Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Syllabus
Course Information
Course number: PSY 3342.0U1 www.turnitin.com
Course title: EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Class ID: 2284821
Term: Summer 2008 Password: INCLUSION
Meeting times: TR 10am-12:30pm, GR 4.428
Course Description
Join me in an exploration of the characteristics of exceptional children and their education, including children with
disabilities (learning, emotional/behavioral, communication and physical), as well as those who are gifted. We will
examine the causes and assessment of exceptionality, along with educational and social policy considerations.
IMPORTANT: I want to help you do well in this class! To get the most benefit from your time in this class, read
the material to be discussed before we discuss it in class. You will find classes to be much more interesting and
involving if you come prepared to discuss each day's topic.
JUNE 3 JUNE 5
Ch. 2: Goals for exceptional children and ways to Ch. 3: Diversity Quiz 3
achieve them Quiz 2 Confirm paper topics today
Choose paper topics
JUNE 10 JUNE 12
Ch. 4: Parents and families Quiz 4 EXAM 1: Chs. 1-4
Review exam
JUNE 17 JUNE 19
Ch. 5: Mental retardation Quiz 5 APA style References list & Proposal/Outline due
(required or paper grade is zero)
Ch. 6: Learning disabilities Quiz 6
JUNE 24 JUNE 26
Ch 7: Attention deficit disorder Quiz 7 Ch. 8: Emotional and behavioral disorders Quiz 8
JULY 1 JULY 3
EXAM 2: Chs. 5-8 Ch. 9: Communication disorders Quiz 9
Review exam Optional: give me your Research Paper by today for
early feedback
JULY 8 JULY 10
Ch. 12: Autism spectrum disorders Quiz 10 RESEARCH PAPER DUE in class and online—
Drafts returned today upload to turnitin.com and print originality report
Ch. 15: Gifted and talented children Quiz 11
JULY 15 JULY 17
EXAM 3: Chs. 9, 12, 15 Ch. 10: Hearing impairments Quiz 12
Review exam
JULY 22 JULY 24
LAST CHANCE: RESEARCH PAPER DUE in Ch. 13: Traumatic brain injury, multiple and severe
class with originality report at 10:00 a.m. disabilities Quiz 14
Ch. 11: Vision impairments Quiz 13
JULY 29 JULY 31
Ch. 14: Physical disabilities and other health EXAM 4: Chs. 10-11, 13-14
impairment Quiz 15 Review exam
Papers returned today
I want to help you be successful in this course in every way I can BEFORE the end of the semester.
After July 31, the course is OVER. Do NOT ask for extra credit.
Course grades will be ready Aug. 13.
Please note that the APA style references list and the paper proposal and outline, AND the plagiarism
tutorial quiz and originality report are REQUIRED. Papers will not be graded without them.
Email Use
The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and
efficiency of communication between faculty/staff and students
through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises some issues
concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email
These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.
NOTE: It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to acquire missed lecture notes, assignments, handouts, and announcements
from a classmate—NOT from me. You are responsible for all information given in class. This includes
any changes to the syllabus, content and format of exams, and details given regarding assignments.
Daily Quizzes
1. You will have 15 opportunities to earn up to 30 points toward your final grade by completing a 6-item, 10-
minute quiz at the beginning of class each day. Quiz format will be multiple choice and/or true/false.
Quizzes cannot be made up for any reason. Quizzes will be graded as follows:
5-6 correct =3 points
3-4 correct =2 points
1-2 correct =1 point
2. Students who arrive after the quizzes have already been distributed (i.e., once the quiz has begun) may not
take the quiz on that day.
3. These quizzes are designed to test your comprehension of important ideas from the readings to be discussed
in class on that day. To receive full credit for this assignment, you need to arrive for class prepared and on
time 10 times, with no excuses.
The purpose of this assignment is to help you to get started on your term paper early in the semester and to help me
to guide you in writing it. PLEASE NOTE: ALL ASSIGNMENTS, INCLUDING YOUR PAPER
PROPOSAL AND REFERENCES LIST, MUST BE TYPED.
1. Title page with working title—give an overall preview of the topic you selected. The title should describe
your topic.
EXAMPLE:
Bad title: Inclusion
Good title: The impact of inclusion practices on friendship formation between typically
developing children and children with Down’s syndrome.
2. Objective and outline—explain very clearly and simply where you are heading and why you decided to go
in that direction. What is the purpose of your paper? What are the main ideas you want to argue by
presenting research evidence that supports them? For example, you might want to argue that cooperative
learning assignments encourage friendships between typically developing children and children with
Down’s syndrome. What research can you find that gives evidence that this is so? Your outline should be
in outline form, not paragraph form.
3. Preliminary List of References—using APA style, list every source you have found so far. You might not
use all of them, and you might find more, but let me know what you have to work with. I might be able to
suggest sources that will help your paper, or steer you away from inappropriate sources. NO electronic
sources/websites or books (except chapters in edited volumes) will be acceptable source material. When in
doubt, ask me in advance.
Algozzine, B., & White, R. (2002). Preventing problem behaviors using schoolwide discipline.
In B. Algozzine, & P. Kay (Eds.), Preventing problem behaviors (pp. 85-103). Thousand
Kauffman, J. M., Bantz, J., & McCullough, J. (2002). Separate and better: A special public
school class for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Exceptionality, 10,
149-170.
Shapiro, E. S., Miller, D. N., Sawka, K., Gardill, M. C., & Handler, M. W. (1999). Facilitating
the inclusion of students with EBD into general education classrooms. Journal of
These reminders are intended to help you in the preparation and organization of your research paper. Again,
remember that I am trying to help you to get started on your term paper early in the semester and to help you help
me to guide you in writing it. PLEASE NOTE: ALL ASSIGNMENTS, INCLUDING YOUR PAPER
PROPOSAL, MUST BE TYPED.
You should complete a typed, 4- to 6-page research paper. This will include a title, introduction, literature review,
application/discussion section (as appropriate), conclusions/recommendations, and a list of references (4-8, at least 4
of which will be journal articles). You should not need to use subheadings (e.g., “Introduction,” “Literature
Review,” “Summary”) in this paper.
BE SURE TO CITE YOUR SOURCES throughout your paper. Always paraphrase and never use quotations—be
sure to indicate where you are getting your information. Use APA style for your citations and for your references
page.
The title should describe the particular area covered by the paper. A good title will summarize the main idea of the
paper. It should be fully explanatory when standing alone. Your title page will include the title of your paper, your
name, course name, my name, semester and year.
The introduction should present the main topic of the paper, a clarification of the topic and why it is important.
The literature review should include a more detailed description of the topic area and an organized presentation of
the pertinent psychological issues. This section will describe what research has been done in this area (i.e., what do
we know about this issue?)
The application/discussion section allows you to evaluate and interpret the implications of the findings you
presented in the previous section. You may wish to qualify or criticize the results of the research studies and draw
inferences from their findings. This section could include a review of current treatments (if applicable) and a
discussion of how the information that you presented on the topic can benefit professionals in the appropriate field
(e.g., health care, education, psychology, human services, counseling, etc.).
The conclusion should clarify the major points covered in the paper, and conclusions based upon the research
presented. Depending on the way in which you organize your paper, you may wish to use this section to answer the
question of why this issue is important for professionals in your field. It often works well to put your conclusions
before your recommendations because you can present it as "this is what we know so far, so where should we go
from here?" (but don't use those exact words).
All references should be typed on a separate page at the end of the outline, according to the APA style format. You
must have a reference for every source you cite, and your reference list should include only those articles that you
cite. Be sure to use recent articles—those published since 1991. Use of any articles older than that should be done
for purposes of historical comparison only.
Please notice in particular that the quality of your writing DOES COUNT. Please use correct grammar and
punctuation, and a clear, coherent writing style. More details about grading criteria will be discussed in class. The
following rubric serves as a useful guideline:
The Graduate TA for this class will administer and score all exams, including makeup exams. If you, tragically, will
need to take a makeup exam, you will first get approval from me and then contact the graduate TA to arrange a
makeup exam at her convenience. Exams must be made up within one week, so be sure to make these arrangements
right away.
Email: ______________________________________________________
It is your responsibility to keep track of your grades, so that you know where you stand at all times. Feel free to
verify your grades with me, at my office, any time.
Quiz grades:
1: Ch. 1 ____ 9: Ch. 9 ____
2: Ch. 2 ____ 10: Ch. 12____
3: Ch. 3 ____ 11: Ch. 15____
4: Ch. 4 ____
12: Ch. 10____
5: Ch. 5 ____ 13: Ch. 11____
6: Ch. 6 ____ 14: Ch. 13____
7: Ch. 7 ____ 15: Ch. 14____
8: Ch. 8 ____