CHLD 382: Professional Seminar: Current Issues in Child Development

Course Description

This course examines and appraises current and professional issues affecting the field of child development. Cultural and political influences on the practices of professionals in the field are explored and analyzed.

During this course, students will build their professional capacity by enhancing their critical thinking skills, engaging in lifelong reflective thinking practices, examining their identity and potential biases, and preparing for professional life after graduation.

The course syllabus:

To help make the course inclusive and accessible from the start, there are a number of sections in the syllabus that highlight different types of support so that all students can be successful. (Note: The wording for the Commitment to Equality and Respect was borrowed with permission from Dr. Nandi Crosby.)

This course is required in the BA in Child Development, and only students in the major can enroll. Prerequisites: CHLD 251, CHLD 252, CHLD 282, CHLD 353W and junior standing.

Course Modality

There are a few important things to know about class meetings. These include:

When: This class meets in person from 5:00 - 7:50 once a week

Technology Use: Students use computers to complete assignments in class. If they do not have access to a personal laptop, they are able to use the computer lab located in Modoc.

Format: CHLD 382 is a “Professional Seminar in Child Development”. A seminar emphasizes smaller groups with advanced, in-class discussions driving the exchange of ideas and knowledge. The 2-hour and 50-minute class will be divided into two parts: a discussion time and a workshop time. During the discussion, students participate in small group and whole class discussions about readings, assignments, and the current content presented that day. During the workshop, students apply what they are learning to activities that support their professional development.

Attendance Expectations: To foster a productive learning environment, students are expected to arrive on time and come prepared to participate in discussions. Points are given for attendance and participation. If students miss more than 10 minutes of class, they receive a deduction from their points. If they are absent due to illness and want to make up points, please see the Attendance and Participation Requirements on page 3 of this syllabus.

Course Design

There are multiple tools that are used to provide an organized and easy-to-navigate course for students. These include:

An Organized Canvas Page: Because most of the content in this course is presented and discussed in our seminar-style class, there are not weekly modules on our Canvas page. Instead, students can click on the “Course Materials” link on the homepage to access all materials needed for the course.

Structures and Routines: To create a predictable learning environment for students, we follow the same routines in class and homework activities each week (the Weekly To-Do List - which outlines some of these routines - is posted on the Canvas homepage). For example, the homework routine consists of going to the Reading List on our Canvas page to access that week’s reading and completing a Reading Circle Task (tasks are self-assigned during their in-class Reading Circles). The content of the readings and tasks change, but the routine stays the same.

Keep Course Goals In Mind: A main goal of this course is to help prepare students to enter the field of child development after graduation. That said, when planning for the class, there is continually a focus on creating up-to-date and relevant units with activities that have real-life application for students (i.e., Examining Our Identities, Beliefs, and Biases Unit, Preparing Ourselves for the Future Unit).

Student Engagement

There are a variety of techniques and activities used to engage students during this 3-hour night class. These include:

6-Minute Free Write: To help students decompress after a long day of classes, internships, and work, class begins with a 6-Minute Free Write. Students can write about anything they want during this time and their writing is not collected. The goal is to help clear their minds so that they can be ready for class, as well as to learn the value of writing for themselves.

Reading Tasks and Reading Circles: To encourage students’ understanding of their weekly reading and prepare them to participate in class reading discussions, students complete a weekly Reading Circle Task. Students each belong to a Reading Circle, which is a group of 4 students they meet with each week in class to discuss the readings. They decide which task they are each going to do that week (e.g., Discussion Director, Summarizer) and rotate tasks every week. Each task gives student a specific focus for the reading, such as creating a list of discussion questions for the small group based on the reading or summarizing key points.

Closing Thoughts: To give students an opportunity to reflect on their learning in each class and to ensure that their learning needs are being met, they do a Closing Thoughts activity at the end of each class. On a sticky note, students respond to one or more questions about class that day (see the included visual). They do not need to put their names on the sticky note and can put the note on the front board as they leave class. I can then review what worked, what was challenging, and what questions need to still be answered.

Assessment of Student Learning

Student learning is assessed in a variety of ways throughout this course. Activities and assignments include the following:

Attendance & Participation: To foster a productive learning environment, students are expected to arrive on time and come prepared to participate in discussions. Points are given for attendance and participation.

Reading Circle Tasks: To encourage understanding of course content and participation during class discussions, there are Reading Circle Tasks based on weekly readings. They are to be completed before coming to class.

Examining Our Identities, Beliefs, and Biases Project: To help students better understand themselves and others as they prepare to enter the workforce, they complete a series of activities focused on their own identity and beliefs, as well as potential biases in the workplace.

Preparing Ourselves for the Future Project: To help students prepare to transfer their skills and knowledge about child development to a future career, they complete a series of activities focused on searching for a job and preparing for an interview.

News Flash Group Assignments: To stay up-to-date on current issues affecting the field of child development, students work with their small group to identify, understand, and present a particular topic that is in the current news. This is done in class two times during the semester.

Final Reflection: To help students transfer their learning to future contexts, they complete a final reflection activity in class.

Technology & Tools

This course uses different technology tools to help facilitate student engagement and learning. These include:

Google Docs for Class Activities: We have two units in this class. In each unit, students spend a part of the class in “workshop time”, in which they work on an activity focused on the day’s content. Every student has a Google Doc with all of the workshop activities for that given unit. During the workshop time, students go to their own Google Doc to complete their activity. This allows them to:

have access to the activity if they need extra time to complete it after class
keep all of their work for a unit in one place
have a Google Doc link that they can still access after the semester is over to access helpful activities they have completed (e.g., creating a resume)

Animoto: As a final project for one of the units, students have a choice to create a poster or a video. Students can sign up for free for Animoto, which is a user-friendly program that allows them to insert their own pictures, words, and ideas to make a personalized video. They can then share the video through a personalized link.

Accessibility & UDL

Ensuring that all students can access and engage with course content is something I strive to do in all of our materials, activities, and discussions. One example of an authentic activity that incorporates Universal Design elements is the News Flash Group Assignment. This group activity gives students the opportunity to choose a current topic in the news (related to child development) and present the topic to the class. This assignment aligns with the following checkpoints:

Checkpoint 7.1: Students have choice throughout the assignment, from choosing their news topic to choosing how they want to present it to the class (poster, Google Slides, verbal presentation).

Checkpoints 1.2 & 1.3: Students are asked to find a topic in the news that is interesting to them and can choose how they want to find it, whether it be through an article, a news video, an audio newscast, etc.

Checkpoint 8.3: After independently searching for interesting news topics, students come together with a small group to share ideas, choose a final topic, and create a presentation.

Checkpoints 5.1 & 5.2: Groups can decide how they want to present their news topic to the class (poster, Google Slides, verbal presentation).

Checkpoint 9.3: After the presentations are complete, students reflect on what they learned in their own group research (including both the content and the process of working independently and as a group) and what they learned from the other groups presentations.

ChicoFlex/Hyflex Pedagogical Practices

This course was taught in a ChicoFlex format for two semesters. Multiple tools and strategies were used to accommodate “zoomers” and “roomers”. These included:

Opening Questions: Each class session started with an opening question on Poll Everywhere. Everyone answered the questions, which built a sense of community and helped us all get to know each other.

Small Group Discussions: Every week, students met with the same small group, whether it was in person or in a Zoom breakout room. Roomers wrote their discussion responses on paper, while zoomers wrote their responses in a Google Doc that everyone in the group could see. Staying in the same small group each week allowed students to build relationships with their peers, whether they were online or in person.

Interactive Journals: Part of class was spent in a “workshop time”, in which all students worked on an activity focused on the day’s content. Every student had an interactive journal with the day’s activities. This created consistency in the way class activities were presented to zoomers and roomers.

Elements of Experiential Learning & Connections to the Profession

This course leads students through two units that focus on preparing them for their life and careers after graduation. These units include:

Unit 1: Examining Our Identities, Beliefs, and Biases: To help students better understand themselves and others as they prepare to enter the workforce, they complete a series of activities focused on their own identity and beliefs and read a book focused on biases and stereotypes. Activities include:

Reflecting on their strengths
Discussing times students feel like “imposters”
Visualizing future careers and work environments
Thinking about how to navigate new or challenging situations at work

Unit 2: Preparing Ourselves for the Future: To help students prepare to transfer their skills and knowledge about child development to a future career, they complete a series of activities focused on searching for a job and preparing for an interview. Activities include:

Looking through potential jobs and graduate programs
Creating a resume
Creating a cover letter or statement of purpose
Engaging in a mock interview

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

In our Examining Our Identities, Beliefs, and Biases Unit, students interact with multiple course materials and activities to help them better understand their own identities and beliefs, as well as potential biases and stereotypes within themselves and others. These include:

Examining Our Identities, Beliefs, and Biases Activities & Final Project: Through a series of activities over the course of the unit, students:

think about their identities, their strengths and what they love about themselves, the parts of them that may be misunderstood or that they want to work on
create a personal or professional mission statement
pictured themselves in their future careers
explored how they are going to learn about the people they will work with and the places they will work in the future

They then summarize some of their biggest takeaways in a culminating project of their choice (i.e., a poster or a video).

Training in Course Design

I have been fortunate to participate in multiple trainings focused on creating engaging courses and learning experiences for students. These include:

Civic Engagement’s 3 Ps in 3 Days: Increasing Student Engagement (Summer 2020)
Go Virtual (Summer 2020)
Quality Learning and Teaching Program (Fall 2020)
Association of College and University Educators Online Microcredential Course: Promoting Active Learning (Fall 2020)
Go Flex (Summer 2021)
Universal Design for Learning Faculty Learning Community (Fall 2022 - Spring 2023)
All of these trainings have done an amazing job of focusing on best practices to meet students’ strengths, needs, and where they are at during a given time (e.g., when all classes were moved online). They have taught me the importance of staying flexible and taking time to continually reflect on and revise my own practices.

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