The M.A.T. curriculum focuses on strengthening your skills as a teacher of science through theoretical learning, applied lab work and field opportunities, including a three-month student teaching experience in the spring. This 12-month program consists of 48 credit hours over three semesters (normally 16 hours per semester).
Summer session I
EDU 610: Understanding Learners (4)
Theories of cognitive development (Piaget, Vygotsky, information processing); Learning theory (research in cognition and memory, behaviorism, constructivism, schema theory, conceptual change); Motivation theory (attributions, intrinsic vs. extrinsic, affect).
SCE 600: Secondary Science from an Advanced Perspective (4)
Examination of topics in secondary science from advanced and interdisciplinary perspectives. History of development of scientific thought and its importance in shaping major historical events. Focus on investigative nature of science. Reading from science and science education research literature, both within disciplines and in interdisciplinary contexts.
Prerequisite: Admission to the program; Corequisite: EDU 610
Summer session II
EDU 611: Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education (4)
Using concepts and forms of analysis from the social sciences and philosophy, the course examines the challenges and possibilities of transformative education. Emphasis is placed on the purposes of education, the nature of knowledge as understood and practiced in schools, and the tensions between the role of schools in the transmission and transformation of values. Field experience required.
Prerequisite: 610
EDU 611L: The Opening of School Experience (0)
Students attend a middle or high school for one week during the opening of the school year. They will observe, assist the cooperating teacher in various ways and complete any tasks assigned in advance by the instructor of Education 611. Note: Separate credit for this experience is not awarded though it is noted on the student's transcript. A student's performance is evaluated as a concomitant of Education 611.
Elective (summer or fall) (4)
Summer session total: 12 or 16
Fall semester
EDU 612: Curriculum Development in Secondary Schools (4)
Higher level thinking (problem solving, metacognition, critical thinking, questioning); classroom environment (community, physical arrangement, behavior and discipline); classroom assessment. Includes field experience.
EDU 680: Teaching Exceptional Children (4)
Introduction to special needs, including child development and intelligence, major areas of exceptionality, identification of learners with special needs. Introduction to other learner differences including race, class, gender, ethnicity and first language. Adapting curriculum and instruction for diverse needs. Includes field experience.
SCE 601: Teaching and Learning the Sciences (4)
Field experience in secondary school or introductory college science course or lab. Students apprentice with master teachers, observe student learners, assist as learning or lab assistants. Experience preparing labs, preparing and grading assignments, using technology. Weekly seminar on issues of student learning and assessment.
Prerequisite: SCE 600, EDU 610; Corequisite EDU 612
Electives (4 or 8) (usually undergraduate courses taken to fill disciplinary gaps)
Fall semester total: 16 or 20
Spring semester
EDU 630: Student Teaching (10)
(taken over a three-month period, starting in early January)
Full-time supervised experience in a public school.
Prerequisite: EDU 610, 612, 680.
EDU 631: Seminar in Teaching (2)
Provides individual and group problem-solving sessions to focus on issues and situations related to the student-teaching experience.
Corequisite: Education 630.
SCE 602: Current Issues in the Study and Teaching of Science (4)
Reflection on both human interactions and science encountered during student teaching, filling disciplinary gaps, deepening understanding of the nature and history of science and its importance to individuals as citizens. Focus on issues of current controversy in science education.
Prerequisite: SCE 601; Corequisities: EDU 630, EDU 631
Spring semester total: 16