EUB108 Early Childhood Development and Learning (Birth-8 Years)
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | EUB108 |
|---|---|
| Antirequisite(s): | EDB120, EDB121 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $592 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,816 |
| International unit fee | $4,932 |
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | EUB108 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Anti-requisite: | EDB120 and EDB121 |
| Coordinator: | Amie Muir | amie.muir@qut.edu.au |
Overview
This unit introduces theories, features and processes of early childhood development and learning, from birth to 8 years. Child development and learning are shaped by both biological predispositions, and the interactions and experiences afforded to children in family and social contexts. Content in this unit is focused on children's physical, social and emotional development, along with speech, language, cognition and the brain. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives on child development are embedded in this unit.
Knowledge about the inter-relatedness of each area of child development, including influences on how children develop and learn, is fundamental to early childhood education practice. Early childhood teachers apply child development knowledge to plan and facilitate appropriate learning experiences.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Describe features and processes of child development and learning in the areas of physical, social and emotional development, and speech, language, cognition and the brain.
- Generate and refine AI prompts while analysing AI outputs for their relevance and importance to child development and learning.
- Apply theory, knowledge and research on child development to interpret and analyse children's development and learning.
Content
Content and learning activities in this unit include:
- Developmental sequences for children's physical, social, emotional, cognitive, brain and speech and language development, from birth-8 years;
- How developmental sequences may affect learning;
- Theories and research on child development and learning including the work of Vygotsky, Piaget, Skinner and Kohlberg, and the implications for teaching;
- Biological and environmental influences on child development and learning including family and social contexts, risk and protective factors, and early intervention;
- Diverse cultural perspectives on child development and learning, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives;
- Approaches to interpreting and analysing children's development and learning;
- Stages of development as children move from novice to expert (mental models and schemas), and implications for practice (teacher-led and self directed approaches);
- Knowledge acquisition (biologically primary and secondary), including the function of memory (long-term memory and limits of working memory) and the concept of cognitive overload;
- Teaching practices to reduce cognitive overload;
- Common neuromyths and the impact of their perpetuation; and
- Utility of GenAI in supporting analysis of child development
Some example activities you will participate in are:
Discussion activity with peers about novice and expert learners, including the process in the brain of a novice versus an expert, mental models and schemas, biologically primary versus secondary knowledge and the importance of teacher-led instruction for knowledge acquisition, how the brain develops, executive functions and implications for teaching. This includes discussion of: Australian Education Research Organisation. (2023). How students learn best.
https://www.edresearch.edu.au/resources/how-students-learn-best
Discussion activity with peers about knowledge acquisition, including the cognitive process of learning, moving information through working memory to long-term memory, how to optimise this process and the potential barriers, limits of working memory and how cognitive overload occurs and common causes, practices to reduce cognitive overload, explicit instruction, scaffolding, clearly structuring content to connect new information to prior learning.
Discussion activity with peers about neuromyths, including identifying common neuromyths related to education and how these conflict with current understandings of how the brain learns, and the negative impacts of making decisions based. This includes discussion of: The Conversation. (2025, April 15). Students are neither left nor right brained: How some early childhood educators get this neuromyth and others wrong. https://theconversation.com/students-are-neither-left-nor-right-brained-how-some-early-childhood-educators-get-this-neuromyth-and-others-wrong-248888
CC: 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.4, 1.4.1, 1.4.2
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn through engaging in a range of blended learning approaches including:
- on-campus lectures
- tutorials
- group work and
- self-directed, online learning activities
- activities using GenAI for developing prompting skills and critiquing outputs
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Assessment in this unit is both formative and summative. Generic comments will be provided to the whole cohort. Formative activities such as in-class and/or online tasks, reflections and discussions will support and develop your understanding of key concepts and pedagogies related to child development and learning. Summative feedback is provided via written comments on marking rubrics/criteria sheets on assessment tasks.
Assessment
Overview
There are two assessment tasks in this unit:
- Workbook: Building a developmental profile - this task draws on knowledge of the features and processes of child development to build a developmental profile with the assistance of GenAI.
- Workbook: Analysing child development - this task extends the child profile to explore all of the domains of child development and implications for practice.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Workbook: Building a developmental profile
You will create a developmental profile of a child with AI support. Based on the profile, you will respond to a series of questions to demonstrate your understanding of child development and learning. Your responses will be included in four key tasks within the workbook.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Workbook: Analysing child development
You will complete a series of tasks building on the workbook completed in Assessment 1. You will apply your understanding of child development and learning to teaching practice, including:
- Stages of development as children move from novice to expert and implications for practice
- Knowledge acquisition, including the function of memory and the concept of cognitive overload
- Common neuromyths and the impact of their perpetuation
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
CC 1.1, 1.2, 1.4
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
The following resource materials will be used throughout this unit.
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Bergin, C. C., Bergin, D. A., & Walker, S. (2022). Child and adolescent development for educators : Australian and new zealand edition. Cengage Learning Australia.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with general participation in this unit. Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
1 Professional Knowledge: Know students and how they learn
- Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
Relates to: Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Understand how students learn
Relates to: Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
Relates to: Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development
5 Professional Practice: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
- Interpret student data
Relates to: Workbook: Analysing child development
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.ED34 Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (Birth to Five)
- Knowledgeable: Integrate theory, curriculum and context to plan, implement and evaluate learning and teaching.
Relates to: ULO1, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Scholarly: Analyse and interpret scholarly and professional literature to inform decision-making in early childhood education and care.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO3, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development
ED39 Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood)
- Knowledgeable: Apply professional knowledge to learning areas, learning and learners.
Relates to: ULO1, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Scholarly: Consider the ways in which educational theory and research inform and impact teaching practice.
Relates to: ULO3 - Responsive: Interpret data, policy and legislative requirements to inform professional decisions about practice.
Relates to: ULO2, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2026, Online
| Unit code: | EUB108 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Anti-requisite: | EDB120 and EDB121 |
Overview
This unit introduces theories, features and processes of early childhood development and learning, from birth to 8 years. Child development and learning are shaped by both biological predispositions, and the interactions and experiences afforded to children in family and social contexts. Content in this unit is focused on children's physical, social and emotional development, along with speech, language, cognition and the brain. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives on child development are embedded in this unit.
Knowledge about the inter-relatedness of each area of child development, including influences on how children develop and learn, is fundamental to early childhood education practice. Early childhood teachers apply child development knowledge to plan and facilitate appropriate learning experiences.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Describe features and processes of child development and learning in the areas of physical, social and emotional development, and speech, language, cognition and the brain.
- Generate and refine AI prompts while analysing AI outputs for their relevance and importance to child development and learning.
- Apply theory, knowledge and research on child development to interpret and analyse children's development and learning.
Content
Content and learning activities in this unit include:
- Developmental sequences for children's physical, social, emotional, cognitive, brain and speech and language development, from birth-8 years;
- How developmental sequences may affect learning;
- Theories and research on child development and learning including the work of Vygotsky, Piaget, Skinner and Kohlberg, and the implications for teaching;
- Biological and environmental influences on child development and learning including family and social contexts, risk and protective factors, and early intervention;
- Diverse cultural perspectives on child development and learning, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives;
- Approaches to interpreting and analysing children's development and learning;
- Stages of development as children move from novice to expert (mental models and schemas), and implications for practice (teacher-led and self directed approaches);
- Knowledge acquisition (biologically primary and secondary), including the function of memory (long-term memory and limits of working memory) and the concept of cognitive overload;
- Teaching practices to reduce cognitive overload;
- Common neuromyths and the impact of their perpetuation; and
- Utility of GenAI in supporting analysis of child development
Some example activities you will participate in are:
Discussion activity with peers about novice and expert learners, including the process in the brain of a novice versus an expert, mental models and schemas, biologically primary versus secondary knowledge and the importance of teacher-led instruction for knowledge acquisition, how the brain develops, executive functions and implications for teaching. This includes discussion of: Australian Education Research Organisation. (2023). How students learn best.
https://www.edresearch.edu.au/resources/how-students-learn-best
Discussion activity with peers about knowledge acquisition, including the cognitive process of learning, moving information through working memory to long-term memory, how to optimise this process and the potential barriers, limits of working memory and how cognitive overload occurs and common causes, practices to reduce cognitive overload, explicit instruction, scaffolding, clearly structuring content to connect new information to prior learning.
Discussion activity with peers about neuromyths, including identifying common neuromyths related to education and how these conflict with current understandings of how the brain learns, and the negative impacts of making decisions based. This includes discussion of: The Conversation. (2025, April 15). Students are neither left nor right brained: How some early childhood educators get this neuromyth and others wrong. https://theconversation.com/students-are-neither-left-nor-right-brained-how-some-early-childhood-educators-get-this-neuromyth-and-others-wrong-248888
CC: 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.4, 1.4.1, 1.4.2
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn through engaging in a range of blended learning approaches including:
- on-campus lectures
- tutorials
- group work and
- self-directed, online learning activities
- activities using GenAI for developing prompting skills and critiquing outputs
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Assessment in this unit is both formative and summative. Generic comments will be provided to the whole cohort. Formative activities such as in-class and/or online tasks, reflections and discussions will support and develop your understanding of key concepts and pedagogies related to child development and learning. Summative feedback is provided via written comments on marking rubrics/criteria sheets on assessment tasks.
Assessment
Overview
There are two assessment tasks in this unit:
- Workbook: Building a developmental profile - this task draws on knowledge of the features and processes of child development to build a developmental profile with the assistance of GenAI.
- Workbook: Analysing child development - this task extends the child profile to explore all of the domains of child development and implications for practice.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Workbook: Building a developmental profile
You will create a developmental profile of a child with AI support. Based on the profile, you will respond to a series of questions to demonstrate your understanding of child development and learning. Your responses will be included in four key tasks within the workbook.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Workbook: Analysing child development
You will complete a series of tasks building on the workbook completed in Assessment 1. You will apply your understanding of child development and learning to teaching practice, including:
- Stages of development as children move from novice to expert and implications for practice
- Knowledge acquisition, including the function of memory and the concept of cognitive overload
- Common neuromyths and the impact of their perpetuation
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
CC 1.1, 1.2, 1.4
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
The following resource materials will be used throughout this unit.
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Bergin, C. C., Bergin, D. A., & Walker, S. (2022). Child and adolescent development for educators : Australian and new zealand edition. Cengage Learning Australia.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with general participation in this unit. Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
1 Professional Knowledge: Know students and how they learn
- Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
Relates to: Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Understand how students learn
Relates to: Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
Relates to: Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development
5 Professional Practice: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
- Interpret student data
Relates to: Workbook: Analysing child development
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.ED34 Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (Birth to Five)
- Knowledgeable: Integrate theory, curriculum and context to plan, implement and evaluate learning and teaching.
Relates to: ULO1, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Scholarly: Analyse and interpret scholarly and professional literature to inform decision-making in early childhood education and care.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO3, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development
ED39 Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood)
- Knowledgeable: Apply professional knowledge to learning areas, learning and learners.
Relates to: ULO1, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development - Scholarly: Consider the ways in which educational theory and research inform and impact teaching practice.
Relates to: ULO3 - Responsive: Interpret data, policy and legislative requirements to inform professional decisions about practice.
Relates to: ULO2, Workbook: Building a developmental profile, Workbook: Analysing child development