Understanding Aggression: Coping with Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom

his course is about violence in America, about the aggression in our schools, classrooms, streets, homes and elsewhere. The course speaks to the hate, the fights, the anger, the crimes committed and the victims in our schools and society. It is a course about students, children, teenagers, adults and neighbors, all of us.

 The course will consider the many forms of aggression, both criminal and otherwise; its costs and motivation; its perpetrators and targets; its likely and unlikely locations; its impact on our schools, the children; and, most especially, its several causes and promising solutions.

 Topics of interest will include violence and the challenge of raising and working with children; aggression in our classrooms; American youth gangs and their influence; past and future sports violence; “hot spot” locations of frequent violence; and the aggression-promoting role of alcohol, temperature, driving, television and other features of modern life. The course also will answer questions such as: Is aggression always bad? How do aggressive thoughts lead to aggressive actions? Is aggression, at least for some people, an addiction? Does the victim contribute to being attacked? Is dating a dangerous proposition? How are the acts of aggression dealt with in other countries, and are there any lessons for America?

 The goal of this course is to help educators and adults in general better understand how aggression affects our lives and the lives of children. Hopefully such greater understanding and more skilled efforts at prevention will substantially reduce the aggression and violence that has become all too common in America’s schools.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: 

All VESi courses are graded Pass (S)/Fail (U). Grading information can be found in your Course Syllabus Addendum. All VESi courses are tablet compatible! 

There is a two week minimum for course completion. For your maximum time, Ashland's academic calendar is September 1st through August 31st each year and you are required to complete your course within that academic calendar. Also, please be certain to refer to the attachments that are sent with your course link(s) as those items contain important information regarding exam score and essay requirements. 

HOW TO ACCESS YOUR COURSE MATERIALS: 

Within 1-2 business days of your Ashland registration, you will receive an email from your course content provider, VESi, containing instructions on how to access your course materials. A note, their emails are sometimes forwarded to junk or spam folders. 

You will be working with VESi, through their Learning Management System, to complete the course, after which, your instructor will record your grade on your AU transcript. We will notify you by email once this is done, with instructions on how to view and order transcripts. 

Ashland Professional Development: pds@ashland.edu