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Understanding Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia – 10 Weeks – WINTER 2020

3 graduate credits provided by Colorado State University – Pueblo.
Cost includes graduate credit fee.

This graduate-level professional development course provides educators with an overview of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, including well-established neurological research related to the development of reading, writing, and arithmetic. As a result of the learning experiences in this course, participants will be more competent in their ability to:

• Understand the causes of learning challenges for individuals with these specific learning disabilities (SLD)
• Explore related neurological research and theory
• Learn best practice instructional strategies to support these students
• Gain awareness of other co-existing learning and social-emotional challenges
• Consider alternative views of learning disabilities by exploring cultural norms related to disabilities

The course is divided into six modules over 10 weeks. (Though participants may work ahead of the specified course pace, this 3-credit course includes specific deadlines for each individual module.)

• Module 1: Defining dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia
• Module 2: Neurological origins and manifestations
• Module 3: Comorbidity with other challenges
• Module 4: Best classroom practices
• Module 5: Special education laws
• Module 6: Reframing social perspective

Each module will follow the same basic outline:

• Reading of course content followed by a group discussion
• A reading of additional course content followed by a brief quiz
• A viewing of additional resources followed by a related application assignment
• An opportunity to submit concluding thoughts about the relevance of the course content
• A variety of readings followed by a reflective assignment

Specific Assignments:

• Pre and Post-Assessments: These ungraded questionnaires will be completed at the beginning and end of the course in order to self-assess knowledge and application of course content.
• Quizzes: The quizzes will assess comprehension of the content from the required reading. The quizzes will be automatically graded within the course platform. Although participants must earn an 80% or higher to move on to the next section of the course, there are unlimited attempts allowed.
• Discussion Posts: The discussions will require participants to post an initial response and reply to at least one other post. These tasks will be assessed using specific rubrics.
• Application Assignments: The assignments in each module will require participants to apply their understanding of course content to follow the assignment directions and use examples provided as a guideline for format length, and quality of writing. These tasks will be assessed using specific rubrics.
• Concluding Thoughts: These tasks require participants to synthesize three key takeaways from the module and will be assessed using specific rubrics.
• Reading and Reflection Assignments: These tasks involve additional reading assignments followed by the completion of a reflective assignment connecting theory to practice. Submissions will be assessed using specific rubrics.

Course texts and materials will be posted once they are finalized. 

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