Course Descriptions
Principles of Microeconomics (ECO-251)
This course introduces economic analysis of individual, business, and industry choices in the market economy. Topics include the price mechanism, supply and demand, optimizing economic behavior, costs and revenue, market structures, factor markets, income distribution, market failure, and government intervention. Upon completion, students should be able to identify and evaluate consumer and business alternatives in order to efficiently achieve economic objectives.
Principles of Macroeconomics (ECO-252)
This course introduces economic analysis of aggregate employment, income, and prices. Topics include major schools of economic thought; aggregate supply and demand; economic measures, fluctuations, and growth; money and banking; stabilization techniques; and international trade. Upon completion, students should be able to evaluate national economic components, conditions, and alternatives for achieving socioeconomic goals.
Introduction to Family Childcare (EDU-114)
The course introduces the foundational principles, strategies, and best practices for planning and implementing meaningful, developmentally appropriate learning experiences while managing a professional and sustainable family child care setting. Emphasis is placed on addressing the unique challenges of mixed-age group care, supporting diverse developmental needs, building positive family and community partnerships, maintaining professionalism, integrating sound business practices, and promoting self-care for providers to sustain long-term success. Upon completion, students should be able to design, adapt, and implement inclusive activities for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children while effectively managing a sustainable family child care business with a focus on professionalism, self-care, and strong family-community collaboration.
Introduction to Early Childhood Education (EDU-119)
This course introduces the foundations of culturally responsive, equitable and inclusive early childhood education, planning intentional developmentally appropriate experiences, learning activities, and teaching strategies for indoor and outdoor environments for all young children, guidance techniques, and professionalism. Topics include theoretical foundations, national early learning standards, NC Foundations for Early Learning and Development, state regulations, program types, career options, professionalism, ethical conduct, quality inclusive environments, guidance techniques, and curriculum responsive to the needs of each child/family. Upon completion, students should be able to implement developmentally appropriate environments, guidance techniques, schedules, and teaching strategies across developmental domains to support culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse children and their families in inclusive settings and design a personal career/professional development plan.
Introduction to School Age Care (EDU-120)
This course introduces the foundations of responsive and accessible school-age care and education including planning intentional, developmentally appropriate experiences, learning activities, and teaching strategies for children ages five to twelve. Topics include theoretical foundations, child and school-age development, national and state regulations, program types, career options, professionalism, ethical conduct, quality inclusive environments, guidance strategies, and curriculum responsive to the needs of each child and family. Upon completion, students should be able to implement developmentally appropriate environments, guidance strategies, engaging curriculum and effective teaching strategies across developmental domains while supporting children and families with diverse backgrounds and needs.
Social Environments for Children (EDU-130)
This course introduces the impact of social environments on young children's development and the importance of developing supportive, reciprocal relationships across children's various social environments and family circumstances. Topics include recognizing the impact of family/community relationships on child development, respect for family differences, strategies for building/sustaining respectful, reciprocal relationships, resilience, strength-based strategies for working with families and identifying community resources to support children, families, and the classroom. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of how various family structures, environmental conditions, relationships, stressors, supports, and cultural values create the context for young children's lives by implementing strength-based strategies to support classroom interactions, and communications with families and communities.
Child Family and Community (EDU-131)
This course covers the development of partnerships among culturally, linguistically and ability diverse families, children, schools and communities through the use of evidence-based strategies. Emphasis is placed on developing skills and identifying benefits for establishing, and supporting respectful relationships between diverse families, programs/schools, and community agencies/resources reflective of the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and the Code of Ethics for North Carolina Educators. Upon completion, students should be able to identify appropriate relationship building strategies between diverse families, children birth through adolescence, schools, and communities and demonstrate a variety of communication skills including appropriate use of technology to support every child.
Child Development I (EDU-144)
This course includes the theories of child development, observation and assessment, milestones, and factors that influence development, from conception through approximately 36 months. Emphasis is placed on knowledge, observation and assessment of developmental sequences in approaches to play/learning, emotional/social, health/physical, language/communication and cognitive domains. Upon completion, students should be able to compare/contrast typical/atypical developmental characteristics, explain biological and environmental factors that impact development, and identify evidence-based strategies for enhancing development for children that are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse.
Child Development II (EDU-145)
This course includes the theories of child development, observation and assessment, milestones, and factors that influence development, from preschool through middle childhood. Emphasis is placed on knowledge, observation and assessment of developmental sequences in approaches to play/learning, emotional/social, health/physical, language/communication and cognitive domains. Upon completion, students should be able to compare/contrast typical/atypical developmental characteristics, explain biological and environmental factors that impact development, and identify evidence-based strategies for enhancing development for children that are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse.
Child Guidance (EDU-146)
This course introduces evidence-based strategies to build nurturing relationships with each child by applying principles and practical techniques to facilitate developmentally appropriate guidance. Topics include designing responsive/supportive learning environments, cultural, linguistic and socio-economic influences on behavior, appropriate expectations, the importance of communication with children/families including using technology and the use of formative assessments in establishing intentional strategies for children with unique needs. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate direct/indirect strategies to encourage social skills, self-regulation, emotional expression and positive behaviors while recognizing the relationship between children's social, emotional and cognitive development.