In the course, Characteristics of Diverse Learners, we
covered a wide range of topics that provided a foundation regarding diversity or
students and learning styles within an educational setting. The goal of the
course was to provide an overview of the characteristics of students that one would
encounter while working in an educational setting including gifted and
talented, autism, ADHD, and English as second language to name a few. One of
the most important topics covered was the theory of inclusive classrooms and
teaching using universal design for learning techniques. The course provided
the foundation necessary to have a well rounded viewpoint regarding diversity
within educational environments.
Being one of the few students in Foundation of Education
masters program, the course work was not designed specifically for my program.
This resulted in the course being split at the end of the semester where
Foundations students were not included in the larger group but instead broke
out into a small group to complete different lessons. This was mainly due to
the requirements that needed to be met for licensure students. Since
Foundations, by design, is to cover a wide range of topics to prepare students
for administration and policy studies within educational institutions, it would
have been useful to gain the perspective that was taught to the large group
including Universal Design for learning and special education topics. This is my
only critique of this course.
We completed a couple different assignments one of which was
a Characteristics Study on an adult of our choice. The purpose of the assignment
was to analyze the characteristics of the subject that related to topics we
covered in our class. I had the opportunity to analyze the developmental
history of someone who I have known since childhood. This study allowed me to
reinforce the topics that we discussed and relate them to a scenario that I
knew well. This was my favorite assignment of the course.
The professor for this course was excellent. He was able to
relate his own personal stories and working experiences to course content to
keep the discussions interesting and fun. He has a wealth of knowledge and I
look forward to the next class that he teaches. Although he has earned a
Doctorate in Special Education, he is very down to earth and not intimidating
to talk to. I appreciate his passion for teaching and his willingness to work
with students to insure their learning experience is positive.
