Mind, Brain, and Education

Curriculum

2007-08 Requirements

• One MBE core course (a full-year course)
• One MBE Overview course
• Two Additional MBE courses
• Three Elective courses

Mind, Brain, and Education Courses

MBE Core Course

• HT-100, Cognitive Development, Education, and the Brain (taught by Professors Fischer, Gardner, and Rose) is required of all MBE students. This year-long course counts as two courses and includes a required major project (research or design).

MBE Overview Courses

Students must choose one course from the following list. These courses are designed to provide foundational knowledge about mind, brain, and education, including a survey of key concepts, findings, and practices from the field.

• AH-125 The Science of Learning, Behavior, and Health: Implications for Social Policy (spring, Shonkoff)
• H-137 Emotional Development: Biology, Relationships, Culture (not offered 2007-08)
• H152 Children and Emotion* (spring, Harris)
• H180 Cognitive Development and Trust in Testimony (spring, Harris)
• H250 Developmental Psychology: Psychology of Early Childhood (fall, Harris)
• H-331  Risk and Resilience across Childhood and Adolescence: Strategies and Systems of Prevention and Intervention* (fall, Yoshikawa)
• H-371 Theories and Methods of Child/Adolescent Cognitive and Psychological Assessment *(spring)
• H-382  The Problems Kids Have: Psychosocial, Developmental, and Biological Perspectives of Risk in School-Age Children (spring)
• H-392  The Nature of Childhood Trauma: Implications for Differences in Development, Biology, and Psychopathology across the Life Span (spring, Groves)
• H-700  From Language to Literacy (fall, Pan)
• S-105 Philosophy of Education (fall, Elgin)
• S-171 Epistemology: Beyond Literal Truth (not offered in 2007-2008)
• T-405 Social Dimensions of Teaching and Learning (spring, Gehlbach)
• T-540 Cognition and the Art and Science of Instruction (not offered in 2007-2008)
• T-543 Applying Cognitive Science to Learning and Teaching (spring, Grotzer)
• T-560 Universal Design For Learning: Meeting the Challenge of Individual Differences (spring, Rose)

*Note: permission of the instructor is required to take this course.

The following course at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) also counts as an MBE Overview Course:

*PSY 1352 Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience Research (year-long)

*Note: research commitment/permission of the instructor is required to take this course.

Additional MBE Courses

MBE students must choose two additional MBE Courses from the three didactic categories lited below. Students can take any combination of courses from these lists; there is no distribution requirement across the categories. In addition, MBE Overview Courses beyond the required two courses (as listed above), can also count toward the two additional MBE courses.

• Cognition & Neuroscience
• Learning & Instruction
• Research Methods & Assessment

Electives

To complete the required eight courses, MBE students take three additional courses at HGSE or at other Harvard or MIT schools through cross-registration. MBE students should consider that at least four of their courses must be taken at HGSE.

Many HGSE students choose to take courses at other Harvard graduate schools such as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Kennedy School of Government (KSG). Harvard's schools operate on different calendars, and students should remain mindful of each school's individual calendars and deadlines for the start of classes, vacations, and exams.

For more information about cross-registering at other Harvard schools, please visit: https://crossreg.harvard.edu/.

Brain 101

Todd Rose, an advanced MBE doctoral student, will teach an eight part, year-long supplemental series devoted to the brain.

This series is intended for MBE master's students who have little or no background in the neurosciences or biopsychology. The sessions will provide students with enough basic information about the brain to feel comfortable and confident moving forward in their studies. These sessions familiarize students with the basic structures of the brain and their corresponding functions. Over the course of the series, Rose will essentially build the brain "from the ground up," explaining how neurons communicate with each other and also how vast networks of these cells give rise to very complicated things such as vision and memory. The sessions will leave students in awe of the wonder and dynamism of the brain. The format is informal, with each session consisting of some lecture and much discussion.

HGSE Course Catalog

For more information about HGSE course offerings, view the entire HGSE course catalogue.