EDU Graduate Course Descriptions

EDU 601 - EDU 689


EDU 601 Dimensions of Intelligence 3 CH
The course describes the roles, functions, processes, and physical makeup of the brain and how it can be influenced for optimal learning. The major structures and functions of the brain will be identified and their role in development of academic and meta skills will be discussed. The course will also provide students with an awareness of the latest research on short and long term memory and identify factors that influence students’ ability to remember, understand higher level thinking and effective problem solving.  The course will describe how multiple intelligences and learning styles can affect curriculum development and learning. The course will also focus on cognitive and social skills necessary to be successful in the 21st Century.

EDU 603 Scientific Research-Based Intervention 3 CH
Scientific Research Based Interventions (SRBI) is the practice of providing scientific, research-based instruction and intervention matched to student’s needs, with important educational decisions based on students’ levels of performance and learning rates over time. SRBI has emerged as a promising framework for meeting the challenges of today’s classroom. While SRBI has emerged from special education legislation, the model’s focus on early classroom-based interventions makes it primarily a general education initiative. In addition, SRBI is designed to ensure rigorous and intentional progress monitoring for all students, not just for those at risk of learning difficulties. Candidates will continue to expand their knowledge of SRBI while learning more about the implementation, instruction and assessment in their own districts and buildings.

EDU 611 Fluency and Understanding: Numbers Ops. 3 CH
This course centers on the Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) number and operations curriculum. Teachers will think through the major ideas of number in K-6 mathematics, how those ideas build upon each other, and examine how children develop those ideas. In addition to case discussions, the curriculum provides opportunities for teachers to explore the mathematics in the lessons and to deepen their understanding of the structure of the number system, of computation within the number system, and of properties that form the foundation for algebra. Attention is given to interpreting and assessing students’ work and learning.

EDU 612 Mathematical Thinking and Problem Solving 3 CH
Effective mathematics teaching requires understanding what students know and need to learn and then challenging and supporting them to learn it well. To be effective, teachers must know and understand deeply the mathematics they are teaching and be able to draw on that knowledge with flexibility in their daily teaching. This course builds on the candidate’s understanding of how young children learn mathematics and examines deeply the Problem Solving and Communications Standards as outlined by the NCTM. Supporting mathematical thinking through problem solving is essential to the effective teaching and learning of mathematics. Teachers will be exposed to a broader perspective of mathematics and what it means to do and learn mathematics with skill and understanding and become knowledgeable about structures that support mathematical inquiry and thinking. They will enhance teacher professional judgments about teaching and learning mathematics and will ultimately improve the student
learning outcomes.

EDU 613 Patterns Function and Algebra 3 CH
The course is designed to develop a deep understanding of topics from algebra: variables, patterns, and functions; modeling and interpreting graphs; linear functions including slope and intercepts. The course is also designed to introduce non-linear functions, including quadratics and exponentials. Additionally, participants will connect these concepts to the related concepts that underlie primary and middle grades mathematics. Attention will also be given to interpreting and assessing students’ work and learning.

EDU 614 Geometry and Measurement 3 CH
Geometric and measurement ideas and concepts are useful in representing and solving problems in many areas of mathematics and in real-world situations. With well designed activities, appropriate tools, and teacher’s support, students can make and explore conjectures about geometry and measurement and can learn to reason carefully about both ideas from the earliest years of schooling. This course is designed to help experienced elementary and middle-school teachers explore the features of geometric shape and how children develop an understanding of it. It will also examine different aspects of size, develop facility in composing and decomposing shapes, and apply these skills to make sense of formulas for area and volume. It is also designed to help teachers explore the conceptual issues of length, area, and volume as well as the complex interactions among these. At the heart of the course are sets of classroom episodes (cases), illustrating student thinking in regards to geometry and measurement concepts.

EDU 687 Teaching Life Science 3 CH
This course develops a strong conceptual understanding of the life science. Through a series of readings, class discussions, inquiry based activities and video clips students will acquire an in-depth understanding of major life science concepts and related embedded tasks necessary to teach life science effectively at the elementary school level. They also will discuss and model various formative and summative assessment models used to measure student performance. The course will link acquired life science conceptual understandings to national and state content and performance standards.

EDU 688 Teaching Environmental Science 3 CH
The course will engage participants in guided inquiry-based learning practices and effective research-based teaching strategies. Through lectures, discussions and field work participants with be provided with the necessary content to successfully teach ecology and environmental science at the elementary school level. Instructors will also model “best practices” in the teaching of elementary science that will provide participants with an increased awareness and knowledge of successful teaching pedagogies. The use of performance based basedassessment models will also be discussed. The course will focus on two research based elementary science programs, FOSS (Full Option Science System) and STC (Science and Technology for Children)

EDU 689 Teaching Applied Physics 3 CH
This course will focus on developing  teacher knowledge of the physical sciences and strengthening teaching skills with respect to inquiry-based learning and performance-based assessment. The course will demonstrate models of inquiry related to applied physics for elementary school teachers with respect to the State of Connecticut Elementary and Middle School Standards. The course will utilize two inquiry-based elementary science programs: STC (Science and Technology for Children) and FOSS (Full Option Science System).