What Will Learn?

This is an eight (8) hour semester upper division course. This course is designed as an Independent Study learning course. When you are at this level in the degree program, you will select one focused area of study within the specialty of grief counseling/bereavement. Your choice of study/topic is mutually agreed upon by you and your instructor. The objective is to acquire a significant amount of learning/knowledge related to a particular area of interest in grief counseling and bereavement education, as well as demonstrate the ability to develop advanced life-long learning skills. This is the last course in the degree program. Students must have completed all other courses in the curriculum before registering for this course.

This course of study is structured around a comprehensive learning contract. You develop a learning contract, which provides twenty semester hours of a combination of different learning activities and independent studies focused on your selected area of study. Upon official enrollment into this Symposium Course, you are provided with full instructions for preparing a learning contract, as well as examples of completed contracts. You and I then review your learning contract and mutually agree on the defined goals and learning processes to meet the goals. I provide mentorship, guidance and support to you throughout the development of the learning contract and its implementation and evaluation. You are evaluated using mutually agreed upon evaluation guidelines. The learning contract is a dynamic ongoing process, which may be revised as you progress in the course. Your learning needs are given high priority during the development of the learning contract and the implementation phase. Evaluation criteria are focused on learning experiences appropriate to this upper division level course. The twenty semester hours of learning are based on a formula: one semester hour is equivalent to fifteen contact hours of learning activities.