Both child and adult learners are studied. A premise of the course is that instructional procedures should be related to cognitive processes and to knowledge already attained by the learner. Prepares students to understand individuals from a developmental perspective. Course covers development from the time of conception until the end of life. Physical, cognitive emotional, and psychosocial processes are considered.
Class is taught by means of lectures, discussions, and student presentations.
The roles of memory, prior knowledge, and self-regulated learning in these and other task domains are considered. Students should emerge with an understanding of how to analyze what is involved in selected domains of learning and how to identify the more important questions for research. Provides study of the psychology of individuality and of individual differences that are relevant to instruction. Differences considered include cognitive and psychomotor abilities, academic motivation, cognitive strategies, and learning styles. Course focuses on how to use these differences in the design of adaptive interventions.