Department of Human Development
and Family Studies

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Undergraduate ProgramGraduate ProgramCourse DescriptionsFaculty

 

About the Program

This department supervises the following degree programs and certificate:

• Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies
• Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies
• Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Studies
• Graduate Certificate in Gerontology

Undergraduate Program

The Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) offers a wide range of courses in the areas of early childhood, human development, interpersonal relations, and family studies. Graduates of the department may enter a variety of human services vocations and/or pursue graduate studies. Students interested only in selected aspects may elect to minor in the department curriculum or they may choose electives while pursuing another major course of study. A student may minor in HDFS by completing 18 hours of selected coursework. The specific courses for the HDFS minor are approved by Academic Advising Services in the College of Human Sciences.

 

Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies

From a foundation of research and theory, this degree focuses on development across the life span (prenatal to late adulthood) in the context of couple, marriage, family, and peer relationships. This program focuses on intrapersonal (e.g., personality, cognition), interpersonal (e.g., relationship conflict, self-disclosure), and societal (e.g., race-ethnicity, class) forces as they affect personal and family well-being.

Many courses offer perspectives on interpersonal and family behavior through development of the infant, child, adolescent, young adult (courtship, early marriage), middle-aged adult (divorce-remarriage, parenthood), and the older adult (widowhood, grandparenthood). Some courses also focus on important social issues that affect individual and family functioning (e.g., violence). Courses at the upper-division level provide professional training for students seeking employment in such diverse occupations as family life educator, extension service specialist, probation officer, child development specialist, or child care administrator.

Service-research skills are also enhanced by opportunities to observe and interact with infants, toddlers, and young children in the Child Development Research Center. The center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Students will be required to pass a background check. Supervised experiences with community groups provide opportunities for interaction with older children, adolescents, couples, families, and the elderly. These experiences assist students in understanding developmental stages of human behavior and interpersonal relations as they occur in family or group care settings.

Undergraduate students may want to specialize in one or more of the areas in which courses are offered in the department. These areas include childhood, adolescence-adult development, family relationships, or application-research. Students may specialize in one or more of these areas by taking departmental elective courses from the desired areas.

Enrollment in the department is limited and based on a 2.5 GPA. To continue enrolling in human development and family studies courses, students must maintain a GPA that meets or exceeds this standard. In addition, transfer students must have a 2.5 GPA. Students with a lower GPA may be provisionally admitted or continue to enroll in courses if a petition is submitted to the department and approved by the admissions committee.

Core Curriculum. All students in the department must complete the university’s Core Curriculum requirements. In addition, students in the department must complete the following courses to fulfill the college’s core requirements:

• HUSC 1100, Introduction to Human Sciences
• HUSC 3214, Human Sciences Seminar
• and either ADRS 2310, Understanding Alcohol, Drugs, and Addictive Behaviors; NS 1325, Nutrition, Foods, and Healthy Living; or PFP 3301, Personal and Family Finance.

Students majoring in human development and family studies must take the following core courses for a total of 27 credit hours:

• HDFS 2300, Gender Roles: Life Span Developmental Perspectives
• HDFS 2303, Life Span Human Development
• HDFS 3301, Theories of Human Development and the Family HDFS 3320, Contemporary Family
• HDFS 3322, The Family in the Community
• HDFS 3324, Dynamics of Family Interaction
• HDFS 3350, Development in Cross-Cultural Perspective
• HDFS 3390, Research Methods in HDFS
• and HDFS 4314, Community Practicum in Human Development and Family Studies or HDFS 4320, Research in Human Development and Family Studies.

Support Course Requirements. Students are required to take the following support courses for the major in human development and family studies: PSY 1300, General Psychology; SOC 1301 or 1320, Introduction to Sociology or Current Social Problems (also may be taken to fulfill the individual and group behavior requirement in the university Core Curriculum); ENGL 2311, Introduction to Technical Writing; CFAS 2300 Communication, Civility, and Ethics; and either MATH 2300 (Statistical Methods), PSY 3400 (Statistical Methods), or SOC 3391 (Introduction to Social Research I).

Specialization Areas. Students must select a total of 15 hours from A, B, and C in the following list:

1. Human Development and Family Studies Area – Choose 2 courses (minimum 6 hrs.)

   HDFS 2305 Developmental Assessment of Young Children
   HDFS 2311 Introduction to Early Childhood
   HDFS 2320 Basic Interpersonal Skills
   HDFS 2322 Partnering: The Development of Intimate Relations
   HDFS 3306 Child and Adolescent Guidance
   HDFS 3310 Prenatal and Infant Development
   HDFS 3312 Development During Childhood
   HDFS 3316 Development in Adolescence
   HDFS 3317 Problems of Adolescence
   HDFS 3318 Development in Young Adulthood
   HDFS 3319 Development in Middle Adulthood
   HDFS 3321 Human Sexuality Through Family Life Cycle
   HDFS 3326 Families in Crisis
   HDFS 3331 Parenting
   HDFS 3332 Aging in the Family
   HDFS 4306 Preparing Environments for Children

2. Application/Research Area – Choose one course for 3 hrs.

   HDFS 3360 Family Life Education and Ethics
   HDFS 3411 Laboratory Experiences With Infants and Toddlers
   HDFS 3413 Laboratory Experiences With Young Children
   HDFS 4000 Individual Study
   HDFS 4310 Managing Early Childhood Programs
   HDFS 4314 Community Practicum in HDFS
   HDFS 4320 Research in HDFS
   HDFS 4343 Advanced Topics in HDFS
   HDFS 4390 Program Development and Evaluation

3. Department Electives – Choose 6 credit hours of electives from A or B.

Curriculum Tables

• Bachelor of Science: Human Development and Family Studies
• Bachelor of Science: Human Development and Family Studies — Teacher Certification in Family and Consumer Sciences
• Bachelor of Science: Early Childhood Teacher Certification in Early Childhood to Sixth Grade

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Graduate Program

The department offers master’s and doctoral degrees in human development and family studies. The focus of the graduate programs in the department is research-oriented, and these degrees require a thesis and dissertation, respectively. These programs have prepared students for careers as university faculty, full-time researchers, medical school faculty, and human service providers. Applicants should contact the department concerning admissions requirements, programs of study, and financial assistance. Admission to a graduate degree program requires the recommendation of the department and the Graduate School. The department also offers a master’s degree and a graduate certificate in gerontology through its membership in the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance, a multiple-university association with online graduate programs.

Faculty research interests in the HDFS department are broad and multidisciplinary, creating many areas of specialization. Individual development research includes participants across the lifespan as well as within multiple domains of development (e.g., social, emotional, and cognitive). Special emphasis is placed on exploring development in context (e.g., cultural, ecological), and understanding developmental problems and solutions. Relationship process research includes inter-generational family relationships (ranging from infant-parent dyads to adult children and their elderly parents), close relationships (e.g., intimate and marital relationships), social interactions, and family issues (e.g., impact of work and stress on families). The department also specializes in research on theory, statistical methods and analyses, Hispanic and other ethnic studies, and issues particular to rural populations.

Master’s Program

Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies. Students in the master’s program take two theories courses (Theories of Human Development and Family Theories), research methods, introduction to statistics, and a colloquium in HDFS. All students are required to complete a research-based thesis and at least 6 hours of thesis research. Beyond these requirements, about half of the hours in the program (17 of 36) are electives, so students may tailor the program to their own needs and interests.

Great Plains IDEA Master’s and Certificate Program in Gerontology. The HDFS department is a member of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (Great Plains IDEA), a multiple-university association with online graduate programs. Through this organization, the department offers a master’s degree in HDFS with a specialization in gerontology and a graduate certificate in gerontology. The master’s concentration requires a total of 36 hours comprised of eight core courses and four elective courses. The certificate requires 21 hours comprised of five core courses and two elective courses. The universities that are part of the Gerontology program include Iowa State, Kansas State, North Dakota, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech. This program is designed to prepare professionals who are either working directly with older people or are involved in education and research related to aging adults.

The primary objectives of this program are the following:

• To provide distance education to a wide spectrum of potential and current professionals in the field of gerontology
• To integrate and maximize resources within and across institutions participating in Great Plains IDEA
• To advance the research and graduate education in aging so that competent, well-educated professionals serve older citizens.
  

Doctoral Program

Students in the Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Studies program also complete the master’s program requirements. In recognition of the methodological and statistical sophistication of the field, they take three additional quantitative statistics courses and a qualitative methods course. In recognition of a likely future career as college faculty, they spend two semesters in a college teaching practicum. Students are also required to take the lead on a research project (the 7000 project), prior to becoming a doctoral candidate and to complete a dissertation with at least 12 hours of dissertation research. Nearly half of the hours in the doctoral program (39 of 84 hours) are electives, so that students may define their own area of specialization. At least 9 courses must be related to their specialization, and up to 5 courses may be taken outside of the HDFS department. Up to 30 transfer hours may be applied toward doctoral program requirements upon the approval of the student’s committee and the Graduate School.

Noteworthy features of many graduate students’ degree programs include the following:

• Practicum: All doctoral students register for teaching practicum (HDFS 5101), the successful completion of which is required before doctoral students can teach for HDFS. Teaching practicum provides strong mentorship to emerging instructors.
• CFLE: The graduate program provides most of the core competencies required for Certified Family Life Education (CFLE), and several graduate students have pursued this certification.
• Risk-taking: This is a minor offered through the department.
• Women’s Studies: Many graduate students pursue a certificate or minor in Women’s Studies.

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Course Descriptions

• Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS)

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Faculty

Click here to view alphabetical listing of all TTU faculty and their academic credentials.

Anisa H. Zvonkovic, Ph.D., Chairperson

Professors: Bell, Caldera, Feng, Fischer, Haley, Hart, O’Boyle, Reifman, Scott, Wherry, Zvonkovic
Associate Professors: Colwell, Crawford, Fitzpatrick, McCarty, Mulsow, Sharp
Assistant Professors: Behrens, Cong, Kulkofsky, Niehuis, Trejos
Instructors: JohnsonBack to Top