General Course Information
Faculty:
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Office Hours:
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By appointment.
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Course Text:
Schunk, D. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Additional course resources (notes, optional readings, websites) are available from the RESOURCES menu above. |
Course Overview:
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This course provides a framework for understanding important learning theories through a scientific lens. Although major theoretical perspective on learning include many complex ideas, constructs and applications to the field of education, this course focuses on the scientific advancements that led to eventual definitions of specific approaches to, and theories of, learning. To this end, the course notes and corresponding readings communicate an adequate, though far from comprehensive, representation of milestones and accomplishments defining the field of educational psychology (learning sciences).
You will apply knowledge of learning sciences to the analysis of educational events, culminating in the identification of learning theory constructs and concepts that help explain the nature of specific research variables associated with your doctoral research agenda. |
Exams & Projects:
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There will be three course exams based on readings from the text as well as the course notes. The exams are worth 50 points each. They will be administered within the D2L system, and they will be timed so you will need to be well-versed in the material instead of spending hours looking up possible answers in the course materials and online. Of course, I can’t stop you from using such resources, but limiting the amount of time you have to complete each exam encourages you to process the course material more carefully, particularly in light of how you perform on the practice exams.
Because I use time as a factor to help encourage you to study the course material more thoroughly, please let me know in the first week of class if you have any reading difficulties that necessitate the need for more time on the exams. There is not a lot of reading with the exams (each exam consists of 25 selected-response items), but I will provide you with more time if you let me know about your reading condition at the start of the course. I will hold such communications in the strictest of confidence. In addition to the three exams, course outcomes will be applied within four projects. The first three project involve the application of fundamental research concepts addressed in specific phases of the course to the analysis of instructional events, research, or other materials. These projects involve analyzing and synthesizing quite a bit of material, but the resulting project will be a paper that will be 1-2 pages...maximum. The final course project involves identifying learning theory constructs and concepts that help explain the nature of specific research variables associated with your doctoral research agenda. I understand that your agenda may change in the next year (and in light of the many new problems facing schools in the face of the pandemic, I hope you agenda DOES change), but this is a good exercise in helping you define or reinforce your scholarly passion. Again, this project will involve analysing many resources, but the final product will be a paper that is no more than 2 pages (excluding any references). Brevity is a virtue. |
Grading:
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Grading for this course will be based on the results of all course exams and projects. Point values are presented below:
There is a total of 230 points possible for all the course requirements. It is possible that points will be adjusted throughout the semester based on the addition of projects, or the dropping of low test scores. Letter grades will be awarded based on the percent of total number of points earned compared to the total possible.
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A = 207 - 230 Points
B = 115 – 206 Points B = 0 – 114 Points (no missing exams/projects) I = Below 115 Points (1 or more missing exams/projects) |
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All grades throughout the course will be accessible online via Radford's Desire to Learn (D2L) site.
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Due Dates and Late Work Policy:
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Projects must be submitted into D2L by midnight on their due dates. Any project not completed before the due date will receive a score equal to 50% of the scored points. It is important to keep up with all projects. No late work will be accepted beyond one week past the due date. Additionally, no projects will be accepted for grading after Friday, June 19, 2019 @ midnight.
Exams must be completed within the window of time specified in the course calendar. If you cannot complete an exam within its scheduled window of time, you must make arrangements to complete it BEFORE the window is open to the class. I like to debrief an exam with the class immediately following its completion, and I cannot do this if some students have yet to complete it. You must make this a priority. Check the calendar for the current due dates of each project assignment and exam. |
Attendance:
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The course is completely asynchronous and does not include any face-to-face or synchronous online meetings.
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Students with Disabilities:
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The Center for Accessibility Services (CAS) is committed to the ongoing goal of access and inclusion so that all individuals on campus can fully participate in the university experience. CAS serves and supports students, family members and visitors seeking reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
If you are seeking academic accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, you must register with CAS. For more information, visit https://www.radford.edu/content/cas/home.html or call 540-831-6350. Because the course website presents links to a variety of material developed by others, some of the information presented within some course activity media files may not be completely accessible for students with visual or auditory impairments. I am happy to ensure that any information in externally-linked media file is properly translated, transcribed or presented in other accessible modalities if needed. Please contact me if you require any assistance in this area. Reminder: Even if you don't have an official disability in the area of reading, I know that many people struggle with dyslexia or other conditions that make it more difficult to process verbal information presented as text. If this is the case with you, please let me know at the beginning of the course so that I can ensure you are afforded more time completing the course exams. |