The purpose of my annotated transcript is to showcase what I learned from the courses I took throughout my Master of Arts in Education program at Michigan State University. The courses below are arranged by the categories that they fulfill toward my Technology and Learning concentration as well as my Science and Mathematics Education concentration. Each course below includes: its instructor, the term in which I took it, the grade I earned, a short description of my experience, and a photo linked to a piece of work exemplifying my learning from that class. To see more examples of the work I have produced, please visit my Showcase page.
Required Coursework
ED 800: Educational Inquiry
Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland
Spring 2011, 4.0
This course was the first I took in my MAEd program. It gave me a strong foundational background in the theories and philosophies of education, in addition to promoting understanding of the varied ways teachers can participate in educational inquiry themselves. I researched the philosophy of inquiry through John Dewey, psychology and learning theory through Howard Gardner, the content and organization of curriculum through both Gardner and E. D. Hirsch, the history of education through the biography of several famous Americans, the international educational experience through Mary Catherine Bateson, and the teacher experience through Vivian Gussin Paley.
Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland
Spring 2011, 4.0
This course was the first I took in my MAEd program. It gave me a strong foundational background in the theories and philosophies of education, in addition to promoting understanding of the varied ways teachers can participate in educational inquiry themselves. I researched the philosophy of inquiry through John Dewey, psychology and learning theory through Howard Gardner, the content and organization of curriculum through both Gardner and E. D. Hirsch, the history of education through the biography of several famous Americans, the international educational experience through Mary Catherine Bateson, and the teacher experience through Vivian Gussin Paley.
TE 846C: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Instructor: Autumn Dodge
Summer 2012, 4.0
This is a required course for all educators seeking to renew their teaching certificate. The essence of the course focused on a child study where I researched the effects of several literacy accommodations in my content area: science. As a cumulative project, I wrote an extensive reflection analyzing my efforts of providing in-depth literacy instruction and the performance of my student on a science final exam.
Instructor: Autumn Dodge
Summer 2012, 4.0
This is a required course for all educators seeking to renew their teaching certificate. The essence of the course focused on a child study where I researched the effects of several literacy accommodations in my content area: science. As a cumulative project, I wrote an extensive reflection analyzing my efforts of providing in-depth literacy instruction and the performance of my student on a science final exam.
ED 870: Capstone Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Matthew J. Koehler
Summer 2013
The creation of my online portfolio was the outcome of this course. Through an intensive reflection on my master's program, I was able to synthesize the major highlights of my learning and understanding from my coursework along with my professional career into this one cohesive site. I am hoping it will provide me with a strong beginning to something I can continue to update and extend on into the future.
Instructor: Dr. Matthew J. Koehler
Summer 2013
The creation of my online portfolio was the outcome of this course. Through an intensive reflection on my master's program, I was able to synthesize the major highlights of my learning and understanding from my coursework along with my professional career into this one cohesive site. I am hoping it will provide me with a strong beginning to something I can continue to update and extend on into the future.
Technology and Learning
COncentration
CEP 820: Teaching K-12 Students Online
Instructor: Dr. Leigh Wolf
Summer 2011, 4.0
The goal of this course was to familiarize students with various Course Management Systems (CMS) in order to allow us to create a course or unit designed entirely online. Although it was a fairly daunting task, I was extremely proud of my final product: a six-week genetics unit constructed for my middle school students which I was able to utilize in my classroom the following school year.
Instructor: Dr. Leigh Wolf
Summer 2011, 4.0
The goal of this course was to familiarize students with various Course Management Systems (CMS) in order to allow us to create a course or unit designed entirely online. Although it was a fairly daunting task, I was extremely proud of my final product: a six-week genetics unit constructed for my middle school students which I was able to utilize in my classroom the following school year.
CEP 806: Learning Science With Technology
Instructor: Dr. E. David Wong
Fall 2011, 4.0
This course was designed to provide examples of immersive experiences science educators can use to stimulate student learning. I explored and analyzed various online technologies throughout the semester, including laboratory simulations, online field trips, and synchronous online collaboration with peers to complete tasks, in order to create my three major inquiry projects. Each investigated a different aspect of technology relating to science education, supported both by hands-on research with my students as well as educational theories in the course readings.
Instructor: Dr. E. David Wong
Fall 2011, 4.0
This course was designed to provide examples of immersive experiences science educators can use to stimulate student learning. I explored and analyzed various online technologies throughout the semester, including laboratory simulations, online field trips, and synchronous online collaboration with peers to complete tasks, in order to create my three major inquiry projects. Each investigated a different aspect of technology relating to science education, supported both by hands-on research with my students as well as educational theories in the course readings.
CEP 816: Technology, Teaching, and Learning Across the Curriculum
Instructor: Dr. Rand Spiro and Hannah Klautke
Fall 2012, 4.0
This course focused on how to integrate technology into curriculum for the most effective student learning. We used a text entitled Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools by Will Richardson to initiate our class discussions, which led me to discover some exciting strategies for incorporating technology in my classroom. The culmination of this course was a written piece on my "Instructional Dream," or what I wish I could teach in a technologically-perfect world, incorporating tools and methods I had learned about throughout the semester.
Instructor: Dr. Rand Spiro and Hannah Klautke
Fall 2012, 4.0
This course focused on how to integrate technology into curriculum for the most effective student learning. We used a text entitled Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools by Will Richardson to initiate our class discussions, which led me to discover some exciting strategies for incorporating technology in my classroom. The culmination of this course was a written piece on my "Instructional Dream," or what I wish I could teach in a technologically-perfect world, incorporating tools and methods I had learned about throughout the semester.
Science and mathematics Education
Concentration
TE 831: Teaching Subject Matter With Technology
Instructor: Erik Byker
Summer 2011, 4.0
This course was extremely useful in providing me with explicit examples of technology that could be effectively implemented in my classroom. We studied the theory of TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) along with digital citizenship, and explored various online technologies such as Wordle and Glogster, as well as ways to use technology to enhance student learning through digital stories and voice threads.
Instructor: Erik Byker
Summer 2011, 4.0
This course was extremely useful in providing me with explicit examples of technology that could be effectively implemented in my classroom. We studied the theory of TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) along with digital citizenship, and explored various online technologies such as Wordle and Glogster, as well as ways to use technology to enhance student learning through digital stories and voice threads.
TE 861A: Teaching Science for Understanding
Instructor: Bill Struck
Spring 2012, 4.0
In this course, I researched many of the current best practices in science education. Although my school does quite a bit of professional development on these practices, like Understanding by Design and performance assessments, this course gave me many effective strategies for students to gain deep understanding in our units. I learned to think about additional ways of providing students with opportunities to activate their prior knowledge while allowing me to identify their misconceptions, and also to utilize embedded formative assessments during lessons to aid in differentiation and ensure that each student actually understands the material.
Instructor: Bill Struck
Spring 2012, 4.0
In this course, I researched many of the current best practices in science education. Although my school does quite a bit of professional development on these practices, like Understanding by Design and performance assessments, this course gave me many effective strategies for students to gain deep understanding in our units. I learned to think about additional ways of providing students with opportunities to activate their prior knowledge while allowing me to identify their misconceptions, and also to utilize embedded formative assessments during lessons to aid in differentiation and ensure that each student actually understands the material.
TE 861C: Action Research in K-12 Science and Mathematics Classrooms
Instructor: Dawnmarie Ezzo
Summer 2013
This course is designed to allow science and math educators to participate in action research within their own classrooms. As I am currently enrolled in this class, I do not have any work from it to share. However as the semester draws to a close, I will be producing an action research proposal which will outline in detail the research I wish to undertake in my classroom in the fall.
Instructor: Dawnmarie Ezzo
Summer 2013
This course is designed to allow science and math educators to participate in action research within their own classrooms. As I am currently enrolled in this class, I do not have any work from it to share. However as the semester draws to a close, I will be producing an action research proposal which will outline in detail the research I wish to undertake in my classroom in the fall.
Elective Course
CEP 800: Psychology of Learning in School and Other Settings
Instructor: Dr. Danah Henriksen
Spring 2013, 4.0
Although I took this course toward the end of my master's program, it was an excellent refresher on the many different theories behind the psychology of how students learn. After researching the basics, we applied our learning to create an audio interview to gather our students' misconceptions, a digital story to explore a "learning experience," and finally a lesson that incorporated technology in a meaningful way.
Instructor: Dr. Danah Henriksen
Spring 2013, 4.0
Although I took this course toward the end of my master's program, it was an excellent refresher on the many different theories behind the psychology of how students learn. After researching the basics, we applied our learning to create an audio interview to gather our students' misconceptions, a digital story to explore a "learning experience," and finally a lesson that incorporated technology in a meaningful way.