Learning goals

One major goal for this quarter is for you to develop your capacity to use a developmental perspective when making sense of youth’s thinking and behavior, when thinking about materials designed for youth such as adolescent literature, and when making sense of the interactions between individuals and social institutions such as schools.  To meet this goal you will need to be able to explain:

  • areas of development in children’s thinking, moral and social development; and
  • how the cultural context impacts the nature of development.

Another goal is for you to be able to explain the kinds of thinking and behaviors that are involved in learning something well.  You should be able use this knowledge both to plan and trouble shoot your own learning experiences, and to plan your teaching decisions be they with colleagues or students.  To meet this goal you will need to develop an understanding of:

  • biological, behaviorist, social and cognitive perspectives on of learning; and
  • some factors that facilitate and inhibit learning.

Meeting the above goals will require you to develop skills relevant to an educational researcher, including:

  • Carefully observing and taking notes to capture the thinking and behavior of youth;
  • Attending to the ways in which your beliefs and prior experiences may shape, and even cloud, your observations and interpretations;
  • Conducting library research to investigate a question about development;
  • Using a variety of perspectives to inform your questions and test your assumptions; and
  • Readingand synthesizing academic literature on learning and development.

In addition, our work together in activities such as seminar and peer teaching, will depend on your exercising and refining skills in the following areas:

  • effective collaboration;
  • listening and communication;
  • reflective and metacognitive thinking;
  • critical and integrative thinking as demonstrated through written work, visual representation, presentations, and discussions; and
  • communicating clearly through writing and speaking.