The
Expanded Core Curriculum in Visual Impairment
SPE 521
Fall, 2009
Class meetings:
Tuesday –
September
Tuesday- September 22
Tuesday – October
Tuesday
– October
Tuesday – November
Tuesday – November 24
Tuesday – December
There
will also be 7 classes from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Eluminate (Click on this link to
learn all about this web-conferencing program)
Classroom: Web
rooms –
Course
instructor: Debbie Louder M.Ed
Telephone
325-650-5557
E-mail: louderd@sfasu.edu
Office hours: Please phone after 5:30 P.M. and before 10:30 P.M.
Required
texts:
Ponchilla, P.
E., and Ponchillia, S. V. (1996). Foundations of rehabilitation teaching
with persons who are blind or visually impaired. NY: American Foundation
for the Blind. This book is available from the AFB website (http://www.afb.org).
Cleveland,
J.,et.al (2007). Empowered an activity
based self-determination curriculum for students with visual impairments.(1st
ed.)
American
Psychological Association (APA). (2001).
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th
ed.).
This book may be purchased at
practically any local bookstore as well as on line through Amazon or Barnes and
Noble.com.
Students are also strongly encouraged to purchase a
headset/microphone for use with their computer. At the very least, the student
is REQUIRED to have a functioning microphone and speaker set.
Suggested
reference/ resource
Compiled
by Teachers at TSBVI (2007). EVALS
evaluating students with visual impairments. (1st ed.)
Course
description:
The last decade in the in field of
visual impairment have seen a surge in interest in providing students with more
than the academic skills which might be required to pass traditional courses in
schools. Practitioners have come to realize the importance of also providing
frequent and consistent instruction in the skills that are necessary to
function in a variety of social and personal care settings. These additional
areas of instruction have come to be called the “expanded core curriculum.” A
wide variety of questions have been raised by debate on this issue. How should
instruction provided? How much instruction is enough? Who is responsible for
providing this instruction? And most of all, how can instruction in these areas
be worked into the regular schedule of the school day?
This course provides an opportunity for
the student to participate in a traditional graduate seminar on the expanded
core curriculum which emphasizes individual contributions to a largely group
directed class. The pedagogical emphasis in this class is on group discussion
and problem solving. Emphasis will be placed on contributions made by each
individual student to the group’s learning process.
Intended
Learning Outcomes/Goals/Objectives:
It is the mission of
SFA’s
The Core Values of
our College are:
·
Academic excellence through critical, reflective, and
creative thinking
·
Life-long learning
·
Collaboration and shared decision-making
·
Openness to new ideas, to culturally diverse people,
and to innovation and change
·
Integrity, responsibility, diligence, and ethical
behavior, and
·
Service that enriches the community.
This class emphasizes
these Values in it’s pedagogy and in it’s assessment of outcomes. We, as
instructors, strive to reflect these principles in the teaching of this class
and we also have the highest expectations that these Values will be
demonstrated by our students,
Course
objectives:
This course is designed to provide graduate students working toward their Master's degree with an opportunity to participate in a seminar experience revolving around topics such as:
·
The philosophy behind the Expanded
Core Curriculum
·
The relationship between
rehabilitation teaching and providing the ECC in schools
·
Residential vs itinerant placements as
they relate to teaching the ECC
·
The ECC for students with low vision
as opposed to those who are functionally blind
·
Home vs community based instruction
·
Techniques used to teach specific
skills such as:
o
The use of low vision devices
o
Handwriting
o
Keyboarding
o
Listening skills
o
Basic Daily Living Skills
o
Food preparation
o
Home management
o
Recreation and leisure time
·
Management of a caseload which
concentrates on teaching the ECC
·
Impact of other disabilities
AcadAcademic Integrity
|
A-9.1
|
Original
Implementation: Unpublished
Last Revision: July 15, 2003
Academic Integrity is a responsibility of all
university faculty and students. Faculty
members promote academic integrity in multiple ways including instruction on
the components of academic honesty, as well as abiding by University policy on
penalties for cheating and plagiarism.
Education
Faculty are responsible for providing
information about academic integrity and education for maintaining academic
honesty during their regular coursework.
Course syllabi provide information about penalties and the appeal
process.
Definition of Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty includes both cheating
and plagiarism. Cheating includes but is
not limited to (1) using or attempting to use unauthorized materials to aid in
achieving a better grade on a component of a class; (2) the falsification or
invention of any information, including citations, on an assigned exercise;
and/or (3) helping or attempting to help another in an act of cheating or
plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting the
words or ideas of another person as if they were your own. Examples of plagiarism are (1) submitting an
assignment as if it were one’s own work when, in fact, it is at least partly
the work of another; (2) submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise
obtained from an Internet source or another source; and (3) incorporating the
words or ideas of an author into one’s paper without giving the author due
credit.
Procedure
A faculty member who has evidence and/or
suspects that academic dishonesty has occurred shall gather all pertinent
information, approach the student or students involved, and initiate the
following procedure.
The faculty member shall review all evidence
of cheating or plagiarism and discuss it directly with the student(s) involved. After hearing the student(s)’ explanation or
defense, the faculty member will determine whether or not academic dishonesty
has occurred and will decide what penalty will be imposed. The faculty member will consult with his/her
chair and dean in making these decisions.
Penalties may include reprimand or no credit for the assignment or exam,
or re-submission of the paper, or make-up exam, or failure of the course. (Penalties for academic dishonesty and
information on the appeals process should be outlined in the course syllabi.)
After a determination of dishonesty, the
faculty member shall notify the Office of the Dean of the student’s major by
submitting a Report of Academic Dishonesty form, along with supporting
documentation as noted on the form. This
report shall be made part of the student’s record and shall remain on file with
the Dean’s office for at least four years.
The Dean shall refer second or subsequent offenses to the University
Committee on Academic Integrity established under this policy. The faculty member shall also inform the
student of the appeals process available to all SFA students (Policy A-2).
The Student File
A student’s file on academic dishonesty will
not be available to faculty members. The
purpose of the file is for the dean to track a pattern of multiple cases of
academic dishonesty during a student’s academic career at
Students who are found to have
cheated/plagiarized and have withdrawn prior to the award of a grade will continue
to have the determination of the infraction within their student records. This finding will be considered by the
University Committee on Academic Integrity should the student commit future
offenses.
Appeals
A student who wishes to appeal decisions
related to academic integrity follows procedures outlined in policy A-2. A student must appeal within 30 days of the
beginning of the long semester following
the incident. The student(s)’ grade may
be withheld by the instructor pending resolution through the above procedures.
If the student wishes further appeal, he/she
may apply to the Provost V.P. for
Academic Affairs for a hearing by the
University Committee on Academic Integrity.
The University Committee on Academic
Integrity
This committee shall be formed by the
academic vice president for the purpose of monitoring academic integrity among
students. The committee shall be
composed of a faculty representative elected from each college and one student
representative appointed by the provost and
vice president for academic affairs.
The committee chair will be appointed by the Academic Vice
President. A faculty member who reports
an offense may not serve on the committee considering that offense.
The Committee is charged to adjudicate in the
following situations:
1.
appeal by student
2.
referral by academic dean on account of repeat offenses
3.
direct referral by faculty member for potentially grievous infraction
When the committee is convened for a hearing,
the case will be reviewed, and the professor and student(s) will be
interviewed. The committee may make one
of the following recommendations to the Academic V.P. who is responsible for
the implementation of this policy.
a. no action is taken
b. the faculty decision is upheld
c. the student is found not guilty
d. probation
e. suspension from the university
A student must accept the decision of the
committee; however, the committee may not interfere in the faculty member’s
selection of a penalty for a confirmed instance of academic dishonesty. If the committee rules that the student did
not commit academic dishonesty, the faculty member may not impose a penalty of
any kind. The faculty member retains the
right to assign student course grades without interference from the
committee. When a student who is found
guilty of two or more infractions, the case will be referred to the University
Committee on Academic Integrity. In
addition, faculty members may request that the dean refer particularly serious
cases (buying or selling papers, stealing an exam, significant plagiarism at
the graduate level, etc.) directly to the University Committee on Academic
Integrity. The committee may also function
when a student has exhausted the normal appeals process and wishes to have an
additional hearing.
Source of Authority:
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice President for
University Affairs
For purposes of this course: Any student caught cheating (either plagiarizing or copying
directly from another class member) will be given an automatic “F” in the
class, and his/her status as to continuation in the MEd program in vision will
be reviewed with the members of the graduate faculty in the program.
Course requirements:
Attendance:
Class Sessions: Students are expected to attend class. Attendance will be taken at session.
Since we will have a very limited number of class meetings, students will be allowed ONE unexcused absence.
If a student has any more than a single
unexcused absence, they will be penalized one letter grade. Students may
receive excused absences for illness and family emergencies, but must present written documentation for
such absence (i.e. doctor's note, emergency room admissions, funeral notices).
Discussion Boards and Computer Chats: This is a graduate level
class which is restricted to students who are pursuing a Master’s degree. It
is, therefore, designed to be more rigorous than most of the other classes in
our program. It is also designed to require the student to exercise more
responsibility in the learning process. There will be very few times during
this class when the instructor will be in “lecture mode.” Most of our work this
semester will be learning independently and sharing with the group in a variety
of ways. One way that we will share what we learn, support each other in our
assignments, discuss our questions, and brainstorm about our issues will be
through use of our Discussion Boards. First, you will complete the assigned
readings from your textbook and any topical readings posted on the website We
will have 7 discussion forums for the semester you will post a response to each
forum and reply to two classmates postings.. the class will discuss the topic
and how the information provided could be translated into practical
application. Your responses need to be of substance not “good point” or “I
agree”.
Class preparation: Students are expected to come to class
prepared for discussion and activities. Please have material read prior to the
class for which it is assigned. This is
a very rigorous class and requires that you do not fall behind in reading or
assignments.
Research Paper:
Each student will produce a formal research paper on a topic
agreed upon by the student and the instructor. Graduate level scholarship is
required, and grading will assume that students have been thorough in their
research and critical in their thinking. The paper should be 10-15 pages long
and should include the following sections:
·
relevance
of the topic
·
review
of the literature
·
application
of findings to practice
·
directions
for future research
·
bibliography
All papers must be completed using APA styling and formatting. All
spelling and typographical errors should be corrected. If mistakes are found by
the instructor, the paper will be returned to the student for correction and
resubmission. You can use the following link for help however, the afore
mentioned text is your most complete resource.
http://www.psywww.com/resource/APA%20Research%20Style%20Crib%20Sheet.htm
Class Presentation:
During each class, one student will be assigned leadership
on one of the following topics:
I.
Orientation
and overview –
II.
Residential vs itinerant placements as
they relate to teaching the ECC and home based vs community based instruction
in ECC –
III.
The ECC for students with low vision
as opposed to those who are functionally blind
IV.
Teaching: The use of low vision devices, handwriting, keyboarding,
listening skills
V. Teaching: basic
daily living skills, food preparation, home
management,
VI. Recreation and leisure activities
VII. Impact of additional disabilities.
Each of the presentations will be made during one class
period. The class facilitator will be responsible for the following:
·
Presenting
the current research and theories on the topic to the group.
·
Presenting
the most current information on best practice to the group.
·
Presenting
any practical suggestions, demonstrations of materials, or helpful case studies
that might apply to the group.
·
Leading
the class discussion.
Facilitators will present a summary of their projects orally
for the class. The instructor will also post projects on the web site so that
they may be viewed and used by all groups.
Class
participation:
This class is designed to be highly
interactive between the students and the instructor. I will be asking questions
and calling on every student at some point during the semester (whether in
class or during a chat). A total of 100 points will be awarded based on your
level of class participation. Please note that these points are not assigned on
the basis of correct responses, but on the willingness of the student to
respond and work through the problem. At the end of the semester, students will
be evaluated by the instructor on the following criteria:
·
Appropriateness of participation in class discussions.
·
Willingness to answer questions.
·
Evidence of critical thinking during class activities.
·
Demonstration of good “consulting skills” (e.g.
politeness, manners,
diplomacy, etc.)
·
Display of a positive attitude toward the subject
material, class
activities, etc.
·
Participation level in chats and email discussions.
Up to 100 points will be awarded based
on the criteria listed above.
Examination:
One exam will be administered during the semester. The
format of this exam will be essay, and the questions will be designed to be as
much like questions that students will encounter on their Comprehensive Exams
as possible. The intent of this exam is to give you an opportunity to practice
writing Comp Questions before you actually take your Comprehensive Exams.
Remember that students will be responsible for all material covered in class,
in readings, and in any outside assignments or exercises.
Grades:
Grades will be computed based on total points accumulated
for all activities and tests. In order to obtain a grade other than F, all
activities and tests must be completed.
Activity Points
Research Paper 200
Class presentation 200
Discussion Board Postings 200
Exam 100
Class Participation 100
Total
points: 800
Grades will be assigned based on the following scale:
A = 800-730
B = 729-640
C = 639-490
Course evaluation:
Students will be given an opportunity to participate in an
anonymous formal evaluation at the end of the semester. However, the instructor
encourages students to visit with her during her office hours or to schedule an
appointment with her in order to discuss opinions on the quality of the course
or ways to improve it. The instructor is dedicated to providing students with a
high quality learning experience which is supportive as well as instructive.
Adaptations/accommodations:
No
person shall, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin,
disability, or veteran status, be subjected to discrimination or be excluded
from participation in or denied the benefits of employment or any program,
service, or activity operated by
Disability
Services provides information and assistance to students, faculty and staff in
efforts to comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title
II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. To obtain disability related
accommodations and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact
the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Human Services Building Room 325,
468-3004/468-1004 (TDD) as early as possible in the semester once verified ODS
will notify the course instructor and outline the accommodation and/or
auxiliary aids to be provided.
Please
contact me at (325) 650-5557 or by email at louderd@sfasu.edu if you have questions.
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
Tuesday – September 8– 6-8 PM
·
Overview, philosophy, and perspectives on the ECC
·
Residential vs itinerant placements as
they relate to teaching the ECC and home based vs community based instruction in
ECC
Tuesday – September 22– 6-8 PM
·
The ECC for students with low vision
as opposed to those who are functionally blind
Tuesday – October 13 – 6-8 PM
·
Teaching: The use of low vision
devices, handwriting, keyboarding, listening skills
Tuesday – October 27 – 6-8 PM
·
Teaching: basic
daily living skills, food preparation, home
management,
Tuesday – November 10– 6-8 PM
·
Recreation and leisure activities
Tuesday – November 24 - 6-8pm
·
Paper due
·
Review for final exam
Tuesday – December 8
·
FINAL EXAM – posted on the web