Emergency Assistance Available

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as food insecurity, housing, transportation, and childcare concerns, or you may be unable to pay your bills. These stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce your ability to participate in daily activities. TSTC offers emergency aid and services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. Please contact the TSTC Advocacy & Resource Center.

You can reach a coach here: http://bit.ly/ARCCoach

Title IX

Texas State Technical College (TSTC) seeks to provide an environment that promotes equal opportunity free from discrimination and harassment.

If you have been a victim of sexual harassment, sexual harassment, sexual assault, or any other form of protected class discrimination, we encourage you to make a report. If you report to a faculty member, she or he must notify TSTC’s Title IX Coordinator about the incident. You may also make a confidential report to TSTC’s Counselors.

All students (including pregnant and parent students), regardless of their legal status are entitled to protections under TSTC’s policy.

For more information about Title IX or sexual misconduct, as well as your options, please visit https://www.tstc.edu/student_life/titleix.

For information about equal opportunity and civil rights policies, visit https://www.tstc.edu/governance/sos.

Student Uniforms Requirement

Fully Online Students

Texas State Technical College requires all students to wear a program-specific uniform while attending functions on and off campus. This uniform is available for purchase at the campus bookstore. As a student in a fully online program you are required to purchase at least two program-specific uniforms in the event you attend any in person or off campus learning opportunities or events (i.e. Job Fairs, Resume & Interview workshops, and media interviews).

Hybrid & F2F Students

Texas State Technical College requires all students to wear a program-specific uniform while attending functions and labs on and off campus. This uniform is available for purchase at the campus bookstore. As a student in a hybrid program you are required to purchase at least two program-specific uniforms to wear to in person labs and other learning opportunities or events held on or off campus (i.e. Job Fairs, Resume & Interview workshops, and media interviews).

Performance Based Education (PBE) Program Competencies and Traditional Program Instruction (Non-PBE) Curriculum Revisions

Each Program of Study, at least once a year, reviews its degree plans, courses, lesson plans, course objectives, course outcomes and/or competencies. They do this to ensure that each degree plan contains the most current curriculum and that it meets industry standards and requirements.

Students who successfully complete courses by meeting the minimum standards set for the course will complete the course outcomes and/or PBE competencies and assessments set at the time of enrollment. Course outcomes, competencies, and assessments can be updated at any time, especially from one academic year to another. If a student needs to repeat a course they may need to complete different lesson plans, course objectives, assessments and/or course competencies.

Example: A student drops or fails a course in the Spring semester. When the student registers to retake a course, some or all of the course lesson plans and/or competencies and assessments may be different. Therefore, the student will need to successfully complete the newest assessment requirements for the course.

Tutoring Statement

The Supplemental Instruction & Tutoring Program at TSTC offers free tutoring and academic support services to help you achieve your academic and career goals. You can access the Tutoring Schedule, as well as MyTSTC Video Tutor Library, by visiting: https://portal.tstc.edu/student/Student_Learning/Pages/Tutoring.aspx (shortened link: goo.gl/Z9vJvY ).

For more information, please contact Norma A. Salazar@ 956-364-4557.

Learning Resource Center

The Learning Resource Center provides online and in person library resources and services.  Go to tstc.libguides.com to find help with your assignments, projects, and papers.  Clicking the Student tab will allow you to find resources, homework help, tutorials, and real time chat to answer your questions.

• Identify some of the basic influences on human development
• Summarize four key issues in the field of lifespan and development
  
• Explain the different developmental perspectives of the major theories of development
• Describe research methods used in studying lifespan development
  
• Summarize the ethical concerns and guideline for research
• Describe the interaction of heredity and environment on development
  
• Describe the stages of prenatal development and the birth process
  
• Discuss birth complications
  
• Summarize the physical, sensory, learning, and social capabilities of the newborn

• Explain the biosocial influences on physical development throughout the lifespan as an ongoing set of processes, involving both continuity and change
  
• Discuss the various causes or reasons for disturbances in physical development
  
• Differentiate among the major theories and stages of cognitive development
• Discuss the various causes or reasons for disturbances in cognitive development
  
• Explain the biosocial influences that affect continuity and change in cognitive development
• Identify cognitive factors of responsible personal behavior
  
• Discuss examples of some of the socio-cultural, ethnic, political, and economic forces that influence differences in cognitive development

• Differentiate among the major theories and stages of personal and social development
• Discuss the various causes or reasons for disturbances in personal and social development
  
• Explain the biosocial influences that affect continuity and change in personal and social development.
  
• Identify personality factors of responsible personal and social behavior
  
• Discuss examples of some of the socio-cultural, ethnic, political, and economic forces that influence differences in personal and social development
  

• Explain what death means across the different stages of the lifespan
• Discuss ways in which people face the prospect of death
  
• Distinguish among the different socio-cultural experiences of grief and bereavement
  

Course Information

TSTC PBE Grading Policy for General Education Courses

(Grades for courses must be C or better)

See College Catalog for complete descriptions.

PBE Information

This course is a Performance-Based Education (PBE) Course, the name of TSTC’s course-based, Competency-Based Education (CBE) initiative. PBE courses require a minimum grade standard be met. For this course the minimum grade standard is set at 70%. 

Mastery assessments have been built to align with industry reviewed course competencies and you will have multiple attempts to reach this mastery level as outlined in the Mastery Assessments in General Education Courses policy below. All Mastery Assessments must be completed with a minimum mastery grade by the end of the semester. Your work in this course will be self-guided, which means that you will be able to determine how much time will be devoted to each of the learning modules with the guidance of your Enrollment Coach and Faculty member.  Please refer to the Guide Dates (suggested due dates in Canvas) to check your progress in the course based on a 15-week semester.  

A Mastery Assessments in General Education Courses policy is provided that will be followed as well. The final grade for this course will be determined by averaging all the Mastery Assessments, each of which must meet the minimum mastery grade requirement (70%).

Enrollment Coach Information

TSTC is here to help you succeed and to aid you through your journey with us. We have assigned you an Enrollment Coach who will assist you with scheduling your classes, guide you towards completing your classes on time, and let you know about all the services TSTC has to offer.  In order to help you stay on track to your great paying job, we ask that you meet with your enrollment coach weekly, whether in person, on the computer, or through a phone call.  These meetings won’t take long and we want to make sure you know how you are doing and how to get where you are going!  To schedule a meeting with your enrollment coach you can click on this link: http://tstc.edu/meetwithcoach.  Our job is to help you succeed!

Mastery Assessments in General Education Courses

In Performance Based Education (PBE) courses, you are required to show mastery of course competencies through assessments. At TSTC, general education course Mastery Assessments have the mastery level set at 70% or better. You will need to complete ALL Mastery Assessments at or above the required mastery level in order to complete the course. The benefit of PBE is that in the event you do not finish the course, Mastery Assessment scores will carry over to the next semester and you can pick up where you left off in the course.  For General Education classes, you have unlimited attempts for each Mastery Assessment. 

Before Your First Mastery Assessment Attempt

Before attempting a Mastery Assessment, you should complete any formative assessments (typically labeled “Practice and Apply” or “Activity” or “Lab”) included in the module. These formative assessments are designed to help gauge your understanding of the content and help you prepare for the Mastery Assessment.

After Your First Mastery Assessment Attempt

Instructors will grade your Mastery Assessment within 2 business days. While waiting for feedback on the assessment, continue working on your other course(s).

In the event that you do not meet the predetermined score to indicate mastery of the content, you will be given another assessment opportunity. 

If your first attempt score is between 50 and 69% on a General Education course Mastery Assessment, you can self-direct your module review or meet with an instructor to close the gaps in your knowledge, skills, or abilities.

If you scored below 50% on a General Education course mastery assessment, you will need to return to the corresponding module(s) and view all lectures, complete all readings and attempt or reattempt all formative assessments. 

After Your Second Mastery Assessment Attempt

If you fail to demonstrate mastery on the second and any subsequent Mastery Assessment attempt, you MUST schedule a time to meet with your instructor to review the previous attempts. The instructor will assign mandatory tasks for you to successfully complete before additional attempts can be made.  

Mastery Assessments in the Gradebook

The highest score from all attempts will be recorded for each Mastery Assessment.  

If you desire an additional attempt to raise your score, you must complete all Mastery Assessments in the course first and then contact your instructor for directions. Note: You cannot request an attempt to raise a score after the semester has ended. It is your responsibility to plan your coursework so that adequate time remains at the end of the semester to administer any additional assessment(s).

Deadline for Submitting Final Mastery Assessment Attempts

If your final mastery assessment has a manually graded section, the final attempt for the semester is due Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. CST the last week of the semester. This will allow your instructor the 2 business days to grade your assessment. Assessments that are computer graded will close at 5:00 p.m. CST on the last Friday of the semester.

Mastery Assessment Grade Carry Over

If you do not master an assessment before the end of the semester, you will pick up with that assessment the next semester. Any attempts on that assessment from the previous semester will reset and start over with the first attempt in the new semester. (Note: Failure to complete all mastery assessments in a course with required score will result in an ‘F’ in the course. You will need to register and pay for the course again to continue.)

Mastery Assessment scores are good for one calendar year. In other words, you have three semesters after the initial semester ends to complete the course. For example, if a student masters assessments for modules 1 and 2 in a course but not the third module in the Spring 2023 semester, they will need to finish the course by Summer 2023, Fall 2023, or Spring 2024 semester to carry over the scores for Mastery Assessments 1 and 2. The student will need to repeat the entire course if they wait until the Summer 2024 semester.

Course Updates

The General Education and Academics Division seeks to continuously improve the curriculum for our courses. These curriculum updates are based on the needs of the course, requirements from our accreditation agencies, and the needs of our industry partners. Students that need to repeat a course might find additional assessments in a class that must be completed to pass the course. If you are repeating a course, discuss with your instructor possible curriculum changes as well as where to begin in the course.

COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR:

Your instructor will correspond with you within your TSTC Canvas course via the Class Announcements Forum, Discussion Forums, and/or email, and Google Hangouts. Although you may receive messaging notifications to your personal email account, your responses should be made within Canvas or your TSTC e-mail account.

It is your responsibility to check forums, email, and messages on a daily basis. In the event that Canvas is down or if the instructor advises, you may email the instructor.  All correspondence to the instructor at this email address must come from your TSTC student mymail.tstc.edu email address and must contain the course you are enrolled in within the email subject line.

Your instructor will make every attempt to respond to your emails within 24-48 hours, except on weekends and holidays or instances of approved leave.

Virtual Open Labs

Virtual Open Labs are virtual spaces (via Google Meet) where students can connect with instructors and other students to discuss assessments and course content.  Virtual Open Labs are available Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  The Virtual Open Lab links for the Academics Division are:

• Anthropology/Biology
• Chemistry/Computer Science/Engineering/Physics
• DevEd/GenEd English
• DevEd/GenEd/Math AS
• Economics/Government/History/Psychology/Sociology
• TSTC 1101/TSTC 1102/Arts/Humanities/Philosophy/Speech

RedShelf/Inclusive Access:

This course uses RedShelf/Inclusive Access to provide students with instant access to their e-textbooks.  The cost of the e-textbooks will be billed directly to the student’s TSTC student account.  Instructions for opting out of RedShelf/Inclusive Access are included in the Canvas course.

Technical questions should be directed to the TSTC Help Desk: 1-800-592-8784, tstchelpdesk@tstc.edu