St. Cloud State University
General Education Goal Area 5
History and the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Academic Affairs Use Only:
Response Date:
Effective Date:
1.
Proposal Number:
Prepared by: J. Michael Pickle
Phone: 308-4088
Email: jmpickle@stcoudstate.edu
2.
Requesting Unit: SPED
3.
Department, Course Number, Title: 203
4.
New Course
5.
Will this course be flagged as a diversity course?
Already Designated as Diversity
6.
Will this course also satisfy another General Education Goal Area?
If “Yes” specify which goal area.
Existing Course
No
Diversity Proposal Accompanying This Form
No
Yes
7.
Course bulletin description, including credits and semesters to be offered:
Availability: Multiple sections are offered each semester. Credits: 3.
Course bulletin description: Historical and philosophical background, dsiabling conditions and their implications,
legal basis, resources, and advocacy.
8.
Indicate the clientele for whom this course is designed. Is the course for general education only, or
does it fulfill general education and other program needs for this or another department? Obtain
signatures from any affected departments.
The course addresses issues related to the etiology of disabilities, service delivery, and human rights
issues emerging from ableism. The course is designed primarily as a general education course and draws students
from education, nursing, social work, psychology, and business. The course is a prerequisite to advanced courses
within our department. The course also fulfills program needs for teacher development.
9.
Indicate any changes that must be made in offerings or resources in your department or other
departments by offering this course.
No changes are needed - extant course
10.
For new courses or courses not yet approved for General Education, indicate any other SCSU departments
or units offering instruction that relates to the content of the proposed course.
12/11/2009
11.
Courses designated as General Education are included in the assessment plan for the Goal Area(s)
for which they are approved. Courses for which assessment is not included in the annual GE
assessment report for two years will be removed from the General Education Program.
The Requesting Unit understands and recognizes the above conditions.
12.
Provide a concise explanation of how the following goal is a “significant focus” of the proposed course.
Goal Area 5: History and the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Develop understanding of human societies and behaviors, and of the concepts, theories, and methods of
history and the social sciences.
Data suggest that 20% of individuals worldwide have a disability in the areas of cognition, mental health,
or physicality. The effects of these disabilities pervade the lives of the individual and affect their familial and
social structures. Cross-cultural responses to physical disabilities vary from purposeful infanticide to full
inclusion. In the United States, individuals with disabilities attain lower levels of education, are more likely to be
unemployed or underemployed, and are less likely to fully engage in social activities of a community than their
peers without disabilties. The course is designed to examine the broader social, cultural, and biological
implications of disabling conditions. The scope of the course includes the etiology of disabilities, the adaptive and
maladaptive behaviors arising as a function of the disability, the cross-cultural perception of disability, family
structures in the context of disabling conditions, and human rights issues related to ableism. Social and
educational services are introduced.
13. In order for a course to be designated as fulfilling Goal Area 5, it must address at least 4 of the 5 student learning
outcomes (SLOs) below. Check the SLOs below that are focused on in the proposed general education course.
1. Describe or use the methods and data by which historians, social scientists, or behavioral scientists investigate
human conditions.
2. Analyze human behavior, cultures, and social institutions and processes from the perspectives of history or the
social and behavioral sciences.
3. Develop explanations for and explore solutions to historical or contemporary social problems.
4. Reflect upon themselves in relation to family, communities, society, culture, and/or their histories.
5. Apply and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories about human societies and behaviors.
14.
Discuss how each Student Learning Outcome checked above is achieved in this course. (Note: Although
descriptions of typical assignments or types of assignments may be part of this discussion, it is not
appropriate to submit copies of actual assignments.)
Area 2: The biological and psychological origins of disabling conditions are examined. Representative
assignments include case studies of individuals with disabling conditions, clinical descriptions of disabling
conditions, discussions and assessments of incidence rates, and assessments related to the chromosomal and
environmental origins of disabling conditions.
Area 3: Throughout history and in contemporary cultures, individuals with disabilities have been and
continue to be subjected to discrimination. Representative discriminatory acts include involuntary sterilization,
12/11/2009
denial of voting privileges and marital rights, restricted access to public areas, involutary commitment to asylums
and institutions, and infanticide. The origins of these acts are addressed through lecture and personal reflection.
Service learning projects completed in not-for-profit and educational settings are used to focus students' attention
on their personal beliefs and attitudes about disbailities.
Area 4: A principal focus for SPED 203 is personal reflection on attitudes about the nature, the effects, and
the treatment of disabilties.The roles of advocacy in social change and in legislative action are examined. Personal
attitudes are assessed through personal reflections and journals from service learning opportunities. Broader legal
and social issues are examined through papers and assessments.
Area 5: Disabling conditions are examined from the perspectives of history, of psychology, of biology, and
of sociology. Historical issues include involutary institutionalization, eugenics, links between the civil rights
movement and the disabilities rights movement, and the increasing involvement of schools in the treatment of
disabling conditions. Psychological issues involve definitions of cognition, beliefs about mental illnesses, the role
of statistics and measurement theory in identification and therapy, and the affective response to disability.
Biological treatments include the roles of chromosomal disorders, e.g., Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome,
and of neurological factors, e.g., polymicrogyria and callosal agenesis. The sociological emphasis is on ableism
and cultural treatment of individuals with disabilities. These areas are addressed through lecture, discussion, and
video; these areas are assessed through tests, papers, and essays.
15.
List or attach the Course Outline (adequately described and including percentage of time to be allocated
to each topic). Curriculum Committees may request additional information. Topics larger than 20% need
to be broken down further. Indicate in your course outline where the Student Learning Outcomes
checked above are being met.
CF1. Taxonomies of memory are introduced. SLO 2; 3%
CF2. The relations among declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, metacognition, and conditional
knowledge are investigated. SLO 2; 5%
CF3. The etiologies of exceptionalities that affect learning are addressed. SLO 2; 6%
CF4. The cognitive and behavioral sequelae of exceptionalities that affect learning are addressed. SLO 2; 7%
CF5. Gaussian distributions are examined. SLO 2; 1%
CF6. Theories of intelligence and concomitant assessments are compared and contrasted. SLO 2, SLO 5; 2%
CF7. The biological bases for cognition, for executive functions, and for affect are addressed. SLO 2; 8%
CF8. Deficit models, discrepancy models, and etiological models of learning disabilities are compared and
contrasted. SLO 2; 3%
CF9. The social, the legal, and the political influences that affect individuals with disabilities are described. SLO
4, SLO 5; 8%
CF10. The major principles of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (PL 105-17) are identified and are
analyzed. SLO 4, SLO 5: 2%
CF11. Myriad forms of neuropathology are addressed. SLO 2; 2%
CF12. Observational methods are modeled and are discussed. SLO 2, SLO 5; 2%
CF13. Techniques for assessing verbal abilities and language skills are introduced. SLO 2; 1%
CF14. Patterns in concept formation and in reasoning are examined. SLO 2, SLO 5; 2%
CF15. The effects of congenital brain damage and of traumatic brain injuries are investigated. SLO 2, SLO 3; 4%
CF16. Disabling conditions that affect motor performance are introduced. SLO 2, SLO 3; 2%
CF 17. Cross-cultural interpretations of disabilities are examined. SLO 3, SLO 4, SLO 5; 8%
CF18. Ableism as a form of discrimination is discussed. SLO 3, SLO 4, SLO 5; 4%
12/11/2009
CF 19. Societal and environmental obstacles for individuals with disabilities are introduced. SLO 3, SLO 4, SLO
5; 4%
CF20. Issues related to access and accessibility are examined. SLO 3, SLO 4; 3%
CF21. Vocational and educational outcomes for individuals with disabilities are reviewed. SLO 3, SLO 4; 1%
CF22. Familial issues arising from disabilities are explored. SLO 4; 4%
CF23. Personal attitudes towards disabilities and disabling conditions are investigated. SLO 4, SLO 5; 4%
CF24. Legal issues related to access and to the rights of individuals with disabilities are reviewed. SLO 3, SLO 4,
SLO 5; 4%
CF25. The consequences of the 15th Amendement for indivduals with special needs is reviewed. SLO 3; 2%
CF26. Societal and cultural descriptions of affective disorders, e.g., depression and Bipolar II, are compared and
contrasted. SLO 4, SLO 5; 5%
12/11/2009
St. Cloud State University
General Education Transmittal Form
Academic Affairs Use Only:
Response Date:
Effective Date:
Proposal Number
Department: SPED
Course or Course(s): 203
J. Michael Pickle (e-signature)
Department or Unit Chair Signature
2/21/10
Date
Department forward to Academic Affairs for publication and electronically to Chair of General Education Committee, Chair
of College Curriculum Committee, College Dean
Recommendation of General Education Committee:
Approve
Remarks:
Disapprove
Chairperson
Committee
Signature
Date
Recommendation of University Curriculum Committee:
Approve
Remarks:
Disapprove
Chairperson
Committee
Signature
Date
Recommendation of Faculty Association:
Approve
Remarks:
Disapprove
FA Senate
Signature
Date
Action of Academic Vice President:
Approve
Disapprove
Signature
Entered in Curriculum Data File
12/11/2009
Remarks:
Date