An examination of theory and research in curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation. Emphasis on current trends in the content areas.

This course engages students in a study of advanced models of teaching and learning such as concept attainment, inductive thinking, inquiry, problem-based learning, role play, simulation games and other models, with an analysis of research on the effectiveness of these models. Emphasis is on current trends in the content areas.

This course focuses on effective leadership, instruction, and management strategies for work in diverse educational settings. It is designed to provide increased self-awareness and insight into issues of diversity such as culture, ethnicity, exceptionality, gender, language, religion, and socioeconomic status. Demographic issues along with urban and suburban educational settings will also be addressed.

In this course, students gain an understanding of educational research and critically analyze resources of research, such as professional journals, Internet sites, technical reports, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)documents, and reports of professional organizations. The students will examine historical trends and themes in education and how they have changed and progressed to newer, cutting-edge educational research that informs classroom instruction. Students will analyze research data and reports of research with the purposes of, gaining understanding of sound educational research techniques; evaluating research designs including issues of validity and reliability; gaining knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative data collection procedures; interpreting the results and implications of research; and learning the form of technical, scholarly writing. Through course experiences, students will be prepared to write meaningful research questions and design methodologies for conducting their own classroom research projects. Students will also learn to be effective consumers of research, equipped with skills needed to make sense of classroom, district, state, national, and international educational research studies.

In this course, students will develop their own classroom educational research project. Their designed study will be based in the literature in their educational field and focus on classroom research questions and problems that will inform teaching practices. In this course, students will develop an individual research problem statement, argue the significance of the problem, complete a written literature review and logical chain of reasoning related to the stated problem, write specific research questions to investigate the problem in educational settings, and design a research study (methodology) that will effectively investigate their research questions. Students design a research study that shows promise for improving education, written as the first three chapters of a scholarly classroom action research project. Prerequisite: EDUC 5394. This course is to be taken in the semester just prior to the final semester of the masters’ degree program, and in the semester immediately preceding EDUC 5397.

In this course, students will implement the classroom research designed and written in EDUC 5395, collect data from this research, and interpret results. Students will prepare a final, written research report that presents the investigation and its results in a 5-chapter professional format, such as would be prepared as a paper for presentation at a professional conference and/or publication in an educational journal. At the conclusion of this course, students will submit a copy of their research project report to the course instructor and present the completed project as their final capstone experience for the master’s degree in education. Prerequisites: EDUC 5394 and EDUC 5395. This course is to be taken in the final semester of the M.Ed. and in the semester immediately following EDUC 5395.

This course provides in depth study properties and changes in matter. Students learn important concepts of properties and changes in matter, using scientific processes and how to teach properties of matter to children in grades K-8 science. Students study matter by engaging in inquiry and field/laboratory investigations using science processes, critical thinking and problem solving. The course will help students learn to teach these physical science concepts to K-8 students using inquiry models.

In this course, students gain scientific knowledge about characteristics and interactions among matter, force and energy with interdisciplinary and everyday life connections. Topics experienced through laboratory/field based investigations include: gravity, work, friction, acceleration, volume, length, distance, light, forms of energy, electricity, heat, and simple machines. The course will help students learn to teach these physical science concepts to K-8 students using inquiry models.

Through laboratory investigations, students gain knowledge of the various constructive and destructive forces that shape and alter the Earth’s surfaces such as plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, erosion, weathering and deposition, as well as conservation of resources. The course will include studies of rock identification, and the rock cycle, as well as geologic time and the fossil record. The course includes study of earth, moon and planetary characteristics and motions. The course will help students learn to teach these earth science concepts to K-8 students using inquiry models.

Students gain understanding of the importance of water including the topics of cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, and capillary action. Water distribution on Earth is analyzed using maps and charts, with connections to geographic and climatic characteristics of the various regions. Water as a major factor in weather, along with other meteorological variables such as air pressure, humidity, dew point and cloud formation will be studied, and weather patterns tracked over time using technology and maps. The course will help students learn to teach these earth science concepts to K-8 students using inquiry models.

This course will explore living organisms and classification of organisms. The course will focus on the unity of life including the cell and cell components and the life functions, as well as the diversity of life including a look at pathogenic agents including bacteria and viruses. The course will analyze the structure and function of DNA, and genetics. The course will include comparative anatomy and physiology studies of organisms. The course will help students learn to teach these life science concepts to K-8 students using inquiry models.

This course analyzes life, biochemical, and geochemical cycles within the natural world and how they impact ecological systems and environment. Students conduct laboratory and field investigations to examine and recognize various plant and animal adaptations. Science topics include, camouflage, mimicry, body coverings, mouthparts, habitats. Math-science integrations include estimations, relationships, graphing, and number sense. The course will help students learn to teach these life science concepts to K-8 students using inquiry models.