Semester One

MED515 Becoming a Community of Learners

(4 cr.) In this learning experience, learning community members will begin their journey of self-study, engaging in critical reflection on beliefs and current practices in relationship to their vision for who they want to become as teachers. Learners will gain anunderstanding of and experience with the learning community model. Community examination of research based practices aligning instruction, content (knowledge in the discipline), the classroom environment, and assessment provides the learning community member a springboard for focusing personally chosen areas of inquiry and action research. Learning community members will begin the action research/inquiry process by creating questions and engaging in personally directed research reading.

MED516 Reflection and Inquiry for Life Long Learning

(2 cr.) This learning experience focuses on the learner’s use of their classroom as a lab. The course, running simultaneously with MED 515, provides the learner the opportunity to study the translation of weekend and between month learning into their classroom practice. Implementing research based practices using inquiry questions and analysis of impact on learners provides the learning community member with new insights into their beliefs and practices to share with and receive coaching from colleagues on upcoming weekends.

Semester Two

MED525 Developing Principles for Practice

(4 cr.) In this learning experience, learning community members continue their journey of self-study, engaging in critical reflection on beliefs and current practices in relationship to their vision for who they want to become as teachers. Investigation of research based practices of instruction, the discipline (content area), the classroom environment, and use of a backward design assessment process capable of promoting student learning makes it possible for the learner to align principles guiding all aspects of his/her practice. The development of research based principles of practice provides learning community members a springboard for implementing and evaluating sound teaching strategies in the context of their classroom. The accompanying action research process provides the community member the opportunity to study personally chosen questions related to the implementation of their principles of practice.

MED526 Translating Principles into Practice

(2 cr.) This learning experience focuses on the learner’s use of their classroom as a lab. The course provides the learner the opportunity to construct specific units and materials for the translation of weekend and between month learning into their classroom practice. Implementation of newly formulated principles of practice incorporating the backward design process and using the action research process to examine its impact provide the learning community member with new insights to share with and receive coaching from colleagues on upcoming weekends.

Semester Three

MED535 Using Discipline Based Standards to Support Learning

(4 cr.) In this learning experience, extended theory based research focused on standards and teaching within a specific discipline provides the community member with strategies to build practices of instruction, environment, and assessment into a coherent framework for comprehensive change. Collaborative research and development with community members assists the learner’s formation of integrated strategies across instruction, content standards in the discipline, classroom environment, and assessments using the backward design process. Construction of an action research plan provides a means for incorporating backward designed assessments into the examination of resultant changes in student learning.

MED536 Planning with Learner Success in Mind

(2 cr.) This experience focuses on attending to supporting learners’ acquisition and expression of their learning. It is designed to focus community member research on developing expertise in an area such as brain research, research on how students learn and develop, and/or learning styles and the parent/community support processes. The course provides the community member the opportunity to translate research focused on the support of student learning into the instructional planning process. Community members share knowledge and formulate principles for incorporating learning support strategies into their individual classroom change plans. The action research planning process provides a means for the community member to examine questions related to the impact learning support strategies have on student learning.

Semester Four

MED545 Integrating Principles of Practice and the Discipline

(4 cr.) In this experience, learning community members focus on becoming collaborative learners through critical reflection on research based principles and practices in relationship to their vision for their own practice. Learning community investigation into authentic interdisciplinary learning experiences supports the learning community member’s ability to engage in interdisciplinary planning and instruction. Collaborative exploration of how to create authentic interdisciplinary learning through shared collegial learning at a professional conference provides the community member with the ability to build life relevance into the learning process. An expectation that community members create a parent involvement plan as a tool for collaborative learner support provides the learning community member with experience collaborating directly with stakeholders in promoting learner success.

MED546 Integrating Action Research and Backward Design

(2 cr.) This learning experience focuses on the learner’s use of their classroom as a lab. The course, running simultaneously with MED 545, provides the learner the opportunity to study the translation of their plan for change into their classroom practice. Learners assess implementation of a change plan created using the backward design process integrating standards based learning and learning support strategies. Multiple assessment techniques used in the action research process examine impact of changes made and provide the learning community member with new insights to share with and receive coaching from colleagues.

Semester Five

MED555 Principles of Teacher Leadership

(4 cr.) In the last semester learning experience, learning community members continue their journey of self-study, focusing on becoming collaborative teacher leaders through critical reflection on principles and practices in action in relationship to a vision for education. Learning community investigation into "real life/applied learning" across disciplines supports the learning community member’s incorporation of authentic and problem based learning experiences into their practice. Collaborative exploration of how to create authentic learning within a discipline through shared collegial learning at a professional conference provides the community member with the ability to build complexity and flexibility into the learning process. The incorporation of school, parent, community, and technology resources into the learning process exercises the community member’s ability to serve the educational community as a teacher leader.

MED556 Teacher Leadership in Action

(2 cr.) This learning experience focuses on being a collaborative leader promoting collegial learning and action. The course, running simultaneously with MED 555, provides the community member with the opportunity to inform the profession by sharing the results of their action research based change. The community member, as a teacher leader, prepares and leads a seminar at a conference gathering of all M.Ed. communities. The community member provides readings and questions grounded in the literature based research expertise and classroom based research expertise they have gained through self-directed inquiry. In kind, the community member prepares to collaborate with other community members planning to attend his/her seminar by having potential seminar participants share questions and ideas online prior to the seminar session. At the close of the semester, as a final reflective process, the community member is asked to develop a plan for continued personal and professional growth.