BS in Education - Elementary Education Endorsements

This course introduces theories of learning, motivation, and development of children and adolescents, particularly associated with how students relate physically, morally, cognitively, socially, and behaviorally. Recognizing the diverse stages of development that exist in a learning environment, effective teaching strategies, classroom management, and assessing student progress will be addressed. Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in EDUC 242

This course includes a minimum 15 hour field experience component that aligns with concepts discussed in EDUC 241. Students will observe and assist in a classroom while reflecting on how different stages of development affect the learning environment. Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in EDUC 241

This 40-hour minimum practicum will be in an approved secondary school setting in order to observe the inner workings of classrooms from the point-of-view of an educator. Professional dispositions and reflective practice will be emphasized. Students will be encouraged to collaborate with cooperating teachers and focus on implementation of a variety of instructional strategies, individual and group motivational factors, characteristics of effective instruction, and working with diverse learners. A seminar is included in the course. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program NOTE: Students pursuing elementary education must take EDUC 330, 350, and 351 in lieu of EDUC 340 and EDUC 420.

This course is designed to provide educators with a background in the curriculum, history, and philosophy of the middle school. It investigates the organizational structure, team planning, collaborative techniques, and student advising roles that are unique to the middle grades in early adolescence. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program

This course will examine a full array of assessment procedures, both formal and informal, as well as current trends and issues of assessment and evaluation of student performance. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program.

The intent of this course is to help students translate educational theory into best practice in order to teach effectively in a secondary classroom. Particular attention will be given to the following topics: awareness of and development of a broad range of learning resources and instructional strategies that are appropriate to diverse classrooms; use of assessment strategies and technology as a means to enhance student learning; awareness of the standards and resources of the professional organizations; consideration of curricular and ethical issues relative to teaching the subject area. This course includes a 40-hour practicum. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program NOTE: Students pursuing elementary education must take EDUC 330, 350, and 351 in lieu of EDUC 340 and EDUC 420.

This course is designed to introduce you to the terminology and concepts of modern linguistics, helping the student to develop insight into the linguistics phenomena of one’s native language and beyond. Sound systems of languages (phonetics, phonology, and phonemics), word formation (morphology), sentence formation (syntax), and language meaning (semantics) are introduced. A history of the English language is included. The course is intended to develop a curiosity and enthusiasm for language and language writing.

This course explores the theory and practice of teaching writing, mostly in middle and secondary school contexts. Participants will learn about important issues impacting the teaching of writing and will evaluate, revise, and extend those issues toward building an approach to teaching writing. Students will cultivate their knowledge not only as a future teacher of writing, but also as a writer, thinker, and professional. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program

Students in this course will learn how to select, read, evaluate and analyze depictions and aspects of social justice and injustice in children’s and young adult literature. Through various genres of literature intended for the adolescent reader, students will develop an informed awareness of the complex perspectives, uses and boundaries of literature and will learn to recognize and analyze how adolescent and children’s literature depict stories related to social justice, tolerance, equality and social change.

This course focuses on the methodology, processes, and content of reading and writing in the content areas. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Teacher Education Program

A survey of methods and materials of teaching English as a Second Language in reading, writing, and oral language. Additional topics to be covered include materials, selection, objective writing, materials preparation, test construction and classroom management.

This course is an examination of some of the best short works of fiction written in English within the past 50 years in a variety of styles and forms, employing traditional and innovative techniques of storytelling, by men and women of divergent backgrounds and sensibilities. The insights these stories provide into the challenges of contemporary life will be of special interest.

This course focuses on the rise of traditions in British Literature, examining the ways in which each subsequent literary period both reinforced elements of tradition and broke from tradition, adding new aesthetic, cultural, and political considerations to the established body of British literature. The course examines deeply the aesthetic contributions of representative major works and authors from a number of significant periods: the Middle Ages, the 16th and 17th centuries, the Restoration and 18th Century, the Romantic Period, the Victorian Age, and the 20th Century. Special attention is paid to the defining characteristics and correct terminology of primary literary genres, as well as to the defining characteristics of and the distinctions in structure and content found in major forms within each genre. The course also focuses on the interpretation of literary texts by employing various literary theories, drawing inferences from literary texts, thematic exploration, and the analysis of the role played in the literary work of such elements as plot, character, setting, mood, tone, point of view, conflict, figurative language, poetic devices, and poetic structure. Emphasis is placed on determining what specific evidence drawn from literary texts is needed to support compelling interpretations of them. Prerequisites: EN 101 OR EN 111 & EN 102 OR EN 112

This course focuses on the attempts by American authors to create a literature congruent with democracy’s high ideals of respect for human rights and freedom. Era by era, writers have protested prevailing social and political mores, even as they have rebelled against received literary forms, pursuing aesthetic innovation in virtually every genre. The course examines deeply the aesthetic contributions of representative major works and authors from a number of significant periods: Pre-Columbian Native American Oral Literature, the Colonial Era, the Revolutionary Era, the Early 19th Century, the Romantic Movement, the Rise of Realism, Naturalism, the Harlem Renaissance, Modernism, Post-modernism, and the Renaissance of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Literature. Special attention is paid to the defining characteristics and correct terminology of primary literary genres, as well as to the defining characteristics of and the distinctions in structure and content found in major forms within each genre. The course also focuses on the interpretation of literary texts by employing various literary theories, drawing inferences from literary texts, thematic exploration, and the analysis of the role played in the literary work of such elements as plot, character, setting, mood, tone, point of view, conflict, figurative language, poetic devices, and poetic structure. Emphasis is placed on determining what specific evidence drawn from literary texts is needed to support compelling interpretations of them. Prerequisites: EN 101 OR EN 111 & EN 102 OR EN 112

This course is designed to develop the topics of differential and integral calculus. Topics covered include limits, continuity, derivatives and integrals of algebraic and transcendental functions of one variable. Emphasis will be placed on selecting and using appropriate models and techniques for finding solutions to derivative-related problems with and without technology. Prerequisites: Successful completion of MA 204 or placement via ALEKS Placement Assessment.

The course deepens understanding of the material and applications learned in MA 205. Topics covered include applications of the definite integral to area, volume, arc length and surface area, and developing additional integration techniques including integration by parts, trigonometric integrals and substitution, partial fractions and numerical methods. Sequences introduced as series are examined using the nth term, integral, comparison, ratio and root tests for convergence. Power series and Taylor and MacLaurin series are introduced. Calculus techniques are applied to parametric and polar equations. Prerequisite: Successful completion of MA 205.

This course provides the theoretical basis and problem-solving experience needed to apply the techniques of descriptive and inferential statistics, to analyze quantitative data, and to improve decision making over a wide range of areas. Topics covered include descriptive statistics, linear regression, data gathering methodologies and probability, as well as confidence intervals and hypothesis testing for one and two samples. Use of technology in solving and interpreting statistical problems is emphasized. Prerequisite: MA 101 or placement via ALEKS Placement Assessment

This course examines the mathematical structures that are fundamentally discrete, and it serves as a bridge from calculus to abstract mathematics. Topics included are sets, relations, functions, induction and other methods of proof, recursion, combinatorics, graph theory and algorithms. Emphasis is placed on proof and applying discrete mathematics to real world problems. Prerequisites: Successful completion of MA 205 .

This course examines systems of linear equations, matrices, determinants, and vectors to motivate the study of linear spaces. Theory and applications are used to explore vector spaces, subspaces, inner product spaces, linear transformations, eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and orthogonality. Prerequisites: Successful completion of MA 315.

The focus of this course is on the historical development and perspectives of mathematics including contributions of significant figures and diverse cultures. The course provides an overview of mathematical history from the earliest counting methods to mathematics today. Mathematical topics typically taught in the secondary classroom will be studied in detail for students to develop the historical context and foundational knowledge necessary to become a successful mathematics educator. Prerequisites: Junior or above standing

This course provides an overview of the field of Geometry by studying applications of Euclidean Geometry using Geogebra as a visualization and verification tool. Emphasis will be placed on building competency in proof. Prerequisite: Successful completion of MA 315.

This capstone course is designed as a culminating experience for pre-service and in-service secondary mathematics teachers. Students will connect the undergraduate mathematics curriculum to the secondary mathematics curriculum through collaboration, exploration and activities. Emphasis will be placed on developing effective mathematics teaching strategies, researching current mathematics teaching theory and using technology to enhance learning. Prerequisites: Junior or above standing.

This course introduces core concepts of biology, including: information flow, structure-function relationships, transformation of energy and matter, biological systems, and evolution.

This course is an introduction to biological inquiry, including: biological laboratory procedures and techniques, applying the process of scientific investigation to biological systems, quantitative reasoning and analysis, and communication of biological findings. Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in BI 100 or instructor permission