Course Descriptions

EDUC 6610 Teacher as Professional (3 sem. cr.)
This course explores what it means to be a professional in today’s diverse and changing educational landscape. Teachers will examine their values, beliefs, vision, and mission. They will explore their role in the larger context of the teaching profession, the importance of collaboration in a professional learning community, and the need to advocate for students, educators, and the field of education itself. Teachers will learn how a professional stance impacts student learning and serves as a driver of their own professional growth and development.

EDUC 6650 Enhancing Learning Through Linguistic and Cultural Diversity (3 sem. cr.)
This course explores teachers’ views on the value of linguistic and cultural diversity and the powerful learning opportunities it affords today’s classrooms and schools. Teachers examine their attitudes, beliefs, and biases regarding linguistically and culturally diverse students, families, and communities and learn approaches for working together to help ensure high levels of learning for all students. Strategies for ensuring equitable access to high-quality learning experiences are presented. Effective practices such as cultural responsiveness, anti-bias curriculum, differentiated instruction, and developing academic vocabulary are explored.

EDUC 6730 Curriculum Design for Learning (3 sem. cr.)
This course engages teachers in a research-based process for designing and mapping curriculum that motivates students and promotes academic success. Beginning with the end in mind, teachers will identify clear learning goals and big ideas, create authentic assessments, and develop essential questions that will guide effective instructional planning and ongoing assessments using their district or state standards and/or benchmarks. Teachers also will apply the curriculum design process to a subject area they teach, keeping in mind the important roles that the learning environment, family involvement, and social development have on the design process.

EDUC 6731 Assessment for Student Learning (3 sem. cr.)
This course examines the historical and contemporary perspectives on assessment, including trends in high-stakes assessment and accountability. Teachers will learn the types and purposes of assessment, as well as how to use assessments effectively. They will analyze strengths and weaknesses of various assessment methods and use ongoing assessments to guide decisions that will improve student performance. Data collection and analysis, grading, record-keeping, and reporting will be addressed. Teachers also will learn the importance of student self-assessment and how to best support students in monitoring their own learning and reflecting on how to improve individual performance.

EDUC 6732 Differentiated Instruction (3 sem. cr.)
This course explores the practice of differentiating instruction as a way to meet diverse learning needs and preferences without having to individualize instruction for every student. Teachers will learn how to differentiate five instructional elements—content, product, process, affect, and learning environment—according to students’ interests, readiness, and learning profile. Flexible grouping and managing the differentiated classroom will be addressed. Using their classroom curriculum, teachers will plan and implement differentiated lessons and align them to important learning goals, essential questions, and formative and summative assessments, while ensuring that their instruction includes meaningful applications of knowledge. Teachers also will learn how to draw on resources such as staff, community members, and students to support the “whole” child in the learning process.

EDUC 6625 Habits of Mind (3 sem. cr.)
This course introduces seven intelligent behaviors, or “habits of mind,” exhibited by effective learners and emphasizes the importance of teachers developing these behaviors in themselves, their students, and the learning organization. Teachers will learn how to foster the habits of mind—in self, students, and the learning organization—by employing strategies for self-directed learning, which is a lifelong learning process of self-motivation, self-management, and self-modification.

EDUC 6657 Creating an Effective Classroom Learning Environment (3 sem. cr.)
This course helps teachers create safe, supportive, and respectful learning environments that promote social-emotional development, self-responsibility, and character in order to optimize learning for all students. Teachers learn how to foster a sense of community in the classroom and develop positive relationships with and among students. Skills and strategies for managing dynamic and flexible classroom structures and for teaching conflict resolution are presented. The course also provides strategies for building positive relationships and engaging in effective communication and problem-solving with parents and families.

EDUC 6733 Action Research for Educators (3 sem. cr.)
This course provides a structured approach to the practice of action research. Educators learn how to address relevant problems, become involved in collaborative inquiry, and use data and research to inform their practice, improve student academic success, and contribute to positive change in their classroom and school environments. Educators will engage in reflective practices as they collect and analyze student data and develop and implement data-driven decisions and/or actions to improve student learning and enhance their professional growth.

EDUC 6674 Designing Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for Students With Special Needs (3 sem. cr.)
This course emphasizes the need for all students, including students with special needs, to achieve high academic standards. It examines the learning challenges of students who by definition of federal law have disabilities, as well as those of students who have significant difficulty with learning but do not qualify for special education services. Teachers learn how to adapt and/or modify curriculum, instruction, and assessment to maximize learning for students with special needs.

EDUC 6651 Teacher Leadership in the Classroom: Increasing Learning and Achievement (3 sem. cr.)
This course expands the focus of teacher leadership from self to students, increasing the sphere of influence of the teacher leader to the classroom context. Teachers concentrate on advancing their expertise as a teaching professional by increasing their knowledge and skills in three key areas: knowledge of learners and learning; knowledge of subject matter and curriculum goals; and knowledge of effective teaching models, strategies, and practices. Teacher leaders apply this expertise in the classroom in ways that directly impact the learning and achievement of their students.