Overview- ECI 698 Graduate Seminar -- M. Ed Capstone Experience

Access to the course is Aug. 26, 2002 at http://www.nau.edu/webct

This is an informational overview.

Welcome to this capstone seminar course hosted on the Internet. This format allows us to expand our community of learners across the state and beyond. This is especially helpful to you as you reflect and synthesize on your experiences in the M.Ed. program. The discussion forum will become a valuable source of
inspiration and discussion about teaching. A very large part of the learning that occurs in this course will take place in the discussion forum where you share with your peers what you have learned from your individuall research projects. There is NOT going to be a required text for this course. There may be an article or two to download from the Cline Library but most of the content will be from your previous course work and the research and writing that you will be doing. One of
our program's goals is to encourage you to become a "reflective practitioner" after the model by Schon. This course has been designed with this as its primary goal.

Please understand that this is NOT a correspondence course. This is in every way a public forum, a graduate seminar class with weekly discussion topics. Participation in the discussion forum is asynchronous. As a working adult, you will set aside time during the week to respond to the prompt for the week and to at least 3 other students. You will also have a research paper (3-5 pages in length) as outlined in the 5 modules. The "FINAL" is an exhibition, posted to the Discussion Forum, of what you have learned across the
whole program.

Course Requirements:
*THREE Research papers 15 pts. each = 45 pts.)
APA style citations (APA Style Link)& bibliography, 1.5 line spaced, include a title page. Submit papers to
the course instructor via email.(sherry.markel@nau.edu) The papers must be in either MSWord.doc format or plain text (.txt) format. Do NOT use MS Works. Use web sites, texts from previous courses, and journal articles (remember you can research the Cline Library Journals on line!) to research from. These should be 3-5 pages long, should reflect what you have learned about the topic, and should include at least 3 sources. You will post a short, 2 paragraph synopsis of each paper to the discussion forum to share your work with your peers.

APA Style Example: Eysenck, M.W. (1977). Human memory: Theory, reasearch, and individual differences. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.

(*If you experience difficulty accessing the research functions available at Cline Library on line, you can email beth.schuck@nau.edu for more detailed instructions.)
*Weekly participation in the Discussion Forum (within WebCT)(2 pts. each week =10 pts.)
*Capstone Project - "Final Exhibition" in Discussion Forum (45 pts.)
*TOTAL possible course points = 100 pts.

Course Modules:
1)Begin your research by examining the work of 3 educational researchers who have had the most influence on your own practice. Put this research into notes that will become part of your first research paper.

2) Contexts of Schools & Learning
Research how have schools changed over the last 100 years, what are the core values
reflected in our schools of today? What have we learned about how students learn?

3) Historical Foundations
In what ways are you a prisoner of your own biography? Survey journal articles over
at least a 3 year time period. What seemed to be the hot topics?

4) Teaching to make a Difference
Students are changing. What have you learned about this process of change? What
are the curricular and pedagogical implications? How does this interface with your own school experiences?

5) Putting It Together/Summing it Up
Look back over the other two papers. Based on this research: What is "best practice?" What do you know about teaching, curriculum development, how students learn after completing this program of study for your master's degree
that you didn't know, or didn't know as much about, before you started? Third research paper is due: Summing it UP.

*FINAL - Capstone Project
Take the best of your best, by the end of this course, you will have 20-25 pages of
synthesized research. Choose what you think best communicates what you have found to be
the most important knowledge you have gained over your program of study. Translate this
into a presentation for your instructor and colleagues in the Discussion Forum. There will be an item to post this exhibition.