| CODE | EPE2005 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Observation, Assessment and Children's Participation in Early Years Settings | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Early Childhood and Primary Education | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This unit seeks to help students become familiar with observation as a tool for assessing children's development and learning as well as a means to reflect on their own practice. Effective observation and assessment or analysis enable students and practitioners to improve their skills in planning for appropriate activities. Observations have to be systematically documented to enable accurate analysis and insightful decisions which can be shared with parents, support staff and the school administration, where necessary. The unit incorporates a practical component since students will spend some time in early years settings. During these visits, students will have the opportunity to apply observation techniques and identify appropriate follow-up activities on the basis of the observations. Study-unit Aims: This unit aims to: - introduce students to a range of observation techniques together with their advantages and disadvantages; - enable students to choose appropriate observation techniques depending on the teaching and learning context; - help students develop a reflective and insightful stance to practice so that they can analyse the strengths and shortcomings of activities, events and classroom dynamics. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - gain familiarity with the purposes of observation in early childhood education; - use observation as a technique to collect and record specific information; - develop skills in observing individual children and groups of children in social contexts; - reflect on practices to provide appropriate assessment procedures for young children. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - choose appropriate observation techniques according to specific foci or research questions; - develop appropriate skills required to observe practitioners in their own settings (building relationships of trust; communicate with participants; describe, evaluate and analyse situations); - develop suitable presentation skills (through a class presentation to report their research attempt and findings). Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main texts: - Carr, M. & Lee, W. (2012). Learning stories: Constructing learning identities in early education. Sage. - Sancisi, L. & Edgington, M. (2015). Developing high quality observation, assessment and planning in the early years. London: Routledge. - Smidt, S. (2015). Observing young children. The role of observation and assessment in early childhood settings (2nd. edition). London: Routledge. Supplementary: - Billman, J. & Sherman, J. A. (2003). Observation and participation in early childhood settings. A practicum guide (2nd edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. - Carr, M. (2001). Assessment in early childhood settings. Learning stories. London: Chapman. - Harding, J. & Meldon-Smith, L (2000). How to make observations and assessments (2nd edition). London: Hodder & Stoughton. - Hobart, C. & Frankel, J. (1999). A practical guide to child observation and assessment. (2nd edition). Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. - Sharman, C., Cross, W. & Vennis, D. (2000). Observing children. A practical guide. New York: Continuum International. - Wortham, S.C. (2001). Assessment in early childhood education. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Fieldwork and Independent Study | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Valerie Sollars |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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