Undergraduate Students
The Early Learning Center within the Department of Child and Family Studies exists for three purposes:
- to promote observation, participation, and research activities of the Department of Child and Family Studies and other university faculty and students
- to prepare undergraduate and graduate child development and early childhood education professionals for learning about and teaching young children
- to provide a model early childhood education program for children, families, and early childhood professionals.
Undergraduate Programs in Child & Family Studies
The University of Tennessee’s Early Learning Center for Research and Practice (ELC) is a component of the Department of Child & Family Studies (CFS). The classrooms provide early education settings in which undergraduates participate in observational and practicum learning experiences during their course of study. The Department’s major is designed for students whose educational and career goals are focused on studying and working with children and families within educational programs, community services, and other professional settings. The major is designed to accommodate the special interests or strengths of students.
For more information about undergraduate programs in Child & Family Studies at UT, please visit http://cfs.utk.edu/ug/default.html.
What about students from other majors?
We invite non-majors. Participation in our Early Learning Center classrooms is a designed component for some CFS majors. However, we also encourage students and faculty from other degree programs to feel free to contact us with ideas concerning ELC-based learning experiences for non-CFS majors. To date, we have been fortunate to have nursing students, advertising students, design students, and nutrition students conduct project experiences ranging from outdoor playhouse design to early education in dental hygiene.