Curriculum Changes

1999-2000

The Curriculum & Instruction and Special Education/Communications Disorders departments have started to design an elementary education program that will lead to a dual degree in elementary education and special education. The Curriculum & Instruction department is also developing an alternative program that will allow a bilingual education endorsement instead of the dual degree mentioned above. The college is considering no longer offering a stand-alone elementary education degree because of the challenges teachers face in the classroom today. Further discussions will occur in 2000-01.

The Human Performance, Dance and Recreation department updated course requirements and sequence for major and minor programs of study. The Bachelor of Science in Physical Education was changed to a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology.

The School Psychology Program, an initiative led by the departments of Counseling and Educational Psychology and Special Education/Communication Disorders, successfully completed its fourth year.

The Educational Management and Development department made a major change in the expectations of their Ph.D. and Ed.D. candidates for their internship requirements. These changes are delineated in their Doctoral Handbook marking a difference in the types of internship experiences expected of the different degrees.

Dual Bachelor Degrees

The College of Education/College of Arts and Sciences discussions concerning dual bachelor degrees continued. During 1998-1999, the department of History and the CoE began to discuss the need for a combined BA in History and BS in Education with a major in Secondary Education and a teaching field in Social Studies. Further discussions in 1999-2000 with the History department showed that the initial concept was not feasible due to the significant number of general education hours required. A hybrid program was developed in which some required undergraduate education courses would be taken while working on the history degree. Upon receiving the history degree, the candidates then enter the graduate licensing program in secondary education. This will allow the candidate to move more efficiently through the licensing process. The program was approved by various councils in the CoE and will begin implementation in Fall 2000.

2000-2001

Curricular Projects

In the past we have discussed the possibility of offering dual degrees with various other colleges within the university. This has not proven feasible because of the number of credit hours that would be necessary for the candidates to complete. We have, however, in conjunction with the colleges of Engineering and Arts & Sciences, developed a hybrid program that allows candidates in certain disciplines who are interested in becoming teachers to complete the requirements for secondary licensure (and potentially a masters degree) within one year of completing their baccalaureate studies. This hybrid program calls for the candidates to complete six education courses as electives within their regular program and then upon acceptance to the graduate school complete six more courses, including candidate teaching. Although a new program, we have already received considerable response and have several candidates participating.

Within the department of Human Performance, Dance and Recreation, the Physical Education Teacher Education program has added teaching field experience opportunities as co-requisites to each of the pedagogy courses. This structure expedites the opportunity for candidates to apply pedagogical knowledge and skills in a field-based setting. Also, PEP 342 replaced EDUC 466 in the athletic training education degree plan to allow more competencies to be addressed in the curriculum. The department discussed the revision of the kinesiology curriculum to better serve candidates. Revision will be initiated during the next academic year.

Reflecting the guidance of our Conceptual Framework, the department of Special Education/ Communication Disorders has systematically made changes in its programs that are sensitive to the needs of practitioners and respective of professional associations. These changes have included a reorganization of courses in the CD undergraduate program in a way that reduces the total number of hours in which candidates must enroll while at the same time ensuring that all ASHA competencies are still met. In Special Education, the program in deaf education has continued to revive its coursework with the assistance of part-time graduate faculty members.