RHB325 – FOUNDATIONS IN VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
Fall, 2008
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http://www.sfasu.edu/education/about/accreditations/ncate/conceptual/
Michael Munro Instructors:
Course Time & Location:
Website:
Tuesday and Thursday
11:00-12:15 PM
Room 314
Human Services Building http://www.faculty.sfasu.edu/munromicha
Contact information:
Michael Munro
Office Hours:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Phone:
Office
Cell
Email:
Room 222 Human Services
10:00AM -12:00PM
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
By appointment
8:00AM – 10:00AM
NA
936-468-1036
903-641-7917 munromicha@sfasu.edu

Other Contact Information:
Fax: 936-468-1342
Address: Department of Human Services
Stephen F. Austin State University
PO Box 13019 —SFA Station
Nacogdoches, TX 75962
Prerequisites: none
I. Course Description:
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This course is designed to provide the student with knowledge and skills to teach in an educational setting with students who have visual impairments. Topics will include:
• History of the field—United States and world
• Characteristics of students with visual impairment
• Physical and motor development
• Psychological and social aspects including diversity
• Agencies serving students with visual impairments, professional resources, and organizations
• Roles, responsibilities and service delivery options of persons working with students with visual impairments
• Legal perspectives, law, Admission-Review and Dismissal (ARD’s),
Individualized Educational Plans/Individ ual Family Service Plans (IEP’s/IFSP’s), and Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s) as related to students with visual impairments
• Programs for Efficiently Managing Caseloads
• Working with families of students with visual impairments
• Agencies that serve individuals with visual impairments
Students will be required to complete a minimum of 20 clock hours of specified field based experience activities.
II. Intended Learning Outcomes/Goals/Objectives:
It is the mission of the Stephen F. Austin College of Education “to prepare competent, successful, caring and enthusiastic professionals dedicated to responsible service, leadership, and continued professional and intellectual development.” This statement essentially sums up the intent of this class and our program as a whole. We make every effort to assure that this class (and all others in vision) is solidly grounded in the realities of practice. It is intended to be a pragmatic, practical class with maximum emphasis being placed on equipping our teachers to be effective and efficient facilitators of learning for students with visual impairments across the state of Texas.

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The Core Values of our College are:
 Academic excellence through critical, reflective, and creative thinking


Life-long learning
 Collaboration and shared decision-making
Openness to new ideas, to culturally diverse people, and to innovation and change
 Integrity , responsibility, diligence, and ethical behavior, and
 Service that enriches the community.
This class emphasizes these Values in it’s pedagogy and in it’s assessment of outcomes. We, as instructors, strive to reflect these principles in the teaching of this class and we also have the highest expectations that these Values will be demonstrated by our students,
III. Course Assignments, Activities, Instructional Strategies, use of Technology:
Email Policy:
The Stephen F. Austin State University E-mail for University
Communication policy makes use of a student’s e-mail account an approved means of communicating with a student. This means that it is the responsibility of the student to check their email daily. The instructor will use this means of communication consistently throughout the class, and students are expected to stay current on messages that have been distributed to them. Each student has been assigned an email account by the University. This account will be named lastnameinitials@titan.sfasu.edu
. If you are not sure about the exact address for your specific account, please go to SFA’s home page
( http://sfasu.edu
), click on “Student Life” and then on “Student Email
Addresses.”
This is the ONLY account that the instructor will use to communicate with the student.
It may be accessed in a variety of other email systems (e.g. through Hotmail or Yahoo), but the procedures posted at http://libweb.sfasu.edu/systems/newapp/index.htm
must be followed to make this possible. Any difficulty which is encountered with this process should be discussed the SFASU’s Instructional Technology Department by calling 936-468-1212.
IV. Evaluation and Assessments (Grading):
Class participation: 100 points
This class is designed to be highly interactive between the students and the instructor. I will be asking questions and calling on every student. A total of 100 points will be awarded based on your level of class participation. Please note that

these points are not assigned on the basis of correct responses, but on the willingness of the student to respond and work through the problem.
At the end of the semester, students will be evaluated by the instructor on the following criteria:

Appropriateness of participation in class discussions.

Willingness to answer questions.

Evidence of critical thinking during class activities.
 Demonstration of good “consulting skills” (e.g. politeness, manners, diplomacy, etc.)

Display of a positive attitude toward the subject material, class activities, etc.

Attendance (physical and mental) to class activities and discussions.
Up to 100 points will be added to the final point total based on the criteria listed above. Students who have demonstrably sub-average performances in ANY of the categories will be given ZERO points on this requirement.
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Exams:
Two exams will be administered:
Midterm Exam – 200 points
Final exam
– 200 points
Learning Activities: -- 100 points each o Historical Perspectives o Common Characteristics of Students with Visual Impairments o Growth and Development of Students with Visual Impairments o Psychological and Social Aspects of Visual Impairment o Laws Related to Visual Impairment in Texas o Multicultural Issues o Ethical and Professional Roles and Responsibilities of Vision
Specialists in Texas o Working with Families of Students Who Have a Visual Impairment o Basic Orientation and Mobility o Agencies Associated With Blind and Visually Impaired Clients
Resource Notebook: 150 points
Field Based Experience: 150 points
See attached chart.
Pop Quizzes: 50 points each

Grades:
Grades will be based on a total points accumulated from:
Activity
Class Participation
Points
100
Exams 2 @ 200
Learning Activities 10 @ 100
Resource Notebook
Field Based Experience
Pop quizzes 50 each
400
1000
150
150
?
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Course grades will be determined based on the following scale:
A = 100-90% of total points
B
C
D
F
=
=
=
89-80% of total points
79-70% of total points
69-60% of total points
= 60% of total points
Field based experience hours and activities:
This class will require the documentation 20 hours of field based experience.
Certain experiences MUST be documented (see chart
–linked from homepage).
Other activities are optional and may be used to “fill in” the number of hours needed. There are two particularly important field based experiences covered in this class. First, the student must visit an eye care specialist for a tour of their office and the hardware and procedures that are used there. Second, the student must complete a minimum of 3 interviews as described in the field based experience chart. Forms for documenting these activities will be provided by the instructor, and should be maintained in a special Field Based Experience
Notebook which will ultimately serve as verification and as a portfolio of learning experiences undertaken by the student. Please note that the chart appended to this syllabus contains a variety of other suggestions for field based experiences.
If you plan to do any of these activities (e. g. attend a conference), be sure that you get the appropriate documentation filled out so you can get FBE credit.
V. Tentative Course Outline/Calendar:

August
26
– Overview of the Class
Review of the syllabus and schedule
Intro to Historical Perspectives
28 --Have read Chapter 1 of Holbrook and Koenig and have finished reading WIA 1 on the Web
September
2 – Characteristics of students with visual impairments
Read Chapter 2 of Holbrook and Koenig
Learning Activity 1
– Historical Perspectives due
4 – Continue with Characteristics of Students with Visual Impairments
9 – Conclusion of Characteristics of Students with Visual Impairments
Introduction to Growth and Development of Students with Visual
Impairments
October
11
– Psychological and Social Aspects of Visual Impairment (cont)
Laws Related to Visual Impairment in Texas
Learning Activity 2 –Characteristics of
Students with Visual Impairments due
16 - Growth and Development of Students with Visual Impairments
Read Chapters 4 and 5 of Holbrook and Koenig
18 - Conclusion of Growth and Development
Learning Activity 3 – Growth and Development due
22 - Psychological and Social Aspects of Visual Impairment
Read Chapter 6 Holbrook and Koenig
25 - Psychological and Social Aspects of Visual Impairment
29 - Psychological and Social Aspects of Visual Impairment (cont)
Learning Activity 4
– Psychological and Social Aspects of
Visual Impairment due
6

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2 -- Laws Related to Visual Impairment in Texas
7 – Laws Related to Visual Impairment in Texas (cont.) Review for midterm
Learning Activity 5 – Laws Related to Visual
Impairment due
9
–
14
– Introduction to Multicultural Issues
Read Chapter 8 of Holbrook and Koenig
16 Multicultural Issues (cont)
21 Orientation and Mobility
Learning Activity 6 – Multicultural Issues due
23 - Orientation and Mobility
28 - Orientation and Mobility
30Orientation and Mobility
November
4 – Orientation and Mobility
Learning Activity 8 – Orientation and Mobility due
6
– Ethical and Professional Responsibilities
Read Chapter 10 in Holbrook and Koenig
11
– Ethical and Professional Responsibilities - Continued
13
– Working with Families of Students with Visual Impairments
Learning Activity 7
– Ethical and Professional
Responsibilities due
18
– Families (cont.)
20 - Agencies
Learning Activity 9
– Working with Families
due
25 – Agencies

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Learning Activity 10 – Agencies That Work with Students
Who Have Visual Impairments
December
4- Review for Final Exam
Resource Notebook due
VI. Readings (Required and recommended —including texts, websites, articles, etc.):
Required texts:
Holbrook, K. & Koenig, A. eds. Foundations of Education Second Edition: Volume I
History and Theory of Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments.
New York: American Foundation for the Blind, 2000.
VII. Course Evaluations:
“Near the conclusion of each semester, students in the College of Education electronically evaluate courses taken within the COE. Evaluation data is used for a variety of important purposes including: 1. Course and program improvement, planning, and accreditation; 2. Instruction evaluation purposes; and 3. Making decisions on faculty tenure, promotion, pay, and retention. As you evaluate this course, please be thoughtful, thorough, and accurate in completing the evaluation.
Please know that the COE faculty is committed to excellence in teaching and continued improvement. Therefore, your response is critical!
In the College of Education, the course evaluation process has been simplified and is completed electronically through MySFA. Although the instructor will be able to view the names of students who complete the survey, all ratings and comments are confidential and anonymous, and will not be available to the instructor until after final grades are posted.
Students will be given an opportunity to participate in an anonymous formal evaluation at the end of the semester. This is required as your tuition is paid by a grant. Your evaluations will be submitted to SFASU. We will receive a list of students who have not submitted their evaluation. You will not receive a grade for the course until you have submitted your evaluation. These evaluations are online and must be submitted before finals are given.

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The instructor encourages students to visit with her during her office hours or to schedule an appointment with her in order to discuss opinions on the quality of the course or ways to improve it. The instructor is dedicated to providing students with a high quality learning experience which is supportive as well as instructive.
VIII. Student Ethics and Other Policy Information:
Attendance:
Attendance: The following is the official policy for the university:
Class Attendance and Excused Absence A-10
Original Implementation: November 9, 1981
Last Revision: January 15, 2002
Class Attendance
Regular and punctual attendance is expected at all classes, laboratories, and other activities for which a student is registered. For those classes where attendance is a factor in the course grade, the instructor shall make his/her class policy known in writing at the beginning of each term and shall maintain an accurate record of attendance.
Regardless of attendance, every student is responsible for course content and assignments.
Excused Absences
It is University policy to excuse students from attendance for certain reasons. Among these are absences related to health, family emergencies, and student participation in certain University-sponsored events.
Students are responsible for providing documentation satisfactory to the instructor for each class missed. Students with acceptable excuses will be permitted to make up work for absences to a maximum of three weeks of a semester or one week of a six-week summer term when the nature of the work missed permits.
FOR THIS CLASS: Students are expected to attend class. Attendance will be taken each class day. Students may receive excused absences for illness and family emergencies, but must present written documentation for such

10 absence (i.e. doctor's note, emergency room admissions, funeral notices).
Students will be allowed one unexcused absence without penalty. After that, one letter grade will be subtracted from the final grade for each unexcused
absence.
Students with Disabilities
—To obtain disability related accommodations and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the Office of Disability Services
(ODS), Human Services Building, Room 325, (936) 468-3004/ (936) 468-1004
(TDD) as early as possible in the semester. Once verified, ODS will notify the course instructor and outline the accommodation and/or auxiliary aids to be provided.
Academic Honesty
—
It is the policy of Stephen F. Austin State University that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. (see Academic Integrity
A-9.1
)
For purposes of this class, any student who is identified as cheating based on the definition above will receive an “F” in the class. If the student is pursuing an M.Ed., the student’s status in the program will be reevaluated and the individual may be dismissed from the program.