CD Laboratory Components

Service

A student working with children.

The Child Development Laboratory provides unique and enriching educational experiences for children and families. In addition, the Laboratory disseminates information in many ways. The observational facilities give parents, students, and visitors the opportunity to observe a model program in action. Laboratory staff and faculty frequently conduct workshops, speak at meetings, and write popular and professional articles. These dissemination efforts not only educate individuals about the specific Laboratory Programs, but also aid individuals in understanding children, how they develop, and current issues facing their families.

Research

Research is an integral part of the Child Development Laboratory. The research thrust for the Laboratory is in concert with the social competency theoretical framework. Research undertaken is concerned with current issues facing children and families locally, nationally, and internationally. This research includes such areas as the development of specific social competencies (for instance, prosocial tendencies), teacher training strategies, curriculum evaluation, parenting effectiveness, children's discourse patterns, literacy acquisition, and gender role stereotyping. Research is conducted by graduate students and faculty members, and is generally naturalistic and observational in nature.

Training

The training of students is undertaken by observations outside of the classroom (through one-way mirrors) and participation within the classroom. Students of various levels (freshmen through graduate students) and a variety of majors (Early Childhood Education, Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Family, Consumer, and Human Development, Social Work, Communicative Disorders) may participate within the Laboratory in a myriad of ways: serving as aids, planning and implementing curricula, organizing parent seminars, conducting parent conferences, collecting research data, undertaking home visits, and/or conducting developmental screening.