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Course Descriptions
EDU5106 The Secondary School: The Learning Environment (3 semester hours)
The focus of this course is classroom dynamics in the secondary education classroom as they influence the learning process and creation/development of a productive learning environment for all learners. It also is the intent of this course to engage in deep exploration of diversity and its relationship to power structures inherent in the secondary school system.
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
EDU5206 The Secondary School: Foundations and Assessment (3 semester hours)
This course is designed to introduce students to the standards and inclusion models that comprise secondary education teaching and learning in today's public schools. This course also links assessment methods and models to the overview of standards, foundations and inclusion practices that comprise secondary education in America's public schools today.
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
EDU5266 The Secondary School: Theories of Learning (3 semester hours)
This course provides a comprehensive survey of various theories of educational psychology, with a focus on the learner as the center of developmental teaching, learning and adaptations in the secondary education classroom. Social learning theory and constructivism as integral responses to the needs of learners will be emphasized throughout.
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
EDU5276 Reading and Writing Across the Content Areas (3 semester hours)
This course is designed to instruct students in the teaching of reading and writing in the content areas in the secondary classroom, with an emphasis on principles, trends, methods, materials, approaches and strategies. Based on theories of interactive language and writing development, the course presents methodology designed to help teachers develop literacy and comprehension abilities in the content areas.
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; having a current (in the last year) TB test; and EDU5206.
EDU5756: Methods Practicum (0 semester hours)
This course is a secondary field experience in middle or high school grades taken concurrently with one of the content methods courses in the program.
Teacher candidates schedule a minimum of 50 contact hours spread over the 16-week semester in a pre-assigned middle school or high school classroom and are responsible for observing, planning, teaching and evaluating the assigned group of students. Teacher candidates design and deliver small- and large-group lessons; evaluate and use teaching resources and curriculum, materials, utilize classroom technology; create and use assessment instruments; reflect upon their experiences through journaling; and collaborate with practicing teachers, the college professor, the university supervisor, the faculty content supervisor, peers and secondary learners.
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
Co-requisites: BIO5826 or ENG5826 or MTH5826 or SBS5826.
BIO5826 Secondary Methods Teaching Biology (4 semester hours)
This course presents techniques that are effective in teaching biology. The course includes lesson planning, classroom arrangement, curriculum design, alternative teaching strategies and evaluation. Within the context of this course, students will explore effective ways of planning, teaching and measuring the effect on student learning in the discipline. This course is taken in conjunction with the Methods Practicum field experience (EDU5756).
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
Co-requisite: EDU5756.
ENG5826 Secondary Methods of Teaching English/Language Arts (4 semester hours)
This course presents techniques that are effective in teaching English/language arts. The course includes lesson planning, classroom arrangement, curriculum design, alternative teaching strategies and evaluation. Within the context of this course, students will explore effective ways of planning, teaching and measuring the effect on student learning in the discipline. This course is taken in conjunction with the Methods Practicum field experience (EDU5756).
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
Co-requisite: EDU5756.
MTH5826 Secondary Methods of Teaching Mathematics (4 semester hours)
This course presents techniques that are effective in teaching mathematics. The course includes lesson planning, classroom arrangement, curriculum design, alternative teaching strategies and evaluation. Within the context of this course, students will explore effective ways of planning, teaching and measuring the effect on student learning in the discipline. This course is taken in conjunction with the Methods Practicum field experience (EDU5756).
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
Co-requisite: EDU5756.
SBS5826 Secondary Methods of Teaching Social Studies (4 semester hours)
This course presents techniques that are effective in teaching social studies. The course includes lesson planning, classroom arrangement, curriculum design, alternative teaching strategies and evaluation. Within the context of this course, students will explore effective ways of planning, teaching and measuring the effect on student learning in the following disciplines: anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, world history, U.S. history, Illinois history. This course is taken in conjunction with the Methods Practicum field experience (EDU5756).
Prerequisites: Acceptance into College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test.
Co-requisite: EDU5756.
HIS5996 Directed Study Capstone in History (3 semester hours)
This directed study capstone course examines the nature and definition of history and historical truth, research methodology and tests of evidence, synthesis and skill in writing, the evolution of history as a discipline, and the tasks of the professional historian. It treats history as a liberal-arts discipline and as a profession and is designed to be useful to those earning certification in history.
Prerequisite: Permission from Chair of Humanities.
MTH5996 Directed Study Capstone in Mathematics (2 semester hours)
The goal of this course is to aid the students in integrating their experience in secondary math certification at AU and to prepare for entry into the job market. Some sessions will be held regarding interviewing skills and the current job market. In other sessions, students will meet with their individual advisors during the term to analyze the contents of the portfolio they have been preparing during their tenure at AU, to organize its contents, and to finalize its format as a tool in the job search. Students will write an essay summarizing their experience in the certification program, indicating their special interests in the field, for inclusion in the portfolio. Students will also compile a bibliography of Internet sites relevant to their special interests in the field of mathematics and/or mathematics education.
Prerequisite: Consent of department.
ENG5996 Directed Study Capstone in English (2 semester hours)
This particular directed study course is designed to challenge and suggest that there may be more to knowing "how to read" than even experienced and sophisticated readers realize. In this directed study course, students will complete critical analyses of literary (and other) texts using theoretical perspectives to inform such analyses. This directed study will require sustained encounter with a wide range of modern literary theories and with the questions of just how these theories should, do, should not and do not affect the way(s) that we read, and eventually teach, both classic and contemporary works of literature.
Prerequisite: Permission from Chair of Humanities.
EDU6756 Student Teaching Internship (10 semester hours)
Student teaching is one of the capstone experiences of the Secondary Certification Program. The teacher candidate is assigned full time to a middle or secondary school classroom for the 16-week semester and is responsible for planning, directing and evaluating the learning of a group of students under the supervision of a certified teacher and university supervisor. The teacher candidate is guided through experiences designed to apply the knowledge and skill gained throughout the program. The teacher candidate performs the major functions of a teacher with appropriate responsibilities and supervision.
Prerequisites: Consent of program chair; acceptance into the College of Education; officially reported passing grade on the Content Area Test; maintaining a GPA of 3.00; passing the Basic Skills Test; passing an FBI fingerprint check and National Sex Offenders list check; and having a current (in the last year) TB test. Students with an earned baccalaureate degree must satisfactorily complete 15 semester hours at Aurora University prior to student teaching.
