{"data":{"id":1925,"title":"Understanding Human Development: Prenatal Through Adolescence","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2025,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"This book was created in good faith to ensure that it will meet accessibility standards wherever possible, and to highlight areas where we know there is work to do. It is our hope that by being transparent in this way, we can begin the process of making sure accessibility is top of mind for all authors, adopters, students and contributors of all kinds on open textbook projects.","accessibility_features":[],"description":"Understanding Human Development is an introductory textbook for individuals entering early childhood education and related fields. The textbook provides an overview of the developmental lifespan from conception to adolescence using social justice and ecological perspectives. The textbook aims to represent equitable approaches to understanding human development and discusses the diverse factors and interactions that support or hinder development.","contributors":[{"id":7737,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Terese","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Jones","location":"Oregon State University","background_text":"Terese Jones (she/her) PhD, Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University is currently the department chair for the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program at Linn Benton Community College, as well as teaching faculty in the HDFS program. Terese’s research examines how poverty impacts human development. Specifically, she focuses on how social policies related to education, health and housing help and hinder thriving development. Her current projects include a qualitative study of how educational opportunities impact the formation of future selves among low-income adults and an evaluation of the impact of free expungement clinics on employment and housing opportunities. Terese lives in Corvallis. OR with her partner and their teenage son, as well as a 90lb lapdog."},{"id":7738,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christina","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Belli","location":"Portland Community College","background_text":"Christina Belli (she/her/ella) M.Ed University of Alaska, is currently faculty at Portland Community College in the Child and Family Studies Department. She has worked with children, families, and educators for over 18 years as a preschool teacher, school counselor, school administrator, and now a college instructor. Christina’s career and research interests include examination of social and environmental factors in early development, the impact of trauma on children, family engagement in school settings, and culturally inclusive practices in teaching and learning. She lives in the Portland area with her husband and two young children. She enjoys spending time with her kids and learning with them. When she has free time, you can find her reading, traveling, or working on home projects."},{"id":7739,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Esmeralda","middle_name":"Janeth","last_name":"Julyan","location":"Oregon State University","background_text":"Esmeralda Janeth Julyan (she/her/ella), MS, Public Health Doctoral Candidate, Oregon State University, is currently the HIV Prevention Program Coordinator at Jackson County in Medford Oregon. Esmeralda’s research interests include health equity, access to services, sex education and practices, and the influence that social determinants of health have on people’s ability to be healthy. As the HIV Prevention Program Coordinator, she focuses on the prevention of HIV and other STIs, education, testing, treatment, and outreach to underserved populations. She lives in Southern Oregon with her husband and dog. When she is not working or reading, you can find her outdoors tending to her garden, hiking, biking, or camping."}],"subjects":[{"id":42,"name":"Psychology","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"BF121","visible_textbooks_count":51,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/psychology"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":1898,"url":null,"year":null,"created_at":"2025-10-22T15:37:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-10-22T15:37:58.000-05:00","name":"Open Oregon Educational Resources"}],"formats":[{"id":5004,"type":"Online","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/devpre2ad1e/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":5005,"type":"PDF","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/devpre2ad1e/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":5003,"type":"eBook","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/devpre2ad1e/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":5006,"type":"XML","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/devpre2ad1e/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":5075,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.lulu.com/shop/terese-jones-and-christina-belli-and-esmeralda-janeth-julyan/understanding-human-development-prenatal-through-adolescence/paperback/product-yv99y55.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":35773,"first_name":"Kimberly","last_name":"Brownridge","position":"Psychology Professor","institution_name":"Marian University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"From the perspective of a psychology professor, Understanding Human Development: Prenatal Through Adolescence provides strong and appropriately scoped coverage of human development from the prenatal period through adolescence. The text addresses biological, cognitive, emotional, and social domains across developmental stages, and the progression mirrors how human development is typically taught in undergraduate psychology courses. One area for improvement would be the inclusion of slightly more depth in late adolescence, particularly related to emerging autonomy, mental health challenges, and transitions into early adulthood, as these topics tend to be especially meaningful and relevant for undergraduate college students.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the material to align well with contemporary developmental psychology research and theory. Core frameworks such as attachment theory, cognitive development, and socioemotional growth are presented accurately and consistently throughout the text.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I consider this textbook to be highly relevant for students in psychology, education, human services, and allied health fields. Developmental concepts are clearly connected to real-world contexts, including family systems, schooling, peer relationships, and adolescent identity development. From my teaching perspective, the applied nature of the content helps students make meaningful connections between theory and practice.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear, accessible, and well-suited to undergraduate learners. I found that complex ideas are broken down effectively, and key terminology is introduced in a way that supports comprehension without oversimplifying the material. I think the addition of brief “key takeaway” boxes within longer sections could further support student retention and review.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The textbook maintains strong consistency in structure, tone, and terminology across chapters. I found that each developmental stage follows a similar organizational framework, which allows students to compare developmental processes over time more easily.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As an instructor, I find the modular design to be a clear strength of this textbook. Chapters and sections function well as stand-alone units, allowing flexibility in assigning specific developmental periods without requiring students to read the text sequentially.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the textbook is logical and pedagogically sound, moving sequentially from prenatal development through adolescence. Subsections are clearly labeled, and the overall structure aligns well with standard human development course outlines. From an instructional standpoint, I found the organization intuitive and effective, and I would follow the chapter order in my teaching.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The Open Oregon Educational Resources platform provides a clean and intuitive interface that works well across devices and integrates smoothly with learning management systems. From a teaching perspective, this accessibility is a strength. One area for improvement I identified is the inclusion of more interactive elements, such as embedded videos or self-check quizzes, to further support engagement in online and hybrid learning environments.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is professionally edited and free of noticeable grammatical or typographical errors. Sentence structure and tone are appropriate for an academic audience while remaining readable and approachable for undergraduate students.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I found that the textbook demonstrates thoughtful attention to cultural, socioeconomic, and family diversity and acknowledges the role of context in shaping development. To strengthen cultural relevance further, I think future editions could include more discussion of intersectionality, systemic inequities, and culturally specific developmental experiences, particularly during adolescence.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, I would recommend Understanding Human Development: Prenatal Through Adolescence as a high-quality, accessible, and well-organized OER textbook for undergraduate human development and psychology courses. Its strengths in clarity, relevance, modularity, and organization make it a strong instructional resource. The few modest enhancements I found include expanded case studies, greater integration of cultural experiences, and additional interactive elements.","created_at":"2026-02-10T13:06:02.000-06:00","updated_at":"2026-02-10T13:06:02.000-06:00"},{"id":35981,"first_name":"Michelle","last_name":"Wright","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Eastern Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The material is comprehensive and provides strong coverage of human development from prenatal to adolescence. It covers major developmental domains (physical, cognitive, language, social-emotional, adaptive, moral, identity, and sexual development) and integrates cultural, environmental, and equity issues. The material is easy to locate by developmental period and the comprehensive nature of the book is further supported by the detailed table of contents, glossary, self-check questions and references in the chapter.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Materials are presenting clearly, including concepts, theories, and research; the materials have a clear voice that is academic as well. There is attention given to cultural contexts, diversity, equity, and historical biases. It does not present development with one perspective, and instead incorporates various perspectives.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"It integrates established developmental theories and concepts with current research, and attention to cultural, environmental, and social influences on development. The arrangement by developmental stages and domains should allow for revision of individual topics, research results and resources without needing large scale revision of the text. The authors also describe the work as a living resource that can be revised based on feedback, which enhances its usefulness over the long term.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The material is appropriate for students, especially those who are encountering the subject matter for the first time. When technical jargon is included, it is introduced and clearly defined. All chapters include key terms and learning objectives, which help guide students through reading hte materials.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text has a uniform framework in all periods of development. The terminology introduced early in the book, especially the developmental domains, is carried throughout the later chapters and the chapters follow a generally consistent structure with learning objectives, key concepts, developmental content, conclusions, and references. The organization helps students to relate concepts across infancy, childhood and adolescence without major changes in terminology or approach.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text has a uniform framework in all periods of development. The terminology introduced early in the book, especially the developmental domains, is carried throughout the later chapters and the chapters follow a generally consistent structure with learning objectives, key concepts, developmental content, conclusions, and references. The organization helps students to relate concepts across infancy, childhood and adolescence without major changes in terminology or approach.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There is logic applied to the organization of the materials. It follows foundational concepts first, along with theories, and then cycles through conception through adolescence, in chronological order. This creates a predictable pattern for navigating through materials.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The visual depection of material is clean and easy to navigate. It is clear where chapters begin and end, and where subsections begin and end. Figures and other visual elements are complementary and make sense in the context of the sections in which they are added. There are multiple formats for accessing the text. There were no issues with distorted images or confusing layouts.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"In general the writing is good and easy to understand with very few grammatical problems. But I noticed the odd awkward wording, punctuation or sentence-construction issues, that could use more copyediting. These are minor problems and mostly do not interfere with understanding but I would be reluctant to award a 5 if that implies that there are no grammatical errors in the material.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The major strength of this textbook is the cultural relevance. There are deliberate attempts (and succcesfully so) to include diverse cultural perspectives, including those about culture, race, SES, community, and other systems, and how they influence development. Western developmental perspectives are not considered as the sole explanation of human development.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, I thought this was a good, well-designed textbook. The intentionality of this text in integrating diversity, equity and cultural context throughout the study of development rather than treating these as separate or supplemental is one of its greatest strengths. The text is organized by developmental period and domain, which makes it easy to use for students and flexible for instructors. I also enjoyed the case studies, learning objectives, self-check questions and other features that help students to apply developmental concepts, not memorize them. Another strength is the open-access format, which reduces financial barriers for students. Overall, I would feel comfortable using this text in an undergraduate course in human development.","created_at":"2026-09-12T08:05:27.000-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-12T08:05:27.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/understanding-human-development-prenatal-through-adolescence","updated_at":"2026-09-12T08:05:27.000-05:00"}}