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Graduate Catalog 2004-2006: Courses

Education

EDU601 Contemporary Issues in Education (3 semester hours)
This course is designed to initiate a professional conversation among individual students, school teams, and cohorts about the major issues facing America's schools. The questions that emerge will become the focus for subsequent independent inquiry in master's program classes. No prerequisites

EDU602 Assessment in the Schools (3 semester hours)
This course is designed to develop skills in selecting, developing, and interpreting assessment methods that will provide reliable, valid, and fair measurement of valued educational achievement targets. No prerequisites

EDU603 The Individual, Cognition and Learning (3 semester hours)
The focus of this course is the development of an understanding of the individual as learner and teacher and the implications for classroom instruction and student success. No prerequisites

EDU604 The Learning Environment (3 semester hours)
The focus of this course is the development of an understanding of the learner's whole environment as it affects the learning process. No prerequisites

EDU605 Technology in the School of the Future (3 semester hours)
This course studies the impact of technology on curriculum design, classroom practice, and the learning patterns of students with emphasis on the integration of multi-media, telecommunications, authoring systems, and interactive resources throughout the instructional program. No prerequisites

EDU606 Scholarship Applied to Teaching (3 semester hours)
This course serves as a review of the development of emerging best instructional practice in the American classroom. Emphasis will be given to implementation of instructional strategies resulting from educational research. Prerequisite: EDU601

EDU607 Introduction to Action Research (3 semester hours)
The course is designed to initiate a professional conversation among individual students, school teams and cohorts about the major issues facing America's schools. The questions that emerge will become the focus for subsequent independent inquiry in MAT/MAEL program classes. A writing sample essay will be scheduled in this course. No prerequisites

EDU660 School Administration (3 semester hours)
This course provides students with an orientation to the administration of public elementary and secondary educational institutions. The impact of local school districts, governmental agencies and interest groups on each other with respect to policy formulation, decision-making and program implementation will be explored. No prerequisites

EDU661 Educational Leadership (3 semester hours)
This course describes the role of the educational leader in the school as one who creates a vision of an educationally better culture in the school and then plans and organizes times and resources to communicate this vision to teachers, students, and parents. No prerequisites

EDU662 School Supervision (3 semester hours)
This course provides students with an introduction to the supervision of instruction. Supervisory strategies are elaborated with special attention to the improvement and enrichment of instruction through faculty development approaches No prerequisites

EDU663 Curriculum Development and Evaluation (3 semester hours)
This course will introduce the principles of curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on curriculum development and design, implementation and delivery, and organization and evaluation. No prerequisites

EDU664 School and Community Relations (3 semester hours)
This course provides an overview of the importance of community involvement in developing effective schools. Ways in which parents and community members can be involved in the schools will be explored. Techniques will be developed for fostering better parent-teacher communication and for fostering better public relations with the community. No prerequisites

EDU665 School Law (3 semester hours)
This course provides the school administrator with an in-depth examination of the legal basis of public education in the U.S. Special reference is made to current legal issues and major court decisions. First Amendment rights, due process, privacy, discrimination, desegregation, special education, multicultural difference, and related matters are examined in terms of their impact on the school administrator. No prerequisites

EDU666 School Finance (3 semester hours)
This course studies the history of school finance with emphasis on the significant role of the local property tax in school funding. The role of state and federal funding is examined, along with issues of equity, adequacy and appropriateness. Emphasis is given to budget construction, fiscal planning, and management of capital outlay programs. No prerequisites

EDU667 Practicum in Educational Leadership (3 semester hours)
This course will involve students of educational leadership in practical administrative and supervisory projects to be carried out in a field placement, under the supervision of the program instructor. Field placements will ensure that students have experiences with diverse populations of students. No prerequisites

EDU5100 Classroom Dynamics (2 semester hours)
This course is designed to introduce students to the Illinois State Standards for Learning and the Illinois Professional Teacher Standards. Expectations for student learning will provide a focal point analyzing how a standards-based education system is a win-win situation for students, teachers, administrators and parents. This course will also introduce students to various philosophies that have influenced educational policy and practice. The student will examine the principles and ideologies behind educational systems, curricula, goals and professional dilemmas faced by practicing educators. Students are introduced to the thought of influential educators to promote and encourage the development of their own philosophy of education. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test

EDU5200 Standards, History, Philosophy of Education (4 semester hours)
This course is designed to introduce students to the Illinois State Standards for Learning and the Illinois Professional Teacher Standards. Expectations for student learning will provide a focal point analyzing how a standards-based education system is a win-win situation for students, teachers, administrators and parents. This course will also introduce students to various philosophies that have influenced educational policy and practice. The student will examine the principles and ideologies behind educational systems, curricula, goals and professional dilemmas faced by practicing educators. Students are introduced to the thought of influential educators to promote and encourage the development of their own philosophy of education. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test

EDU5260 Advanced Educational Psychology (4 semester hours)
This course will explore knowledge that is essential for effective teaching and learning and focus on the individual's growth, development and learning. Learning is the product of complex interactions among student, teacher, family and society. The students will explore the cognitive, physical, emotional, moral and social development of children from conception to age eighteen. Special attention will be given to the development of literacy, language, the interaction between growth and learning and diverse learners all in relation to the classroom teacher. In this course, the student will identify and explore effective classroom practices through current professional research; critically evaluate current trends in education with respect to their support in literature and their currency in educational discourse, and explore major theorists and theories that have provided the foundational grounding for current research and practice. Prerequisite: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test

EDU5300 Assessment and Approaches to Learning (4 semester hours)
This course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge needed to implement a variety of instructional and assessment models. This will include understanding the theoretical underpinnings and important theorists of social and cognitive constructivism who contributed to the development and the analysis of student achievement in relation to these models. The following models will be studied: cognitive learning, critical thinking, social interaction, including group work and cooperative learning; inductive thinking; concept attainment; integrative thinking; problem based learning; direct instruction, and lecture-discussion. Within the teaching and learning of the above listed models, exploration will also include the premise that assessment of student achievement plays a vital role in instruction and the main goal is to improve learning for all students. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a background check, EDU5100, EDU5200 and EDU5260.

EDU5360 Methods of Teaching Mathematics and Science in the Elementary School (4 semester hours)
Students will develop an understanding of the methodologies and approaches to teaching and integrating mathematics and science. The purpose of this course is to explore, create and utilize a variety of instructional math and science strategies that are developmentally appropriate and motivating for the elementary school child. Mathematics and science is systematic combination of quantitative and spatial thinking. As such, mathematics and science are an integral part of our everyday lives and the integration and learning of both are important pieces to the elementary curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to participate in activities integrating both math and science in order to facilitate the learning, the application, and the implementation of concepts and procedures to real-world situations. In addition, this course involves preservice teachers in a variety of problem-solving activities designed to develop meanings and properties of mathematical and scientific concepts. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a criminal background check, and EDU5100, EDU5200, EDU5300 and EDU5260

EDU5370 Adolescent Development and Learning (4 semester hours)
The physical, cognitive, social, emotional, ideological, sexual and gender role, racial/ethnic and vocational development of pre-adolescents and adolescents, and the relationship of adolescents' development to learning and school achievement.

EDU5440 Middle School: Mission and Methods (4 semester hours)
This course explores some of the key issues impacting middle schools and secondary schools in our society today. These issues are analyzed in an attempt to clarify the changing roles of the schools, teachers, and students in our increasingly complex multicultural society. Using current research, case studies, and class projects, students will discuss and analyze issues that shape educational institutions and current practices. Students will also explore strategies teachers can use to address some of these issues in their own classrooms. During the course, there will be opportunities for students to apply source concepts in the construction of an ideal middle school and to analyze different strategies for reading in the content areas.

EDU5450 Methods of Teaching Mathematics: Middle School (3 semester hours)
Methods of teaching mathematics at the middle school level are explored with emphasis on research-based curriculum models that promote and support mathematical understanding in adolescent students. The course includes strategies for adapting instruction to meet the needs of multicultural and exceptional students.

EDU5480 Methods of Teaching Reading, Language Arts and Social Studies in the Elementary School (4 semester hours)
Students will develop an understanding of teaching reading, language arts and social studies in the elementary classroom with an emphasis on principles, trends, methods, materials, approaches and strategies including a study and discussion of basal, literature-based, individualized, reading workshop, guided reading and language experience based and development of an integrated social studies curriculum permeated with the methods of reading and language arts in relation to current research and practice. Students will learn how to develop a community of learners in a classroom where the teacher interacts with the children while applying learning theories and gain an understanding of how children learn best. In addition, students will learn to design and assess instruction to meet the Illinois Learning Standards in the areas of English Language Arts and Social Studies for elementary Students. The students will also gain experience in planning reading lessons designed to meet the needs of children from various cultural and experiential backgrounds. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a background check, and EDU5100, EDU5200, EDU5260 and EDU5300

EDU5720 Reading and Writing in the Content areas (Secondary Education students) (4 semester hours)
Students will develop an understanding of teaching reading and writing in the content areas in the secondary classroom with an emphasis on principles, trends, methods, materials, approaches and strategies. Based on theories of interactive language and writing development, the course presents methodology designed to help teachers develop literacy and comprehension abilities in the content areas. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a background check, and EDU5100, EDU5200, EDU5260

EDU5750 Methods Practicum (2 semester hours)
This course is designed as a field experience to be taken concurrently with a Methods course. Students are required to spend time in an assigned classroom over the course of the term and are responsible for observing, planning, teaching, and evaluating the assigned group/s of students. The students will be expected to design and deliver lessons, will have the opportunity to evaluate and use teaching resources and curriculum materials, utilize classroom technology, opportunities to create and apply assessment instruments, reflect upon their experiences through journaling and collaborate with practicing teachers, the college professor, peers and the elementary or secondary student. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a background check, and EDU5100, EDU5200, EDU5260, EDU5300

EDU5820 Secondary Methods of Teaching (4 semester hours)
This course presents techniques that are effective in teaching in the content areas. During the course those students who are preparing to teach Math or in the Sciences have separate sessions and activities from those who are preparing to teach English or in the social Studies. The course includes lesson planning, classroom arrangement, curriculum design, alternative teaching strategies, and evaluation. In addition to the classroom hours there is a simultaneous practicum. This is usually the last course the student takes prior to student teaching. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a background check, and EDU5100, EDU5200, EDU5260, EDU5300, and EDU5720

EDU6750 Student Teaching (1(2 semester hours)
Student Teaching is the capstone experience of Aurora University's College of Education. It is the segment of that program when a student is responsible for directing the learning of a group of students under the competent supervision of a certified teacher. The student is guided through experiences designed to apply the knowledge and skill gained in the classroom. In essence, the student performs the major functions of a teacher with appropriate responsibilities and supervision. Prerequisites: Consent of program chair, acceptance into the College of Education, including passing the Basic Skills Test, officially reported passing grade on the Content Area Test, maintaining a GPA of 3.00, passing a background check, and completion of professional courses. Students with an earned baccalaureate degree must satisfactorily complete 15 semester hours at Aurora University prior to student teaching.

EDU7010/8010 Introduction to Educational Research (4 semester hours)
The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the major research paradigms of educational research: quantitative and qualitative. At the same time, the course will provide the skills and knowledge necessary to critically read educational research literature. Students will examine current research practices in education, analyze research findings related to current educational issues, and analyze and evaluate the implications of those findings.

EDU7100/8100 Quantitative Educational Research (4 semester hours)
This course examines educational quantitative research design and data analysis. The course stresses the connections between research design, data analysis, and the use of computer software for statistical analysis and reporting. Topics include the use of statistical software, the relationship between research design and the appropriate selection and use of simple and complex descriptive and inferential statistics.

EDU7110/8110 School Reform/School Renewal: A Seminar (3 semester hours)
After examining specific reform/renewal movements in American education history and learning about the factors that effect and affect the success of reform/renewal, this course will turn its attention to current school reform/renewal issues, policy and initiatives and analyze them from historical, philosophical, political, economic and social perspectives. This course is considered foundational to both strands of the Ed.D. Program in that it provides students with necessary background perspectives to understand and discuss current trends, issues, research, policies, principles and practices of education in America.

EDU7120 Policy Analysis/Research in Education (4 semester hours)
This course will focus on the elements of public policy analysis/research. It will examine the purposes, conceptual frameworks, methodologies, design and strategies which comprise policy analyses/research, particularly the relationship between policy evaluation/analysis and decision-making in education. Students will be introduced to the analytical tools necessary for policy analysis/research and will learn to view policy and policy-making from different perspectives: as rational problem-solving, organizational habit, and political settlement; as the effort to symbolize key values; as expression or temporary resolution of moral dilemmas. The course will address current problems and issues in community relations as they affect administrative practices in the areas of policy analysis and research. This course will consider internal relationships, such as those among various components of the school district and between the board of education and the district office.

EDU7130 The Dynamics of Educational Organizations: A Seminar (4 semester hours)
Examination of the conceptual and theoretical bases for understanding educational organizations. The course will critically analyze traditional and alternative assumptions about organizations, how they function, and why people in organizations behave as they do. The impact of information, power, beliefs, resources, professions, controls, incentives, organizational structure, and environment as they pertain to education will be discussed. The course will enable students to define the organizational setting of their institutions and implement appropriate management theories and processes in institutional problem solving.

EDU7140 Seminar in Advanced Education Law (3 semester hours)
This course will analyze the impact of state and federal laws on schooling and educational practice, and on the interactions among participants in education such as teachers, students, parents and administrators. It will also provide educators with the conceptual and practical skills to handle the legal function of educational administration and to become proactive advocates regarding educational policy and law.

EDU7150 Advanced Human Resources Administration (3 semester hours)
This course will examine various theories, practice and research in human resources administration. Through fictionalized and local case studies and relevant literature, students will learn about patterns and practices in educational personnel management, and issues and trends in human resources administration.

EDU7170 Administration of Educational Facilities (4 semester hours)
Through case studies, field experiences and the literature, this course will explore the problems, issues, research and trends in the design, maintenance and utilization of educational facilities.

EDU7190/8190 Qualitative Research in Education (4 semester hours)
Building upon "Introduction to Educational Research," the first part of this course will examine research design and data collection for a number of types of qualitative research: lived experience, narrative inquiry, life history/oral history, focus groups, ethnography, case study, documentary research, ethnography, microethnography, grounded theory, descriptive/interpretive, critical theory/feminist/action research. Issues such as ethics, validity and reliability and the role of the practitioner-researcher will be addressed. The second part of this course will address data analysis and representation examining types of data analysis and management and critical issues in qualitative research.

EDU7200/8200 Advanced Quantitative Research (3 semester hours)
This course builds upon "Introduction to Educational Research" and""Quantitative Research in Education I". The first part of this course will examine advanced topics in quantitative research design and data collection, and various data analysis techniques. The use of SPSS in data analysis will be stressed. The quantitative research concerns of individual students will be addressed in the second part of this course.

EDU7210/8210 Advanced Qualitative Research (3 semester hours)
Building upon "Introduction to Educational Research" and""Qualitative Research in Education I," this course will emphasize data analysis, its assumptions, variations, and processes. The course will also examine various ways of presenting and communicating the findings of qualitative research, and students will read and analyze examples of qualitative research. Issues such as ethics, validity and reliability will continue to be addressed.

EDU7220 Economics of Education (4 semester hours)
This course will focus on the relationship between economics and the provision of educational services. Current topics in educational economics such as returns to investment in education, school choice, teacher compensation, accountability, and privatization of education will be examined. Students will learn how to analyze issues from an economic perspective. As well, the course will examine current problems in school finance, including costs, ability to support schools, and financial implications of educational principles. Problems of federal, state, and local school support will be examined.

EDU7230 The Dynamics of Organizational Change in Education (3 semester hours)
This course builds upon the student's knowledge of organizational theory to explore the literature about and practice of implementing change and innovation in educational organizations. The course will focus on the study of organizational change which deals with the processes, activities, and events that organizations engage in as they respond to the pressure to reform education. The course will consider these approaches: sociopsychological, rational planning, political perspectives and those associated with notions of organized anarchies. Specific topics related to change and innovation will also be considered: roles of beliefs, groups, symbols and norms, diffusion of innovations and research issues.

EDU7240 Administration of Technology for Administrators (3 semester hours)
As the title suggests, this course will have two foci. The first half of the course will concentrate on issues surrounding technology in the schools and on the administrative functions that technology requires. The second half of the course will concentrate on the functions that technology can play in efficient management and management of information. The course will include lab experiences in the second half and site visits in the first half.

EDU7260 The Modern Superintendency (3 semester hours)
Candidates will take this course toward the end of their academic program. As such, The Modern Superintendency will provide a practical, capstone experience, during which candidates will analyze, synthesize, and apply their knowledge from previous courses. The course will take a very broad perspective in examining the job of superintendents in today's schools. Students will examine: 1) the leadership characteristics of modern superintendents, 2) the role of the superintendent in 21st Century schools, and 3) the many challenges facing superintendents in today's educational environment.

EDU7830/8830 Directed Study (3 semester hours)


EDU7750 Educational Leadership Internship (3 semester hours)
The Internship in Educational Leadership provides continued practical experience in the student's major field, under close supervision and direction of local school district personnel and doctoral faculty members. The Internship is defined as the process and product that result from the application in a workplace environment of the strategic, instructional, organizational, and contextual leadership program standards associated with the Ed.D. program at Aurora University. The outcome should be a powerful synthesis of knowledge and skills useful to practicing school leaders. Each Internship is unique to the needs of that particular doctoral candidate and comes at, or near, the end of the formal program of studies. It is understood that effort expending during the internship must be comparable to formal coursework. This effort translates into approximately 60-65 clock hours devoted to the internship for three semester hours of credit.

EDU7800/8800 Dissertation (1(2 semester hours)
In this course, divided over two or more semesters, the candidates work one-on-one with members of their dissertation committee, writing and defending the proposal, submitting the proposal to the Institutional Review Board, collecting and analyzing data, writing the dissertation, and preparing for the dissertation defense.

EDU7980/8980 Independent Study (3 semester hours)


EDU8080 Curriculum Design I (4 semester hours)
This course will examine principles and research in the design and development of instructional materials and curriculum. The development cycle of conceptualization, writing, formative evaluation and revision of instructional materials, including textbooks, is examined. The realities of publishing and marketing instructional materials are explored as are procedures for evaluating and selecting instructional materials. A contemporary curriculum project and research related to that project is examined for its assumptions, development process, content and effectiveness. Candidates will design instructional materials employing best practice in the design.

EDU8120 Leadership for Curriculum Development (4 semester hours)
This course will examine, interpret critically and evaluate traditional approaches to understanding leadership as well as contemporary theories and styles of leadership. Students will examine principles underpinning leadership such as their own values, personal philosophy and beliefs.

EDU8130 Foundations for Curriculum Studies (4 semester hours)
This course will examine how decisions about what to teach are made, and will include primary source readings of a selection of philosophical analyses of curriculum. It will examine the forces influencing curriculum development and the development of the field of curriculum.

EDU8140 Curriculum Design II (4 semester hours)
This course will examine principles, practice and problems in the formulation of purposes, selection of learning experiences and organization of the curriculum. Students will critically analyze selected curricula and curricular trends (P-12) from a number of perspectives and develop a curriculum in an area of interest.

EDU8150 Technology for Educators (3 semester hours)
This course will examine the theoretical foundations of various perspectives on and techniques of learning technologies: Multimedia CD-ROMs, WorldWide Web, digital libraries, virtual reality, programming languages, computer-assisted instruction, intelligent tutoring systems, networks, discussion forums, virtual classrooms, schools and universities, etc. As well, the course will include discussions and readings about the impact of the "new' technologies on society in general and education in particular. Students will be exposed to applications for various curriculum subjects. In lab sessions, students will examine specific technologies and design a resource site for teachers.

EDU8160 Clinical Supervision and Teacher Development (3 semester hours)
This is an advanced course in supervision which focuses on the theory and practice of supervision and teacher development. The focus will be on supervision as an instructional process, the aim of which is to improve instruction. Both pre-service and in-service supervision will be discussed.

EDU8170 Curriculum for Race, Gender, Culture and Ethnicity (3 semester hours)
This course will examine educational responses to diversity and inequality of educational opportunity. Students will examine programs, policies and curricula aimed at ameliorating problems faced by disenfranchised groups in contemporary P-12 schools. Issues such as race, gender, class, exceptionalities, etc. will be addressed

EDU8220 Teaching: Current Research and Theory (3 semester hours)
This course will explore the research literature on classroom teaching and the contrasting conceptual and methodological approaches upon which the research is based. The course is designed to help students become knowledgeable about the major areas in the field, develop a critical perspective on contrasting paradigms and raise questions about the implications of research on teaching for curriculum, instruction, evaluation and professional development.