Curriculum and Instruction

Catalog description

This course is designed to provide students a broad perspective of philosophical orientations on curriculum and instructional choices to ensure that curriculum decisions are responsive to the needs of students and promote the common good. Course provides a broad base of knowledge in curriculum theory, inquiry, and curriculum development, and issues related to lesson planning (including task design), course planning and syllabus design, as well as change processes in order to meet high expectations. This course is designed to build the foundation for decision-making that combines an understanding of the origins of American education and curriculum with current needs and future expectations. EDU 3010 Methods of Teaching Elementary Education – 3 semester hours This course provides teachers with research-based instructional techniques and strategies in reading. The course will study theories and methods for integrating literacy instruction in content area classrooms using reading assessments and literacy strategies that are designed to increase vocabulary learning and comprehension of expository texts. Students will implement these techniques during the required 30 hours of field experience for this course. Course topics also include best pedagogical practices in assessment and instruction in word-level skills (including phonics, phonemic awareness, and word recognition), vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Last, course participants consider frameworks for meeting the instructional needs of all children, including grouping and differentiating for instruction through the implementation of a comprehensive reading program.