3 Syllabi with Weekly Schedules

The three draft syllabi that follow were created by professors who attended a course design workshop at the University of Virginia in early June, 2014. These contain two excerpts from their syllabi:

  • Their course descriptions
  • Their weekly schedules

These syllabi were selected in part because they span three domains of subject matter:

  • Natural Science: “Biology of Aging”
  • Social Science: “Introduction to Youth and Innovation”
  • Humanities: “Elementary Chinese”

Note how, in the first two courses, the teachers use questions to structure the topics in their Weekly Schedules.

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Course #1

Biol 3140: Biology of Aging

Instructor

Deborah Roach, Professor of Biology

Meeting time and place

Depending on the day of the week our class will meet in different places but we will always meet at the same time 1-1:50.

  • Monday and Wednesday: Gilmer 190
  • Friday: Clark Hall 103

I will have open, drop-in, office hours in Gilmer 047. You are welcome to come with your friends or study-group.

Course Description

Why do we age? How can some species, like lobster, escape aging? We would all like to understand human aging but, as you will see, even if that is our motivation we cannot experiment with humans and it is only through experiments with other species that the hypotheses about the causes of aging can be tested. Beyond the lab, we can also look at species in the wild, such as lobsters, mayflies, and trees to uncover extreme variation in the patterns of aging in the natural world.

How do evolutionary theories, ecology, cell biology and genetics help us to understand variation in the patterns of aging across species from bacteria to plants to Drosophila? Different disciplines across biology study aging with different tools and we will integrate these approaches to synthesize what is known about aging across multiple fields. Most people come to this subject expecting one answer so please do not get frustrated when you find that there are many reasons that organisms age. This is a very active field of research and we do not know all of the answers.

My secret goal is to provide you with skills to understand how science is done. You will learn how to read primary scientific literature and how to interpret data. In the future when you read in the New York Times about the latest discoveries, you can put them into context and make your own evaluation about the validity of the new findings. Someday, in your lifetime, someone will develop an intervention to slow the process of aging in humans, and you will have to address the implications of these discoveries for society.

Course Objectives

In this course you will learn about the biology of aging across all species and you will develop skills to think like a scientist. Specifically I expect that you will be able to,

  • Identify and explain variation in the patterns of aging.
  • Know how aging might be manipulated in the future.
  • Synthesize different disciplinary approaches to understand aging.
  • Acquire and demonstrate an ability to read primary scientific literature, to interpret results and to understand how science is done.
  • Develop a lifelong interest in aging, and in science in general.

Course Schedule

There are three major sections of this course and some of the major questions/topics to be covered are outlined on the weekly schedule given below. Please see the Interactive Schedulefor links to daily readings, homework, and power points.

I. NATURAL HISTORY AND DEMOGRAPHY OF AGING

Week 1 (August 27-29): What is aging?

Week 2 (September 1-5): How do we measure aging?

Week 3 (September 8-12): What are the patterns of aging across species in wild populations?

Week 4 (September 15-19): How can aging be measured in an individual?

Sept 19: Quiz #1

II. WHY THEORIES OF AGING

Week 5 (September 22-26): How has natural selection shaped the patterns of aging?

Week 6 (Sept. 29-Oct 3): How do we design experiments to test the evolutionary theories?

Week 7 (Oct 6-10): Does aging vary across environments? Why?

Oct 13: FALL BREAK

Week 8 (Oct 15-17): Why do whales and humans have menopause?

Oct 17: Quiz #2

III. HOW THEORIES OF AGING

Week 9 (Oct 20-24): What is the relationship between cell aging and cancer?

Week 10 (Oct 27-31): Explain the statement: Every breath you take hastens your death.

Week 11 (Nov 3-7): Eat less and live longer?

Week 12 (Nov 10-14): [out of town Nov 10-12] A little stress is good for you.

Week 13 (Nov 17-21): Homology in aging pathways from nematodes to mice to humans.

Nov 24: Quiz #3

Nov 26-28: THANKSGIVING BREAK

Week 14 (Dec 1-5): How much does genetics matter?

Dec 13 (Saturday) 9-12: Final Exam

Course #2

EDLF 1100: Introduction to Youth and Social Innovation

3 Credit Hours

Human ServicesFall 2014

August 26-December 4, 2014

T/Th

Instructors

Robert PiantaEdith “Winx” Lawrence

email:mail:

Introduction to Youth and Social Innovation

“Every truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” – Arthur Shopenhauer

Course Description

What do we need to know in order to design effective youth programming and policies that promote the positive development of youth? Faculty members in the Curry School of Education have some of those answers. In this course you will be introduced to the innovative programming, policy, and evaluation research related to youth development that is being done by Curry faculty and their colleagues. You’ll learn what adult behaviors are related to youth engagement in the classroom, in after-school settings, and at home; what schools and communities can do to decrease peer bullying and the achievement gap; and how comprehensive and supportive youth programming, including mentoring, can influence youth’s involvement in risky behavior.

While many of us want to be the next Bill and Melinda Gates and develop social innovations that effectively address problems facing today’s youth, it’s not easy to do. In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. It also requires foundational knowledge about the complex and interacting social, cultural, and institutional factors that impact the trajectory of youth outcomes and a practical understanding of what works in promoting change and why. Let’s get started.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will know more about the key challenges today’s youth face and what specific social programs, policies, and strategies innovators have developed to address them. You’ll be able to use a logic model to critically analyze how well these innovations are designed, including their desired results, strategies used to reach desired results, the assumptions that support these strategies, and the roles played by important stakeholders. You’ll discover that not all social innovations are created equal, and based on a reading of empirical evaluation studies you’ll develop a beginning understanding of why some initiatives work and others don’t. You’ll have the opportunity to meet with social innovators or researchers who evaluate social innovations and ask them probing questions. Finally, you’ll have the opportunity to enhance your skills working with a team to develop a proposal for an enhancement to a social innovation you think could make a difference for youth.

Critical, creative and practical thinking are fundamental to designing change initiatives and this course will help you develop them. By reading about and analyzing the complex and interacting factors that impact the trajectory of youth outcomes, including the school environment, parenting practices, and unequal access to resources, you will enhance your skills in critical analysis. This will include problem identification, assessing problems and potential solutions in an organized way, predicting the consequences of change strategies, and weighing alternatives. Working with your team to apply what you’ve learned about youth programming to the design of an enhancement of a social innovation for youth will develop your creative and practical thinking as well as your ability to be work collaboratively with a team. Finally, an oral presentation on your social innovation and the problem it was designed to address, will provide you the opportunity to practice presenting your ideas to others in a professional format.

Weekly Schedule

Class / Topic / Readings
Introduction to YSI: Integrating theory, research and application / Wagner, T. (2012). Play, Passion, & Purpose
Team Development / TBA on team roles,
TBA on asking good questions
  1. How Do Developmental and Socio-Cultural Factors Influence Youth Outcomes?

Positive Youth Development Theory / Lerner, R. M., Brentano, C., Dowling, E. M., & Anderson, P. M. (2002). Positive youth development: Thriving as the basis of personhood and civil society.New directions for youth development, (95), 11-34.
Benson, P. L., & Scales, P. C. (2011). Developmental assets. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.),Encyclopedia of adolescenceNew York: Springer. (pp. 667–683). Doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2
Application: Guest Innovator Nancy Deutsch
Youth /Adult Relationships Project: / YAR Grant Proposal
Ecological and Systemic Theories / Bronfenbrenner, U. (1997). Ecological models of human development. In Gauvain, M. & Cole, M. (Eds.), Readings on the development of children, 2nd Ed. NY: Freeman (pp. 37-43)
Benson, P.L. (2006). All kids are our kids: what communities must do to raise caring and responsible children and adolescents. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.(Ch. 1 & 2)
Application: Guest Innovator
Valerie Futch / TBA
Culture and Class Theories / Phinney, J. S. (1989). Stages of ethnic identity development in minority group adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 9(1-2), 34-49.
Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., & Fryberg, S. A. (2012). Social class disparities in health and education: Reducing inequality by applying a sociocultural self model of behavior. Psychological review, 119(4), 723.
Application: Guest Innovator Joanna Williams / TBA
  1. How Do Theories Of Change Inform Social Innovations?

A Model for Evaluating Change / Knowlton, L. & Phillips, C. (2009). The Logic Model Guidebook. Chapters 1-4 (Introducing Logic Models; Building and Improving Theory of Change Logic Models; Creating Program Logic Models; & Modeling: Improving Program Logic Models)
Theories of Change / Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapter 1 (Redirect: Small Edits, Lasting Change)
Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Social-psychological interventions in education They’re not magic. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 267-301.
What is Social Innovation? / Wagner, T. (2012). Creating Innovators, New York: Scribner, Chapters 1 & 6 (A Primer on Innovation & The Future of Innovation)
Mulgan, G. (2006). The process of social innovation. Innovations, 1(2), 145-162.
Brown, T., & Wyatt, J. (2010). Design thinking for social innovation. Development Outreach, 12(1), 29-43.
Application: Guest Innovator on Design Thinking / TBA on design thinking
How Do You Know If It Works? / Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapter 2 (Testing, Testing: Does It Work?)
Roth, J. L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). What exactly is a youth development program? Answers from research and practice. Applied developmental science, 7(2), 94-111.
Guest Lecture: Patrick Tolan / TBA on evaluating youth programming
  1. How Do Social Innovations Address Youth Challenges?

Social Innovations Targeting Interacting Systems / Harlem Children’s Zone 60 Minutes
Dobbie, W & R. Fryer, Jr. (2009). Are high-quality schools enough to close the achievement gap? evidence from a bold experiment in Harlem, Harvard University
Guest Innovator: Jim Wyckoff
Center on Education Policy & Workforce Competitiveness / TBA
Social Innovations Targeting Culture / Sherman, D. K., Hartson, K. A., Binning, K. R., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., Taborsky-Barba, S., & Cohen, G. L. (2013). Deflecting the trajectory and changing the narrative: How self-affirmation affects academic performance and motivation under identity threat.
Guest Innovator: Derrick Alridge
Oral History Project: / Alridge, D. (2013). Oral History Project: Jefferson Trust Grant Proposal
Influences on Youth Development: Parents / Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J. E. (2005). The role of parenting styles in children's problem behavior. Child development, 76(6), 1144-1159.
Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapters 3 & 4 (Shaping Our Narratives & Shaping Our Kids’ Narratives))
Social Innovation Targeting Parenting
Guest Innovator: Ann Loper
Parents Inside Loving Kids / Loper, A. B., Whalen, M. L., & Will, J. (in press). Inside and out: Family life for parents in prison. In Family problems: Stress, risk, and resilience, J. Arditti (Ed). Wiley-Blackwell. OR
Loper, A. B. & Novero, C. (2010). Parenting programs for prisoners: Current research and new directions. Children of incarcerated parents. J. Poehlmann and M. Eddy (eds.), pp.189-216. Washington DC: The Urban Institute.
Influences on Youth Development: Adolescent Decision Making / Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental review, 28(1), 78-106.
Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapter 5 (Just Say…Volunteer: Preventing Teen Pregnancies)
Social Innovation Targeting Adolescent Decision Making
Innovator: Winx Lawrence Young Women Leaders Program / Lawrence, E. C., Levy, M., Martin, N. & Strother-Taylor, J. (2008). One-on-one and group mentoring: An integrated approach. Folsom, CA: Mentoring ResourceCenter. (pp. 1-5).
Deutsch, N.L., Wiggins, A., Henneberger, A. & Lawrence, E. (2012). Combining mentoring with structured group activities: A potential after-school context for fostering relationships between girls and mentors. Journal of Early Adolescence, doi:10.1177/0272431612458037Or
Lee, J., Germain, L. Lawrence, E. & Marshall, J. (2010). “It opened my mind, my eyes. It was good”: Supporting college students’ navigation of difference in a youth mentoring program. Educational Horizons, 89, 33-46.
Influences on Youth Development: Aggression / Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapter 6 (Scared Crooked: Reducing Teenage Violence)
Underwood, M. K. (2003). Adolescence: Girl talk, moral negotiation, and strategic interactions to inflict social harm. In Social aggression among girls (pp. 134-178). New York: Guilford Press.
Social Innovation Targeting Aggression
Guest Innovator: Dewey Cornell
Youth Violence Project / Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2010). Olweus bullying prevention program. The handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective, 377-401.
Cornell, D., & Limber, S. (working paper). Legal and policy considerations in bullying intervention
Influences on Youth Development: Prejudice / McIntosh, P. (2004) Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. White privilege: Essential readings on the other side of racism (pp. 97-101). New York: Worth Publishers.
Sue, D., Capodilupo, C., Torino, G, Bucceri, J., Holder, A., Nadal, K., & Esquilin, M. (2007) Racial microaggressions in everyday life. American Psychologist, 62, 271-286.
Social Innovation Targeting Stereotype Threat
Guest Innovator: Tim Wilson / Steele on Stereotype Threat

Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapter 8 (Surely They’ll Like Me – Or Will they? Reducing Prejudice)
Influences on Youth Development: The Achievement Gap
- / Pianta, R. C., & Allen, J. P. (2008). Building capacity for positive youth development in secondary school classrooms: Changing teachers’ interactions with students. Toward positive youth development: Transforming schools and community programs, 21-39.
Wilson, T. (2011). Redirect, Chapter 9 (It’s About Me, Not My Group: Closing the Achievement Gap)
Social Innovation Targeting the Achievement Gap
Innovator: Bob Pianta
Teachstone / Gregory,A., Allen, J., Mikami, A., Hafen, C., & Pianta, R. (submitted book chapter) The promise of a teacher professional development program in reducing the racial disparity in classroom discipline referrals
Pianta, R. (2011). Teaching children well: New evidence-based approaches to teacherprofessional development and training. Center for American Progress Report (pp. 1-36)
OR
Virginia College Partnership Laboratory School Planning Grant Application (2013). Laboratory School for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
  1. How Can Social Innovations For Youth Be Enhanced?

Final Projects
-Team presentations

Course #3

CHIN1010 Elementary Chinese I

University of Virginia, Department of East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Class time: MTWRF/10-10:50&11:00-11:50

Classroom: CAB 044

Instructor: Ran Zhao

Email:

Are you ready to fall in love with Chinese?

She is beautiful to look at, musical to listen to.

She is so popular and yet so different.

She demands a lot of your attention and is extremely high-maintenance.

She will change your life.

Are you ready? Are you sure?

This course allows students with no or minimal prior experience in Mandarin Chinese to start acquiring basic linguistic knowledge of Mandarin Chinese. No matter how tone-deaf you think you are, you will start to hear the melody of the tones before long. However hard might it be to learn those characters, you will surely be intrigued by the beauty and wisdom displayed in them once you get to know them better. This course also helps you start developing skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing at the basic level, which will enable you to function in everyday situations such as greetings, carrying on polite conversations about self and family, sharing school life experiences, etc. Culture is also a critical component of this course. You will learn about the Chinese cultural products, practices and perspectives relevant to any given language task on hand. This course also provides opportunities for you to apply your language abilities to serve our community in authentic and meaningful ways.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

In this course, you will start an exciting journey of understanding a new language, a new culture and hopefully an equally if not more exciting journey of self-discovery and community building. You will constantly find yourselves pushing your personal boundaries to acquire a challenging foreign language, reaching out to new friends and viewing the world from multiple perspectives. The following objectives will help you in a long run to reach a larger goal of broadening your personal and/or professional opportunities. By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

  1. communicate orally and textually with native speakers of Chinese in various everyday situations by applying basic linguistic knowledge of pinyin, 500 characters and 60 grammar items covered this semester with fluency and accuracy;
  2. describe the linguistic and cultural differences and similarities between the Chinese and your native language and culture;
  3. communicate with native speakers in a socio-culturally appropriate way;
  4. create digital instructional and reflective media in Chinese that will help internalize your own learning and meanwhile be useful for future students and the Chinese-learning community beyond UVa;

COURSE SCHEDULE

The table below illustrates our weekly routine. This routine will start from Week 2. We will cover up to Lesson 9 in our textbook, each lesson including two dialogues (D1 and D2).

What to turn in class or what to post on class blog / Class activities
Monday / Grammar pages D1
Class preparation checklist / Learn D1 focus: vocabulary and grammar
Tuesday / Grammar pages D2
Class preparation checklist / Learn D2 focus: vocabulary and grammar
Wednesday / Self-checked and correctedListening & reading D1&2 / Review D1-2 focus: accuracy of tones and usage
Thursday / Weekly character video post / Perform: authentic tasks focus: fluency and confidence
Friday / Chinese friend project post / Showcase: oral presentation, skit, debate, etc. focus: assessment
Saturday / Weekly reflective post
Sunday / Optional: any extra post

This is an overview of our course schedule, which is subject to change when needed.