This weekly seminar provides students with opportunities to examine curriculum development models, develop an integrated curriculum unit utilizing state and national content area standards, review researched based models of classroom management, and engage in dialogue with practicing teachers regarding numerous aspects of teaching and student learning. Additional topics covered include the arts in education, physical education, legal obligations of teachers, and home-school communication.

Students participate in full-time student teaching in early childhood and elementary classrooms for 12 weeks. During this semester-long field-based placement, students hone classroom management skills, implement an extended integrated curriculum unit, deliver lessons in all content areas, and develop a wide range of assessment skills. The practicum culminates in two weeks of Lead Teaching, during which the student is responsible for managing all aspects of the classroom program.

Discussions and fieldwork provide the student with an opportunity to understand the classroom as a learning community. The tutorial includes several meetings focusing on the student's participant observations and assigned readings. Fieldwork includes a minimum of 20 hours on site, individually scheduled in early childhood (pre K-2) or elementary (1-6) settings. Assessment includes in-progress reports and a final project related to fieldwork. Course graded on a credit/no credit basis.

Students participate in full-time student teaching in middle or secondary classrooms for 12 weeks. During this semester-long field-based placement, students hone classroom management skills, design and implement curriculum, and develop a wide range of assessment skills. Students work with classroom teachers and college supervisors to address Professional Teaching Standards as required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Candidate Assessment of Performance.

This is a fieldwork-based independent study course. During the fall and spring semesters it involves 20 to 40 hours of individually scheduled fieldwork in a secondary or middle-school classroom or educational program. Students keep a reflective journal, read relevant articles and essays, meet regularly with the instructor, and write a final report.

This weekly seminar provides students with opportunities to design and discuss case studies involving adolescents in middle and secondary school settings, review researched-based models of instruction, and classroom management, and engage in dialogue with professionals regarding numerous aspects of teaching and student learning. Additional topics covered include reviewing the legal obligations of teachers, addressing the needs of students with disabilities, English language learners, and developing effective communication between home and school.

This two-credit independent study course, which is the culminating experience of the educational studies minor, requires analysis and synthesis of key ideas that emerged during focused study in the minor. Students will work with a faculty advisor of the Educational Studies Program Committee as they plan, write, and present a capstone paper.

This course explores how home and school learning environments influence the development of language and literacy skills of children ages 3-8. It examines situations in which families and schools, although utilizing different languages, dialects, and ways of communicating, can work together to enhance children's language learning. Particular attention is given to children's development of academic language -- the written and spoken language needed to understand and create texts required for success in school.

As U.S. racial group populations are on the rise, educational institutions need to prepare for racial diversity reflected in classrooms from elementary school to college. In this lab course, students will use qualitative research methods and social justice frameworks to code and analyze three distinct data sets, one collected from Puerto Rican parents in Holyoke; one from a college course on social justice; and one from pre-service teachers in public schools.

How do we make decisions, form attachments, and learn a language? Can we inherit schizophrenia? Why are we fearful of some situations and not others? What factors influence the way we form attitudes or develop prejudices? This course addresses such questions to provide an overview of current research in psychology.