Education (EDUC)
EDUC 199 - Introductory Topics in Education (1-4 Credit Hours)
A general category used only for the evaluation of transfer credit.
EDUC 213 - The U.S. Education System (4 Credit Hours)
Students will develop a thorough and systematic understanding of the development of education and schooling in the United States. Relationships between school and society will be analyzed primarily from a sociological perspective. Themes include the connection between liberty and literacy, centralized versus local control of schools, expansion of schooling, inequities in schooling, and the differentiated curriculum.
EDUC 215 - Legal Issues in U.S. Education (4 Credit Hours)
In this writing intensive seminar students will explore the legal structure of schooling in the United States, primarily by studying cases that have reached the U.S. Supreme Court. We will begin with an overview of legal and extralegal sources of control in schooling, a review of the United States Constitution, and discuss some landmark court rulings regarding school issues. The class will study a set of cases collectively and each student will engage in independent study of a legal issue of her or his own choosing. We will use writing as a mechanism for intellectual exploration throughout the course. Note that this course is not eligible to fulfill a Social Science General Education requirement.
EDUC 220 - Approaches to Environmental Education (4 Credit Hours)
Environmental education is a broad term, encompassing a large array of ideas concerned with the purpose of and approach to engagement with the physical environment that should ultimately lead to environmental stewardship. Approaches to Environmental Education will address the "what" and "how" of environmental education. Students will be exposed to the various definitions and purposes of environmental education as well as the multiple approaches used to achieve these purposes. Through readings and hands-on experiences we will explore multiple practices in the field. Finally, we will develop our own environmental education curriculum based on our experiences in the class.
EDUC 246 - Intermediate Topics in Education (4 Credit Hours)
This course provides a venue in which to explore chosen topics in Educational Studies at the intermediate level. Topics vary according to the interests of students and faculty. In some cases, the course may be repeated for credit. This course may be cross-listed based on the topic and disciplines that inform it.
EDUC 249 - The Learner and the Teacher: Childhood (4 Credit Hours)
This course explores the learning-teaching process in the elementary grades. Topics for the course include learning theories, developmental patterns of the young child, learning profiles, differentiated instruction, and methods of teaching. This course includes a 30-hour curricular service learning commitment each week to an area school classroom. The student will complete a variety of activities that focus on the learner, the teacher and the learning-teaching process, using the school experience as a "laboratory" to gather primary sources of information. Course is a curricular service learning course.
EDUC 250 - The Learner and the Teacher: Adolescence (4 Credit Hours)
This course explores the learning-teaching process in middle and high school environments. Topics draw from neuroscience research on learning, multiple intelligence theory, and scholarship on issues regarding identity development, peer socialization, physical and mental health, motivation, and active participation strategies pertinent to this age. This course includes a 30-hour service learning commitment each week to an area school classroom or community agency. The student will complete a variety of activities that focus on the learner, the teacher, and the learning-teaching process, using the school or agency experience as a "laboratory" to gather primary sources of information. Course is a curricular service learning course.
EDUC 270 - General Methods of Teaching (2 Credit Hours)
This course is designed to extend students' understanding of the discipline of teaching and provide in-depth practice of strategies introduced in previous courses. Elements include planning, instructional strategies, assessment, motivation, student groupings and classroom management. Assignments require students to put course concepts into practice.
EDUC 280 - Field Experience (1-2 Credit Hours)
The student may request to apprentice in a local school, social service agency, or non-profit organization with a teacher or other supervisor. The student will observe and provide assistance in the setting and confer regularly with the Field Experience Coordinator through journaling and class meetings. Course is a curricular service learning course.
EDUC 290 - Qualitative Inquiry (4 Credit Hours)
This course will introduce students to qualitative research in the field of education and invite them to explore various methodologies within the interpretivist tradition through course-based readings and engagement in their own qualitative study. The course will seek to affirm the qualitative-oriented ways students already attempt to make sense of the world around them and support their development of new perspectives and tools for systematic, qualitative inquiry. The course will also ask students to consider who they are in the research process, and how their worldviews and understanding of themselves might shape hyphenated-encounters with human participants. In order to pursue these larger course goals, we will engage in close readings and analysis of shared course texts as well as original qualitative studies.
Prerequisite(s): EDUC 213.
EDUC 299 - Intermediate Topics in Education (1-4 Credit Hours)
A general category used only in the evaluation of transfer credit.
EDUC 300 - Philosophy of Education (4 Credit Hours)
In this course students consider questions regarding how people learn and the role of education in society from a philosophical perspective. Class members read primary works of selected educational theorists including Plato, Isocrates, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Dewey, and Martin. Students develop a familiarity with major educational themes of the past and engage current issues and problems in education.
Prerequisite(s): EDUC 213.
EDUC 312 - Literacy and Learning: Theory and Practice (4 Credit Hours)
The purpose of this course is to explore literacies within schools and communities, and to understand the sociocultural, linguistic, cognitive, and developmental dimensions of these human practices, which are so integral to educational endeavors. Emphasis is placed on theories of literacy and learning as a way to think about classroom instruction, variation in reading, writing, and composition as social practices, and the role literacies play in mediating the human experience within and beyond the classroom. The course includes a 30-hour service-learning commitment in an area school or community organization. Course is a curricular service learning course. Prerequisite(s): EDUC 249 or EDUC 250.
EDUC 315 - Development of Children with Special Needs (4 Credit Hours)
Disability is a facet of human diversity that is often overlooked. This course explores a wide range of developmental disabilities, focusing mostly on physical impairments and intellectual disabilities. We will discuss the impact of disabilities on the individual's development and how families respond to the various challenges that often arise. In addition, we will review some general concepts concerning disabilities, including prenatal development and testing, ethical issues, cultural influences, relevant public policy including federal and state laws and regulations, early intervention, and the family-centered approach. Some of the disabilities that will be examined include metabolic errors, disorders of hearing and communication, neural tube defects, intellectual disabilities, specific learning disabilities, Fragile X, ADHD, and disorders on the Autism Spectrum. This course fulfills the Power and Justice (P) GE requirement. Note that this course is not eligible to fulfill a Social Sciences General Education requirement.
EDUC 330 - LGBTQ+ Identities In & Beyond Schools (4 Credit Hours)
The goal of this course is to examine the historical and contemporary experiences of LGBTQ+ students and teachers in schooling, and to consider, more broadly, schools as sites where normative notions of gender, sex, and sexuality can be reinforced and/or disrupted. Relatedly, the seminar will support students in the development of habits of mind, strategies, and practices that (re)make schools as spaces where diverse gender identities and sexualities are acknowledged, imagined, and embodied, and queer futurity (Muñoz, 2009) can be realized. Prerequisite(s): EDUC 213 or QS 101.
EDUC 340 - In the Company of Educated Women (4 Credit Hours)
This is a course on women’s educational history in the United States. The scope encompasses some general patterns in women’s educational experiences—as students, teachers, school administrators, and in higher education at particular points in U.S. history. Examining gender issues in historical context allows us to get a handle on how education, ideology, and political economy influence the contours of societies, and limit or extend possibilities for individuals.
EDUC 345 - Special Topics (4 Credit Hours)
Independent study or seminar work on selected topics under the guidance of staff members.
Prerequisite(s): Consent of chairperson.
EDUC 346 - Special Topics (4 Credit Hours)
Independent study or seminar work on selected topics under the guidance of staff members.
Prerequisite(s): Consent of chairperson.
EDUC 360 - History of African American Education (4 Credit Hours)
The goal of this course is to examine the historical experiences of African Americans in education and related aspects of life. Much of the course will focus on Blacks' experiences in schooling in the South from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In addition, students will contrast African American schooling experiences with those of Native Americans and others during this period. Prerequisite: EDUC 213 or BLST 235.
EDUC 361 - Directed Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
EDUC 362 - Directed Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
EDUC 363 - Independent Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
EDUC 364 - Independent Study (1-4 Credit Hours)
EDUC 367 - Black America's Legal Struggle for Educational Equality (4 Credit Hours)
This course examines U.S. Supreme Court cases that led to and followed the Brown v Board of Education decisions. It looks at the role of the Black community in challenging both de jure and de facto segregation in schooling and society. We begin by discussing the Plessy decision that Brown overturned and a few other Supreme Court cases that appeared to reduce the meaning of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution for Blacks and others. Next, we look at the efforts of individuals such as Charles Hamilton Houston who led the legal offensive of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to overturn Plessy. We will discuss the state of education in relation to Blacks and others prior to Brown and afterward.
EDUC 390 - Critical Pedagogies (4 Credit Hours)
In its examination of current pressing issues in U.S. education, the central concern throughout this course is the relationship between teachers and students; schools and society; and people and the world. Particular attention is given to pedagogies informed by critical theory. The course includes a 25-30-hour service-learning commitment in an area school or community organization. Course is a Curricular Service Learning course.
Prerequisite(s): EDUC 213.
Crosslisting: WGST 391.
EDUC 399 - Advanced Topics in Education (1-4 Credit Hours)
A general category used only in the evaluation of transfer credit.
EDUC 421 - Senior Seminar (4 Credit Hours)
Students will build upon knowledge and understanding of selected topics developed in previous coursework in education, develop the skills required in the process of doing research and preparing work for presentation or publication, and reflect upon study in the major through a culminating ePortfolio assignment.
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing in Educational Studies.
EDUC 451 - Senior Research (4 Credit Hours)
EDUC 452 - Senior Research (4 Credit Hours)