Mazida Islam’s Profile

This field­work course fo­cuses on ob­ser­va­tion and as­sess­ment of young chil­dren. It re­quires su­per­vised par­tic­i­pa­tion in an as­signed early child­hood set­ting (preschool to sec­ond grade) and at­ten­dance at a weekly sem­i­nar. Stu­dents will learn how to use au­then­tic as­sess­ment and ob­ser­va­tion strate­gies to (1) doc­u­ment young chil­dren’s de­vel­op­ment, growth, play, and learn­ing, and (2) de­sign cur­ricu­lum that pro­motes chil­dren’s suc­cess. Record­ing strate­gies, rat­ing sys­tems, child stud­ies/port­fo­lios, and var­i­ous as­sess­ment tools are ex­plored. Stu­dents spend a min­i­mum of 60 hours in the field.

This fieldwork course focuses on observation and assessment of young children. It requires supervised participation in an assigned early childhood setting (preschool to second grade) and attendance at a weekly seminar. Students will learn how to use authentic assessment and observation strategies to (1) document young children’s development, growth, play, and learning, and (2) design curriculum that promotes children’s success. Recording strategies, rating systems, child studies/portfolios, and various assessment tools are explored. Students spend a minimum of 60 hours in the field.

Eng­lish Com­po­si­tion is the stan­dard fresh­man writ­ing course. The course in­tro­duces stu­dents to aca­d­e­mic writ­ing. By its con­clu­sion, stu­dents will be ready for Eng­lish 201 and for the writ­ing they will be asked to do in ad­vanced courses across the cur­ricu­lum. Stu­dents com­plet­ing ENG 101 will have mas­tered the fun­da­men­tals of col­lege-level read­ing and writ­ing, in­clud­ing de­vel­op­ing a the­sis-dri­ven re­sponse to the writ­ing of oth­ers and fol­low­ing the basic con­ven­tions of ci­ta­tion and doc­u­men­ta­tion. They will have prac­ticed what Mike Rose calls the “habits of mind” nec­es­sary for suc­cess in col­lege and in the larger world: sum­ma­riz­ing, clas­si­fy­ing, com­par­ing, con­trast­ing, and an­a­lyz­ing. Stu­dents will be in­tro­duced to basic re­search meth­ods and MLA doc­u­men­ta­tion and com­plete a re­search pro­ject. Stu­dents are re­quired to take a de­part­men­tal final exam that re­quires the com­po­si­tion of a 500 word, the­sis-dri­ven essay in con­ver­sa­tion with two des­ig­nated texts.

English Composition is the standard freshman writing course. The course introduces students to academic writing. By its conclusion, students will be ready for English 201 and for the writing they will be asked to do in advanced courses across the curriculum. Students completing ENG 101 will have mastered the fundamentals of college-level reading and writing, including developing a thesis-driven response to the writing of others and following the basic conventions of citation and documentation. They will have practiced what Mike Rose calls the “habits of mind” necessary for success in college and in the larger world: summarizing, classifying, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Students will be introduced to basic research methods and MLA documentation and complete a research project. Students are required to take a departmental final exam that requires the composition of a 500 word, thesis-driven essay in conversation with two designated texts.