Your final paper will be at least a 1500 word description, excluding the works cited page and the title page, of your field experience. This could entail: 1) a 20-hour field experience placement; and/or 2) prior experiences working with children/youth and a reflection of how your experience relates to EDUC 2130 course material. If applicable, you may use a combination of your field experience, your experiences as a K-12 student, and/or prior experiences working with children/youth in your essay. You will be describing your experiences in detail; you will explain how aspects of your experiences relate to concepts you have learned in the course, using sources to help describe course-related topics; and you will be reflecting upon the impact the experiences had on you and (if applicable) the learning community, highlighting areas for improvement or best practices. Please do not use any child’s or youth’s real name except your own.
Below is an outline of the format of your essay and sample questions to address. Make sure that your essay at least addresses the format and questions below. Be sure to strike a balance between relying on research sources and speaking from your own analysis of your experiences. You may add additional information or insights for a more personalized and creative essay. Your paper must be at least 1500 words, not counting the title page and references. You must use a minimum of six (6) peer-reviewed sources such as scholarly journal articles, books from academic presses, and/or website material produced by bona fide experts (such as academics or respected professionals). Any texts used in the class may be used, but they will not count towards this minimum. If you use only non-academic sources, you will receive a zero for this assignment. Plagiarism, which includes the re-use of one’s own work (i.e., work completed for another course or assignment) and the use of others’ words or ideas without proper acknowledgment and formatting, will result in a zero for your final project and possibly failure of the course (see the syllabus for complete policy).
Please use the underlined portions as headers for sections in your own paper. This assists your organization of the papers and the instructor’s grading.
Format for the Paper:
Introduction
Give the reader an idea of what is to come in your essay.
Field Experience, Prior Schooling, and/or Prior Child/Youth Supervision Site (supply your own agency name in this header)
Briefly (i.e., one to two paragraphs) describe the site, its purpose (if applicable), and the setting in which you completed your field experience, your own schooling, and/or your previous involvement in the supervision of child/youth activities. Provide the demographics of the site and describe the group or class that you observed, experienced, and/or assisted in regard to number, age, race, gender, exceptionalities, socioeconomic status, cultural backgrounds, stages of learning (e.g. analytical, moral, psychosocial), , and any other characteristics of which you became aware during your field experience. Remember not to use the real names of any students.
My Field Experience: Connections to Educational Psychology
Introduce this section with a brief description of what you observed and did in your field experiences, prior schooling, and/or previous child/youth supervision. Include an explanation of how your participation in this setting contributed to the community of the site.
Describe your experiences in more detail in relation to topics covered in this course. Be sure to incorporate your sources at this point to help you explore each topic.
Topics for consideration can include (but are not limited to) the following:
Assessment and Evaluation (including but not limited to standardized tests and accountability)
Exceptional Learners (special education, gifted and talented)
Motivation and Success
Development (cognitive, social, moral)
Behavioral Theories
Learning Theories
Pedagogy and Praxis (methods, techniques, models, planning, etc.)
Direct Instruction
Cooperative Learning, Discussion-Based, or Student-Centered Approaches
Classroom Development and Management
Student Diversity
Teacher Efficacy
Reflections
Discuss your reactions to the observations. Did your experiences change any of your thinking or provide you with new insights? To what degree did issues discussed in class and in your textbook emerge as relevant in the setting that you were involved with? What insights did you gain regarding human motivation, learning, and social interaction? What were challenges and/or best practices you witnessed in your experience?
Implications and Conclusions
Summarize your educational philosophy here, including your conceptualization of learning, conceptualization of teaching, goals for students, and personal growth plan. How did your conceptualizations of pedagogy change due to what you experienced in this course? Did this experience help you establish some professional development goals for students and yourself? How might your insights and research help other future educators to be prepared to enter into their own classrooms?
APA Citations and Referencing
When you use material from your text or elsewhere, you must use APA format, both for in-text citations and constructing a reference list. Start here for information on using APA format here. Do not simply copy the APA citations that a database such as EBSCOHost or JSTOR may send you because these are often not actually in APA format. Always check any emailed source citations against APA requirements in the guide. For every peer-reviewed source below six used in the key assessment, a student’s score on the key assessment will be reduced by 10 points.
Your final paper will be at least a 1500 word description, excluding the works cited page and the title page, of your field experience. This could entail: 1) a 20-hour field experience placement; and/or 2) prior experiences working with children/youth and a reflection of how your experience relates to EDUC 2130 course material. If applicable, you may use a combination of your field experience, your experiences as a K-12 student, and/or prior experiences working with children/youth in your essay. You will be describing your experiences in detail; you will explain how aspects of your experiences relate to concepts you have learned in the course, using sources to help describe course-related topics; and you will be reflecting upon the impact the experiences had on you and (if applicable) the learning community, highlighting areas for improvement or best practices. Please do not use any child’s or youth’s real name except your own.
Below is an outline of the format of your essay and sample questions to address. Make sure that your essay at least addresses the format and questions below. Be sure to strike a balance between relying on research sources and speaking from your own analysis of your experiences. You may add additional information or insights for a more personalized and creative essay. Your paper must be at least 1500 words, not counting the title page and references. You must use a minimum of six (6) peer-reviewed sources such as scholarly journal articles, books from academic presses, and/or website material produced by bona fide experts (such as academics or respected professionals). Any texts used in the class may be used, but they will not count towards this minimum. If you use only non-academic sources, you will receive a zero for this assignment. Plagiarism, which includes the re-use of one’s own work (i.e., work completed for another course or assignment) and the use of others’ words or ideas without proper acknowledgment and formatting, will result in a zero for your final project and possibly failure of the course (see the syllabus for complete policy).
Please use the underlined portions as headers for sections in your own paper. This assists your organization of the papers and the instructor’s grading.
Format for the Paper:
Introduction
Give the reader an idea of what is to come in your essay.
Field Experience, Prior Schooling, and/or Prior Child/Youth Supervision Site (supply your own agency name in this header)
Briefly (i.e., one to two paragraphs) describe the site, its purpose (if applicable), and the setting in which you completed your field experience, your own schooling, and/or your previous involvement in the supervision of child/youth activities. Provide the demographics of the site and describe the group or class that you observed, experienced, and/or assisted in regard to number, age, race, gender, exceptionalities, socioeconomic status, cultural backgrounds, stages of learning (e.g. analytical, moral, psychosocial), , and any other characteristics of which you became aware during your field experience. Remember not to use the real names of any students.
My Field Experience: Connections to Educational Psychology
Introduce this section with a brief description of what you observed and did in your field experiences, prior schooling, and/or previous child/youth supervision. Include an explanation of how your participation in this setting contributed to the community of the site.
Describe your experiences in more detail in relation to topics covered in this course. Be sure to incorporate your sources at this point to help you explore each topic.
Topics for consideration can include (but are not limited to) the following:
Assessment and Evaluation (including but not limited to standardized tests and accountability)
Exceptional Learners (special education, gifted and talented)
Motivation and Success
Development (cognitive, social, moral)
Behavioral Theories
Learning Theories
Pedagogy and Praxis (methods, techniques, models, planning, etc.)
Direct Instruction
Cooperative Learning, Discussion-Based, or Student-Centered Approaches
Classroom Development and Management
Student Diversity
Teacher Efficacy
Reflections
Discuss your reactions to the observations. Did your experiences change any of your thinking or provide you with new insights? To what degree did issues discussed in class and in your textbook emerge as relevant in the setting that you were involved with? What insights did you gain regarding human motivation, learning, and social interaction? What were challenges and/or best practices you witnessed in your experience?
Implications and Conclusions
Summarize your educational philosophy here, including your conceptualization of learning, conceptualization of teaching, goals for students, and personal growth plan. How did your conceptualizations of pedagogy change due to what you experienced in this course? Did this experience help you establish some professional development goals for students and yourself? How might your insights and research help other future educators to be prepared to enter into their own classrooms?
APA Citations and Referencing
When you use material from your text or elsewhere, you must use APA format, both for in-text citations and constructing a reference list. Start here for information on using APA format here. Do not simply copy the APA citations that a database such as EBSCOHost or JSTOR may send you because these are often not actually in APA format. Always check any emailed source citations against APA requirements in the guide. For every peer-reviewed source below six used in the key assessment, a student’s score on the key assessment will be reduced by 10 points.