Courses - Master of Arts in Education

Please know that the courses listed below are not an exhaustive list of courses that can count toward the program. Rather, they are the most common courses taken in association with the program. To see if a course can count toward the program, be sure to contact the MAED advisor, John Olle, at ollejohn@msu.edu.

The course schedules and run dates can be found in the class search system.

CEP 800 Psychology of Learning in School and Other Settings

Please note that different sections of this course may have a different focus.

This course acquaints students with foundational psychological perspectives for understanding learning that occurs in school and other settings. We focus on behaviorism, multiple types of cognitivism, and socio-cultural perspectives. Students have choice in many aspects of this class and will explore and share about phenomena that are central to their own professional contexts. Students will connect theories of learning to their own experiences as learners in a variety of contexts as they work toward the final course project: a professional, polished theory of learning. By constantly examining the relationship between the ideas about learning as explored in this course and the learning situations in the students’ professional contexts, students will find greater meaning and significance in both. Upon completion of CEP 800, students will be able to explain learning phenomena from multiple lenses and be positioned to provide leadership in these areas.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology. The other two courses are CEP 801 and CEP 802.

CEP 801 Psychological Development: Learner Differences and Commonalities

Children come to school from all kinds of backgrounds, with different patterns of strengths and weaknesses. In this course, we’ll look at a range of individual differences in school learning, from cultural to cognitive. By comparing exceptional patterns to what is typical, we can begin to understand why all children learn as they, and how best to support them.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology. The other two courses are CEP 800 and CEP 802.

CEP 801A Collaboration and Consultation in Special Education

This course is part of the Special Education Concentration.

If you are in need of an override/class permission because the system will not let you enroll in a course due to prerequisites, please use this link to submit your request. You will receive an email once your request is processed.

This course develops the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions related to effective collaborative problem solving. Special educators and general educators interact together in many collaborative activities both inside and outside of school to support students, families, and the community. In addition, this course will help you understand the contexts in which collaboration and consultation occur in schools: problem-solving team meetings for Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS), including RTI and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), IEP meetings, transition planning, and co-teaching and professional development teams.

CEP 802A Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Special Education I: Mild Impairment

This course is part of the Special Education Concentration.

If you are in need of an override/class permission because the system will not let you enroll in a course due to prerequisites, please use this link to submit your request. You will receive an email once your request is processed.

Qualitative and quantitative research methods on teaching and learning of students with emotional or learning impairments. Framing educational problems in special education. Designing and assessing studies of mathematics and problem-solving.

CEP 802 Developing Positive Attitudes toward Learning

“I’m just not good at math.”

“I know that Anthony can do it, if only he’d try.”

“I wish that Emily was interested in science.”

Statements like these, from teachers, parents, and students, are commonplace in the world of school. They characterize students as having negative attitudes toward learning and signal to others a lack of motivation to learn. This course is designed to help teachers, school psychologists, and other educational staff learn new ways of conceptualizing and promoting the development of motivation to learn. This course examines motivation as a multidimensional concept and explores how to respond to its many forms such as work avoidance, lack of engagement, anxiety, lack of effort, and underachievement.

Children experience difficulties in school for a variety of reasons. This course is concerned with a common explanation for why children sometimes fail to learn that is generally referred to as a “motivational problem”. When people are asked to describe the unmotivated learner, characteristics such as apathetic, disruptive, lazy, reluctant, disengaged, and bored, typically come to mind. They describe students who occupy every classroom and who pose daily challenges to teachers and parents. A commonly held belief is that a problem with motivation is primarily one of “will” as opposed to one of “skill”: a person is viewed as having the ability to do something, but they just won’t do it. Unlike skill explanations, however, which are typically multifaceted in nature, the problem of will is frequently viewed as a single and uniform deficit. Rather than viewing motivation as a singular problem requiring a singular response, we will take a multidimensional approach to motivational problems.

We will examine three major theoretical perspectives that inform current research and practice in motivation: behavioral, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive-developmental models. We will use these approaches to assess motivation to learn and to design appropriate intervention strategies. The use of behavioral approaches to motivate students is common in schools. In this course, we will take a closer look at when and how behavioral approaches are most effective and consider potential benefits as well as unintended outcomes. We will also look at intrinsic motivation and how strategies that foster self-determination, personal relevance, interest, and novelty can be used to engage students more actively in learning. Finally, we will examine the cognitive-developmental perspective, which views individual’s thoughts and beliefs as having a critical role in motivation and learning. We will study how cognitions or thoughts, such as perceptions of competence, control beliefs, causal attributions, and achievement goals, as well as teacher beliefs including expectations, self-efficacy, and views of success and failure, are related to motivation and engagement. We will examine a variety of classroom applications through the use of cases culminating in the design of motivational strategies to use in schools or other learning settings.

Course Objectives
The course focuses on promoting the development of motivation to learn. It is designed especially for educators, school psychologists, and other educational staff to learn new ways of conceptualizing and promoting motivation to learn among students. The overall goal of this course is to help you to develop a deeper understanding of motivation and its relation to learning behaviors in educational settings. The specific objectives of the course are to:

Develop an understanding of important student, teacher, and instructional factors that influence motivation toward learning
Analyze the motivational characteristics of your students and classrooms or other learning settings
Evaluate the adequacy of common motivational strategies
Examine ways that recent research and motivational concepts can be used in schools to motivate students
Develop a repertoire of evidence-based strategies to promote students’ motivation to learn.

Course Prerequisites
No specific courses are required, but prior courses in child development and learning are recommended. Additionally, students should have access to an educational setting, broadly defined, in which to complete the course activities. This may be a formal learning setting such as a classroom in schools or informal learning settings such as community centers and activities (e.g., soccer team, piano, gymnastics, robotics club, outdoor learning, tutoring, Scouting, etc.). Students in past courses have also worked with their own children and applied these ideas in parenting situations.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology. The other two courses are CEP 800 and CEP 801.

CEP 804B Literacy Instruction for Students with Disabilities

To successfully complete this course, you must be teaching, have the chance to teach literacy, and have a student identified with a learning disability (LD) in your class or on your caseload.

This course focuses on evidence-based practices for teaching essential components of reading and writing to children who need intensive supports to make progress in these areas and using data-based decision making to design, evaluate, and refine interventions for children at risk for or diagnosed with a literacy-related disability.

CEP 805 Learning Mathematics with Technology

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

The course explores the interaction of school mathematics content, technology that supports mathematics teaching and learning, and the cognitive and social processes of learning. It is designed to serve practicing teachers at all levels (elementary, middle school and high school) in their thinking about the interaction of technology and school content, particularly those who teach mathematics for at least part of their school day. No particular strength in mathematics or knowledge of specific technologies is required, only a willingness to explore and rethink standard assumptions about elementary mathematics and learning. The course is structured into eight units, five of which explore a specific content area within school mathematics and a specific technology that hold promise for learning in that particular content area. One end product will be a personalized online library of resources indexed to particular mathematics content and issues in teaching and learning.

CEP 810 Teaching for Understanding with Technology

In CEP 810, students are introduced to theories of learning and broad issues of learning, knowledge, and expertise. We use this foundational knowledge to situate and explore the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Students will draw on TPACK for all future course work and creations. Students reflect on and consider cultivating their Professional Learning Network (PLN). Students rely on their PLN to learn something they have always wanted to learn, documenting and reflecting their journey. Students use knowledge and experiences to create a learning experience for their own learners based on 21st century learning ideals. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to consider contexts, center the content learning, employ the most effective pedagogical strategies, and use intentional technology to pull these components together. This course has a fun and play-based feel and structure.

CEP 810 is offered as an accelerated, 8-week (half semester) course.

CEP 810 was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2020 MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology. The other two are CEP 811 and CEP 812.

CEP 811 Adapting Innovative Technologies in Education

In CEP 811 you will be immersed in a world and mindset of making. We will explore what making is and who makers are as you reflect on yourself as a maker and your experience with failure. We explore ethical and legal issues around making and innovating to support you in making difficult choices as an educational technology leader. You will remix and repurpose to create a learning experience for their own learners based on 21st century learning ideals and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). You will consider learning space design and re-design a learning environment that is part of your professional context to help inspire your learners to make and innovate. Your course project is a broad project in which we ask you to document and reflect on your identity and experiences throughout the course. This course has a fun and play-based feel and design.

CEP 811 is offered as an accelerated, 8-week (half semester) course.

CEP 811 was awarded as the Best Fully Online Course in the 2015 MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology. The other two are CEP 810 and CEP 812.

CEP 812 Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice

CEP 812 focuses on the ways that we can use a range of technologies to address a range of teaching and education-related problems. Students explore problems of practice along a spectrum of well-structured, ill-structured, and wicked problems. Students reading about human, social, and cognitive dispositions that challenge our abilities to solve big problems smartly. Based on research on a chosen wicked problem, students design, iterate on, and disseminate a survey to help provide more data for their future direction. Students use the research and data from their surveys to position themselves to help tackle the problem. The final presentation and choice project will both synthesize students’ learning experiences and connect to future course work and professional work.

CEP 812 is offered as an accelerated, 8-week (half semester) course.

CEP 812 was awarded as the Best Fully Online Course in the 2018 MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology. The other two are CEP 810 and CEP 811.

CEP 813 Electronic Assessment for Teaching and Learning

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

This course introduces foundational theories of assessment. It focuses on critical examination of methods of assessment (e.g., portfolios, rubrics, surveys, tests, self-evaluations), and digital tools that allow educators to gather information, analyze it and make informed pedagogical choices. Students design assessments for learning, as learning and of learning, especially in digital contexts. In the course we take a critical examination of issues of race and bias in assessment.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. The other two are CEP 817 and CEP 820.

CEP 814 Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators

The purpose of CEP 814 is to explore the aggregated skills and intellectual processes associated with computational thinking (CT) with a specific eye toward how these things can be implemented in the K-12 classroom. To best utilize the various elements of CT in your classroom, you will need to have a strong understanding of each sub-component and how it relates to both computer science and problem solving. This course will address technical aspects of computing, as well as pedagogy in non-computing courses with the goal of merging concepts across domains. One of our major goals is to empower you to create compelling content for your classroom that utilizes computational thinking. Your final project will evolve throughout the semester based on your own interests and background.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in K-12 Computer Science Education. The other two are CEP 824 and CEP 833.

CEP 815 Technology and Leadership

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

The purpose of CEP 815 is to help you develop as a technology leader. Through the class, students will examine the aims of education, the history and evolution of technology, principles of leadership, and the intersection of these three elements. In this course, we will examine the complex charge of being responsible for managing relationships between technology, teaching and learning. We will look at technology from multiple perspectives to assess its potential benefits and challenges to different audiences. Professional development strategies, project management, planning, evaluation, relationship building, along with the ethical and social implications of technology integration will be examined.

CEP 815 was awarded the Best Technology Enhanced Course in the 2021 MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology.

CEP 816 Technology, Teaching, and Learning Across the Curriculum

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

In CEP 816, we will examine new ways of teaching with technology to improve learning. We will work to figure out how to adapt new technologies for a new kind of teaching practice. Our approach will be driven by learning goals. Developing new mindsets or habits of mind that permit the affordances of new media to achieve important learning goals will be central to the course.

CEP 817 Learning Technology by Design

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

CEP 817 is a course about design. Design as a process. Design as it relates to education and the world around us. This course revolves around the five phases of design thinking that are part of the Stanford Model of Design Thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. The course is structured around a personalized semester-long design project with small, supported steps along the way. At the same time, you will engage with peers, sharing about design and helping provide ideas and feedback to others’ projects.

CEP 817 was awarded the Best Fully Online Course in the 2021 MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. The other two are CEP 813 and CEP 820.

CEP 818 Creativity in Teaching and Learning

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

Creativity is of increasing importance to educators both for their professional success and that of their students particularly given the complex, evolving knowledge ecology we are live in. In this online course we will explore a range of questions related to creativity. These include:

What does it mean to be creative?
What are the “thinking tools” for creativity?
How can we become more creative in teaching?
How can we integrate creativity in subject matter learning?
How can we develop creativity in others (particularly in learners)?

CEP 820 Teaching and Learning Online

This course is part of the Technology and Learning Concentration.

CEP 820 examines ways in which educators can bring the world into their classrooms with technology to better meet the educational needs of students across the lifespan. The course focuses on ways teachers and students can broadcast their ideas and information to the outside world for purposes of collaboration and communication. The course includes discussions of various online learning management systems including their functions, strengths and weaknesses along with the exploration of various teaching methodologies and how they should be used in the online environment to ensure teaching and learning success.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. The other two are CEP 813 and CEP 817.

CEP 824 Programming Concepts for K-12 Educators

This course will use a wide array of digital programming tools to introduce the fundamental concepts of a programming, the basics of computing and computing systems, and connecting each of these ideas to instructional approaches for K-12 settings and subject areas. The course learning objectives are as following:

Utilize digital programming tools (Scratch, Pencil Code, Python)
Demonstrate understanding of core concepts shared between programming tools.
Understand pedagogy of CS misconceptions, scaffolding, basic programming concepts, inclusive computing culture, bridging visual programming tools to text-based programming languages, assessment.
Apply programming tools to solve problems in K-12 subject areas.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in K-12 Computer Science Education. The other two are CEP 814 and CEP 833.

CEP 832 Educating Students with Challenging Behavior

Please note that historically this course has an accelerated schedule.

This is an advanced course in positive classroom management strategies useful with “tough to teach” students. We examine various types of behavioral problems that are especially challenging in the classroom: aggressiveness, oppositional behavior, hyperactivity, and social withdrawal, among others. For each type of problem we explore research-based practices that have proven successful in the classroom and apply them to simulated cases using a positive behavior support approach. We also address building cooperative working relationships with these students’ parents. The course is designed to promote “hands on” and interactive learning; the course project involves application of the course concepts to each participant’s classroom practice.

CEP 833 Creativity in K-12 Computing Education

This course focuses on the intersections between creativity and computing in cross-disciplinary K-12 contexts and subject areas. The course learning objectives are as following:

Understand how creative artifacts can be used in K-12 computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) contexts.
Understand ways to construct learning environments that support creativity (pedagogy).
Understand ways to assess student performance in relation to creativity.

We will explore creativity and computing in ways that are relevant to your teaching. Each of you brings your own experience and needs to the course, and I will work to make the course relevant to those needs. As a creative learning community, we will support each other in these explorations through questioning, sharing, and ideation.

CEP 833 was awarded as the Best Fully Online Course in the 2020 MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology.

This course is one of the three required courses for the Graduate Certificate in K-12 Computer Science Education. The other two are CEP 814 and CEP 824.

CEP 840 Policies, Practices, and Perspectives in Special Education

This course is part of the Special Education Concentration.

It is recommended, but not required, that you take CEP 840 prior to CEP 842 or CEP 850. If you are in need of an override/class permission because the system will not let you enroll in a course due to prerequisites, please use this link to submit your request. You will receive an email once your request is processed.

This course introduces the practice of special education in today’s schools, with a focus on the United States. We will analyze characteristics of students with disabilities, including learning and behavior disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and the implications of learner differences for the legal and instructional responsibilities of classroom teachers. We will survey general principles of instruction that can help improve students’ access to the general education curriculum, including evidence-based practices, collaboration with other professionals, universal design for learning, response to intervention (RTI), positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), and assistive technology. Each of these topics is covered in more depth in later courses. We also address multicultural considerations in the instruction of students with disabilities. The overall goal of the course is to expand your expertise and confidence in providing an inclusive classroom environment that addresses the needs of the diverse population of students..

CEP 841 Classroom and Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom

This course is designed to provide teachers and other practitioners with foundational knowledge in classroom management, behavioral intervention for mild/moderate behavioral challenges, and behavioral technologies to support classroom teaching with diverse students, including those with special needs. Especially salient to this course is the acknowledgement of prevention and intervention strategies conducted at multiple levels, including the macro-level of schools and communities and at the micro-level as teachers negotiate meaning with students on a moment-to-moment basis. Students will directly utilize a series of behavioral assessments in a variety of domains to build a technology of resources for identifying and successfully intervening with problematic behavior. The functional analysis of the etiology of behaviors will allow students to identify crucial factors that motivate, prompt, and maintain the behavior. Students will then apply principles and understanding of behavioral change to develop and implement behavioral, social, and academic interventions.

CEP 842 Content-Area Instruction for Students with Mild Disabilities

This course is part of the Special Education Concentration.

It is recommended, but not required, that students take CEP 840 prior to taking CEP 842. If you are in need of an override/class permission because the system will not let you enroll in a course due to prerequisites, please use this link to submit your request. You will receive an email once your request is processed.

In this course, we will investigate instructional practices that can be used in general education classrooms to improve the learning and academic performance of students with mild learning problems and disabilities. We will focus on instruction in the content-area subjects of science, social studies, and mathematics. Our goal is not to examine how to teach these subjects but, rather, how to design and differentiate instruction that is sensitive to individual learning needs and preferences. We also will address Universal Design for Learning, collaborative planning for instruction, secondary and transition services, and creating a classroom climate in which all students have the opportunity to participate and succeed.

CEP 843 Autism Spectrum Disorders

This course is part of the Special Education Concentration.

If you are in need of an override/class permission because the system will not let you enroll in a course due to prerequisites, please use this link to submit your request. You will receive an email once your request is processed.

MSU students need to have access to a student with autism spectrum Disorder (ASD) to complete required coursework.

Topics covered in this course include (a) characteristics of individuals on the autism spectrum, including Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Rett’s Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, (b) the history of autism, (c) etiology of ASD, and (d) past and present theories of autism. Prevalence, comorbid conditions, and research on ASD also are discussed, as is the impact of ASD on learning, family systems, and life pursuits.

CEP 850 Technology for Students with Disabilities

This course is part of the Special Education Concentration.

It is recommended, but not required, that students take CEP 840 prior to CEP 850. If you are in need of an override/class permission because the system will not let you enroll in a course due to prerequisites, please use this link to submit your request. You will receive an email once your request is processed.

Students need to have access to a student with a disability to complete required coursework.

This course will examine the use of assistive technology to meet the needs of students who face educational challenges. We will examine ways in which technology can be used to support students’ academic performance and skill acquisition as well as to support behavior. We will consider students with disabilities (such as learning disabilities) and will examine technology applications that can be used in the general education classroom. Participants will examine a variety of assistive technologies, choose assistive technologies that are relevant for the students they teach, conduct an assistive technology assessment, and create a technology and instructional plan.

CEP 866 Psychoeducational Interventions for Children and Youth

Children and youth face a variety of developmental challenges and a variety of external barriers that inhibit the successful resolution of developmental tasks. Understanding the normative processes of human development in their context provides a conceptual base to help children and youth meet these challenges. Developmental processes related to school success are particularly important in our current climate of educational accountability. Applying a theoretical framework to child/youth intervention programs and understanding best practices identified by the literature facilitate practitioner’s capacity to positively impact the lives of children and youth.

CEP 883 Psychology of Classroom Discipline

The Psychology of Classroom Discipline is a 6-week summer course designed to help teachers and other school professionals improve classroom management strategies. The course will review “best practices” in classroom management and focus on research-based strategies that improve the learning environment for all students.

EAD 801 Leadership and Organizational Development

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

In EAD 801 participants examine the concept of leadership and explore what it means to be a leader within the context of education based organizations (i.e. schools, colleges, universities). Special consideration is given to the ways in which organizations develop and the role of leaders in processes of organizational development and change. This process includes the study and analysis of existing literature and research while also encouraging participants to examine these constructs within their own context and as aspects of their own personal and professional identities.

As a graduate level course, the course is constructed on the assumption that participants will enter with some general exposure to the theoretical concepts and/or the actual practice of leadership as well as familiarity, through previous work or personal experience, with some of the dynamics of organizations. This course is intended to provide an introduction to traditional theories of leadership, as well as to introduce more contemporary perspectives and considerations related to leadership and organizational development.

The course is limited in scope to organizational leadership at the institutional level within the United States system of education; however, students are encouraged to consider professional, state/federal, or international leadership for their individual projects. Course materials will draw upon several disciplines including business, management, human development, sociology, and organizational psychology. Work in the course will intersect the areas of administration/management, governance, and organizational theory but is not intended to duplicate courses in those areas.

The goal for the course’s participants to gain new understandings of themselves as leaders, of the leaders and leadership actions around them and of how to link leadership to valued organizational goals and processes.

Objectives for the course include:

Identify and describe the roles and responsibilities associated with leadership within the context of an educational organization;
Understand organizational development as both a field of study and practice;
Identify situations that necessitate an organizational development approach to leadership;
Apply principles of leadership and organizational development in specific organizational contexts;
Assess individual capacity and ability to lead organizational development and change.

Recent texts used in the course include:
Avolio, B. (2011). Full range leadership development (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
          Sage.
Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
          leadership (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gallos, J.V. (2006). Organizational development: A Jossey-Bass reader. San
          Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Heifetz, R., Linsky, M., & Grashow, A. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership:
         Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston, MA:
         Harvard Business Press.

EAD 822 Engaging Diverse Students and Families

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

The contemporary history of diverse students and their families in education can be articulated as an evolving experience for students and families from varied backgrounds. The context of education today should communicate that teaching and learning in contemporary school environments should be a shared discovery opportunity where students and educators learn from one another and experience very personal understandings if the educational opportunities are designed to maximize student learning. This course will examine these aspects of how schools engage diverse students and families by looking at the context of schools and the communities where schools exist and where students come from. It will also look at the historical relationship between school and home and consider how the contemporary social, cultural and linguistic contexts impact the process of education.

EAD 824 Leading Teacher Learning

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It is well known that the process of teaching and learning are central to our educational picture. To provide thoughtful direction and support for this picture, we must continually expand and refine knowledge and skill in areas of teaching, learning, schooling, instructional leadership, and the evaluation of teacher performance and student learning.

By developing all members of the school community as life-long learners, Leading Teacher Learning encourages and supports the members of the organization to become more reflective and collaborative in their practice.

This graduate course will focus on developing leadership skills to promote professional growth and the development of adult learning in organizations. Students will practice and learn strategies to build capacity through relationships, collaboration, and the facilitation of learning through the role of supervision, evaluation, and reflection. This course is a prime opportunity for leaders of any adult learning in any field. It provides participants with the knowledge, skills, strategies, and awareness of resources to serve in a wide variety of leadership roles. As members of “The Learning Profession,” each of us must take this service seriously each day of our careers.

Adult Learning Theories
Learning Organization Frameworks
Engagement Research
Relational Trust
Positive Culture Building
Developmental Supervision
Group Development
Professional Learning Communities
Coaching
Facilitation Skills
Protocols
Learning Designs for Adult Learners
Standards for Professional Learning

EAD 830 Issues in Urban Leadership

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

Students will examine institutional, class and race systemic factors that contribute to the racial achievement gap. Students will learn strategies for improving urban schools and uncover areas of study for future research interests

EAD 850 Issues and Strategies in Multicultural Education

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 850 provides an introduction to multicultural education using a four-pronged approach that involves the development of: 1) A deeper understanding of the nuances in difference and diversity, and how they are interconnected with issues of privilege, power, and oppression in the personal/professional educational context; 2) A deeper understanding of the interconnections between knowledge production, identity, meaning, and power, and how these play out in educational settings and every day practices; 3) Critical reflection towards existing diversity/multicultural practices and developing strategies to re-imagine these practices in one’s professional context; and 4) Critical policy analysis skills to unpack, challenge, and rewrite existing diversity policies in global contexts.

Each of these prongs is important to gain the critical self-reflection necessary to be an educator who is knowledgeable of the unique social dynamics—of ethnic, racial, gender, ability, sexuality, religious, and socioeconomic differences— in the education of youth/adults in both educational settings (K-12 schools, colleges, and universities) and broader society in global contexts.

Among the texts used in recent years are: Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. J., Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education; Sharp, J., Geographies of postcolonialism; Titchosky, T., Disability, self, and society; Willinsky, J., Learning to divide the world: Education at empire’s end. Also the film: Prom Night in Mississippi (Directed by Paul Saltzman).

EAD 853 Education Finance and Policy

This course follows the evolution of public school finance, from its beginnings to the issues of today, paying particular attention to the impact of financial policy as defined by federal and state court decisions related to educational funding. In addition, we will focus on the application of theoretical funding structures to practical situations, such as: 1) trends in the fiscal structure of school districts in the United States and other countries, 2) the allocation and use of the educational dollar, 3) financing school facilities, 4) understanding school finance reform using Michigan’s Proposal A, and 5) current issues in educational finance reform (e.g., teacher salary structures, “pay for performance”, pension and health benefits, privatizing and/or consolidating educational services, school choice). Throughout the course, students will examine the social-economic-political context in which public finance decisions evolve and their relationship to current educational issues throughout the nation.

EAD 860 Concept of a Learning Society

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

The “Learning Society” is a popular but problematic phrase meant to describe recent developments in education across the life span and to guide institutions and individuals worldwide in their educational goals, activities, and plans for the future. By now, as it is used by many authors and leaders, the learning society refers to a complex global configuration of activities and possibilities.

An influential use of the phrase “the learning society” can be credited it to the famous educational leader and innovator Robert Maynard Hutchins of the University of Chicago and his book The Learning Society (1968). He features the classical Greek Polis, or the ideal of an educated citizenry according to ideals that are associated with the liberal arts and sciences. He was concerned about the narrowing of education by the demands of the workplace and the professions.

Today, business leaders and theorists (or gurus) of work and economic and technological organization–particularly in new demands of work– are urging participation in the learning society based on a very different understanding of what the phrase means. Others propose individual growth as the cornerstone of the learning society, seeing it as an entitlement in the “post-industrial” world. Still others focus on the learning society as the domain in which technology will provide the essential format for education in schools and at work, and for learning everywhere else as well. Thus, the learning society stands for a combination of historical, organizational, and cultural forces at work in the 21st century which deserves critical attention.

The goals of EAD 860 are to explore: 1) what is meant by the learning society as the phrase is used in the US and other nations, or how the phrase has come to mean several things in its brief history (the “genealogy” of the learning society); 2) primary domains and activities of the learning society in their historical, social, economic, and cultural contexts; and 3) the experiences and views of individuals living and working in the learning society; and 4) what the learning society can mean in the social transformations associated with new information and communications technologies-and resistance to them.

After a general introduction to the many meanings of the phrase “learning society” the course offers opportunities for exploring its different ‘scenes” or “locations” (at work, at home, in other cultures, online, and more). Expository material and a variety of online resources – audio, video, educational website, museum exhibits, and additional readings – are included in the course units to help students explore the meanings and uses of the primary texts.

EAD 860 is an unusual course in the MAED as it is offered in a self-paced format. (*See note below). Students can complete the six units according to a schedule they set for themselves within the timeframe of the semester. Needless to say, good planning and steady application are essential to completing the course in a satisfying way.

The course is also unusual in the extent to which it uses hypermedia, or linked online resources in many formats. The units are designed to offer, in the instructor’s writing and the links appearing with it, a course-based web of information, opinion, and resources in different media. Students in the course become, in effect, hypermedia readers, deciding what attention and priority to give the varied resources and what relations to consider among them. The “web” for the course, so to speak, operates as an anchored but mobile network of digital resources for learning, together with the printed books and films. Thus, beyond its attention to questions of the learning society, EAD 860 is intended to contribute to the students’ abilities in a form of what is now often called “digital literacy.”

Each of the six-course units includes assignments in reading, listening, and viewing. There is also a writing assignment for each unit. Submitting the writing assignment for a unit gains access to the next one. The writing assignment for the last unit serves as the Final Exam. There are no required interactions among students (e.g., postings to discussions or small group projects), though there are opportunities for voluntary ones. Course grades will reflect performance on the written work.

These texts and films have been used in recent offerings of EAD 860:

Atul Gawande, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance (Picador)
Noah Adams, Piano Lessons: Music, Love, and True Adventures (Delta)
Deborah Fallows, Dreaming in Chinese: Lessons in Life, Love, and Language
(Walker)
Ken Bain, What the Best College Students Do (Harvard University Press)
William Powers, Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life
in the Digital Age (Harper)
The Visitor (Directed by Tom McCarthy)
Erin Brockovich (Directed by Steven Soderbergh)
The Namesake (Directed by Mira Nair)

Note: This description is for the course as it is offered regularly by Professor Steven Weiland. The course is also offered occasionally by Professor Riyad Shahjahan, when the texts will be similar but the format will not be the self-paced one described here.

EAD 861 Adult Learning

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 861 focuses on developing a better understanding of learning in adulthood and what implications this knowledge holds for facilitating adult learning in postsecondary and other non-formal educational settings. It will examine principles and problems in the field using “cases” of learning in adulthood (through selected movies, autobiographical narratives, one’s personal experiences, and online resources) and theoretical inquiry. Through readings, discussions, use of multiple popular media resources, and writing assignments, it explores who adult learners are, why they learn, how they learn, and the relationship between learning and development. The course aims to think concretely and critically about adult learning by using a four-pronged approach that involves the development of a deeper understanding of:

What characterizes adult learners, adult learning, and the various contexts associated with “adult learning”, and the historical, social, and philosophical perspectives that influence our understanding of who or what is an adult learner
What is an adult learner and the values and assumptions that informs the nature of adult learners (i.e. their motivation and development across the life span)
What is adult learning and the various dominant and critical adult learning theories that informs the nature of learning and their implications for designing adult learning experiences.
What does and could adult learning look like from various critical, spiritual, embodied, and non- western learning theories, and the implications of power relations for learning experiences.

EAD 863 Training and Professional Development

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 863: One area of adult and postsecondary education of considerable interest to many individuals and organizations is professional development. Within workplaces, service, and community-based organizations, employees are expected to engage in on-going improvement through continuing professional education. The purpose of this course is to develop knowledge of and skill in the design, development, and delivery of training and professional development programs for working adults in various occupational settings. In the process, participants examine and unpack multiple understandings about the meaning, purposes, and approaches to professional development in various workplace contexts. The course assumes that professional development is a profoundly important activity that involves an individual’s heart, mind, and body and is designed for individuals who hold or in the future will serve in professional roles in which they are responsible for organizing training and professional development opportunities for colleagues. The course is designed primarily as an elective for master’s level students in various disciplines but may be useful for doctoral students interested in professional development and training.

EAD 864 Adult Career Development

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 864: Adult career development is a critical part of the life cycle, reflecting: 1) the nature of work in its many forms; 2) opportunities for learning, change, autonomy and collaboration, and leadership; 3) the structure of occupations and professions; and 4) relations between individuals, organizations, and institutions. So too must individual differences be accounted for–like age, gender, and historical or cohort experience–when we think about careers. Accordingly, the study of how adults choose careers and develop in their work requires attention to ideas in several fields of inquiry: education, psychology, sociology, history, biography, communications, and more. There is as yet no widely agreed upon theory of career development that captures its variability and whatever principles are available to guide our understanding of the experiences of individuals and the many forms of work in our world.

In EAD 864 we will study the structure of careers, including theories of career stages, and also key developmental features of work across the life course, focusing on how individuals make their work gratifying and meaningful in organizational and other settings. Our goal is not to discover an ideal or universal scheme for career development–as is the case in many popular books on careers–but to inquire into how individuals have found ways to give meaning to their work.

The course will be unified by a focus on cases of adult career development, with attention also to what can be said (within limits) generally about careers across occupations and professions, including teaching. Thus, the primary activities will be exploring adult career development from two complementary perspectives: 1) individuals reflecting on their work and lives in autobiographical and biographical narratives, and in dramatic films; and 2) adult career development as it is represented in research on work, the professions, and the human life course, and in popular accounts of career choice and change.

EAD 864 is an unusual course in the College of Education’s online MA programs, offered as it is in a self-paced format. Students can earn credit for the course by completing the six units according to a schedule they set for themselves within the time frame of the semester. Needless to say, good planning and steady application are essential to completing the course in a satisfying way.

The course is also unusual in the extent to which it uses hypermedia, or the integration into the course via links many resources beyond the required texts, including video, audio, photography, online exhibits, and more. The course’s six units–each designed around a case of adult career development–are designed to offer, in the instructor’s writing and the links appearing with it, a course-based web of information, opinion, and resources of many kinds in different media. Students in the course become, in effect, hypermedia readers, deciding what attention and priority to give to the varied resources and what relations to consider among them. The “web” for the course, so to speak, operates as an anchored but mobile network of resources for learning. Thus, beyond its attention to adult career development, EAD 864 is intended to contribute to students’ abilities in what is now called “digital literacy.”

Assignments and Grades
Each of the six course units includes assignments in reading, listening, and viewing. There is also a writing assignment for each unit. Submitting the writing assignment for a unit gains access to the next one. The writing assignment for the last unit serves as the Final Exam. There are no required interactions among students (e.g., postings to discussions or small group projects), though there are opportunities for voluntary ones. Course grades will reflect performance on the written work.

These texts and films have been used in recent offerings of EAD 864:

Danielle Ofri, Incidental Findings: Lessons from My Patients in the Art of Medicine (Beacon)
Linda Greenlaw, The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain’s Journey (Hyperion)
Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (Simon and Schuster)
Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (Jossey-Bass).The Devil Wears Prada, directed by David Frankel (2006), Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman (2009), or another film chosen from a list in the first course unit.
The Insider, directed by Michael Mann (1999)
Mr. Holland’s Opus, directed by Stephen Herek (1996)

EAD 866 Teaching in Postsecondary Education

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

The purpose of EAD 866 is to help participants become more reflective and effective educators in postsecondary contexts, whether online or face-to-face. We address this goal by exploring the following themes: a) different conceptions of teaching; b) characteristics of learners in postsecondary educational settings; c) theories concerning the learning process; d) instructional design and planning; e) strategies to encourage active learning, including strategies involving lecturing, small groups and discussion, experiential learning, and educational technologies; g) approaches to assessing learning; h) approaches to improving teaching through assessment and faculty learning and development.

An underlying assumption explored throughout the course is that the self of the teacher is deeply connected with the process of teaching and therefore with the processes and outcomes of students’ learning. We begin with the view that effective teaching must be considered in terms of specific students, contexts, areas of study, and purposes. That is, we do not seek to define or advocate a particular way of teaching but rather to explore the assumptions, choices, theories, and beliefs that should be considered as a teacher makes choices in particular contexts.

The course is useful to those involved in or interested in teaching in a variety of postsecondary contexts, including, for example, college and university classrooms, student affairs workshops, continuing professional development, and workplace settings.

By the conclusion of the course, students should be able to:

Articulate a philosophical/theoretical approach to teaching and the values, beliefs, experiences, and ideas that shape one’s philosophical/theoretical approach.
Discuss major conceptions of teaching in postsecondary education.
Use the research findings concerning students in various postsecondary settings and the theories concerning how learning occurs to make informed teaching choices.
Engage in systematic instructional planning and design.
Know, select, and use a range of teaching strategies that encourage active, involved learning, and that are appropriate for learners in postsecondary settings and their particular areas of study.
Design useful assessments of students’ learning and of teacher effectiveness.
Be aware of strategies and resources available for encouraging the professional growth of teachers in postsecondary environments.

Among the texts used in recent years are: B. Davis, Tools for Teaching; b. hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom; R. Menges & M. Weimer, Teaching on Solid Ground: Using Scholarship to Improve Teaching; W. McKeachie, Teaching Tips; P. J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life; Pratt, D.D. and Associates, Five Perspectives on Teaching in Administration and Higher Education; Weimer, M. Learning Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice; J. Vella, Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults.

EAD 867 Case Studies in Educational Leadership

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 867: Leadership is perhaps one of the topics most written about; a wealth of information is available on the topic, and in this online course, we read but a small portion of this literature. It is also very interdisciplinary, and so our readings reflect a host of disciplinary backgrounds, not just education. Though the contexts may vary, the principles and tenets typically apply regardless of the orientation and work environments of the authors. Assigned readings provide the foundation for class discussions.

The main body of the course is divided into three sections. Each contains assigned readings and a case problem. The readings provide a foundation for understanding different aspects of leadership and for analyzing the case problem. In each section, students critically discuss the readings, discuss the case problem in small groups, and individually write a short analysis of the problem. The final activity for each section is a brief learning reflection. The last section of the course is an opportunity for professional reflection in which each member develops and writes an educational leadership philosophy that reflects a deepening understanding of what leadership means to them and to their practice

Among the texts used in recent years are: Astin, A. W. & Astin, H.S., Principles of transformative leadership. In A.W. Astin & H.S. Astin (Eds.), Leadership Reconsidered: Engaging Higher Education in Social Change; L.G. Bolman, & T. E. Deal, Leading with soul: An uncommon journey of spirit; S.R. Komives, N. Lucas, & T. R. McMahon, A new way of understanding leadership. In S. R. Komives, N. Lucas, & T. R. McMahon, Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference; C. D. Pielstick, The transforming Leader: A meta-ethnographic analysis.

EAD 870 Foundations of Postsecondary Education

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 870 examines major events in the development of colleges and universities in the United States and the philosophical, historical, and social forces that have influenced this development. The course examines contemporary issues in higher education by exploring the intersections of historical, philosophical, and sociological forces that have shaped and continue to shape U.S. higher education, as well as the ways in which higher education has shaped society. International/comparative higher education is also introduced.

EAD 870 entails course readings and class preparation, take-home exams, a substantial research paper, and an international/comparative higher education exploration.

Among the texts used in recent years are: J. R. Thelin, A history of American higher education; Gasman, B. Baez, & C. S. V. Turner, (Eds.), Understanding minority-serving institutions; Additional readings come from a variety of historical sources and accounts, as well as websites that address contemporary higher education.

EAD 876 Budgeting and Finance in Higher Education

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

The purpose of EAD 876 is to introduce students to the fundamentals of higher education finance including: the private and public benefits of higher education, the determinants of cost and price in higher education, the role of the federal government in financing higher education, the role of state governments in financing higher education, the implications of various financing strategies on access and affordability of higher education, and the processes by which resources are allocated within colleges and universities.

Students will examine external sources of funding, internal resource allocation processes, and social and economic principles and values regarding the distribution of resources among competing concerns.

Students should gain an understanding of the delicate balance between revenues and expenditures and an appreciation for the complex relationship between finance and other aspects of college and university administration.

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:

Describe the major higher education revenue sources.
Describe the major models of internal resource allocation.
Understand and conceptualize the relationship between higher education finance and other administrative functions such as strategic planning, student affairs and services, enrollment management, plant maintenance and operations, & public and government relations.
Identify the differences in funding patterns/models between different higher education sectors (2 year and 4 year; private and public).
Articulate, analyze, and defend key finance, budgeting, and planning concepts through online discussions.

Among the texts used in recent years are: D. E. Heller (Ed). The States and Public Higher Education Policy: Affordability, access, and accountability. 2nd Edition. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press; The College Board. Trends in College Pricing; Desroches, D.M., & Wellman, J.V. Trends in College Spending. Washington, D.C.: The Delta Cost Project.

EAD 877 Program Planning and Evaluation in Postsecondary Contexts

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 877 focuses on program planning as both a field of practice and inquiry. As a field of practice, program planning represents a series of activities in which most educators working in postsecondary settings find themselves engaged. As educators, we plan courses and lessons within courses. We design and implement degree and certification programs, as well as advise students on their own academic program plans. At times, we participate in the planning of professional conferences and meetings, design and implement workshops, make presentations to colleagues, practitioners, and to lay audiences.

While these activities vary widely, they all represent a common set of curricular, organizational, and political challenges and decisions that we as educators, either implicitly or explicitly, must make. These decisions and tasks are grounded in particular conceptual, theoretical, social, cultural, and political frameworks that shape and influence the ways in which these decisions and tasks are approached and the eventual nature of programs developed and delivered. Along with questions of effectiveness of processes and approaches, these latter issues suggest the boundaries of program planning as a field of inquiry.

Participants in this course critically reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions about educational program planning. Written, video, and real-world cases are used to foster awareness not only of the technical tasks involved in program planning but the underlying assumptions, values, and forms of rationality that guide the planning process.

In this course, students will develop:

Knowledge of the research and scholarship that focus on academic program planning and evaluation in postsecondary education;
Skill in the planning, design, and development of educational and training programs for postsecondary education contexts;
Critical awareness and understanding of the social and political dimensions of academic program planning, particularly issues of power as they relate to teaching and learning in these settings
A philosophy of program planning and an educational, academic, or training program plan consistent with this philosophy.

Among the texts used in recent years are:
Caffarella, R. S. & Daffron, S.R., (2013). Planning programs for adult learners: A
          practical guide for educators, trainers, and staff developers (3rd Ed.). San
          Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lattuca, L.R. & Stark, J.S. (2009). Shaping the college curriculum: Academic plans in
          context (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Posavac, E.J. (2011). Program evaluation: methods and case studies. Upper Saddle
          River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

EAD 878 Education in the Digital Age

This course is part of the P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership Concentration.

EAD 878: It is a commonplace in education today that technology must be accounted for in all domains of teaching, learning, administration, and leadership. The subject is vast and urgent. What must educators at all levels and in all sectors know of the emerging and fast changing digital world?

Questions of technology are not particular to one place or another in the educational system. Thus, the subjects addressed in EAD 878 are at the borders of K-12, postsecondary formal education, and informal and continuous learning in adulthood and the workplace. “Education in the Digital Age” applies to learning across the lifespan.

The questions behind the course are Historical and Demographic: How did we get here and what is the impact of generational change on the uses of technology and attitudes toward it?; Philosophical and Epistemological: What impact is technology having on how we identify the purposes of education and understand the mind?; Interpretive and Critical: What are the educational gains and losses associated with new technologies and the “new literacies” deriving from them?; and Operational and Practical: What ways of teaching and learning, and what forms of organization and leadership, will capitalize most effectively—for institutions and individuals–on the digital transformation.

The course is designed to: 1) Display as much as possible of a timely and even urgent domain of inquiry and practice, organized around the topics named above; and 2) Present the ways in which educational uses of technology are being debated. Thus, the syllabus represents a critical survey, or a reasonably comprehensive look at education in the digital age conducted in the spirit of criticism, or the examination of ideas and practices by weighing their strengths and weaknesses, variations in use, and consequences (wanted and unwanted) for both institutions and individuals.

We are all users of technology in our work and learning; but we also want to know as much as we can about what that means for how we gain and use knowledge, and what a digital view of experience means for behavior and values, for organizations and institutions, and for individuals. Thus, we will study work by leading advocates for the digital transformation of education, like media scholar Henry Jenkins and English professor Cathy Davidson, and those who worry over the consequences of rushing toward the electronic future, like technology writer Nicholas Carr and psychologist Sherry Turkle.

EAD 878 is an unusual course in the College of Education’s online MA programs, offered as it is in a self-paced format. We will use the Desire2Learn, the new learning management system at MSU. Students can complete the six course units according to a schedule they set for themselves, within the timeframe of the semester. Needless to say, good planning and steady application are essential to completing the course in a satisfying way.

The course is also unusual in the extent to which it uses hypermedia, including video, audio, online exhibits, and more. That means that EAD 878 utilizes many links to such online resources. The units are designed to offer, in the instructor’s writing and the links appearing with it, a course-based web of information, opinion, and resources of many kinds in different media. Students in the course become, in effect, hypermedia readers, deciding what attention and priority to give to the varied resources and what relations to consider among them. The “web” for the course, so to speak, operates as an anchored but mobile network of digital resources for learning, together with the printed books and films. Thus, the format of EAD 878 itself presents questions about the forms of education in the digital age.

Each of the six course units includes assignments in reading, listening, and viewing. There is also a writing assignment for each unit. Submitting the writing assignment for a unit gains access to the next one. The writing assignment for the last unit serves as the Final Exam. There are no required interactions among students (e.g., postings to discussions or small group projects), though there are opportunities for voluntary ones. Course grades will reflect performance on the written work.

Resources used in recent offerings of EAD 878:

Henry Jenkins, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education
in the 21st Century (MIT Press; available as a free download)

Allan Collins and Richard Halverson, Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology:
The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America (Teachers College Press)

Anya Kamenetz, DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of
Higher Education (Chelsea Green)

Dan Cohen and Tom Scheinfeldt (Eds.), Hacking the Academy: New Approaches to
Scholarship and Teaching from the Digital Humanities (University of Michigan
Press; available as a free download)

Diana Oblinger (Ed.). Gamechangers: Education and Information Technologies
(EDUCAUSE; available as a free download)

William Powers, Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life
in the Digital Age (Harper)

Digital Nation (PBS Frontline, online film and website)

ED 800 Educational Inquiry

Open only to students in the MAED program. It’s necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override email your PID, the course title, and semester in which you wish to enroll to ollejohn@msu.edu.

This course, the introductory one in the MAED program, is designed to be foundational and should be taken toward the beginning of the program.

This course introduces key concepts related to inquiry in education. Yet, the notion of “inquiry” in education is really a boundless field, as we can ask infinite questions related to an infinite number of topics in education. But, this course takes a step back from specific questions in an attempt to set a broader foundation for the field of educational inquiry. To this end, ED 800 examines different approaches to educational inquiry with an emphasis on different methodological traditions in education research. We will begin by considering the broad landscape of education research – ranging from quantitative to qualitative to theoretical approaches. Then, we will home in on five specific approaches to educational inquiry and go deep. These five approaches are ethnography, portraiture, historical analysis, indigenous research methodologies, and philosophy. Although these methodologies are mostly qualitative in nature, they differ considerably in their intentions, field methods, approaches to presenting data, and ultimate findings. By going deep in our study of these methodologies, we will investigate how different orientations to inquiring into educational topics inform the broad understandings that we hold as a field.

As we dive into these five methodologies, we will also explore five companion topics that illuminate key questions that education scholars continue to raise, debate, and explore. Of course, these five topics constitute only a very small sliver of key topics within the field of education, but they are seminal in the extent to which they raise fundamental questions about education as a domain of human life. These five focal topics are social reproduction, schools as socializing institutions, educational activism, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and critical pedagogy. Across these topics, you will read, think, and write about essential questions of education focused on ways in which educational systems reproduce inequality and how educational practitioners and scholars might reframe and redesign educational practice.

ED 870 Capstone Seminar – MAED students only

Instructor: Dr. Matthew Koehler

It’s necessary to complete 80% of the program prior to starting the Capstone. This course is only open to students in the MAED program. It’s necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, after enrollment opens up for the semester in which you wish to take the Capstone seminar, send an email including your PID, the course title, and the semester in which you wish to enroll to ollejohn@msu.edu.

The Capstone Seminar is designed to engage students in discussion and reflection on their learning in the Master of Arts in Education program. Each student will create a Web-based portfolio that presents a well-organized representation of their work and thinking in the program and participate in online discussion with other students in the seminar around their developing portfolios.

More information about this course can be found here.

KIN 829 Safety and Injury Control

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

This course is designed to examine the health and safety of sport participants through many platforms. Furthermore, this class promotes the understanding of sport-related injuries, and the prevention, care and management of injuries. Injuries will be evaluated from many standpoints, including, growth-related factors, biomechanical factors, sex differences, sport differences, etc. In addition, this course evaluates how ethical dilemmas relating to safety and injury may arise and how they may be resolved through the application of anatomical and moral knowledge. It is intended for students to think critically and deeply about the decision-making process as it relates to safety and injury in sport as those involved in sport often face many challenges because of sport-related injuries. After taking this course, students will be able to summarize basic injury mechanisms, signs and symptoms, and characteristics, apply moral decision-making models to issues that may relate to conflicts that arise from sport-related injury, construct and implement an emergency action plan, and articulate effective communication tactics with coaches, medical personnel, administrators and parents. Students will also be able to understand factors related to growth and maturity that may cause injury, design an injury control action plan, and analyze published sport-injury material.

KIN 846 Sociocultural Issues for Sport Practitioners

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

In this course, students will examine their own identity and how it relates to the practice of coaching and sport leadership (positionality). This course examines sport through a sociological lens, to see how power is used to promote some and marginalize others. The experiences of those who have been marginalized in sport throughout history and modern times will also be examined. Students will gain a better understanding of their own self, self-identity, and how that shapes their perspectives and interactions with the culture of sport and the culture at large. After taking this course, students will be able to articulate their positionality in the sport context based on their multiple and intersecting self-identities, develop their ability to observe and analyze sport through the sociological lens, and understand and critique how power and discipline operate in the sport context. Students will also be able to develop a critical understanding of the following four social issues, and the reciprocal nature of how these issues affect and are affected by sport: Sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and intersectionality, social class, and (Dis)ability. Last, students will be able to articulate a renewed worldview on their positionality and the relationship between social issues and their professional work in sport.

KIN 849 Theory and Practice of Modern Sport Leadership

Leadership assignments in sport organizations often come with little notice or time for preparation, and so this course is designed to provide some basic knowledge and skills that will assist coaches and administrators in leadership roles. This course will introduce students to a broad range of leadership and organizational issues in sport and examine a range of topics including leadership, culture, group dynamics, organizational change, and inclusion. Upon completion of this course, students should understand leadership and organizational behavior issues plaguing the current sport workplace and be able to develop solutions and strategies to appropriately address and remedy these sport workplace issues. More specifically, students will be able to adopt a dynamic and situational view of leadership, critically evaluate leadership theories and become a theory-guided leader, understand the weaknesses and strengths of one’s own leadership style and emotional intelligence, and identify, analyze and critically assess the leadership styles of others, in relation to employee and organizational needs, and leading teams and differentiate leadership from management and understand the role that leadership plays in providing a quality sport experience and in overall organizational strategy. Students will also be able to comprehend the social and group forces at play in sport organizations and the leader’s role in facilitating positive organizational culture, group dynamics and motivation, understand, analyze and develop techniques for leading organizational change in sport, and recognize and develop techniques for managing diversity and inclusion issues that impact the sport workplace and affect how sport organizations function.

KIN 851 The Sport Enterprise

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

This course examines the fundamental business aspects of the sport industry and acts as a survey examination of principles of marketing, communications, economics, budgeting and finance as applied to sport. Principles and methods of revenue generation will be explored along with the management of expenditures through controlling and budgeting. Economic perspectives and theory in relation to sport entities and facilities will also be investigated. Students will learn necessary skills related to sales (e.g., ticketing, sponsorships), fundraising/development and marketing, and will be introduced to elements of communications that support broader marketing strategies. Technical skills regarding accounting and budgeting will also be taught to underscore the importance of accountability and sound financial management in sport organizations. Economic principles as applied to various sectors of the sport industry will be explored along with funding models and opportunities for investment from the private and public sectors. The management of sport facilities, from both operational and financial perspectives, will also be examined.

KIN 853 Athletic Administration and Governance

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

Students will learn about the concept of governance as it relates to sport organizations, which has major implications for how policy is developed and implemented across all levels of sport (youth, scholastic, collegiate, professional, international, etc.) as well as how the organizations at various levels are related to each other. In line with the focus on governance, the course will also examine how decision making occurs in sport organizations and how it affects the overall strategy and direction. Students will also be exposed to the various structural forms which sport organizations can take and will learn about the benefits and drawbacks of different forms. This course will also explain the various administrative functions of sport organizations in order to build a better understanding of how such entities operate. Through this course, students will identify external and internal influences on sport organizations, describe the importance of the planning process and decision making in sport organizations, and understand the importance of policy in sport organizations and learn how policy is created and implemented. Students will also become aware of the ethical dilemmas of sport organizations, recognize the impacts of scholastic sport and amateur sport, appreciate policies and governance in campus recreation and intercollegiate athletics, and understand the relationship between sport organizations and their respective governing bodies. Additionally, students will be able to identify national and international governing bodies in various levels of sport and understand and evaluate their structure, role and authority, recognize policy components and processes in sport governing bodies, identify the influence of governing bodies and commissions on sport organizations, and predict trends and future topics related to sport policy and governance.

KIN 854 Legal Aspects of Sport

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

This course provides students with an understanding of the various legal aspects of sport. The course will focus on the responsibilities of administrators, directors of recreational programs and athletic coaches for providing and maintaining educationally sound athletic programs for amateur athletes. A range of concepts, policies and procedures that enhance the physical and psychological health of amateur athletes will be covered in this course. This includes safety of facilities, risk management, tort and negligence, anti-hazing, tryouts, and team behaviors. The administrators, directors, and coaches’ obligations for managing the risks of participation in physical activities is a major focus of this course. From this course, students will develop analytic and problem-solving skills with the course content, develop the ability to think creatively and proactively on all subject areas, and learn and understand various perspectives and values of legal and administrative Issues for administrator and coaches. Students will also develop the ability to work productively in online learning in various formats, be able to write critically and scholarly on various areas of legal and administrative issues for administrator and coaches and cultivate the capacity to make wise decisions after successfully incorporating knowledge from this course.

KIN 855 Psychosocial Bases of Coaching Athletes

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

This course focuses on the psychosocial foundations of sport. While the physical side of sport is often the point of focus, the psychological side of coaching and athlete performance is critical. In this course, students will develop an understanding of relevant theories and principles from sport psychology. Students will also increase their awareness of mental health issues in athletes, develop communication skills, refine their leadership behaviors, and develop an understanding of the mental skills that can enhance an athlete’s performance. Specifically, students will develop their understanding of athlete motivation and how coaching behaviors shape the motivational climate, develop and improve their communication skills, notably instruction, reinforcement, listening, and asking, and increase their awareness of mental health issues that manifest through the sport experience and develop a protocol to address and refer athletes for professional support. Students will also develop their knowledge of mental skills and how athletes can learn to use them; increase their capacity to deliver mental skills training that is integrated into everyday practice. Last students will reflect on their course experience to identify how your current work practices will change and identify future directions for your development as a professional. The course is designed primarily for a coach, but most topics are relevant to the work of a sport administrator, especially one that works with or supervises coaches.

KIN 856 Physical Bases of Coaching Athletes

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

The purpose of this course is to provide coaches, athletic administrators, and recreational sport program directors the opportunity to learn how to acquire, critically review, and analyze various educational and informational resources regarding evidence-based principles of physical training and athletic performance. In addition, the course will help students synthesize concepts and ideas related to understanding specialized physical training program design for a specific sport. Various sources of information related to athlete development, sport physiology, biomechanics, control aspects of human movement, and the organization of physical preparation will be explored throughout this course. Integration of these disciplines will help the student better understand their role in the physical preparation of the athlete from multiple perspectives. Because athlete development requires a multi-faceted approach, various educational mediums will be employed by the instructor to help the student better grasp key concepts that enable the coach/administrator to implement an appropriate, effective, athlete-focused/coach driven model of physical training. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to discover how to locate resources related to the physical sciences and their relationship to sport performance, injury resilience, and athlete development frameworks, understand how the physical sciences are integrated into the design and implementation of training programs specific to sport performance and seasonal planning, and learn how to translate evidence-based knowledge of the physical sciences into training practices that can be used daily in the coaching environment. Students will also be able to understand and value the role of integrated sport science and physical training on injury prevention in the sport setting and demonstrate the ability to seek and utilize vital educational and practical resources to help develop and strengthen an essential knowledge base of periodization for sport performance enhancement and injury resilience.

KIN 857 Promoting Positive Youth Development Through Sport

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

There is a myth that exists in sport that there are inherent life lessons and skills that individuals gain from participating in sport. However, the research on positive youth development through sport shows that life skills and lessons are not learned automatically through participation, rather it is dependent on the coach and administrators and how they purposefully structure the sport experience. This course, KIN 857, focuses on the ways sport practitioners facilitate positive youth development through sport. This course places emphasis on scientific bases of life skill development, evaluation and assessment of positive youth development outcomes, and coaching/leadership strategies to promote PYD through sport. After taking this course, students will understand how participation in evidence-based youth development focused sport programs contributes to positive developmental outcomes for youth and be able to utilize conceptual frameworks/models to guide the design of positive youth developmental outcomes. Students will be able to identify methods for evaluating and assessing positive youth developmental outcomes and identify and implement coaching/leadership strategies that foster positive youth development. Finally, students will be able to critique youth sport policies/practices that impede positive youth development

KIN 865 Stages of Athlete Development

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

Long-term athlete development models have put emphasis on the need for coaches and sport practitioners to understand the different development needs to help guide participation, training, and competition to enable all participants to reach their full potential. This course provides students with a scientific understanding of athlete development from birth to early adulthood. Using a holistic, long-term development approach to athlete development, KIN 865 employs four scientific perspectives to example the developmental process of athletes across four stages of life. The four scientific perspectives used in this course include motor development, exercise physiology, sport psychology, and sport sociology. This course also covers stages of life including early childhood, middle/late childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. Understand sport participation as long-term, holistic, and athlete centered. In this course, students will develop a view of sport as a developmental process and a corresponding view of the coach as developmental agent and be able to use evidence-based knowledge to guide appropriate training and competition experiences from childhood through emerging adulthood. Students will also be able to develop and utilize skills to adapt evidence-based and best-practice training procedures to a sport context of interest.

KIN 868 Skill Development in Athletes

This course is part of the Sport Coaching and Leadership Concentration.

If the course is full it will be necessary to receive an override to enroll in this course. To request an override, please fill out the override request form here.

This course explores skill development through the lens of the constraints model of
motor learning and foregrounds constraints-led approaches as a means to
comprehending, applying, and critically assessing the range of coaching techniques
intended to develop athletic skill. By taking this course, students will be able to use the constraints-led approach (CLA) as a primary method for planning
and problem-solving as a skill development coach (“hands-off coaching”), develop a mindset of “coaching the athlete in front of you,” which honors the individual constraints presented by each athlete, and understand and examine contributions of environmental factors (constraints) to skill development. Students will also increase their knowledge of motor learning principles, including perception/action coupling, roles of repetition and variability, ecological vs. cognitive processing models of motor learning, dynamical systems theory, Newell’s model of constraints, and non-linear pedagogy. Additionally, students will be able to organize practices to increase opportunities for variability (i.e., “repetition without repetition”), improved sensory feedback, and implicit learning as well as critically-examine drills and practice activities for their adherence to constraints-led approaches. Last, students will learn, improve, and practice skill instruction methods, including analogy-based instruction, questioning, dual-task (implicit learning), and differentiated learning.

TE 818 Curriculum in Its Social Context

In learning about curriculum in social context, we will take the ordinary institution of education and try to see it as extraordinary. To paraphrase anthropologist Clifford Geertz, we will take the familiar and make it strange. Instead of exploring how or what to teach we will study curriculum and schooling as an historical, social, philosophical and political phenomena.

Curriculum has historical dimensions; it takes place within intellectual and cultural traditions that extend backwards and forward in time well beyond the present moment. What have schools been like in different historical eras and why?
Curriculum has social dimensions; it is shaped by social forces and, in turn, has social consequences that extend well beyond the walls of the classroom. Should education reproduce the culture, or should it enrich and cultivate human potential and democratic values? Who belongs? How do we decide what fairness and justice are? Some believe that inequalities are inevitable in competitive systems. Others believe that we should not tolerate extreme inequalities in access to basic goods, such as education. How do we justify educational equality and inequality?
Curriculum has philosophical dimensions; it involves understanding of the meanings of knowledge, truth, value, justice, liberty, and self. What is the relation between what we teach and the kinds of persons and societies we wish to create? Much of education focuses on the possibility of moral progress — both for individuals and for societies over time — and the conditions under which moral progress can occur. What is a good person and a good society and how can education help foster this?
Curriculum has, in the widest sense, political dimensions; it is influenced by the decisions of those with power including political authorities and shapes the quality of political life in society. Who does have power of education? Why? Who should?
For each class session you will be given a writing assignment and sometimes a project to complete. Over the course of the semester you should submit at six of these projects. Only the first one is required and you will then pick five more. At the end of the term, you will write a final reflection and integration of your learning.

TE 822 Issues of Culture in Classroom and Curriculum

In this course students will explore the sociocultural contexts and functions of schooling. We will examine students’ cultural backgrounds in relation to classroom learning and school curriculum. Students will also explore effective multicultural curricula for all students. Specific attention will be given to how race, class, and gender (as cultural identities) impact the teaching and learning process. A focus on multicultural education as important for classroom learning and curriculum development is central in this course.

What purpose should curriculum serve?
How should knowledge be selected, who decides what knowledge is most worth teaching and learning, and what is the relationship between those in the classroom and the knowledge selection process?
What is the nature of students and the learning process, and how does it suggest organizing learning experiences and relationships?
How should curriculum be evaluated? How should learning be evaluated? To whom is curriculum evaluation accountable?

Course goals include:

Reflecting on our own and others’ learning to teach to explore the questions: Why is critical self reflection important to becoming an effective educator? How does my social identity (e.g., race, class, gender, etc.) inform my pedagogy and practice?
Understanding problems of practice in educating culturally diverse students and how to address those in the classroom.
Practicing the skills of critical analysis as we read, discuss, and reflect on readings during the seminar. In doing so, we will ask ourselves: What has been my experience, if any, with developing and implementing multicultural curriculum for culturally diverse students? What is effective pedagogy and practice?

TE 823 Learning Communities and Equity

This course explores the manner in which student learning can be organized across and through social differences. Course topics therefore include the following: the achievement gap, parental involvement, small learning communities, tracking, as well as democratic and culturally-relevant pedagogy across the various disciplines. Underlying these topics, and a thread which is woven across the course, is the manner in which institutions such as schools construct and enforce specific notions of “intelligence” and “success.” So as to inform the practice of classroom teachers, course readings are limited to research that provides rich descriptions of classroom life.

TE 825 Diverse Learners and Learning Subject Matter

Multiple perspectives on teaching subject matter to diverse learners. Texts, curricula, and pedagogical approaches. Subject-specific issues related to classroom diversity.

TE 831 Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology

This course is part of the Science and Mathematics Education Concentration.

The principal aim of this online course is to develop strategies and methods for teaching school subject matter with digital technology. The course offers a perspective for integrating educational technology with content and pedagogical practice. Among the topics which the course explores are the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T), Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Theory (i.e., TPACK), digital literacy, digital citizenship, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), 21st Century Skill, digital storytelling (e.g., podcasts and vodcasts), and using digital technologies for purposeful educational outcomes.

To some degree, this course will also examine the “great debate” in the field of educational technology. This debate is largely about universal access to and the affordances and constraints of utilizing educational technology in schools.

The main purpose of the course is to provide you with ways to think about how to integrate digital technologies in school subject matter and offering ideas, discussions, opportunities, and tools for how to do it. In that vein, one of the primary objectives of this course is to provide authentic learning experiences with using educational technology to teach various subject matter (and grade levels). In this course, there is a high priority placed on doing as a pathway to understanding.

Note: You do not have to be currently teaching in a K-12 classroom to take this course, but you will need access to a K-12 classroom and students for some of the course projects.

Students in this course will:

Examine conceptual frameworks for integrating educational technology in school subject matters.
Examine and become familiar with issues and terminology related to the field of educational technology.
Discuss and collaborate with classmates to foster an interactive online community.
Apply technological knowledge and pedagogical knowledge to construct technology-rich lessons.
Create digital media to utilize one’s teaching, learning, and reflection.

TE 836 Awards and Classics of Children’s Literature

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

This course is designed to help students become better acquainted with “classics” of children’s literature and with books that have won significant children’s literature awards.

To that end, we’ll begin by investigating some of the major awards in children’s literature (who gives them, what are they given for, who are some of the recipients); we’ll then look more closely at some books that have won awards for the quality and innovation of their illustrations as well as books that have won awards for the quality and innovation of their text. From there, we’ll move into thinking about books that might be considered classics of children’s literature. We’ll begin this module by asking questions about the whole notion of a “classic” piece of literature; we’ll then compare classics and their movie versions; and we’ll conclude this module by identifying and reading contemporary scholarship about books of the past. Finally, we’ll compare classics and award-winning books in on-line literature discussion groups, identifying similarities and differences between select pairs of books and asking questions about the roles these books can play in children’s lives and in the elementary and secondary literature curriculum.

TE 838 Children’s Literature in Film

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

This course explores the connections between children’s literature and film. In the course we will “read” film as an interpretation (rather than translation) of a text, as well as talk about the complexities of understanding these versions as films in their own right-using language and critical perspectives drawn from media and film studies. Assignments will include individual and group responses (through writing and discussion) designed to encourage dialogue and an exchange of views as well as to allow for well-developed and thoughtful responses to film versions of children’s literature. All films and books should be available through local libraries, bookstores, video rental stores, or online sources.

TE 842 Elementary Reading Assessment and Instruction

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

Characteristics of effective reading assessment and instruction as identified in research and described by respected reading researchers and practitioners.

TE 843 Secondary Reading Assessment and Instruction

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

This course is about how teachers can use content area literacy to help diverse students learn within multiple contexts. Recent research and critical reviews about literacy indicate the importance of knowing who students are – their personal histories, their cultures and gender, their aspirations for themselves and how they see themselves as learners. These things all influence what happens in the classroom and how students learn. Literacy is part of this puzzle, but not the only part. Research and authoritative reports indicate that students’ learning is heavily influenced by context – subject matter, classroom, and school, community, state and national contexts. Content area literacy can be a great mediator among all these factors. In addition, we will also look at various pedagogies that can help inform our teaching and our integration of literacy into each of our classrooms.

TE 845 Language Diversity and Literacy Instruction and Assessment

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

This masters-level course addresses issues of literacy instruction for students with diverse language backgrounds, and teaching English language learners. Students from many undergraduate programs (e.g., Education, Communication Science, English, Spanish, etc.) enroll in this course. Underlying this course is the assumption that all or nearly all course members have experience teaching at the elementary or secondary school level and have a current or recent teaching context to consider when participating in class activities and studying readings. For those for whom this isn’t the case, adjustments may be made as necessary. In addition, doctoral students may also choose to enroll in TE 845, and, to better their goals, assignments may be modified slightly for these course members.

The purpose of this course is to develop (further) expertise in the state of the art of teaching English language learners (ELLs) and English as a second language (ESL). We will (1) explore the teaching of reading in multilingual classrooms, (2) explore current challenges, common myths, and stereotypes about literacy and language diversity in the U.S., (3) explore the impact of literacy policies and practices on language minority students, (4) reflect on language politics in the U.S., (5) explore two-way immersion education in the U.S., (5) explore bilingualism and early literacy, (6) explore the roles of parents in responding to issues of linguistic and cultural diversity, (7) explore our own cultures, ethnicities, and language practices, (8) reflect on how cultural practices and beliefs influence our language use and literacy instruction as teachers.

Course Objectives

Gain basic understanding of how first and second languages are acquired and use this knowledge to develop, evaluate, and carry-out curriculum and instruction conductive to accommodating for and supporting linguistic diversity.
Identify the affordances and constraints of major programmatic approaches commonly used to meet the needs of linguistically diverse students (e.g., bilingual education, sheltered instruction, structured immersion, etc.)
Expand your professional repertoire to include specific instructional strategies for linguistically diverse students that simultaneously builds language and content mastery across the curriculum.
Cultivate a compassionate, culturally-sensitive, open-minded, and ethnical stance towards linguistically diverse students and families.
Become aware of technological resources available to support literacy and language development in linguistically diverse learners.

TE 846 Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners*

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

* This course is associated with the State of Michigan Reading Requirement. For more information on this please visit here. Please note that different sections of this course will have a different focus.

There are very few classrooms in the United States today that do not have at least a few struggling readers and writers. More and more, teachers and schools are being held accountable for meeting these students’ literacy learning needs. To meet these needs in a diverse student population, it is vital to make sure every instructional staff member (a) understands how literacy is relevant to student success, regardless of content area, and (b) can successfully integrate evidence-based literacy instructional practices into their teaching. Accordingly, TE 846 is organized around five broad topical areas and associated literacy instruction and assessment practices: cultural and linguistic differences, individual motivation differences, neuropsychological differences, instructional arrangements to accommodate learning differences, and core components of effective literacy instruction. Students in the course learn about the principles of instruction and remediation in reading and writing, classroom assessment techniques for reading and writing, and materials and adaptations for reading and writing instruction. They also learn how to critically evaluate materials, curricula, programs, and practices used in literacy instruction, and how to select, modify, and design literacy materials, tasks, and teaching techniques to meet the specific needs of struggling readers and writers.

TE 848 Writing Assessment and Instruction

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

Please note that different sections of this course will frequently have a different focus.

Writing theory, research, and pedagogy. Writing processes, strategies, assessments, and environments that address diverse writers (K-adult). Expository, narrative, and poetic genres. Prewriting, composing, revising, editing, and publishing.

TE 849 Methods and Materials for Teaching Children’s and Adolescent Literature

This course is part of the Literacy Education Concentration.

This course is intended as an advanced survey course in children’s and adolescent literature. We will look together at genres of children’s literature, as well as ongoing and contemporary issues associated with various genres. Our reading list includes picture books, novels, graphic novels, and film as we try to get a working sense of the “field.”

The materials we use will be the children’s books themselves. We will also use other materials: textbooks, articles, and online resources that will help us develop a language and perspective for evaluation and conversation about children’s and adolescent literature.

The method of the course will involve an exploration of what we do with this literature. By do with this literature, I do not mean listing classroom activities that can accompany each text. Instead, we will explore the kinds of conversations that surround pieces of literature, whether those texts are written for children, adults, or both. We will read widely and closely, ask questions, make room for varying answers, and talk in general and in specific terms about how to involve children in literature.

TE 855 Teaching School Mathematics

This course is part of the Science and Mathematics Education Concentration.

“Yours is not to reason why; just invert and multiply.” Although reasoning and logic are central to doing mathematics, school mathematics has often been taught as a collection of rules that students memorize and then use to calculate answers to problems posed by their teachers and their textbooks. Many of us learned acronyms and couplets like the one above in order to remember these rules when we needed them (mainly on tests). In recent years, however, educational reformers have been urging teachers to move away from memorization and instead “teach for understanding.” In many classrooms this has meant focusing new attention on students’ mathematical reasoning-how they reason and how to help them see mathematics as reasonable.

In TE 855 we will consider what “teaching mathematics for understanding” might look like at different grade levels (including kindergarten!) and what it takes to teach students to reason mathematically and to build on one another’s mathematical reasoning. We will attend to six big questions across the term (and many smaller ones from week to week):

How reasonable do we find the math we teach?
How do we know mathematical reasoning when we see it?
How does teaching mathematical reasoning fit with our other priorities, obligations, and commitments?
If our goal is to help students learn to reason mathematically, to see school math as reasonable, what makes a good task?
Are there particular pedagogical practices, and particular sorts of classroom culture, that help K-12 students learn to reason mathematically?
How do we assess our success in teaching mathematical reasoning?

TE 857: Teaching and Learning Mathematical Problem Solving

TE 857 examines what it means to teach mathematics through a problem-solving approach, why this approach is important for providing students’ access to deeper mathematical learning and how to incorporate, use, and improve on this approach for all students in your mathematics classroom.

We will explore teaching mathematics through a problem-solving approach in three ways:

Explore resources for building a “thinking classroom” where problem solving is supported. We will engage in substantive reading that examines both theoretical and practical components of building a “thinking classroom” (Lljedahl, 2020) and teaching mathematics through a problem-solving approach, including comparing and contrasting alternative perspectives Liljedahl’s tenets of building thinking classrooms. We consider what makes a “good” problem-solving task from a variety of perspectives, how a task might connect to students’ mathematical and experiential knowledge bases, how to empower all students to engage in mathematics through group work and collaboration during problem solving, and how to facilitate student discussion of their problem-solving strategies and mathematical thinking that builds on students’ linguistic and cultural ways of knowing.
Learning mathematics through problem solving. We will regularly solve mathematics tasks, reflect on our processes, and compare mathematical solutions and strategies to reflect on our own experiences as doers of mathematics and gain insights about our students’ experiences engaging in problem solving.
Engage in action research of your own practice. The major project of this course engages you in a systematic inquiry of your own practice as you facilitate students’ mathematical problem solving. Your inquiry will be facilitated using a mini “video club” format, where you will share video-recorded episodes with 2-3 teacher colleagues in the course and reflect together on the emerging successes and ongoing challenges of orienting your practice toward a “thinking classroom.”

TE 861A Teaching Science for Understanding

This course is part of the Science and Mathematics Education Concentration.

Teaching science for understanding is one of the key goals of contemporary reform in science education that is occurring worldwide. However, much instruction in science emphasizes memorization and does not lead to understanding and application of scientific knowledge. In this course, we will examine the current reform, study approaches to teaching science for understanding, and develop techniques and skills that are essential in helping students understand science. A central element of effective science teaching is acquisition and use of information about students’ ideas and reasoning through formative assessment. Therefore, course participants also will learn techniques for monitoring students’ developing understanding as an added tool in teaching science for understanding.

TE 861B Inquiry, Nature of Science and Science Teaching

This course is part of the Science and Mathematics Education Concentration.

Inquiry and the nature of science are important parts of the school science curriculum. They are included in the National Science Education Standards, Project 2061 Benchmarks and in the standards of many states including Michigan. Unfortunately, many teachers do not have a strong background in these two areas. This course will provide opportunity for teachers to strengthen their knowledge and skills in both areas. Topics will include:

· Processes of investigation used by scientists
· How scientists work to understand the natural world and validate scientific concepts
· Common misconceptions about inquiry and the nature of science held by students
· Useful approaches to teaching about inquiry and the nature of science
· Design of lessons to teach about inquiry and nature of science in your own classroom.

This course is made up of several major parts to help you develop deeper understanding of inquiry and the nature of science and how to teach them more effectively. We start off with some readings about inquiry as part of the worldwide reform that is currently in progress in science teaching. This reform has been in progress for over a decade and it promises to continue for years to come. It is sanctioned by leading scientists, educators, political leaders and leaders of business and industry.

Subsequently, you will engage in both a short-term investigation and long-term inquiry investigation with 1-2 team members from the course so that you experience inquiry as a way of developing your own understanding and skills about it.

You will examine videos and analyze other teachers’ techniques in utilizing inquiry and dealing with the nature of science. You will also interview your students to determine their beliefs about inquiry and the nature of science.

To enhance your skills and knowledge about teaching inquiry and the nature of science, you will plan a lesson sequence for your own students that will focus on these dimensions of teaching and learning. You will teach these lessons and reflect on them for the course.

TE 861C Action Research in K-12 Science and Mathematics Classrooms

This course is part of the Science and Mathematics Education Concentration.

Philosophy and methods supporting action research in sciences and mathematics classrooms. Design and implementation of an action research project in student’s own setting. Analyzing, interpreting, and reporting project results. Reflection on study’s value.

TE 865 Teaching and Learning K-12 Social Studies

How do we make social studies more meaningful and responsive, not only to and within the demands of national and state requirements but also to our students and to our own understandings and convictions as social studies educators? How might a more integrative approach, one that, following the new Michigan standards to infuse history, geography, and other social science disciplines, make for learning that is more thoughtful, engaging, and generative? How can teachers better invite students to connect what we learn in the classroom to the world around them and vice versa?

Fully recognizing the pressures of the Michigan Merit Curriculum, we will continuously use those as a point of reference engaging the course topics. In answering the above questions, the goal of the course is to develop strategies that help students read the social world outside the classroom – not as separate from the social studies curriculum but as part of it. As such, a broad spectrum of approaches to social studies will be presented. Participants will be given opportunities to engage with topics such as the role of geography in the history classroom; a questioning of how and when to “leave” the textbook and use alternative sources; and as inquiry as to how to incorporate current social and political contexts into the teaching of social studies. Assignments will be focused on developing activities and strategies to use with students that simultaneously attend to the curriculum standards as well to the ever changing social contexts that all of us occupy.