- About
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Undergraduate
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- Major in Human Development and Family Studies
- Associate Degree in Human Development and Family Studies
- Minor in Human Development and Family Studies
- Honors Study in Human Development and Family Studies
- Courses
- Campuses
- Advising
- Student Profiles
- Student Organizations
- Study Abroad
- Research and Teaching Opportunities
- Internships
- Career Opportunities
- Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Visit and Apply
- Contact
- Graduate
- Alumni
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Research
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- Current Research
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Research Expertise
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Areas of Specialization
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- Research Area of Specialization: Family Development
- Research Area of Specialization: Individual Development — Childhood
- Research Area of Specialization: Individual Development — Adolescence
- Research Area of Specialization: Individual Development — Adulthood and Aging
- Research Areas of Specialization: Intervention and Prevention
- Research Areas of Specialization: Methodology
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Cross Cutting Themes of Research
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- Adolescence and Young Adulthood
- Child Maltreatment
- Cognitive Health
- Computational Methods for Developmental Systems Models
- Determinants and Promotion of Well-Being
- Development and Family Processes in International Contexts
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Family Systems and Processes
- Gender and Development
- Health and Family Processes
- Healthy Aging
- Influences of Stress on Development and Aging
- Longitudinal Methodologies/Designs for Studying Change and Variability
- Parenting, Parent-Child Relations, and Child Outcomes
- Socio-Cultural and Economic Diversity
- Substance Use
- Work and Family
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Areas of Specialization
- Opportunities for Students
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Research Labs and Initiatives
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- Facilities
- Methodology Consulting Center
- Quantitative Developmental Systems
- Study of Healthy Aging and Applied Research Programs
- Child Brain Development Lab
- Infant and Child Temperament Lab
- PA Twin Registry
- Project SIESTA
- Family Relationships Project
- Daily Stress and Health Study
- University Life Study
- Contact
Assessing HDFS Program Effectiveness
The Department of Human Development and Family Studies conducts annual assessments of our courses, teaching and internship program to determine whether our students are reaching these learning objectives and to identify ways we can improve our program. We draw upon three sources of information to complete these assessments.
Learning in Courses
In addition to evaluations of each instructor’s performance in every course, we track the performance of our students on tests and assignments across multiple instructors and semesters in our core required courses. For example, in our introductory course on Interventions (311), 92% of students successfully completed a written assignment in which they used concepts from prevention science to describe an intervention program.
Supervisor Surveys
More than 90% of HDFS majors complete a one-semester, full-time internship, most often in their final semester. To gain an outside perspective on our students’ preparation for professional roles, we survey our students’ internship supervisors. In a recent supervisor survey focused on professional and ethical standards, 94-98% of supervisors rated our students positively (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale) on (a) ability to act in an ethically informed manner, (b) cultural sensitivity and (c) professional standards.
Senior Exit Surveys
Each year we survey graduating seniors at the end of their last semester. In a recent survey, 90% of seniors reported that their education in HDFS prepared them “well” or “very well” to work in a human services field; 92% reported that their HDFS education helped them understand policies relevant to human services; and 98% reported that their HDFS education helped them understand how individual and family differences affect the delivery of human services. In another senior exit survey, 97% of seniors reported they were well or very well prepared to work with children, youth, adults, and families in a professional and ethical way.
- Accreditation
- Program Goals
- Learning Objectives
- Program Effectiveness