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Undergraduate Catalog

2010 - 2011

BS in Family Life: Human Development Emphasis (46 hours*)

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The Discipline

The human development emphasis centers on theories, research, and practices related to optimal human development within the context of family life. Human development scholarship provides a life-span perspective for understanding human development within the family by helping students learn how children, youth, and adults develop, change, and face challenges throughout the life course (infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood). Our teaching strategy reflects a strong commitment to better critical thinking and problem solving skills as students become involved in mentored learning research, internships, and outreach experiences.

Careers

The program in human development is a broad, liberal arts training designed to assist students as they seek professional activity (as volunteers or for pay) in settings where knowledge of human development and behavior is valued. An emphasis in human development prepares graduates to make significant contributions locally (e.g., one's own family, church, and local community) and professionally (e.g., working in the community services profession, volunteer or paid professionals for worldwide human service-based organizations).

Some graduates with a human development emphasis are employed in community action centers, childcare centers, residential treatment centers, programs for the elderly, juvenile correction programs, and youth programs. Still other students prepare for volunteer-based community intervention (e.g., Habitat for Humanity, Red Cross, and The Muscular Dystrophy Association).

Additionally, a human development emphasis is an excellent undergraduate preparation for those pursuing graduate school in human development research. Others seek professional certification by obtaining advanced degrees in school counseling, special education, clinical gerontology, and clinical psychology.

For students who are interested in teaching opportunities in public schools, a major in early childhood education teacher certification is available through the Teacher Education Department in the McKay School of Education. This certification qualifies individuals to teach kindergarten through third grade in public and private schools. The human development emphasis provides foundation courses for those preparing to enter early childhood education teacher certification programs (see Teacher Education Department for a list of these courses).

In addition, an early childhood focus within the human development emphasis prepares students for vocations that do not require teacher certifications (e.g., Head Start).

Program Requirements    |    View MAP

  1. The School of Family Life requires a minimum of 18 hours of upper-division major course work to be taken in residency at BYU for this degree program. (This requirement includes taking at least 12 hours minimum of the human development core in residency at BYU.) These hours may also go toward BYU's 30-hour residency requirement for graduation.

  2. Complete the following family life core courses:

  3. Complete the following human development life-span core courses:

  4. Complete 6 hours from the following human development topic courses:

  5. Complete 9 hours of any SFL course as electives/prerequisites.

  6. Complete three hours of a capstone experience from the following:

    7. Note 1: If SFL 490 is not used to fulfill the capstone requirement, it may be used to fulfill 3 of the 9-hour elective/prerequisite requirements above.

    Note 2: For SFL 399R and 403R human development related experiences are preferred. Only 3 credit hours of 399R or 403R may count towards the 46-hour degree requirement. Additional credits may, however, count towards the overall 120-hour graduation requirement.

*Hours include courses that may fulfill university core requirements.



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