The mission of the College of Education at Northern Arizona University is to prepare education professionals to create the schools of tomorrow.
NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
Center for Excellence in Education
Instructor: J'Anne Affeld Ph.D., Psychology Professor in Educational Specialties Course Credit: 3 hours Address: Northern Arizona University, Box 5774, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 Office: (Bldg 27), CEE Room 144 Phone: (928) 523-2951 (NAU) |
Course Prerequisites : ESE 548 and ESE 649 or equivalent or instructor approval.
Catalog Description : Philosophy and psychology of teaching exceptional children with an overview of educational practices.
Course Structure : The format for this course is web based with textual readings, individual activities, on-line readings, group activities, and practical applications.
Course Description : This course will provide graduate students with a comprehensive understanding of behavioral theories and their application for practice as they pertain to students identified as having emotional/behavioral disabilities (E/BD). Characteristics, etiologies, legal and ethical concerns, and educational provisions of students identified as E/BD will be covered within the context of current research and case studies.
Philosophy about meeting instructional and institutional goals include :
Recognize the continuum of good mental health and the relationship to self-esteem, concern and compassion for others and ability to function in social, school and work settings.
Recognize, honor and build on a personal and appropriate mental health for self and students.
To familiarize class members with philosophies about discipline and mental health including behavioral, medical, social, cognitive, ecological and humanistic aspects of self and students in order to better facilitate learning and teaching.
To assist class members in acquiring understanding of self and students with respect to actions, needs, motivations, and then find pro-active ways to utilize a wide range of tools to balance roles so they are consistent, addresses content, honor multiple student and teacher roles and thus enhance learning and teaching.
To acquire a large range of management techniques for youngsters who are particularly challenging in the school setting and understand the structural differences among leadership options, including compliance, creative management, facilitation, motivation, reward, punishment, recognizing and honoring consequences, servant leadership, mentoring, and student leadership.
To be conversant with the theories and tools of the dominant paradigm (currently DSM-IVTR and International code, ICD-10).
To increase clarity about the value of honoring the individual ability to control self and develop a repertoire of tools and skills to facilitate student as responsible self manager.
To broaden personal experiences with current literature and research on emotional disabilities in children and management through web based instruction, including readings, essays, group interactions and class projects.
Course Objectives |
AZ Standards |
1. Demonstrate knowledge of special education laws and major litigation regarding the placement of children in classes for emotional/behavioral disorders E/BD |
Standard |
2. Demonstrate knowledge of special education law and major litigation regarding the discipline of children identified as E/BD |
Standard |
3. Demonstrate knowledge of differential child/adolescent development |
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4. Demonstrate an understanding of the uses of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder IV-TR |
Standard 9.4 |
5. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of current research findings related to E/BD |
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6. Demonstrate knowledge of prevalent diagnoses (e.g., depression, anxiety, conduct disorders) and their characteristics as they pertain to educational programming and educational interventions for students identified as E/BD |
Standard 9.5
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7. Demonstrate an awareness of gender, cultural, and linguistic differences which influence the over or under representation of students identified as E/BD and the effect culture can have on what is considered normal as well as abnormal behavior. |
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8. Demonstrate the ability to make programming and management decisions impacting students identified as E/BD |
Standard 9.5 |
9. Demonstrate the ability to improve professional skills through continuing education and involvement in collaborative activities with community agencies |
Standard 9.6 |
10. Demonstrate an awareness of strategies and interventions pertinent to the social and academic needs of students identified as E/BD |
Standard 9.5 |
11. Demonstrate an understanding of the need for positive teacher/ student relationships and its impact on student change |
Standard 9.6 |
COURSE STRUCTURE : The format of the course will be web based. Students may choose to be a part of a group through the university WebCT process, by initiating and participating in a chat room, or dialogue with other class members with the Buddy or ICQ process. Members may also meet in real time to develop strategies and competencies.
Students may work together to learn and perform activities and are expected to communicate and network at least once each week. In addition, students will converse with the instructor through web-based communication at least weekly. Tests and assignments will be conducted on-line.
COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS : Success in a web course depends, in part, on the hard ware and software that is available to the participant. To make the process pleasurable, it is critical to take the course on a system that is reliable -- that has sufficient speed to load materials quickly, that does not "crash" or freeze intermittently, and through a net provider that is consistently accessible. Optimizing your system is crucial to a feeling of success.
The computer system will enhance the web course experience if it includes multimedia capability, a 28.8 baud modem, 16 megs of RAM (minimum), Netscape 3 or above or Internet Explorer 4+.
Readings and Materials
Required Textbooks : To order this book on the web, you can click on amazon.comBarnes and Noble or varsitybooks.com . All necessary reading material is available on the web or in the text.
Coleman, M. C. & Weber, J. (2001) Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Theory and Practice (4th Edition) Pearson ISBN: 0205322093
And . . . .
American Psychiatric Association (2992) DSM-IV-TR. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4 th ed.) Washington, DC: Author.
+++ Expect to obtain a text on child development if you have not taken a class in adolescent or human development. It is essential to recognize normal development to distinguish between normal and abnormal actions. They are dependent, to some extent, on cultural and age expectations.
Examples of good texts:
Basic Text - Santrock, J. W, (2004). Child development (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0072820381 . . . remember that any edition will be fine.
Module on Adolescence - Rice, F. P. and K. G. Dolgin (2005). The adolescent: Development, relationships and culture (11th ed). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 0-205-40783-8 . . . remember that any edition will be fine.
Graduate text on culture and development – Comstock, D. (2005) Diversity and development: Critical contexts that shape our lives and relationships. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole ISBN: 0-534-57406-8
EVALUATION AND GRADING : Exams will be available on the web from the beginning of the course and will be open note and open book.
There are various projects assigned, based on the individual modules. Each module will provide a list of competencies, assignments, readings and evaluations. These exercises will provide practice in target skills for this class. The material offers participants the opportunity to sculpt the class to individual needs and taste. A personalized syllabus can be developed that tailors the class to personal learning style, age and grade interest and perceived areas that need to be augmented. All assignments will be graded on a mastery basis.
Final grades will be assigned based on completed assignments. Letter grades will be assigned, however, ALL course competencies must be addressed successfully to receive a passing grade. In addition students who receive an A must accomplish some extra credit project (of their choice). This is one way the student shows s/he has accepted personal responsibility for the course.
Grading
A |
All assignments in all modules completed and graded as excellent |
B |
Mixture of excellent and good grades on assignments |
C |
Marginal as the final grade on more than one assignment |
F |
Failure to turn in any contractual assignment |
Course Policy This class will underscore personal responsibility for education. It will also work on Bloom's Mastery Learning model. It will be expected that you, the student, will provide evidence of sufficient mastery of the material to show completion of the 11 objectives for the course. If you do poorly on an assignment you will be expected to work through the process of learning concepts or constructs until a satisfactory grasp of the materials exists. Thus, it follows, that a student with the capability to become or continue as an educator will finish the course with at least a B.
To earn an A in the course the student will fulfill a contract to accomplish a personal project or service activity. Only one extra assignment is needed per class, not per module. This project is negotiable, but might be something like:
Please remember : In order to receive an A, students must contract to become personally involved in the educational process, "going the second mile" so to speak, in showing motivation and interest in being a self-sustained learner. Only one extra assignment is needed, regardless of the credit hours taken.
Attendance : Continuity is important in a web course. Therefore, all students will be expected to maintain at least weekly web contact. The course is meant to be asynchronous, so in the event of a protracted absence, please contact the instructor Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu to keep her informed. After all, this material suggests that teacher student relationships are invaluable, and the instructor wishes to extend that community building, even in an external learning environment.
Under ordinary circumstances, three hour courses can be completed within a fifteen week period, although faster or slower progress is expected and welcomed.
Additional Information : Plagiarism or any other form of cheating cannot be tolerated. Any student participating in such activities may expect to receive an F. Assignments submitted to fulfill requirements in another class may not be submitted to fulfill the requirements of this class without prior instructor approval.
Group participation is also valued since collaboration and community building are an integral part of success classroom management. Working together is encouraged. Working together on assignments is seen as collaboration and networking and is quite acceptable. If you are about to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable or that sets up some feeling of discomfort - be safe and discuss it with the instructor. This is a course where " YES" is taught and modeled, so there is a good chance that the things you want to do will be valued.
Assignment failure = Class Failure
Reward yourself for hard work and find ways to be excited about learning.
Recommended Due Dates The following list provides a week-by-week rundown. To find a comprehensive list of assignments, remember to use the course overview.