The Child Development and Family Science Department has innovative and high-tech equipment and facilities that enable students to have hands-on learning while gaining valuable experience.
The Center for Child Development
The Center for Child Development provides an early childhood program that is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, a division of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Through a laboratory program, the Center provides research opportunities for NDSU students and faculty interested in young children. The Center has a capacity of 38 children ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years, and each room of the center is observable from an observation booth equipped with one-way glass and an audio system.
Family Therapy Center
The Family Therapy Center (FTC) at NDSU is the clinical training facility for the Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) master’s option. The FTC provides affordable therapy services to individuals, couples, and families in the greater Fargo-Moorhead area based on a sliding fee scale. Student therapists provide services under the supervision of faculty members of the Couple and Family Therapy program who are approved supervisors of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The FTC is also a research resource for CFT faculty and students interested in clinical process research. The FTC utilizes the Landro Enterprise System, a state-of-the-art recording and editing software, which can analyze thousands of segments of therapy sessions in a matter of seconds.
Noldus Observation Lab
The department maintains a lab equipped with a one-way mirror and state of the art video equipment for observational research. We utilize Noldus The Observer software for the collection, analysis, and presentation of observational data.
Graduate Center
The Graduate Center at the corner of 12th Avenue and 12th Street includes four rooms with desk space and computers for several graduate research assistants in the CDFS department. Students working on a faculty-sponsored research project will receive first priority to claim a personal desk and will be granted 24-hour access to the building.
Online survey hosting service
The department maintains a subscription to Survey Monkey, an online survey hosting service. Students can use this service to host an online web-based survey.
Group Decision Center
The GDC is a technology laboratory that provides GroupSystems software enabling anonymous discussion among small groups of participants. Students can use the GDC to conduct anonymous focus group interviews or to host an online web-based survey. Transcripts of all discussions are automatically generated.
Center for Writers
The Center for Writers serves the NDSU community by providing free writing assistance to students, faculty, and staff in all departments at all levels in the following ways: by providing a supportive environment where writers and readers work efficiently one- on-one or in small groups; by helping students improve their strategies for writing proficiently and independently; by training writing tutors to become effective readers of and responders to texts from various disciplines; by helping faculty develop and refine writing assignments and assess student writing effectively and efficiently; by helping faculty and staff with questions about their own writing.
Libraries
As a member of the Tri-College University, the NDSU Libraries share resources with Moorhead State University and Concordia College. NDSU library cards are valid at all NDSU, MSU, and Concordia libraries. The Interlibrary Loan Service and Document Delivery Service provide access to books, articles, and other materials not available at the NDSU libraries. The on-line catalog interfaces with other on-line catalogs in North Dakota, Minnesota, the remainder of the United States, and Canada. The NDSU libraries also possess multiple databases accessible on-line. The Libraries offer a variety of library instruction services including: tours and orientation; course-related instruction in specific subject areas; and demonstrations of special services and information formats such as searching on-line and CD-ROM databases. Library subject specialists, including a Social Sciences librarian, are also available by appointment to provide in-depth assistance in locating and using various print and electronic information resources.
Information Technology Services