INSTRUCTIONS:

The student is required to make a reply comment to two other student's posts. (one reply comment about Student 1's post, and one reply comment about Student 2's post).

Word-count required for each response: 150-200 words.

The Discussion Question that was asked of the two students:

In Unit 4, you will review previous courses to reflect upon your knowledge base. You will discuss how what you have learned can be applied in your concentration and future career. As described in the Unit 4 Reading, identify three or four courses at Kaplan that were your favorites. Then address the following in your initial discussion response:

Which courses were your favorites? Discuss your reasons for choosing these particular courses.

What is the main piece of knowledge you gained from each course?

How could you apply this to your career goals in your concentration?

Student 1's post (Kaitlin):

Of all the courses I have participated in at Kaplan, I'd have to say the ones I got the most out of were Applied Behavioral Analysis I and II, Exceptional Needs Children, and Screening and Assessment. I chose these courses because they are directly related to my future career as a behaviorist.

Applied Behavioral Analysis I and II taught the principles and procedures of behavior theory as well as how to modify behaviors by either increasing desirable behaviors or decreasing undesirable behaviors. These two courses also went over techniques for modifying behavior such as reinforcement, punishment, shaping, extinction, and generalization. In these courses we were able to examine ABA theories and apply them to different case studies. The professors gave us a lot of information on how to obtain certifications and what is required before you sit for the BCBA exam. All of this information directly applies to me because I would like to work on receiving my Master's degree and eventually sit for the BCBA exam to become a behavior specialist. I would love to continue working with children with Autism.

The course for Exceptional Needs Children was informative on what qualifies an individual as having exceptional needs as well as the roles of parents, teachers, and therapists that are working with these children. The instructor advised us on various procedures for exceptional needs children such as inclusion, mainstreaming, least restrictive environments, and IEP's. This course was has assisted in my journey to become a behaviorist because I will be involved with exceptional needs children and need to be familiar with IEP's.

Screening and Assessment is a course that elaborated on strategies used in screening and assessment for individuals of various ages. This course helped teach me how to apply screening and assessment procedures into working directly with children, teenagers, and/or adults. This course is essential to take in order to pursue a career as a behaviorist. Working in early intervention, screening and assessment will be part of daily life.

Student 2's post (Renae):

Throughout this schooling at Kaplan University I knew I wanted to work with children. I wasn't sure what exactly I was heading for at first but I knew I loved psychology and that I loved children. Psychology is defined as the specific study of mental processes and behavior. All of my psychology classes I have found intensely interesting. It makes for better concentration when you're intrigued by the subject. Looking back by far, after the psychology classes, childhood development would be on top of that list. I remember learning from that while a woman is pregnant the baby starts to develop personality traits. From the environmental variables and to the bonding with the mother, as a baby, it starts to take formation. I guess as a lay person, I had never put so much thought into a child's development. Exceptional Children and Youth was a big eye opener for my concentration and my career choices started to take root. An exceptional student is all those who receive special education services in the school (Hunt and Marshall, 2005).

I have been lucky enough to start my career before I finish this last class. I found exactly what I wanted. I get to work with children by teaching them, advocating for their parent(s), and doing some counseling of sorts (by empowering the parent(s) and helping them find solutions to any problems they may want). I have a couple exceptional babies in my caseload and do IEPs and IFSPs, if need be, although there is a special in home visitor for them. If she is off than I get to do them. I'm glad for my choices in psychology and I'm glad for all my childhood development classes. It has put me right where I'm meant to be. :)

References:

Hunt, Nancy & Marshall, Kathleen (2005). Exceptional Children and Youth. Fourth edition. Wadsworth. Cengage Learning.