Individual differences in learning, educational outcomes and special needs education

Course goals

After the course, students know sources of individual differences in learning and educational outcomes. They will be able to identify risk and protective factors associated with individual differences in educational challenges or problems, as well as the mechanisms that could explain how these factors relate to these challenges or problems. They can critically review the literature, reflect on common designs and methods in individual differences research (presentation), design solutions for societal/educational challenges or problems, and critically consider individual differences when developing an approach or solution (paper).

The main learning objectives of this course are:

1. Students can identify the main sources of individual differences in learning academic skills and educational outcomes.
2. Students can critically reflect on commonly used designs and methods in research on individual differences in learning, educational outcomes, and children with special educational needs.
3. Students can formulate solutions for the educational challenges presented by individual differences in learning, educational outcomes, and special needs education.
4. Students can critically reflect on different educational policies towards individual differences in learning, educational outcomes, and special educational needs.

The learning objectives are evaluated by class participation (1, 2, 4), a presentation (1-2), and a paper (1-4).

Content

Children’s academic achievements vary greatly and depend on sources of individual differences that determine learning ability, properties of the educational system, and the interactions between individual child characteristics and learning environment. Some children encounter severe difficulties in learning academic skills such as reading or math, while they appear to develop normally in other respects. At the other end of the spectrum are children with special gifts and talents in one or more (academic) areas, and some children fit neither of these two categories but do have special educational needs, for example, related to not being proficient in the language of schooling because they just migrated from another country. In this course, you will learn about individual differences in learning and educational outcomes, various research designs for studying individual differences, and the implications of individual differences in learning for teachers, educational systems, and educational research.