Module 2, Lesson 2

Theories of development are sometimes seen as too technical to be useful.  However, human development theories can give us a lot of insight into why people are the way they are. This lesson will give you background on some well-known theories and theorists in human development and answer this question:  How can theories of development help us understand children's behavior and our own behavior?

Standards:

FACS 2.1.5    Examine human development theories

Activities:

1.    Look at these word puzzles:   

a.  MAN           b.  LE           c. l R l E l A l D l I l N l G l       d. TOUCH

   BOARD                  VEL   

        Look at the bottom of this page for the answers.  How did you do? How did you solve the puzzles? Did you use past experiences?  trial and error?  guesses? Throughout history, people have tried to find out how we learn and solve problems and why we behave the way we do. This  lesson focuses on cognitive and social/emotional development theorists and theories.

    Remember:  A theory is one person's thoughts about how something happens. This theory is usually supported by research, but it is still an "educated guess". You may or may not agree with all of these theories, but what is valuable is the thinking you will do.

2.    Follow this link to the web quest that will give you a background on some of the most well-known theorists and theories. You will want to download the web quest to your desktop or server to work on it.

3.    Now that you've completed this web quest, you have some basic knowledge about some famous theorists and their theories. Follow this link to the quiz over this lesson.  You may use your web quest for support as you take this quiz.

Answers:  Man over board, Bi-level, Reading between the lines, & touchdown