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The goals of this course are for students to learn about how children think and learn. Piagetian, information processing, and sociocultural theories will be discussed, as will major findings on the development of perception, language, memory, conceptual understanding, problem solving, reading, writing, mathematics, and understanding of the social world. The focus will be on the interaction between children and their environment and on how thinking and learning change with age and experience.
The fact that this is a small seminar, rather than a large lecture, offers both opportunities and challenges. The opportunities are for people to express themselves actively on a regular basis, rather than sitting back and just taking in what a lecturer tells them. The challenges are that with no one giving a lecture, the quality of the class depends at least as much on what you do as on what I do. For this reason, the ground rules of the class are somewhat different than most. First, attendance is obligatory; I will expect everyone to be at each class meeting. I realize that on rare occasions, it is impossible to be at a particular class (illness, job interviews), but these exceptions should be kept to a minimum. Second, everyone is expected to actively participate in the discussion. This is essential if the class is to be a true seminar, rather than degenerating into a rotating lectureship. Third, everyone is expected to be at class on time.
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Grades in the course will be based on class participation (20%), a paper (20%), a midterm (20%), and a final (40%). Class participation will include one or two discussions of articles that are led by each of you and also participation when one of your classmates or I are leading the discussion. It is especially important to participate actively when other people lead the discussion, to insure that the experience is a good one for them and for the entire class. The course is divided into 12 segments, corresponding to the 12 chapters in the textbook. Due to time constraints, the segments for Chapters 1 and 12 will include one class session each, and Chapters 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 will include two classes each. The segments for the rest of the chapters will include three classes each. In these 3-session segments, I will lead the discussion of the relevant chapter in the first two classes; in the third, two of you will lead discussions of the readings. Discussion questions for each class should be posted on the class bboard at least 5 days before the relevant class. The key criteria for grading class participation will be high quality and reasonable quantity of contributions when you are not leading the discussion and posing important and stimulating questions and leading an interesting discussion when you are. Remember: If you contribute interesting and informed perspectives when others lead the discussion, they are likely to do the same for you.
The paper should focus on some area of cognitive development that particularly interests you and that has been examined during the course. Each paper will involve your discussing four or five journal articles on the topic, identifying key issues in the area, describing the studies and how their findings bear on the issues, and drawing conclusions from all of the findings you have encountered on the subject. Papers should be 1200-1500 words. Students are strongly encouraged to hand in a rough draft of the paper, so that you can receive feedback on it and improve it. If you do hand in a rough draft, I'll inform you of the grade that you'd get if that were the final version and make suggestions for improvements.
The midterm and final will be based on the textbook (Children's Thinking, 4th Edition), the outside readings, and the discussions. The midterm will include 10 short essay questions, each worth 10 points; most, but not all, will be taken from the questions posed in the class, both by me and by you. The final exam will be similar to the midterm, but it will include 15 questions.
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