Foundations of Exceptionality – COSC 521

Course Description

A comprehensive course dealing with the characteristics of children and youth with exceptionalities and topics related to models of service delivery, documentation procedures, and legal/ethical issues.

Rationale

It is imperative that all educators and school counselors are prepared to deal with the special needs of exceptional students. Ministering to those in need is the professional responsibility and the spiritual mandate for every Christian. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40b, KJV).

Method of Instruction: This 8 week course is delivered in a digital asynchronous format, with Canvas® as the primary instructional delivery method. Students complete one module per week over the duration of the course. 

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations/notes

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Advising Acknowledgement Quiz

The student will acknowledge he/she has reviewed the Advising Guide.

Discussions (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will complete two discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 400 words. The student must then post one reply of at least 250 words. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least one scholarly citation in current APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least one scholarly citation also in current APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, and scholarly journals. (CLO: A, B, D, E, F)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will then create and upload a 3-5 minute video of his/her exceptional child or student that includes his/her observations and reflections of the observed student. The student will reply in a 2-3 minute video to one classmate that includes thoughtful discussion of the reviewed video. (CLO: D, F)

School Counseling Article Review Assignment

The student will select a particular School Counseling article from the list provided in the Resources section to submit a paper that is a critical review of his/her chosen article. This assignment must be at least two double-spaced pages and follow current APA format. (CLO: D, F)

Benchmark Exceptionality Chart Assignment

The student will complete a chart listing a description of the various disabilities and supports for exceptional students. (CLO: C, E, F)

Law Analysis Assignments (2)

The student will submit a presentation and a paper for these assignments. The presentation will focus on laws in Special Education, and the paper will focus on legal mandates for Special Education. The presentation must be 5-10 minutes in length, and the paper must be at least 500 words in length. (CLO: B, F)

The student will submit when and where his/her plan to complete his/her community engagement observation to his/her instructor via this quiz. This quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 1 file upload question, and will have a 1 hour and 30 minutes time limit. (CLO: D, F)

Quizzes (13)

These 13 quizzes correspond to each of the chapters in the Kirk et al. text. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 10 multiple-choice questions, and will have a 1-hour and 30-minute time limit. (CLO: A, B, D, D, E, F)

This quiz is focused on the Virginia Department of Education Learning Disabilities (VDOE LD) guidelines. This quiz will have 15 multiple-choice questions and have a 1-hour and 30-minute time limit.