NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Course title: Child Growth & Development
Course prefix, number, and section number: TECA 1354.0310
Semester/Year of course: FA/2025
Semester start and end dates: 08/25/25– 12/13/25
Modality (Face to face/Synchronous or Asynchronous online/Hybrid): Asynchronous Online
Semester credit hours: 3
Course description:
A study of the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive factors impacting the growth and development of children through adolescence.
Course prerequisites:
None
Required course materials:
No textbooks need to be purchased. An OER textbook will be provided in the course.
Name of instructor: Mrs. Dawn Watts
Office location: Corinth Campus – Room 204
Telephone number: 940-498-6223
E-mail address: dwatts@nctc.edu
Office hours for students:
Mondays and Wednesdays: 12:30pm – 3:30pm (office)
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 7:30am – 9:30am (online)
SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER
The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.
SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
List of graded assignments:
1 Course Orientation 20 Points
4 Child Development Projects (4 x 100 Points) 400 Points
4 Discussion Board Assignments (4 x 25 Points) 100 Points
4 Health, Safety, and Wellness Activities (4 x 30 Points) 120 Points
12 Quizzes (12 x 25) 300 Points
1 Final Examination 60 Points
Total Points Possible 1,000 Points
Final grade scale:
A = 900 – 1,000 Points
B = 800 – 899 Points
C = 700 – 799 Points
D = 600 – 699 Points
F = 0 – 599 Points
Late work policy:
- Late work is not accepted in this course. Assignments cannot be made up or turned in late for any reason. Students are given a generous amount of time to complete all assignments by the due dates.
- The final examination cannot be made up or turned in late by any student for any reason whatsoever.
SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.
COURSE POLICIES
Academic Integrity Policy:
Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion. Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty. See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct
([FLB(LOCAL)]”.
Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:
1. Receiving an F on a specific assignment or in the course.
2. Being reported to the Chair/Dean for disciplinary action.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy
All assignments must be written entirely in your own words and reflect your personal understanding of the topic. Use of AI tools to generate, rephrase, or rewrite sentences, paragraphs, or entire essays is prohibited. This includes tools such as ChatGPT, Bard, Claude, Jasper, Quillbot, and AI-powered rewriting features in Grammarly. Students may use limited support tools—such as Grammarly for spelling, grammar, and style suggestions (words/phrases only), built-in spell/grammar checkers, and citation generators (e.g., EasyBib, Zotero, Purdue OWL)—provided these are used only to revise and format your own writing. AI-generated research may be used as a source in the same way as a search engine, but it must be cited in correct APA format. Any unapproved use of AI, in whole or in part, will be considered a violation of academic integrity and result in a grade of zero. The instructor may request a writing sample or meeting if submitted work does not match the student’s demonstrated writing ability.
Attendance Policy:
Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered. Attendance in an online course is measured by submitted work. All absences are considered to be unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies. It is the student responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval by the faculty member. Approved college sponsored activities are also excused absences. The instructor is responsible for judging the validity of any reason given for an absence. Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work. Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless they have reasons acceptable to the instructor. A student who is compelled to be absent when a test is given should petition the instructor, in advance if possible, for permission to postpone the exam. Student will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent or tardy a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives. Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)
Withdrawal Policy:
A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.
Last day to withdraw from the course with a “W” is: NOVEMBER 3, 2025.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Summarize principles of growth and development.
- Identify typical stages of cognitive, social, physical, language, and emotional development.
- Compare, contrast and apply theories of development in practices.
- Discuss the impact of developmental processes on educational practices.
- Identify the stages of play development (i.e. from solitary to cooperative) and describe the important role of play in young children’s learning and development.
- Demonstrate skills in practical application of developmental principles and theories, observation techniques, assessment, and recognition of growth and development patterns.
Child Development Programmatic Objectives:
- Identify the stages of growth and development of children ages 0-8.
COLLEGE POLICIES
STUDENT HANDBOOK
Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the Student Handbook.
ADA STATEMENT
NCTC will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities to arrange appropriate accommodations. See the OSD Syllabus Addendum.
STUDENT SERVICES
NCTC provides a multitude of services and resources to support students. See the Student Services Syllabus Addendum for a listing of those departments and links to their sites.
AI STATEMENT
Absent a clear statement from a course instructor, use of or consultation with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other similar technologies shall be treated analogously to assistance from another person, agency, or entity. In particular, using generative AI tools to substantially complete an assignment or exam is not permitted. Students should acknowledge the use of generative AI (other than incidental use) and default to disclosing such assistance when in doubt.
When students use generative AI to replace the rigorous demands of personal engagement with their coursework, it runs counter to the educational mission of the college and undermines the heart of education itself. Artificial Intelligence, large language models, and technologies hold promise for deploying knowledge in service to others and accelerating the discovery of new knowledge. However, such technology poses new challenges to pedagogy and to integrity. Within the context of the teaching mission of the college and consistent with the Student Code of Conduct, the authority to define the appropriate use, study, and deployment of these technologies rests with the faculty.
Individual course instructors, in coordination with their divisions, set policies regulating the use of generative AI tools in their courses, including allowing or disallowing some or all uses of such tools. Course instructors will set such policies in their course syllabi and clearly communicate such policies to students. Students who are unsure of policies regarding generative AI tools are encouraged to ask their instructors for clarification.
QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS
The student should contact the instructor to deal with any questions, concerns, or complaints specific to the class. If the student and faculty are not able to resolve the issue, the student may contact the chair or coordinator of the division. If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may proceed to contact the instructional dean.
Name of Chair/Coordinator: Danelle Wolf
Office location: Gainesville Campus, 1600 Building,
Telephone number: 940-668-7731 Ext. 4423
E-mail address: dwolf@nctc.edu
Name of Instructional Dean: Debbie Huffman
Office location: Gainesville Campus, 2100 Building, Room 2106
Telephone number: 940-668-3357
E-mail address: dhuffman@nctc.edu