Teaching

My teaching statement is available here

This page contains: a list of courses I have taught, including course descriptions and links to course websites (when available); information on workshops and outreach.

TPTE 110/TPTE 120 (Combo)

Step 1 and Step 2 are highly collaborative, hands-on classes in which you learn about teaching through observation, practice, and professional mentoring. Each course consists of (a) classes at UTK and (b) field experiences at a local elementary or middle school. Students are expected to attend all scheduled UTK classes to learn some basic instructional strategies, take part in course activities, discuss aspects of teaching and learning, design learning experiences for K-12 students, and teach. Your course instructors will work closely with you to accomplish these tasks. As part of your field experience, you will be assigned a mentoring teacher at a local school. You will observe your mentor teach, and you will teach lessons in your mentor’s classroom. You will receive constructive feedback on your performance from your mentor, your instructor, and other master teachers and/or graduate teaching assistants. Unless scheduling constraints make it impossible, you will do your field experience as part of a team of students. The specifics of your field experience will vary according to your enrollment status.

SCED 496/TPTE 495/SCED 543: Science Teaching Methods

This course is designed for pre-service teachers seeking to teach in a secondary science classroom and in-service teachers seeking to enhance and update their knowledge of science teaching methods. It has a particular focus on problem-based learning as an over-arching approach to science education, one that aligns with the phenomena-based learning emphasized in recent science education reform documents. A few principles guide this course. All students, including students from diverse cultural, linguistic, and individua; backgrounds can learn science. Learning through authentic problems through engaging in scientific practices is a productive approach to science teaching and learning. Finally, teaching is complex and demanding and must be learned over a long period of time as part of a community of practice.

CEP 800 (Michigan State University [MSU]): Learning in School and Other Settings

Course description: Psychologists generally define learning as “a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.” From this perspective, learning is distinct from performance, which refers to the translation of learning into behavior. CEP 800 assumes that learning is an “active, socially-mediated construction of knowledge in school, home, community, and work settings.” So what is learned, how it is taught and learned, and what learners bring to the setting, all interact dynamically to result in a “relatively permanent change in behavior.” Most importantly, this definition also points out that a change in any one of these variables – e.g., changing what learners bring to a setting or changing how something is a taught – will be associated with changes in what is learned. With this in mind, CEP 800 also examines how technology may affect what students learn and how teachers teach. In this way, CEP 800 integrates the psychology of learning in school and other settings with an examination of how technology relates to this process.

CEP 807 / ED 870 (MSU): Proseminar in Educational Technology

Course description: For the program’s required final evaluation, students prepare an online portfolio summarizing their work in the MAET program and present this work in a group setting. Portfolios and presentations will be evaluated by at least 2 MAET course instructors, including at least one MAET faculty. Work presented must demonstrate the student’s competence in using technology to support teaching and learning and for presenting work clearly and professionally. Course website.

CEP 815 (MSU): Technology and Leadership

Course description: New technologies not only have the potential of changing what and how students learn, but they can also alter the task of teaching in significant ways. 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 904 (MSU): Social and Emotional Development

Course description: CEP 904 reviews theory and research in the area of social emotional development. Course topics include parent-child relationships, peer relationships, social cognition, identity, & competence, emotions & self-regulation, and cultural and policy influences on development. Special attention is given to the contexts of social and emotional development. As a doctoral level course, a basic background in development theory and research is assumed. Readings emphasize formal theories, research findings, and implications for practice. The workload and level of material are commensurate with a three-credit offering at the 900-level.

CEP 800, 815, and 822 (MSU): Learning in School and Other Settings, Technology and Leadership, and Approaches to Educational Research (Master of Arts in Educational Technology Year 2 Hybrid Courses)

Course description: This course has two goals: an easy goal and a difficult one. The easy one is to learn about technology. Some of you may already know a lot about it and some may know less. But learning that stuff is easy, and we will do some of that this summer. The difficult goal is figuring out what we are going to do with that knowledge to help students learn and to develop professionally. CEP 800 focuses on CEP 800 developing an understanding of learning as active, socially-mediated construction of knowledge in school, home, community, and work settings. CEP 815 focuses on professional development strategies, Project management, planning and evaluation, relationship building, and ethical and social implications of technology integration. CEP 822 focuses on methods of educational research, identifying researchable problems in education and developing a research proposa, and applications of descriptive and inferential statistics for analyzing and critiquing published studies. Course website.

CPE 900 (MSU) Proseminar in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology

The Proseminar introduces students to the intellectual life of doctoral education in general and educational psychology and educational technology (EPET) in particular. It is an important starting place for developing your skills in reading and writing critically about educational research, and for conceptualizing your own research on EPET issues. Specifically, the Proseminar is designed to: a) Provide an overview of the major EPET theories and issues, b) foster a general sense of EPET scholarship, c) Develop the ability and skills to appreciate and criticize EPET scholarship, and D) provide opportunities for students to become familiar with the research process, important tools, resources, as well as important professional activities and events in education research. Course website.

CEP 930: Educational Inquiry

CEP 930 Educational Inquiry introduces students to different ways of studying educational issues, considering both the “how” and the “who,” “what,” and “why” of educational research. Educational inquiry cannot be described simply by its methods, as it is an activity where values matter, as do our identities as scholars and citizens, our beliefs about knowledge, and the way we understand education and the world around it. Thus, educational inquiry takes place within a larger social context that influences the way research questions are generated, framed, and studied. Specifically, this Educational Inquiry course is designed to help students: a) develop some basic mastery of research, including modes of research (e.g., field studies, experimental, quasi-experimental, mixed models) as well as issues that apply to all forms of research (e.g., theory, validity, reliability, generalizability, and composition), b) become critical consumers of published research while also developing an introductory knowledge of the options available to them in conducting their own research, and c) develop a basic understanding of contemporary issues and problems in educational inquiry. Course website.

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