SPED 3100 - Special Education Learners and Learning Environment

(4) Credit Hours
Prerequisite: Admission to Educator Preparation
Co-requisite: SPED 3300
This course presents a comprehensive examination of the cognitive, physical, socio-emotional, socio-economic, cultural, racial, linguistic and gender characteristics of students with exceptionalities from developmental and ecological perspectives. Candidates will explore family and socio-cultural systems and their impact on typical and atypical human growth and development. The course will provide a comprehensive overview of the historical, social, political, economic, cultural and legal foundations of special education and services to students with special needs, including the labeling, terminology, identification and categorization of these students. Comparisons and contrasts between students with and without disability issues will also be examined. Candidates will be introduced to classroom technologies for use in a digital environment. Candidates will explore the characteristics of effective learning environments and identify classroom management strategies that promote a classroom setting that is ethical, respectful, welcoming, safe, rigorous, ,and adapted for a diverse population of learners. Field experiences will focus on students in the context of the classroom and will include observations and case studies of individual students with exceptionalities in the context of the full continuum of services.