Problems in Elementary School Curriculum

Access to the course is June 4 to July 3, 2002 at http://www.nau.edu/webct

This is an informational overview.

You must be registered for the course to have access to the syllabus and course pages beginning June 4.

Students cannot gain access to the course without a DANA account.

Goals/Outcomes : Every participant will practice professional reflection and dialog with class peers. A broadening of vision and networking links will be developed within this cyber community. Direct, practical application ideas are encouraged as well as discussions of broad, national trends in education and research interests. The technological links provided by Cline Library and the hot buttons will ease the distribution of reading materials as well as sharpen the technology skills of the users. Participants will have more tools to examine their own practice in their classrooms and. Curricular decisions and the consequences of those decisions will be better understood.

Please understand that this is NOT a self-paced correspondence course. This is an on-line graduate seminar course. You will be discussing specific topics each week with other educators across the state. Please do not go ahead of assigned dates for assignments.

REQUIRED Text: J. Allen Queen (1999). Curriculum Practice in the Elementary & Middle School. Englewood Cliffs: New Jersey. Merril.

*You may purchase the text on line at: AMAZON.COM or the NAU Bookstore

Course Requirements:

*Short Bio introducing yourself - Discussion Forum.

*Read the assigned articles per week.(from web site) and text chapters.

*Short -answer 1 to 2 questions in Module assignments weekly after reading assignments. ( total 25 pts)

*Engage in Discussion Forum every week - day and time of your choice. First posting is succinct summary of important points of readings. Then respond to at least 3 other student postings.( total of 15 pts.)

*Mid-term exam - Week 3 -(only available 06-16-02 to 06-23-02) Go to Exam/Quizzes section of course to take this quiz, (20 pts.) *

GROUP Project Posting - grade level issues and concerns - must be up in the Disscussion Area by end of 4th week. (20 pts) You will chose which grade level to share your knowledge about in summarizing Chapter 6, 7, or 8 (choose 1 chapter)for the rest of the class. You will work with other students through email and the discussion area to decide what information you will present and how you will present it. You may put together a web site or post summaries to the discussion area for the class to read. YOU will decide this as a group. Post your name and email address in the discussion item for the chapter/grade level you want to work on during the first week and then begin immediately to decide what other information to present along with the chapter summary.

*5-6 page RESEARCH paper due by Monday of the 5th week. The paper is an exploration of a curriculum issue. APA Style (Library Link for APA Style Information), 1.5 line spacing, at least 4 references, and 5-6 pages in length. You must use a minimum of 4 sources and these must be cited in your bibliography. A short summary of this research work will be posted in the discussion forum by the student by the same date. The topic must be submitted to the instructor for approval by the second week of class. (25 pts.)

*Final - (20 pts.) on line - Exam Section of Course.

Total possible course points = 125 pts.

**Do the WEBCT TUTORIAL (author Paul Alley)before you begin the course work. **

To successfully participate in this course you should follow these steps:

1. Go to the Course Content Section and click on the module for the appropriate week.

2. Read the content pages through and note reading assignments from text and articles to download.

3. Check the Course Calendar for due dates (weekly assignments run from Monday to Sunday.)

4. In the Course Content Section click on the assignment link for the appropriate module and week.

5. Complete the Assignment in a word processing program. Save your assignment as a .doc or .txt file.Example: Week1.doc

6. Send your assignment as an email attachment to the instructor using WebCT mail. Please review the tutorial at: (WEBCT Tutorial) author Paul Alley.

7. Join the discussion area- read the first comment. This is the initiating prompt for the discussion and often mirrors the focus of the assignments for that week. There are discussion items for EVERY WEEK.

8. Log back into the discussion the next day or so and be sure to respond to at least 3 other students.

students.