Graduate Assistant is Kelly Schout: e-mail: schoutkl@muohio.edu
 
 

ON-LINE DISCUSSION SITE
CALENDAR OF WEEKLY/DAILY ASSIGNMENTS	GROUP INVESTIGATION MODEL
SOCIOGRAM INSTRUCTIONS

 

1. OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE/CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION:

MPF 201 Human Development and Learning in Social and Educational Contexts (3 credits). In-depth examination of theoretical issues and principles of human development and learning, including developmental changes, motivational and learning processes, exceptionalities and other individual differences, and dynamics of and social groups. The ways human development and learning can be fostered within diverse social and educational contexts and the interactive influences of contextual differences on direction and nature of these processes are a major focus for systematic inquiry. Note. For Miami Plan credit, register for 201.P. Majors and pre-majors register for section appropriate to your licensure area. IIIA. CAS-C. 201.A Adolescent; 201.E Early Childhood; 201.M Middle Childhood 201.K K-12; 201.P Miami Plan.

This class attempts to accomplish the Mission and Vision of the School of Education and Allied Professions:

"The EAP community, while committed to fulfilling traditional academic roles, endeavors to develop expanded roles consistent with our vision. We are committed to integrating our teaching, scholarship and service."

2. TEACHING STRATEGIES.

Throughout this course several "cooperative/collaborative learning" strategies will be used including, the Group Investigation Model (Sharan, 1994), Creative Controversy (Johnson, Johnson,  and Smith, 1988), Think-Pair-Share (Lyman, 1990), etc. Several graphic organizers (Bellanca, 1990) will be employed to teach thinking and autonomous knowledge construction within the context of a "cooperative classroom."  We will also employ the use of networked Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) using an established ON-LINE DISCUSSION SITE where weekly written "postings" will be made which will require reactions from class members to each other's postings. This element will definitely have participants "critically engaging" each other's minds. Also, this aspect of the class will be completely open and available for inspection throughout the entire class, by everyone in the class. In this sense, this class will be a "sun-shine" class where much of the work generated by participants will be available to the entire campus.  While some didactic lecturing will take place, I will intentionally try to avoid this type of instructional delivery as much as possible.

3. ESSENTIAL READINGS, TEXTS AND COURSE MATERIALS.

McDevitt, T. M. and Ormrod, J. E. (2002).  Child Development and Education.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, isbn 0-13-097401-3.

The McDevitt/Ormrod web site

ERIC databases at Syracuse

http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/

4. REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION.

Requirements for this class will include the following projects and activities:
 

• [30%] 3 TESTS.  Three periodic objective quizes will each cover approximately 3 chapters of materials.   Examples of quiz items will be available on the web.  Each quiz covers 3 chapters of the text. Please note the dates when they occur on your syllabus/calendar. We will be using a cooperative learning strategy entitled STAD or Student Teams-Achievement Divisions for these 3 quizes. Study group teams will be formed for each of the 3 unit quizes. Bonus credit will be available for "TEAMS" that do well on the quizes. Teams are not competing with eachother. This will be explained more thuroughly later.
• [20%] ONLINE DISCUSSION postings. Ten (10) weekly postings (REFLECTIONS) and reactions to others's postings (REACTIONS) in the class' "On-line Discussion" site will also be required.  This will be like an ongoing "electronic journal" of each members thoughts about the weekly discussions and related activities. All weekly REFLECTIONS should be posted by 5pm each Friday.  All REACTIONS should be completed by the following Sunday evening.  This will involve a minumum of 10 Reflections and Reactions.  At the end of the class each participant will be required to assemble thier personal postings in a journal-like format and make one last posting which summarizes what they feel they have obtained from the class. This will involve considerable "self-evaluation" along the lines of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence system, especially the "intra-personal" facet of intelligence.  20 points will be allocated to the 10 cycles of Reflections/Reactions and summary-conclusion.
• [20%]  One Sociogram Project.  This Group Investigation Model project will be required by each sub-team in the class.   This will be similar to a "Jigsaw," or "Group investigation (GI)" model cooperative group paper. Each individual's contribution will be like a chapter in the paper, and will be worth 8 points. In addition the collection of papers along with an "introduction" and a "summary/conclusion" section will be worth 8 points. The entire group will receive the same number of points which the group as a whole earns on this project (40 possible points). In addition, each member of the group will rate the contribution of all members (including themself) with regard to the quality of their contribution to this project. Highest rating = 8, Lowest rating = 0. The highest and lowest rating will be discarded and the remaining three ratings will be averaged and rounded to the nearest whole number. This project could be worth a total of 48 points!  CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SOCIOGRAM PAPER. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS ARE ALSO ON THE WEB AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/sociometryfiles/socio_introduction.htmlx.
• [20%]  FIELD ASSIGNMENTS.  Four weeks will be spent in the field.  Each of these weeks will have a specific field assignment associated with it.  These assignments will be word-processed, cut and pasted into our web ON-LINE-DISCUSSION site so that the entire class can see what you have observed in the field.  Each one will be worth 5%.
• [10%] PORTFOLIO.  An ELECTRONIC "portfolio" (notebook) will be organized, reflected upon and turned in at the end of the class. It could be constructed in a web format, MS-POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, or as a series of MS-Word files and documents, descriptively titled and contained on a floppy or zip disk or CD.  Any other software must be approved by Dr. Sherman.  It should include a cover page, table of contents, A SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE CLASS, and several items including:
•     A MOST RECENT COPY OF THE SYLLABUS and weekly schedule of events;
•     All your personal netpostings, both REFLECTIONS and REACTIONS,
•     Field Assignments
•     Documents retrived from the WWW,
•     Test results, and
•     related class handout items.
•     Every item included in your portfolio should have a short comment explaining what it means to you; ie., its importance to you, how it might relate to the text book or related lecture/class discussion, it's future usefulness.

The following Mastery, or criterion-referenced, grading scale will be applied to the weighted "percentage-like" score:
A+ GE 98 A = 94 - 97.99 A- = 91 - 93.99 B+ = 88 - 90.99 B = 85 - 87.99 B- = 82 - 84.99 C+ = 79 - 81.99 C = 75 - 78.99 C- = 70 - 74.99 D+ = 67 - 69.99 D = 64 - 66.99 D- = 60 - 63.99 F = LT 60

5.  INCOMPLETES AND ATTENDANCE!!:

Any incompletes not made up by the end of the semester will automatically result in an incomplete for the course. Also!!! when the incomplete is made up after the semester is over, regardless of what grade one might have achieved in the class, it will be lowered "one whole letter grade"!!!.
Classroom Attendance will be closely monitored and a maximum of two unexcused absences will be allowed. You will be "docked" TWO whole percentage points from your total percentage score at the end of the class for each unexcused absence starting with the third absence!