Computer Problem Solving (K-12)                                                                                                                     *All-Level

Edu 5350 - Instructor: Barbara Khirallah and lab assistant (Online/Independent Study Course)

Requirements and supporting materials for this course will be available online.  To assist students in achieving course requirements, there will be a staffed computer lab at the University during specified times in June and July. In order to successfully complete the course, students are required to arrange a time to present completed webfolios.   This course explores the use of the computer as a tool for learning, as a guide to communication and research, an organizer in the presentation of knowledge, and as a mediator in the construction of knowledge. Students search/explore the internet, evaluate web sites, create PowerPoint presentations, construct web pages and author interactive programs/lessons. This course meets and/or exceeds the educational technology foundations for teachers as defined by NCATE and ISTE. 

Educational Evaluation: Developing Judgment in the Educational Assessment of Students (K-12)                *All-Level

Edu 5352 Instructor: Barbara Khirallah and assistant (Online/Independent Study Course)

Requirements/ supporting materials for this course will be available online. To assist students in achieving course requirements, there will be teaching support available at the University during specified times in June and July. Teachers are charged with the responsibility of assessment. Just exactly, what does it mean to assess?  Is it about grading?   Is assessment the same as testing? Can assessments ever be “objective”? While the assessment and subsequent measurement of student achievement may seem "objective" when one considers multiple-choice tests or even machine-scored essays, even these approaches are far from “objective” for their construction, administration, and use are based on personal values and professional assumptions. The purpose of this course is to examine the "big ideas" that, when well understood and applied, effectively inform good assessment practices and judgment.  3 credit hours.

Human Growth and Development (K-12)                                                                                                              *All Level

Edu 5357-01 - Instructor: Kristi Novinski

This course is designed to explore the physical, mental, psychosocial, and moral growth of children from infancy through adolescence. The course will emphasize the work of Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Lev Vygotsky.  Teachers and prospective teachers will begin to recognize the value in learning to "know" the children/adolescents they teach. Children/adolescents themselves are the primary texts for the course, and interacting with the "primary texts" will be an essential component of the course work as students discuss and question significant theories of development that reflect on the issue of "nature v. nurture." A "research" project will require students to examine the activity of children/adolescents in light of developmental theories. 

Instructional Principles and Practice (K-12):                                                                                               *All Level

Education 5357-02 Instructor: TBA

The purpose of this course is to extend and enhance the teacher’s knowledge and awareness of proven instructional principles and best pedagogical practices that promote student success. Collaboratively, teachers will learn effective instructional strategies grounded in theory and research and apply their learning via experiences focusing on the inextricable relationship between the cognitive dimension of the acquisition of knowledge and skills and the affective dimension of the joy of learning.  3 credit hours.