STLGraduateSeminarsSpring2017

EDG6931,“MultiplePerspectivesonTeaching&Learning” Dr.CaroleBeal Tuesdays,periods10-E1

Thiscoursewillprovideasurveyoftheoreticalperspectivesonlearningandconsidertheimplicationsfor instruction.  Wewillbeginwithananalysisof therole, functionandvalueof theories in research,and then review major theoretical frameworks such as behaviorist, sociocultural, cognitive,constructivist, andsocialjusticeviews,amongothers.  Wewillalsoconsidermajortheoriesoflearningin lightof recentneuroscience researchonhow thebrain learns.  Studentswill readoriginal sources,applyandcritiquetheories indiscussionanddevelopacasestudythat illustratesarangeof teachingandlearningchallengesthatcanbeanalyzedfromdifferenttheoreticalperspectives.

EDF7934,“SeminarinEducationalFoundations” Dr.SevanTerzianMondays,periods5-7

ThepurposeofthisresearchseminarisforstudentstoinvestigatesystematicallysomefeatureofthehistoryofAmericaneducationfromWorldWarTwotoNoChildLeftBehindthroughtheuseofarchivalsources toproduceanoriginal researchpaper. Assignedbooks and journal articles aredesigned tohelp students identify an appropriate and feasible research question that can be answered usingprimarysources.Ourmutualgoalistodeveloporiginalhistoricalpapersthatcanfindacceptanceinaprofessional academic conference such as the History of Education Society annual meeting, theSouthern History of Education Society annual meeting, or the American Educational ResearchAssociationconference.

LAE7519,“LanguageandInquiry”Dr.JaneTownsendThursdays,periods9-11

Inthisgraduateseminar,we'lltakeacloselookatthelanguageactofinquiry. We'lldiscussthehumanurge to turn to others in search of understanding, new ideas, and information.  We'll consider thepurposes, expressions, styles, and contexts of inquiry.  We'll also consider the implications forclassroom practice in all subject areas and across grade levels.  We'll look for the patterns andparadoxesinthequestionsweaskourselvesandothers,andwewillidentifythepretendereventsthatsooftenmasqueradeasinquiryinclassrooms. We'llalsoworktounderstandtherelationshipbetweeninquiryandstudents'developingliteracyandschoolachievement. Studentswilldesignandundertakeoriginalexplorationprojectsintheareaoftheirspecialinterest.

MAE7899,“SeminarinMathEducation:LessonStudyandTeacherLearning”Dr.AkiMurataThursdays,periods3-5

Inthiseducationseminar,wewill focusonlessonstudy–teacher learningcommunityto investigatestudent learning – to explore teacher learning, classroom practices, and teachers’ roles in studentlearning processes. Lesson study encompasses many characteristics of effective professionaldevelopment and provides ideal research contexts by making teacher thinking processes visible.Lessonstudyisalsonotlimitedtomathematics,butisusedwithmanysubjectareas,andacrossgradelevels.Incoursereadings,discussions,activities,andfinalprojects,wewilldeeplydelveintothetopicsof teacher learning and development, and position ourselves as educational researchers with ownresearchtopics.

RED6346,“SeminarinReading” Dr.ZhihuiFangTuesdays,periods6-8

The goal of this seminar is to familiarize studentswith a functional language approach to discourseanalysis. The focusof thecourse isondevelopingan in-depthunderstandingofhow the lexical andgrammaticalresourcesof languageareusedtoconstructtextincontextandconstrueknowledgeandideology.Studentswilllearnandpracticetoolsforanalyzingdifferenttypesofpedagogical texts(oralorwritten)forpurposesofreading/literacyresearchandinstructionthroughconstructssuchasclause,genre, register, transitivity, mood and modality, appraisal, cohesion, theme and rheme, and otherlexical/grammaticalfeaturesoflanguage.

EDG6931,“TeachingAdults”

Dr.ElizabethBondyTuesdays,periods7-9

Althoughwerequireourgraduatestudentstotakecoursesabouthowtoconductresearch,wedonot(yet) require our students to take courses about how to teach adults---and many of our studentsintendtoteachadults.Thecourseisdesignedtoexplorepurposes,theories,andpracticesofteachinginhighereducationandothersettingsinwhichadultsteachandlearn.Doyouwonderwhatthebestcollege teachers do? Are you concerned about establishing democratic environments in whichtransformative learning can flourish?What does research on teaching adults reveal about effectivestrategies?WewillexaminethesequestionsandmoreinthisSpring2017seminar.PleaseemailBuffywithquestions:bondy@coe.ufl.edu

EME6235,“ManagingEducationalProjects”Dr.AlbertRitzhauptWednesdays,periods10-E1

Managing Educational Projects is a course focused on connecting the ProjectManagement Body ofKnowledge (PMBOK) to educational contexts (e.g., higher education, training, K-12). Students in thecoursewilllearnaboutnineknowledgeareas,includingtopicslikecommunicationsmanagement,costmanagement, schedule management, and more. These knowledge areas span across five processgroups from initiating a project to closing a project. The primary goal of this course is to prepareeducational professionals to successfullymanage projects in their context. A secondary goal of thiscourse is toprepare students to successfullypass theProjectManagementProfessional certificationexam,ahighlyregardeddesignationintheprofessionalworld.

EDG7252,”PerspectivesinCurriculum,Teaching,andTeacherEducation“

Dr.VickiVescioThursdays,periods9-11

Thiscoursewillinvolveacollaborativeexplorationofenduringissuesrelatedtoteachingandlearninginclassroomsatalllevels. Thecentralquestionswewillconfrontappearsimple,yettheiranswershavedeep implications for education: What should schools teach?  Who should decide what and howschools teach?Howshould theeffectivenessof schoolsbeevaluated? Traditionalanswers to thesequestions have been the topic of theoretical writings and research studies for close to 100 years. However,despitedecadesofwork,theanswerstothesequestionsarestilldebatedincontemporaryeducationwithoutaconsensuswithintheprofession.Simultaneously,decisionsaboutcurriculumarebeing made through a political process that may, or may not, be influenced by the knowledge ofeducators. For example, current debates around issues such as standardized assessment,accountability,vouchers, charter schools, the teachingofevolution,performance-basedpay, readinginstruction, and grade level retention (to name just a few) are largely political debates and thedecisionswhichwill impactschoolsaretypically legislative innature.  Inthiscoursewewill focusontheseprevailing controversies in the curriculum field toexplorehow theyhave come to impactourcurrentsystemofeducation.

LAE6939,“Literacy,Family,andCulture”

Dr.DanlingFuTuesdays,fromperiods9-11

Thisgraduateseminar istobroadenourperspectivesonliteracy, learningandteachingbytakingaclose look at the literacy patterns of students in an underprivileged class and also teaching andlearningframedfromdifferentculturalandlanguagebackgrounds.Wewillexaminetheinteractivepatterns, learning styles and life experiences of students who are different from those in themainstreamcultureornewtothisculture,anddiscusshowstudents’homeculture(lifeexperience)influences their school learning and performance and how the school culture and environmentimpactuponthemaslearners.Throughextensivereadinganddiscussingabouttheschoolandhomeliteracy experiences of students with various backgrounds and inquiring about students’ literacyperformanceatschoolandhome,hopefully,wewillreachanunderstandingofthosestudentswithdiversebackgroundsandgainanappreciationandrespectfortheirdialects,homeculturesandlivingand learning styles. Also, we will re-examine our conception of “Literacy” and our perception ofthosestudentsandtheirfamilieswhileexploringourroles inprovidingequalandjusticeeducationforthepeopleoftheunderprivilegedandofnonmainstreamculturalbackgrounds.