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Summer 2008 Courses
Registration Due Date: June 1, 2008 Each course has a significant amount of pre-campus work and students are encouraged to register early. About Graduate Courses at Dordt College
Three-credit Graduate Courses:
EDUC 501: Current Issues In Education This course critically examines the philosophical and historical background and context of contemporary educational practice. The focus is on the key issues currently affecting the areas of teaching, curriculum, learning, and the school as an institution. Emphasis falls on relating philosophical and historical contexts to daily classroom practice. EDUC 502: Advanced Educational Psychology This course presents a biblical model of the student, develops a theory of learning based on this model, and extrapolates these into instructional practices for the classroom. Contemporary models of humankind and their theories of learning are examined and evaluated against a biblical framework. EDUC 503: Research Methods in Education This course provides graduate students with a conceptual introduction to the essential principles, quantitative, and qualitative methods of educational research so that they are equipped to critique, analyze and interpret research. In addition, students will also be introduced to “action research,” an applied approach to educational research in the classroom. Attention will also be given to internet resources like the ERIC database, and the use of APA style for writing research papers. EDUC 521: Structuring School Curriculum This course both examines and develops curricular structure for the school. State or provincial standards are examined. A school-wide course of study with a scope and sequence is developed, based on a biblical orientation and creational structure. The structure of each sphere of reality and how it relates to other spheres is examined. EDUC 522: Constructing Thematic Units This course both examines and develops curriculum materials as they are used within a particular classroom or grade level. Textbooks, software, and other curricular materials are evaluated against Christian pedagogical criteria. Integrated units of study are written for use in the students’ classroom. EDUC 531: Implementing Instructional Strategies This course introduces instructional strategies which acknowledge both the biblical nature of the student and the structure of knowledge within each sphere of study. The work of the Dordt College Center for Educational Services is shared, examined, and practiced as it relates to instructional strategies in the classroom. The guiding-unfolding-enabling model serves as a framework in the development of distinctively Christian pedagogy. EDUC 532: Inclusion of Students with Special Needs This course is designed to increase the abilities of regular classroom teachers to identify and meet the instructional and social behavioral needs of all students, including those with mild disabilities. Students become familiar with the classroom-based procedures for identifying which students have difficulties and why the difficulties persist. The class helps students discover strategies that allow all students to succeed in the general class. This course assumes that participants have taken an overview of exceptionalities course previously. EDUC 533: Enhancing Learning With Technology This course is designed to foster creative and divergent thinking regarding the application and integration of technology into the processes of teaching and learning. The intent is to “distinguish sharply, think critically, and judge wisely” how technology is changing the teaching/learning environment. Hands-on technology training will provide a basis upon which participants will reconstruct curriculum and instructional techniques to support the learning needs of their students. EDUC 540: Practicum In Curriculum And Instruction (Online) This course deals with the practice of biblical servant leadership within the areas of professional and curriculum development in the school. Specifically, it examines how teachers may help other experienced or inexperienced teachers develop teaching skills or curriculum. It suggests ways of mentoring other teachers and helping them establish guidelines for writing and evaluating curriculum. It examines how curriculum coordinators can help teachers discover sound principles of teaching, organizing, and evaluating learning experiences. EDUC 543: Middle School Curriculum and Instruction (Online) This course is designed for in-service teachers to develop their understanding of the middle school concept, especially as it pertains to curriculum development and instructional strategies and techniques. This course will emphasize the development of a distinctively Christian approach to the middle school classroom. Various perspectives, traditional and current, on teaching in the middle level grades will be critically examined. The course is intended to enable teachers to adapt teaching strategies and methodology appropriate to the developmental needs of the middle level child. Techniques such as interdisciplinary teaming, advisor/advisee relationships, exploratory curriculum, and integrated curriculum will be examined. Undergraduate prerequisite: Introductory curriculum course. EDUC 590: Master's Project The master’s thesis is the culmination of a student’s program. Research is conducted on an educational topic of practical interest to the student. Students first select an issue or topic within the areas of curriculum or instruction that is relevant to their own classroom or school. Next they conduct a thorough review of the literature for the purpose of analyzing and evaluating the major research findings on the topic of concern. Finally, implications of the research findings for the student’s classroom or school are discussed and applications made. Professional Development Workshops:
July 14-15: Differentiated Strategies: When One Size Doesn’t Fit All (Kornelis) |
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