Ph.D. Program in Educational Neuroscience (PEN)

This course (PEN 701) serves as an introduction to foundational issues in this discipline of Educational Neuroscience. Students are required to take this course twice (fall and spring). It is organized around three to four public lectures each semester, delivered by invited speakers on themes drawn from prevailing questions and challenges in education today. Each lecture is preceded by a preparation seminar, during which students will discuss readings relevant to the lecture topic. After each lecture, students will join the invited speaker for a special discussion session, during which they will have the valuable opportunity to interact directly with researchers pursuing innovative projects in the field of Educational Neuroscience. Students can expect to gain general knowledge of topics such as language learning, reading, child development, educational assessment, educational intervention, and school, policy, and family processes associated with young children, especially young deaf visual learners. Students will also learn how contemporary brain and behavioral research may be applied in principled ways to address prevailing problems in education. All seminars and lectures will be conducted bilingually, in ASL and English.

The main objective of this two-part course, Foundations of Educational Neuroscience (fall, PEN 703 & spring, PEN 704) is to understand how the rich multidisciplinary field of Educational Neuroscience can inform science and education (and educational policy) in principled ways. In this first course PEN 703, the field's driving overarching objectives are identified: (i) to marry leading scientific discoveries about how children learn knowledge that is at the heart of early child development and schooling (e.g., language, reading, number, science, social-emotional) with core challenges in contemporary education, and to do so in principled ways through ''two-way'' communication and mutual growth between science and society; (ii) to conduct state-of-the-art behavioral and neuroimaging research that renders new knowledge that is usable, and meaningfully translatable, for the benefit of society (spanning parents, teachers, clinicians, medical practitioners, and beyond). Topics span the ethical application of science in education, neuroscience methods, and how children learn the content of their mental life, and the role of culture in learning. One major objective is for students to learn how Educational Neuroscience can provide specific advances in the education of all children, particularly young deaf children. Students in this course will read research articles, participate in discussions, do a small research project, and present a final paper.

The field of neuroethics examines the ethical, social, and legal implications of the application of neuroscience research to society. This course begins with a view of how and why neuroscience has 'evolved' to become a dynamic force in both science and society. Students will explore how bioethics has become a critical dimension of any/all consideration of scientific advancement, particularly in light of modern scientific, research and medical ethics, and as a consequence , of socio-political trends and influences. From this, the field and practice of neuroethics will be addressed and discussed, with relevance to the ways that progress in neuroscience compels and sustains both the issues and dilemmas that arise in and from neuroscientific and neurotechnological research and its applications, and the importance of acknowledging and addressing the ethical basis and resolutions of such issues. An overview of specific frontier areas of neuroscience and technology will be explored, including core topics that involve Educational Neuroscience, with a special emphasis on (a) the extent and scope of new knowledge and capability that such developments afford to impact the human condition, and (b) key ethical concerns that are incurred by such neuroscientific and neurotechnological process. Paradigms for neuroethical, legal, and social probity, safety and surety, and a putative ''precautionary process'' will be explored. The ethical implications of the application of neuroscience research to special and diverse populations of individuals will be of great salience in our discussions.

Discussion of the concepts, use, and interpretation of data visualization, descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics methods in research, with an emphasis on the social sciences. Topics and tools include scales of measurement, measures of central tendency, measures of variability, univariate and bivariate graphical plots, measures of correlation, simple linear models, confidence intervals for means and proportions, and hypothesis testing for means and association. Data analysis software including SPSS will be used.

This course (PEN 701) serves as an introduction to foundational issues in this discipline of Educational Neuroscience. Students are required to take this course twice (fall and spring). It is organized around three to four public lectures each semester, delivered by invited speakers on themes drawn from prevailing questions and challenges in education today. Each lecture is preceded by a preparation seminar, during which students will discuss readings relevant to the lecture topic. After each lecture, students will join the invited speaker for a special discussion session, during which they will have the valuable opportunity to interact directly with researchers pursuing innovative projects in the field of Educational Neuroscience. Students can expect to gain general knowledge of topics such as language learning, reading, child development, educational assessment, educational intervention, and school, policy, and family processes associated with young children, especially young deaf visual learners. Students will also learn how contemporary brain and behavioral research may be applied in principled ways to address prevailing problems in education. All seminars and lectures will be conducted bilingually, in ASL and English.

The main objective of this two-part course, Foundations of Educational Neuroscience (fall, PEN 703 & spring, PEN 704) is to understand how the rich multidisciplinary field of Educational Neuroscience can inform science and education (and educational policy) in principled ways. In this second course PEN 705, we draw scientific advances from the field and from the National Science Foundation, Science of Learning Center, Visual Language and Visual Learning, ''VL2'' at Gallaudet University. Topics span the impact of early brain plasticity of the visual systems and visual processing on higher cognition, early social visual engagement and literacy learning, the role of gestures in learning, early sign language exposure and its facilitative impact on language learning, the bilingual brain, the surprising role of ''Visual Phonology'' in early reading, and innovations in two-way educational translation uniting science and research. One major objective is for students to learn how Educational Neuroscience can provide specific advances in the education of all children, particularly young deaf children. Students in this course will read research articles, participate in discussions, do a small research project, and present a final paper.

In this class, students advance their knowledge in making ''two-way'' connections between basic research discoveries and translation to real-world education and society. Students will not only understand how research in the lab informs practices in the classroom and educational policy, but also how researchers can generate new ideas and discoveries from insights from the classroom. Students will consider the perspectives and goals of important stakeholders such as children, students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policy-makers. Students will consider and analyze science communication and translational research related to visual language and visual learning in hearing, deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind communities. Students will analyze priorities, prevailing issues, translational challenges, and translational successes between research and education. Students will also learn about the benefits and risks of creating translational materials, and gain new insight into the principles of science communication for a general audience.

Covers inferential statistics including simple and complex analysis of variance, multiple comparisons between means, and analysis of covariance. Chi-square and other nonparametric statistics and partial and multiple regression are included. Experience with computer programs (SPSS) for these statistical analyses will be provided.

In this first of two research laboratory rotation courses (PEN 700), students gain intensive Educational / Cognitive Neuroscience laboratory research experience at a partnership university during the summers after their first and second years in the PEN doctoral program, devoting special attention to the lab's scientific questions, hypotheses, and methods. Students will become familiar with the set of research questions guiding the laboratory's research, understand how the questions have been approached in the laboratory setting and represented as research hypotheses, gain hands-on experience in the technical aspects of data collection and analysis in the lab, and study how the lab's current work adds to the previous findings of the lab and the discipline. Students will also consider the principled application of the lab's research activities to the improvement of education and society, although this topic will become a major focus of the second rotation of the following summer. Students will focus their final paper and presentation on demonstrating their knowledge of the research process in the visited lab from theory to hypothesis to research design to analysis to interpretation.

COURSE OVERVIEW
Modern neuroimaging provides researchers with powerful tools for investigating the human brain that heretofore have been unanswerable. Previously, scientists were limited to only post-mortem studies of patients with traumatic brain injury. Now, scientists can ask profound questions about many aspects of cognition, such as language processing, emotion, memory, etc. Beginning with the classic electroencephalograph methodology, a slew of neuroimaging methods have become available, each with its own set of assumptions and capabilities that must be understood to appropriately use them and generate new contributions to educational neuroscience.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Students will learn about neuroimaging technologies and the principles of measurement on which each neuroimaging technology operates. They will learn the relationship between the different types of neuroimaging systems and the range of questions they can and cannot answer. Understanding this relationship is vital to interpreting claims that appear in research articles, and students can expect to leave the course with critical analysis skills on which to evaluate neuroimaging claims and their relevance to children’s learning and education, which is critical knowledge to the discipline of Educational Neuroscience. This course will provide students with hands-on experiences, such as brain dissections, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) equipment, EEG equipment, and other methodologies covered. Students will learn about neuroimaging experimental design (block vs event), neuroimaging data analysis, and the ethical protocol of using neuroimaging systems (participant interactions).

In this second of a three-part sequence of intensive guided study courses (in classroom and field experience), Guided Studies (II): Research (PEN 802), students advance their knowledge and critical analysis of the scientific process through active participation in and completion of a small research project. The course will involve a field experience assignment in a PEN lab at Gallaudet. The student will be further assigned to a subset of previously collected data from the lab on which students will be trained to analyze. The hands-on experience will involve the writing of a final research report in APA Journal Article format that includes articulation of the central question in Educational Neuroscience that the lab's study addresses (including theoretical significance, rationale, hypotheses, related predictions), the design of the mini study using the already collected data, articulation of the methods, data analyses, and findings, and discussion of the scientific and translational implications. This field experience will also include the student's writing of an IRB application, as well as a final presentation. In addition, both the written and presentation components will also constitute the student's Qualifying Examinations, which are scheduled separately at the end of this course with the student's PEN PhD Program Committee. After successful completion of Qualifying Examination, the student may petition to advance to candidacy in this program.

In this second of two research laboratory rotation courses (PEN 710), students gain intensive Educational/Cognitive Neuroscience laboratory research experience at a partnership university during the summers after their first and second years in the PEN doctoral program, devoting special attention to the lab's translational impact. Students will become familiar with the set of research questions guiding the laboratory's research, understand how the questions have been approached in the laboratory setting and represented as research hypotheses, gain hands-on experience in the technical aspects of data collection and analysis in the lab, and study how the lab's current work adds to the previous findings of the lab. Students will especially consider the principled application of the lab's research activities to the improvement of education and society, which will be a topic of major focus in this second lab rotation course. Students will focus their final paper and presentation on demonstrating their knowledge of the research process in the visited lab from theory to hypothesis, to research design, to analysis and interpretation, and, to its important translational impact.

In this third of a three-part sequence of intensive guided study courses (in class and field experience), Guided Studies (III): Theory (PEN 803), students advance their knowledge knowledge, critical analysis, and independent scholarship in one select domain of Educational Neuroscience of the student's choice. Through a combination of course work and field experience as independent library scholarship, students will advance to writing a paper in research grant proposal format in which they identify a research question of important contemporary scientific and educational significance in Educational Neuroscience, along with an in depth and detailed literature review. The student will also provide a presentation of this work at the end of the course. In addition, the grant proposal and presentation constitute the student's Comprehensive Examination, and is also separately presented at the end of the semester to the student's Comprehensive Examination Committee.

The exciting and timely discipline called Educational Neuroscience provides an important level of analysis for addressing today's core problems in education. Advanced doctoral students in Gallaudet University's PhD Program in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) have studied the empirical foundations and methods from which the discipline draws its strength, in particular, Cognitive Neuroscience. Advanced doctoral students have also gained new knowledge into the optimal ways to marry scientific discoveries about how children learn with core challenges in contemporary education-crucially, in principled ways, and with ''two-way'' communication and mutual growth to render knowledge that is usable, and meaningfully translatable for all children, especially for the young deaf visual learner. Armed with this powerful knowledge - and after having completed the Comprehensive Exam for the purpose of developing their dissertation proposal - the PEN doctoral student is now ready to advance ''full speed ahead'' in his or her doctoral dissertation research, the writing of the doctoral dissertation, and, ultimately, the defense of the written doctoral dissertation. The purpose of this course is to facilitate students through these important steps. The culmination of these steps will be the ''oral'' dissertation proposal and defense of the dissertation.

This seminar is a pre-requisite for PhD students in the HSLS PhD Program who will be enrolled in a Practicum in University Instruction the following Spring semester. Students in this seminar become familiar with trends and issues in higher education instruction and supervision of interns in higher education Audiology and SLP programs.

This course focuses on the teaching of psychology at the college level, with a Professional Portfolio developed as an end product to the course. In addition, students will be introduced to the scholarship and pedagogy of teaching. Students will have the opportunity to discuss issues related to teaching undergraduate psychology courses at Gallaudet University. Topics such as the following will be discussed: the syllabus, choosing a text, the first class, lecturing and presenting material, assessing student learning through tests, quizzes, written assignments and other methods, the faculty-student relationship and dealing with difficult students among other topics. Issues relating to deaf learners will also be discussed.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with hands-on internship opportunities to evaluate the multiple ways that basic cognitive neuroscience and behavioral sciences research discoveries about children¿s development may be translated into principles that guide the creation of public policy and laws for the benefit of young children. Critical evaluation and analysis of the relationship between research and policy are key goals and key to success in this course. One important goal will be for students to engage in principled evaluation of the extent to which the target policy of focus in their placement site is (or is not) informed by basic science research (and what type of basic science research)? Another important goal will be to gain new knowledge about what information and tools are used among policymaking at large. What standards of evidence (and what standards for the evaluation of evidence) are typically used among policymakers in your placement area? By the end of this course (by the end of this policy internship placement), students will learn (i) what standards of evidence are already in existence and used among policymakers (especially involving the focus areas at one¿s internship site), and (ii) if research plays a role in your site¿s policy deliberations, which type of research? Students will further learn to evaluate creatively (iii) the extent to which research in neurosciences could have potentially advanced understanding and decisions at your particular placement site regarding its target policies.

The exciting and timely discipline called Educational Neuroscience provides an important level of analysis for addressing today's core problems in education. Advanced doctoral students in Gallaudet University's PhD Program in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) have studied the empirical foundations and methods from which the discipline draws its strength, in particular, Cognitive Neuroscience. Advanced doctoral students have also gained new knowledge into the optimal ways to marry scientific discoveries about how children learn with core challenges in contemporary education-crucially, in principled ways, and with ''two-way'' communication and mutual growth to render knowledge that is usable, and meaningfully translatable for all children, especially for the young deaf visual learner. Armed with this powerful knowledge - and after having completed the Comprehensive Exam for the purpose of developing their dissertation proposal - the PEN doctoral student is now ready to advance ''full speed ahead'' in his or her doctoral dissertation research, the writing of the doctoral dissertation, and, ultimately, the defense of the written doctoral dissertation. The purpose of this course is to facilitate students through these important steps. The culmination of these steps will be the ''oral'' dissertation proposal and defense of the dissertation.

The exciting and timely discipline called Educational Neuroscience provides an important level of analysis for addressing today's core problems in education. Advanced doctoral students in Gallaudet University's PhD Program in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) have studied the empirical foundations and methods from which the discipline draws its strength, in particular, Cognitive Neuroscience. Advanced doctoral students have also gained new knowledge into the optimal ways to marry scientific discoveries about how children learn with core challenges in contemporary education-crucially, in principled ways, and with ''two-way'' communication and mutual growth to render knowledge that is usable, and meaningfully translatable for all children, especially for the young deaf visual learner. Armed with this powerful knowledge - and after having completed the Comprehensive Exam for the purpose of developing their dissertation proposal - the PEN doctoral student is now ready to advance ''full speed ahead'' in his or her doctoral dissertation research, the writing of the doctoral dissertation, and, ultimately, the defense of the written doctoral dissertation. The purpose of this course is to facilitate students through these important steps. The culmination of these steps will be the ''oral'' dissertation proposal and defense of the dissertation.

The exciting and timely discipline called Educational Neuroscience provides an important level of analysis for addressing today's core problems in education. Advanced doctoral students in Gallaudet University's PhD Program in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) have studied the empirical foundations and methods from which the discipline draws its strength, in particular, Cognitive Neuroscience. Advanced doctoral students have also gained new knowledge into the optimal ways to marry scientific discoveries about how children learn with core challenges in contemporary education-crucially, in principled ways, and with ''two-way'' communication and mutual growth to render knowledge that is usable, and meaningfully translatable for all children, especially for the young deaf visual learner. Armed with this powerful knowledge - and after having completed the Comprehensive Exam for the purpose of developing their dissertation proposal - the PEN doctoral student is now ready to advance ''full speed ahead'' in his or her doctoral dissertation research, the writing of the doctoral dissertation, and, ultimately, the defense of the written doctoral dissertation. The purpose of this course is to facilitate students through these important steps. The culmination of these steps will be the ''oral'' dissertation proposal and defense of the dissertation.

The exciting and timely discipline called Educational Neuroscience provides an important level of analysis for addressing today's core problems in education. Advanced doctoral students in Gallaudet University's PhD Program in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) have studied the empirical foundations and methods from which the discipline draws its strength, in particular, Cognitive Neuroscience. Advanced doctoral students have also gained new knowledge into the optimal ways to marry scientific discoveries about how children learn with core challenges in contemporary education-crucially, in principled ways, and with ''two-way'' communication and mutual growth to render knowledge that is usable, and meaningfully translatable for all children, especially for the young deaf visual learner. Armed with this powerful knowledge - and after having completed the Comprehensive Exam for the purpose of developing their dissertation proposal - the PEN doctoral student is now ready to advance ''full speed ahead'' in his or her doctoral dissertation research, the writing of the doctoral dissertation, and, ultimately, the defense of the written doctoral dissertation. The purpose of this course is to facilitate students through these important steps. The culmination of these steps will be the ''oral'' dissertation proposal and defense of the dissertation.

This course examines how social processes in the human brain support learning from infancy through adulthood. Topics to be discussed include theory of mind, empathy, mirror neurons, imitation, stereotypes, and group dynamics. The course will be based on current research findings in the field.

Human beings are social animals, and our brains have evolved over time in the context of relationships, society, and culture. As humans develop through infancy, childhood, and beyond, learning takes place via social interactions. These interactions take place between infants and caregivers, students and teachers, and within peer groups. Even after the early years of childhood, learning occurs in a social context. In recent decades, the study of the human being as a social animal has incorporated the study of neuroscience in order to better understand how social contexts and relationships impact our cognition, perception, and learning. This course will cover the foundations of social neuroscience, with a particular emphasis on those processes that are most important for learning. We will explore the topic via primary and secondary research, and the course activities will include lecture, discussion, presentations, and a variety of classroom activities designed to allow for deep engagement with the material.

Understanding number symbols and performing arithmetical operations is a necessary skill in our modern society. Proficiency in mathematics has been shown to be a predictor of later income and life success. This complex skill is, however, rooted in more evolutionary ancient skills shared with animals. Through education and enculturation, children learn the numerical symbols (written, visual, or spoken) and come to understand the exact meaning of numbers. Therefore, children’s cultural, linguistic, and educational experiences play a crucial role in children’s acquisition of numerical and mathematical skills.

 

In this course, we will emphasize the effects of education and language experience on the brain and math learning, typical and atypical. Specifically, this course will tackle the complex issue of language experience and language modality on numerical arithmetical processes and their underlying brain networks. This will be achieved by reading scientific literature and activities related to studies in the NENS lab with children and adults.

 

Overall, this course will introduce students to numerical cognition in humans with emphasis on its neural substrates and the influence of education. It will span from the preverbal core systems, shared with animals, that are foundational for later formal numerical understanding to the neural networks involved in higher arithmetical processing. At the end of this course, students will have a comprehensive overview of the uniquely human ability to count and do arithmetic.

This course examines how emotional processes in the human brain are related to learning throughout the lifespan. Topics to be discussed include different theories of emotional experience, emotion regulation, emotional imitation, physiological and neural correlates of affect, and interpersonal emotional experiences. The course will be based on current research findings in the field. This course will follow a few different lines of inquiry:

• Theories of Emotion: What is an emotion? We will explore different theories of emotion and how we combine feelings, thoughts, experiences, and context in emotional experience
• Emotional Display: What are emotional expressions? What function do they serve for our emotional experience, and what function do they serve for social interaction?
• Emotional Experiences: We’ll explore different experiences of emotion, including negative emotions, positive emotions, and the role of emotions in learning and memory.
• Emotions throughout the lifespan: How does development play a role in emotional experience? How does emotional experience change as a function of aging, and how does that relate to neural development?
• Emotion Regulation: How do we control and change our emotional experiences and reactions?

Special topics courses address subject matter or content not already included in the existing curriculum. Offered on a temporary basis, special topics may evaluate the demand for a new course or area of study or may cover areas of specific interest.

This course is designed to provide the students with the knowledge of the specific linguistic structures and introduce them to basic similarities and differences in the linguistic structures and uses of American Sign Language (ASL) and English. Examining categories from a universal perspective, the linguistic contrastive analysis is accomplished by focusing on: phonological and morphological processes, syntactic properties, discourse types, word classes, and linguistic variation in Deaf and Hearing communities in the United States. Also, the students will examine the basic phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic features of ASL and English. Application of the instructional ASL/English linguistics and structures in the classroom and activities will be presented. Students will develop activity plans, and adapt and implement the methodologies and materials used in ASL/English learning to the needs of the individual Deaf/Hard of Hearing child.

This course presents an overview of the theories, theorists, and paradigms within the domains of language acquisition and cognitive development in hearing learners and compares and contrasts this body of information with the emerging body of knowledge on the language and communication development of children who are deaf/hard of hearing.

The course focuses on examining the impact language acquisition has on: cognitive development, social and emotional development, & literacy development from infancy through early childhood and throughout the school years. The roles caregivers and teachers play in promoting and supporting language, communication, and literacy are also examined.

This course is the second course in the Department of Education’s required language series, following EDU 707 “The Structures and Application of ASL and English in the Classroom.”

This course is designed to develop the ability to locate, review, and critically evaluate research studies. The course focuses on the proper format for research proposals and reports, ethics in research, measurement issues, and sampling. In addition, the student is introduced to quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. The student will develop critical analysis abilities using the criteria of internal and external validity as explicated in experimental design principles.

This course will provide candidates with the knowledge and the skills to apply the principles of action research in order to develop an evidence-based action plan that will incorporate the use of action research practices when making transformational operational, curricular and instructional decisions at the school-wide and at the classroom level. Candidates will study how to locate data, analyze results, identify gaps and demonstrate timely decision-making, in order to ensure staff and student success in schools and programs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. In this course, candidates will plan, develop, and conduct an action research project to address a school or classroom problem in the schools or programs they currently serve in.

This seminar is first in a series and provides a forum for doctoral students to explore and discuss beliefs and practices related to teaching undergraduate and graduate university education courses; topics include course design, course preparation and presentation, use of appropriate technology and media, organizing effective participatory learning, inclusive and equitable practices, developing and using effecting teaching strategies and standards-based assessment techniques, and mentoring for reflective teaching/learning. In addition to seminars, the doctoral student will complete a minimum of 20 (twenty) hours of field experience consisting of classroom observation and conferencing with university faculty.

This course considers educational institutions as political entities that are influenced by policy and political ideologies. Federal policies impacting schools from kindergarten to post-secondary levels are examined, and their consequences are analyzed. Roles of educational institutions in implementing change to promote social justice and equity are considered.

This course guides the doctoral student in critically examining the complex relationships among language, culture, and literacy and the implications for education in a diverse society. Within this framework, the course will critically address bilingualism, especially as it relates to the development of deaf children. Participants examine, reflect upon, and challenge perspectives and assumptions surrounding language, culture, literacy, and bilingualism, and investigate ways to diminish social injustice and equitable education for deaf individuals.

Students explore organizational change and leadership in educational organizations, including K-12 schools, schools for the deaf, school districts, and teacher education. This course examines basic organizational theories and models of leadership and management including management styles, strategic planning, organizational improvement, stakeholder engagement, and personal leadership. There will be specific emphasis on shared leadership, communication skills, and promotion of equitable and inclusive environments.

Evaluation of research in audiology and communication disorders. The course describes how to read, understand, and evaluate research appearing in the literature, and provides an introduction to research design. Although the major focus is for the research consumer, many of the principles presented will apply to the design and implementation of research.

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of anatomy and physiology of the nervous system as it relates to the development of hearing, vision, thought, memory and emotions as well as the perception, processing and production of speech and language.

This seminar addresses professional writing, grant-writing, and presentation abilities needed by higher education faculty in personnel preparation programs in hearing, speech, and language sciences. Students analyze and evaluate manuscripts and articles that are either literature reviews or theoretically and/or empirically based position papers on timely issues in hearing, speech, and language sciences. They construct short articles that adhere to the American Psychological Association style format. In addition, students prepare media-enhanced presentations for a variety of professional audiences, including parent groups, teachers, school administrators, conferences attended by educational audiologists, organizations serving deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and researchers and scholars in hearing, speech, and language sciences, deaf education, and related fields.

An advanced seminar focusing on linguistic and translation theory and research as it pertains to interpretation. Topics will vary depending upon current developments in the field.

An advanced seminar focusing on socio-linguistic and anthropologic theory and research as it pertains to interpretation. Topics will vary depending upon current developments in the field.

An advanced seminar focusing on cognitive and psychological dimensions of the interpreting process. Topics will vary depending upon current developments in the field.

This course introduces students to the acquisition of a native language by young children (L1 acquisition) and acquisition of a second language after childhood (L2 acquisition), with a focus on sign languages. The first part of the course covers the important milestones of normal L1 development in phonology, morphology, syntax and pragmatics for both spoken and signed languages. The course also explores how delays in exposure affect the acquisition process, related to the main topics of the second part of the course: critical period effects and L2 acquisition. Readings and discussion throughout the course will reflect the perspective that acquisition studies on a broad variety of languages, both signed and spoken, are crucial for developing accurate theories of language structure and use. Application of concepts from lectures and discussion is developed through student analysis of L1 and L2 data.

This course explores bilingualism, with a special emphasis on bilingualism in the Gallaudet community. We will examine the place of bilingualism and multilingualism in the world, both historically and currently; the linguistic structure and features of bilingualism; social constructions of bilingualism; the acquisition of bilinguality, from the perspectives of both first- and second language acquisition; and we will explore the functions and meanings of bilingualism in communities. For each topic, we will examine the current state of the field, first from the perspective of spoken language bilingualism and then from the perspective of signed language (mixed modality) bilingualism, with special emphasis on the situation at Gallaudet University.

This is the first of a three-course sequence focusing on a cognitive linguistics approach to ASL. Examination of semiotic diversity in ASL from the perspective of Cognitive Grammar, with an emphasis on analysis of data. The primary focus of the course is on depiction, establishing a typology of depiction that includes many imagistic phenomena in ASL and other spoken and signed languages, such as enactments, manual depictive forms, and ideophones. Notions in Cognitive Grammar benefiting depiction analysis, such as constructions and construal, are also introduced.

This course examines general issues in first language acquisition, focusing on the period from birth to five years. It includes critical review of literature on phonological, lexical, morphological and syntactic development for both signed and spoken first languages, from both nativist and usage-based theoretical perspectives.

Covers principles of research design in psychology from two-group comparisons to complex multiple treatment designs. Also includes guidelines and criteria for writing research reports and articles, questionnaire and survey research, case studies and other single-subject designs, correlational studies, naturalistic observation, and ethical considerations in research.

This course provides in-depth exploration of the complex interrelationships between the functioning of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and psychological, biological, and socio-cultural aspects within a human systems framework that incorporates multicultural perspectives. Psychological principles and theories related to the emotional, cognitive/linguistic, behavioral, and cultural development of deaf and hard -of-hearing individuals are considered. Also considered are factors including the influence of etiology/genetics, varying levels of hearing loss and age of onset, familial variables, linguistic and communication approaches, technology, educational settings, psychopathology, and cultural aspects.

This course provides an overview of theoretical perspectives and research issues in psycholinguistics. Topics include theoretical perspectives, language development and acquisition, neurolinguistics, language comprehension and production, and the relationships between language and cognition, social relationships, self-concept, and power. Cross-linguistic comparisons will be made between signed and spoken languages.

This course provides a foundation in functional neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and the presentation and effects of brain injuries, illnesses, and syndromes. It also includes material on peripheral sensory and perceptual functions. When you complete this course, you should have a basic knowledge of brain structure and function/dysfunction and the interaction of mind and body. An emphasis is placed on application of the information to clinical populations and the ability to critically evaluate neurophysiological and neuropsychological research.

This course provides an introduction to the foundations of neuropsychology, including an introduction to functional neuroanatomy, neuropsychological research, and the presentation and effects of brain injuries, illnesses, and syndromes. Students learn to apply this knowledge through the administration, scoring,and interpretation of selected neuropsychological screening tests, with emphasis on their use with deaf and hard of hearing populations