research grounded in theory to help support any statements made in this class or any other professional setting.

You are required to utilize at least one additional scholarly source not from this week’s required readings (including, but not limited to, the multimedia in the recommended resources for Week One).  You must cite all of your sources (including the video embedded above) in proper APA style.  If you are unsure how to create an APA style reference page, please visit the Citation and Reference page on the Ashford Writing Center website. Aside from the video embedded in the prompt, you are to find one other scholarly through the Ashford Library website to help support your reflections in Part II.  View this great tutorial provided by the Ashford University Library which will show you how to find scholarly articles and how to assess the scholarly quality of the resource. 

NOTE: As you are completing your searches in the library search engines, check the boxes in the search engines of the library for scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. This allows you to find resources that have been evaluated by a number of experts in the field and do not represent just one person’s opinion.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entries.