CI 610 Issues in Learning
3 cr hrs
This course will identify national and regional issues surrounding education and the ways these issues impact educators.
CI 615 Foundations of Education/ Cultures in Education
3 cr hrs
This course will explore issues, problems and solutions relevant to schooling in a pluralistic society by viewing schools as social institutions that reflect and influence both the values and the cultural dynamics of a society at large. Issues of race, social class, and gender will be explored as factors of inequity that shape students and teachers both in and out of the classroom. Starting with their own lives, students investigate education as an agent of social change.
Class work as well as experiential assignments will assist participants’ exploration of their own as well as their students’ identities in order to identify the effects of various factors on the teaching experience, educational culture, and school change efforts. Special attention will be given to considerations necessary to implement action research projects.
CI 620 Fundamentals of Action Research.
3 cr hrs
This course provides a structured approach to the practice of action research. Educators learn how to identify relevant issues, become involved in collaborative inquiry, and use data and research to inform their practice, improve student academic success, and contribute to positive change in their schools. Students will begin to apply action-research methodologies in their own environments.
CI 630 Changes in Education
3 cr hrs
This course will focus on systemic and structural change at the school and classroom levels. Case studies of school change models, both traditional and experimental, will be examined and discussed as possibilities and springboards for candidates’ own action research projects. Emphasis will be placed on the collaborative nature of successful school change as well as analysis of examples of failures. Guest speakers will also provide insight into dimensions of school change.
CI 645 Data Collection and Proposal Development
6 cr hrs
Educators will engage in reflective practices as they develop a plan for action research, collect and analyze appropriate data, and develop data-informed decisions/actions to improve student learning and enhance professional growth.
CI 665 School and Community Partnerships
3 cr hrs
The purpose of the School and Community Partnerships course is for students to connect business and community resources with school resources to enrich students’ educational experience and increase student achievement and/or knowledge. Real world examples will inform students’ inquiry into ways partnerships can be forged and sustained. Particular consideration will be paid to the schools and communities in which students work.
CI 670 Legal Issues: Litigation v. Advocacy
3 cr hrs
This course is designed to familiarize educators with the legal system as it pertains to the educational process in order to empower educators to employ educational law to students’ advantage.
CI 675 Project Implementation
6 cr hrs
In this course, educators will use collected data to enact change. At the end of the implementation period, students will engage in reflective assessment of themselves and their program.
CI 650 Elective: Mentoring the Researcher
min 5 cr hrs
Additional courses / directed studies can be requested at any time for students seeking to better understand specific issues related to their projects. Students are required to take two hours of elective courses during their coursework.