In this class, you will be exploring the phenomenon that is referred to as “autism.” You will begin by becoming extremely familiar with persons who have been diagnosed as being autistic. Your in-depth familiarity will come from reading books autistic persons have written, listening to lectures they have given, watching videos in which they have been showcased, and reading the websites they have posted. Then, you will explore the definitions of autism, including diagnostic procedures and criteria, using a historical perspective that will enable you to understand recent trends in prevalence and recent movements toward earlier identification and diagnosis. Next, you will critically evaluate contemporary theories of the etiology (‘cause’) of autism. Last, you will critically evaluate contemporary approaches to remediate characteristics thought to be autistic.
The course is based on the pedagogical techniques of investigative learning (i.e., rather than the professor providing all of the material to the students, as is traditionally the case in a lecture-based and/or textbook-based course, students in this course will be responsible for finding much of the information themselves, as guided by the professor); collaborative learning (students will collaborate with each other via weekly online posting and online “chats” among small groups, as well as via feedback to and from other students on their assignments); and critical thinking (students will constantly evaluate the myths and misconceptions held and spawned by laypersons, professionals, and researchers).
If you are expecting a course in which the professor merely posts his or her lecture notes on the web and the students take periodic multiple-choice exams, this is NOT the course for you. If you are hoping to be able to blow off the weekly assignments and do all of the course assignments in a rush toward the end of the semester, this is NOT the course for you.
Rather, this course is best suited for students who are eager to work hard (students should expect to work a total of 9 hours a week, for each week of the semester); students who are able to stay up with weekly assignments (students should expect 5 to 7 weekly assignments, each of which will be due on a specified day within the week); and most importantly, students who are willing to be open-minded (if you have fixed pre-conceptions about autism, or other differences among people, then you are likely to not get the full value of this course).
This is a fun course, with stimulating material. You need not have any previous background or experience with autism; a hearty enthusiasm about learning and thinking ‘outside the box’ are all that is required. Previous students in this course have greatly enjoyed the format and the content of this course, and I anticipate that you will, too.
To allow for a rich, interactive environment, the class will be divided into three sections. Find your name below to see to which Section (1, 2, or 3) you will belong. If you don’t see your name below, contact Dr. Gernsbacher [MAGernsb@wisc.edu].
Section 1 |
Section 2 |
Section 3 |
| Group 1 | Group 5 | Group 9 |
| Group 2 | Group 6 | Group 10 |
| Group 3 | Group 7 | Group 11 |
| Group 4 | Group 8 | Group 12 |
This course will be very rigorous in its assignments. As I mentioned in the preview of the course, you will be working very hard in this course and truly doing nine total hours of work each week. The assignments are highly structured, and they are paced for when they should be completed. They are also cumulative, meaning that they build upon one another. Eighty percent of your course grade will be based on the timeliness and quality of your completing all of the assignments. Midterm I will give each student narrative feedback about the quality of their assignments, although my experience has always been that most students have a pretty good sense of how hard they are working on the assignments even without my feedback.
The remaining 20% of your course grade will be based on a term project of your choice. It would be hypocritical for anyone who is teaching a course on DIFFERENCES among people to expect all students to demonstrate their mastery of the course in the same way. Thus, you can design your own term project.
Some guidelines: Your term project will be due before 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 18, the second to last day of exam week. Your term project should demonstrate your mastery of ALL of the course’s content (not just one section of the course). Although the term project will reflect your mastery of the entire course, and thus you will be acquiring the background to conduct your term project throughout the course (and its assignments), you should plan to spend at least an additional 12 hours actually conducting (or assembling) your project. (In other words, your term project should reflect at least an additional 12 hours of work beyond the class’ assignments.)
You may conduct and ‘report’ your term project alone, or if you prefer you may conduct your term project in a small group but report it individually, or conduct and report your term project in a small group. If you choose to conduct and/or report your term project in a small group, I expect that your small group’s project “will be greater than the sum of its parts.” That is, I should be able to observe some ‘value added’ by your working as a small community. I encourage you to work individually if that is the way you work best on such a project or to work in a small group if that is the way you work best. You should feel free to choose the mechanism that leads to your best work.
Here are some generic FORMATS for your term project, but I strongly encourage you to work in whatever medium that makes you feel the most comfortable (or the most creative or the most stimulated). In other words, these are not the only possible formats.
As for the content to put into that format, here are just a very few ideas to help stimulate your own creativity. This is only a tiny, tiny sampling of the vast number of possibilities!
These ideas are just a very small sampling of possible ideas. I strongly encourage you to think primarily about what YOU would like to have at the end of the term to demonstrate your mastery of this course. That will be the term project about which you are the most proud.
I shall consult with each of you about your term project; there will be a discussion topic on the course web site to allow us to do that in a public forum, with my sense being that other class members will benefit from seeing the discussions that individual students have with me about their projects. Therefore, when you have an idea for your course project on which you want to get some feedback, please post in that discussion topic and I will reply to your post. Everyone should have discussed with me their ideas for their term projects PRIOR TO April 11.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s creativity and competence demonstrated in these term projects.
The media available in this course are intended solely for noncommercial, private home use for the duration of the course only. All other uses including but not limited to duplication, broadcast by any means, all forms of public display, and use of the materials past the end of the course are strictly prohibited.
Any or all parts of the Learn@UW online system may be logged or monitored. Any information gathered in such a log may be used by the instructor only within the context of the course for the duration of the course.
Occasionally a student may have a complaint about a T.A. or course instructor. If that happens, you should feel free to discuss the matter directly with the T.A. or instructor. If the complaint is about the T.A. and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with him/her, you should discuss it with the course instructor. If you do not feel the instructor has resolved the matter to your satisfaction, then you should speak to the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor, Stephanie Saeger (room 428 Psychology) or the Department Chair, Professor Joseph Newman (room 238 Psychology). You should also speak to either of these individuals if the complaint is about the instructor and you do not feel comfortable discussing it directly with him/her.
If you believe the T.A. or course instructor has discriminated against you because of your religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic background, you also may take your complaint to the Office for Equity and Diversity (room 179-A Bascom Hall). If your complaint has to do with sexual harassment, you may also take your complaint to Ms. Jill Cohen Kolb (room 430 Psychology), the Psychology Department sexual harassment contact person.
If your T.A. is not a native English speaker and you have difficulty understanding his or her speech, ask the T.A. to repeat sentences that you do not understand. If you have serious or prolonged difficulty understanding, discuss the problem with the course instructor. But remember that this is a multicultural institution and that the diversity of TA.s can add substantially to your education. Some patience with unfamiliar accents may reward you with a better understanding of the world.
© 2007 - 2024 Morton Gernsbacher