Overview of Exceptionalities

Transcription

1 Overview of Exceptionalities INSTRUCTOR: De Anne Hutchison OFFICE: 2607A PHONE: OFFICE HOURS: Thursdays from 2-3:00 PM or by appointment CLASS TIME: ROOM: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 am to 11:20 am B501 Classroom DESCRIPTION: This course examines definitions, classifications, schemes, prevalence, causes, psychological and behavioral characteristics, and introduces education considerations covering a wide range of exceptionalities. Students are responsible for all materials, including: text, handouts, lecture and discussion information. OBJECTIVES: The student will 1. become aware of the unique individuality of each person in society. 2. become aware of the unique potential and learning ability of all individuals. 3. be able to define the terminology that is relevant to the course. 4. develop an understanding of definitions classifications, prevalence, measurement and causes of a wide range of exceptionalities. 5. be able to identify and list the major characteristics of a wide range of exceptionalities. Course Topics: 1. Introduction of exceptionalities 2. Mental Retardation 3. Learning Disabilities 4. Gifted and Talented Learners 5. Communication Disorders 6. Autism 7. Hearing impairments 8. Visual impairments 9. Physical/Medical/Health Conditions 10. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder 11. Social/Emotional/Behavioral Disorders Required Textbooks: Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today s Schools (7 th Edition, 2010), Turnbull, Turnbull, Wehmeyer and Shogren.) IMPORTANT DATES: January 03, 2014: Last day to PAY FEES January 13, 2014: Last day to ADD/DROP this course March 19, 2014: Final day to withdraw and receive a WD. If you do not formally WD in writing from a course you will receive a letter grade. 1

2 The final grade in this course will be computed based on the following elements. EVALUATION AND GRADING ASSIGNMENTS % OF FINAL MARK DATE ASSIGNMENT DUE Mid Term Exam 15% February 13, 2014 Disability for a day Assignment 35% April 9 th, 2014 Presentation 20% March 19, 2014 Blogs 30% Note: Discussion board postings, , journals and submitted assignments, or any part thereof, will not be used or viewed beyond this course offering. The final grade in this course will be converted to a letter grade in the following manner: Percent Letter Grade A A B B B C C C D D 0-49 F According to RDC policy the following grid shows the letter grade to GPA conversion: Grade Point Letter Grade Description 4.0 A+ 4.0 A Excellent Performance 3.7 A- 3.3 B+ 3.0 B Good Performance 2.7 B- 2.3 C+ 2.0 C Satisfactory Performance 1.7 C- 1.3 D+ 1.0 D Pass 0.0 F Fail Note: A grade of A will generally be the top grade in a course, with A+ being reserved for recognition of exceptional achievement. An A+ grade will only be given at the end of the term to students with outstanding levels of achievement. MID-TERM FEEDBACK DATE: Mid-term feedback will be based on Modules I and II and the Mid-term Quiz 2

3 COURSE OUTLINE CHANGES: Changes to this course outline may be made after it commences providing this is done in consultation with the students and reviewed by the Program Chairperson for completeness and consistency with all college policies. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT: Please be familiar with what constitutes academic misconduct, as well as the consequences. Plagiarism involves submitting work in a course as if it were the student s own work. Plagiarism may involve the act of submitting work in which some or all of the phrasing, ideas, or line of reasoning are alleged to be the submitter s own but in fact were created by someone else. The complete RDC policy is available at: misconduct_ processes_policy.pdf ACADEMIC RESOURCES: Students should be aware that Personal Counselling, Career, Learning and Disability Services are provided by RDC. Inquire about locations at Information Desk. It is the student s responsibility to discuss their specific learning needs with the appropriate service provider. Classroom Learning Resources may be available to students in alternate formats. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES: It is the student s responsibility to be familiar with the information contained in the Course Outline and to clarify any areas of concern with the instructor. Students should refer to the Student Dispute, Appeal and Misconduct Processes Policy and Standard Practice should they have questions or concerns about the Course Outline that cannot be resolved with the instructor. Attendance may take many forms. Lack of attendance may impact the students ability to successfully complete the course. This course may be eligible for Prior Learning Assessment. Students should refer to the RDC Course Calendar for a list of excluded courses. FINAL EXAMINATIONS POLICY: Final Examinations Policy will be followed with respect to final exams. Please review this document to ensure you understand the contents and implications of the policy. LATE ASSIGNMENT POLICY: Assignments are due on the date specified. Assignments that come in after the due date will be deducted 5% a day to a maximum of 1 week at which time you will receive a zero. If you are having difficulty getting an assignment completed, please contact me prior to the due date to have a discussion. 3

4 LEARNING ACTIVITIES: Teaching in this course is comprised of lectures, discussions, activity-based learning and group work. Students can expect to engage in small group work at times during all components of the course. Note: Every attempt will be made to return the assignments with feedback within two weeks of due date. Formal Feedback will be given as outlined in the Red Deer College Calendar. BLOG ASSIGNMENTS The purpose of this activity is to assist you in understanding your and others opinions on the ideas and values presented in this course. There should be three clear components in your discussion postings: 1. Identify the issue 2. Reflect on the issue 3. Respond to a peer s blog. 3 Student clearly responds and fully explores the question. Student clearly shows that they have reflected on the questions. Student clearly responds to a peer s statement. 2 Student identifies and explores briefly the question. Student shows that they have clearly reflected on a question. Student briefly responds to a peer s statement. 1 Student does not respond to a question. Student has not reflected on the question. Student does not respond to a peer s statement. TOTAL: /12 x 30% 4

5 ASSIGNMENT 1 Disability For a Day Total = 24 Marks Throughout this course we will be discussing various disabilities. We will be discussing characteristics of the disability, advocacy for the disability, how easy learned helplessness can occur and how to encourage self-determination. Choose a disability to have for a 24 hour period. This cannot be a disability that you already have. For example: If you have a hearing impairment, then you need to pick another disability. Structure of Assignment This assignment should be written in a paragraph style format. It should be double spaced, Times New Roman font and include subheadings. Double spaced minimum 4 pages to maximum 8 pages (including checklist). In a DEAR DIARY style format - tell me about your day. Start from when you woke up to going to bed and any highlights that impacted you through the day. Then REFLECT on how having this disability for the day impacted you emotionally and physically. Did it affect others that are around you? How? And then identify what you will consider now, when working with students with a disability. This reflection should include course concepts covered in class and through the textbook. Checklist Please complete the following checklist and hand in with your assignment on a separate page. This checklist is to provide a brief look into what a day may consist of in your life. This will help me mark your assignment based on the answers that you provide. (This checklist will not be used past the offering of this course.) QUESTIONS: 1. Do you live with anyone? 2. Do you have children or dependents? 3. Do you work? How often? 4. Daily responsibilities Please list. 5. Anything else you feel that would be beneficial for me to know. 5

6 Grading Rubric Content of the day Reflection Clarity, Grammar and Mechanics Student identifies all Student completes Students writing components of the the reflection in a demonstrates assignment and has thoughtful and thoughtfulness, clarity, incorporated the meaningful conciseness, and necessary topics manner. Considers correctness. content required to all points and is Subheadings are used. complete reflective in their No grammatical or assignment in a analysis of how this spelling errors. thoughtful and assignment meaningful way. impacted them. Student identifies a few components needed to complete the assignment. Student struggles to identify the components needed to complete this assignment in a meaningful way. Student does not provide the necessary content to complete the assignment. Student identifies some components needed to complete the assignment. Student struggles to reflect on the content. Student identifies 1 or 2 components needed to complete the assignment. Student struggles to reflect on the content. Student struggles to identify any type of reflection in completing this assignment Students writing is accomplished in terms of correctness. Contains no subheadings. Contains a few grammatical or spelling errors. Students writing lacks clarity or conciseness and contains a number of grammatical and/or spelling errors, no subheadings are used. Students writing is difficult to follow, lacks clarity, no subheadings and contains a number of errors. Checklist Checklist is submitted with assignment and completed. Checklist is submitted with assignment, but is not full completed. 0 - Checklist is not submitted TOTAL = 24 Marks 6

7 Assignment 2 Presentation Total Marks = 25 Choose a disability that you would like to learn more about. Use a multimedia format (of your choosing) present the information that you have learned on the exceptionality of your choosing. The presentation can be no more than 10 minutes long and does not require you to be in the video. This presentation must be done with an auditory and visual component. You should provide the following information in your presentation: What characteristics are included in the exceptionality? What challenges would I expect if I worked with a student with this exceptionality. What personal strengths would I bring to working with a student with this exceptionality? What resources are available to support an individual with this exceptionality and where can they be found? GRADING RUBRIC Presentation There will be two evaluations completed on this assignment. One will be completed by a peer of the instructors choosing. (out of 9) o Should a peer evaluation not be completed the student who was to have completed the peer evaluation will forfeit 9 marks towards THEIR A second evaluation will be completed by you. (out of 16) The instructor will be able to override either or both evaluations if necessary. Both evaluations, will count towards the final mark on this assignment. TOTAL MARK is out of 25 Peer Evaluation : RUBRIC Learning and Knowledge Strengths in working with exceptionality. Resources available I was able to garner some learning and retain some information provided in this I did not learn or retain any information that was provided in this I was unable to determine what the presenter could offer as a personal strength. I was unable to identify resources required to support challenges. Indicated a personal strength. Identify some resources to support some of the challenges identified. This presentation has clearly increased my learning and knowledge of this exceptionality. The presenter clearly indicated personal strengths and was reflective in how these strengths will be able to support students. The presenter clearly indicates where resources are and would support a student with these challenges. Total Mark = 9 7

8 Self- Evaluation: RUBRIC Follow instructions of assignment Time Management Work Effort Knowledgeable about exceptionality Underdeveloped 1 I did not read the instructions I did not manage my time well. I did not put any effort into the I am not knowledgeable about this exceptionality Do not ask me a question. Developing 2 I read the instructions but was not clear on the requirements. I finished the presentation in time. I put some effort into the I am somewhat knowledgeable about this exceptionality and could answer a couple simple questions. Proficient 3 I was clear and understood the instructions of the assignment and grading rubric. I planned, started and completed the presentation in a time. I put the right amount of effort in to the I am knowledgeable about this topic and can answer most questions. Exemplary 4 I clearly understood and followed the instructions of the assignment and grading rubric. I planned, started and completed the presentation with time to spare. I was able to fully engage and be creative in the I am comfortable and knowledgeable about this topic and could answer most questions. Total Mark = 16 8