Developmental Characteristics
Mid-adolescence, encompassing the ages of 15-17, is a period characterized by heightened emotional reactivity, an increased tendency towards engaging in risky behaviors, and egocentric thought patterns. The cause of most of these developmental characteristics lies in the asynchrony of the development of systems of control within the adolescent brain. During mid-adolescence, the development of the limbic system outpaces the development of the prefrontal cortex (Casey, Jones, & Hare, 2008). This leads to a struggle between the amygdala and related structures, which play large roles in emotion, and the prefrontal cortex and related cortical structures, which contribute to higher reasoning skills and the ability to …show more content…
This pursuit of immediate gratification through reckless behavior is amplified in the presence of peers, even when students are fully aware of the probability of negative long-term outcomes (Smith, Chein, & Steinberg, 2014). When risk-taking behavior among adolescents is discussed, the focus is often placed on behaviors that could have life-altering effects on students: reckless driving, having unprotected sex, or using drugs or alcohol. While these are all very serious problems, but are unlikely to show up in the classroom. Risky behaviors more likely to be witnessed in a classroom setting include cheating on tests, mishandling potentially dangerous specimens or chemicals during lab activities, or other misconduct that could result in physical harm to a student or their …show more content…
Adolescents’ increased abilities of moral and abstract reasoning, as well as the ability to consider issues from the points of view of other people, opens up a number of interesting options for class activities. In discussions about controversial scientific issues (genetic testing, labeling genetically modified foods), it will be possible to assign students to research and discuss the issue from the perspective of different community roles. For example, in discussing medical ethics and genetic testing, students will have the cognitive abilities to debate the issue from the point of view of a patient asking to be tested for Huntington’s disease, the patient’s twin who does not want to know whether they have the disease, the patient’s doctor, or other potentially impacted
Mid-adolescence, encompassing the ages of 15-17, is a period characterized by heightened emotional reactivity, an increased tendency towards engaging in risky behaviors, and egocentric thought patterns. The cause of most of these developmental characteristics lies in the asynchrony of the development of systems of control within the adolescent brain. During mid-adolescence, the development of the limbic system outpaces the development of the prefrontal cortex (Casey, Jones, & Hare, 2008). This leads to a struggle between the amygdala and related structures, which play large roles in emotion, and the prefrontal cortex and related cortical structures, which contribute to higher reasoning skills and the ability to …show more content…
This pursuit of immediate gratification through reckless behavior is amplified in the presence of peers, even when students are fully aware of the probability of negative long-term outcomes (Smith, Chein, & Steinberg, 2014). When risk-taking behavior among adolescents is discussed, the focus is often placed on behaviors that could have life-altering effects on students: reckless driving, having unprotected sex, or using drugs or alcohol. While these are all very serious problems, but are unlikely to show up in the classroom. Risky behaviors more likely to be witnessed in a classroom setting include cheating on tests, mishandling potentially dangerous specimens or chemicals during lab activities, or other misconduct that could result in physical harm to a student or their …show more content…
Adolescents’ increased abilities of moral and abstract reasoning, as well as the ability to consider issues from the points of view of other people, opens up a number of interesting options for class activities. In discussions about controversial scientific issues (genetic testing, labeling genetically modified foods), it will be possible to assign students to research and discuss the issue from the perspective of different community roles. For example, in discussing medical ethics and genetic testing, students will have the cognitive abilities to debate the issue from the point of view of a patient asking to be tested for Huntington’s disease, the patient’s twin who does not want to know whether they have the disease, the patient’s doctor, or other potentially impacted