Annotated Transcript

Professor: Mary Beth Connolly

This course equips educators with effective strategies for teaching math while promoting equity and inclusion. It emphasizes planning lessons that encourage reasoning, involve all students, and focus on children’s thinking. Teachers learn to understand students as math learners by analyzing their problem-solving strategies and considering the impacts of race, language, and identity. The course also highlights the importance of building relationships with students, families, and communities to support learning and challenge systemic inequities in math education.

Professor: Carol Opie

This course builds on concepts from TE 301 and TE 405, focusing on teaching language arts in grades K-6. It emphasizes organizing instruction based on student needs, classroom context, and Common Core State Standards. A major focus is using assessment data to inform teaching in reading, writing, and discussion. The course also aims to develop participants' professional habits, subject knowledge, and classroom management skills through collaboration with mentor teachers and instructors.

Professor: Christina Ciaverilla

In this course, we explore how to teach social studies through an equity-focused and inclusive lens, emphasizing the importance of representing diverse histories, perspectives, and experiences. We learn to design lessons that encourage critical thinking about power, identity, and social justice while engaging students in meaningful civic discourse. The course challenges us to reflect on our own biases and consider how systemic inequalities shape both the content and delivery of social studies instruction. Through collaboration, practice, and feedback, we develop strategies to create learning environments that empower all students to see themselves as active participants in history and society.

Professor: Martha Beitner-Miller

This course is similar to TE 801 and 802, but its main focus is to build our knowledge as scientific teachers. It helped expand our knowledge on how to have inclusive and equitable science lessons. Also, it dives deeper into how to make our students enjoy learning new scientific topics. 

Professor: Mary Wever

In this course, we examine how key principles of educational psychology inform effective teaching with technology. We apply the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework to design engaging, accessible lessons that integrate content, pedagogy, and digital tools. The course encourages us to build and learn from a professional learning network to enhance our instructional practices. We also develop essential mindsets for using technology creatively to support and deepen student learning.

Professor: Nicole Zumpano

In this course, we learn to identify and explain problems of practice within our own professional contexts. We use strategic questioning and research to define, investigate, and better understand these challenges. The course guides us in designing research-based surveys and analyzing data to develop informed solutions. Finally, we evaluate the effectiveness of these solutions to improve practice and support meaningful change.

Professor: Anne Heintz

In this course, we learn to design thoughtful and creative online learning environments that support diverse learners. We critically examine the key elements of effective online learning, including accessibility, engagement, and instructional design. The course prepares us to successfully teach in online settings by emphasizing careful planning, active facilitation, and ongoing reflection. Through hands-on practice, we develop the skills needed to adapt and improve online instruction for meaningful student learning.

Professor: Zachary Rondot

In this course, we evaluate six major theories of learning to understand their foundations and practical implications. We then develop our own personal theory of learning, using industry-recognized terminology and citing influential scholars. This process helps us clarify our beliefs about teaching and learning. Ultimately, we apply these beliefs to design and improve learning experiences that align with our educational philosophy and meet the needs of our learners.

Professor: Matthew Koehler

In this course, we build a digital portfolio that highlights our achievements and growth throughout the master’s program, creating a professional resource to share with others. The portfolio, along with key written reflections and a final presentation, fulfills Michigan State University’s requirement for the Comprehensive Exam. This experience allows us to thoughtfully reflect on our academic journey and synthesize what we’ve learned into a cohesive narrative. 

Professor: David Wong

In this course, we develop the skills to critically evaluate existing research by gaining a solid understanding of fundamental research methods, strategies, and ethical practices. We also learn to generate new insights about teaching by conducting our own systematic investigations into our educational practices. This dual focus helps us become both informed consumers and thoughtful producers of educational knowledge. Ultimately, the course empowers us to apply research principles to improve teaching and learning in meaningful ways.