Graduate School Course Transcript

ED 870: Capstone Seminar
     Fall 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Matthew Koehler & Aric Gaunt, Spencer Greenhalgh
  • The main objective of this course was to create this portfolio. The creation of the portfolio allowed for reflection of past work and goals, while simultaneously providing the opportunity for the creation of future learning goals as well. This course also has allowed me to showcase my personality and teaching in an easy to access and share format. Finally, ED 870 has given me a platform to showcase some of the most influential papers and projects that I have created during my time at Michigan State University. 

TE 890: Independent Study
     Summer 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Paul Kurf
  • This course was taken initially to replace another that was unavailable rather suddenly. However, despite the somewhat unusual circumstances, the ability to create my "own curriculum", and therefor study what I found to be particularly useful, was a major asset to my educational experience. In this course I was able to focus in on the engineering practices of The Next Generation Science Standards, and possible implementation in the chemistry classroom. I used this opportunity to create lessons on nuclear chemistry, which is a weak area in our building's chemistry curriculum, and test it out with several students. This greatly increased my understanding of our new science standards, and allowed for me to use several of the skills I had picked up in other courses to create the lessons. 

TE 831: Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology
     Summer 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Douglas Hartman
  • Like the title would suggest, this course allowed for me to broaden my understanding of technology and its use within the classroom. While taking this particular course I was able to not only have the opportunity to explore new types of technology, but also share some of my favorite apps, sites, and tech tips. Professor Hartman also structured the course so that individuals could decide how to best implement technology into their own lessons. These strategies made this particular class incredibly useful to me. 

EAD 824: Leading Teacher Learning
     Summer 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Melissa Usiak
  • The focus of EAD 824 was a project in which I developed a year-long professional learning plan for teachers. Even though the class taught many new skills and revealed the copious planning that running professional development takes, it strongly linked these new concepts to real life through this project. I was able to gain a deep understanding of what professional development means and its importance to teaching. Much of this project was further implemented into our science professional development plan for the 2016-2017 school year. 

EAD 860: Concept of a Learning Society
     Spring 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland 
  • EAD 860, as the title implies, aimed to provide me with the most important facets of learning societies. In particular, the focus was on education and learning on a larger scale. In particular, units focused on the importance of being a learning throughout adolescence, self-directed learning, learning communities, and the importance of continued growth as one ages. Through various readings and videos, the course was able to provide me with a learning experience which strengthened my understanding of the importance of a strong education for all. 

ED 800: Concepts of Educational Inquiry
     Spring 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland
  • The aims of this course were to provide the fundamentals of what inquiry means in education. While highly theoretical, and far less practical than my other courses, ED 800 provided many opportunities to explore what inquiry means. It also provided opportunities to reflect on what good teaching is and the meaning of being a lifelong learner. Finally, through a series of papers, the course was able to illuminate many of the most important facets of teaching and learning communities. 
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EAD 801: Leadership and Organizational Development
     Fall 2015
     Instructor: Dr. William Arnold
  • EAD 801 focused heavily on the process of solving adaptive challenges in various organizations. While the course was intended for a variety of individuals in different fields, there were clear connections to education made throughout. One of the most vital components to the course was the analysis of my school, assessment of a large scale problem, and the eventual development of a plan to remediate the problem. My plan studied the dysfunction within our special education department, and gave me a much better understanding of the structure and problems without my workplace. 

TE 861B: Inquiry, Nature of Science
     Fall 2015
     Instructor: Dr. Amelia Gotwals
  • In this course, a heavy focus on inquiry in science education was taken. It became clear very quickly that there are major benefits to having students participate in discovery-based learning. Through the exploration of video case studies, I was able to find a variety of different lessons and activities I could implement in my teaching, and view master teachers in action. Creation of lesson plans were also vital in this particular course. These lessons were created with deep care and focus on The Next Generation Science Standards, inquiry practices, technology, and the nature of science. 

EAD 882: Serving the Needs of All Learners
     Summer 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Kristy Cooper 
  • EAD 882 was very interesting. It provided me with several different modules in which I was able to study various groups of students that may appear within a school. Topics included bullying, gay/lesbian students, students with substance abuse problems, low income families, and low level learners. While there was clear benefit just learning about these various groups, the most beneficial part of the course were a series of papers where I was provided a real life scenario to explore and handle. One of the most interesting of these was a study of a town in Pennsylvania who sent home optional drug testing kits to middle school parents. It was a fascinating problem to study and attempt to solve.  

TE 846: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners 
     Summer 2016
     Instructor: Dr. Dongbo Zhang 
  • The main focus of TE 846 was gaining the ability to integrate reading into my content area. A main project I accomplished while in this course was the development of lessons to improve reading comprehension in science specific texts. Through student trials I was able to study whether my methods were successful. The course also was vital in my understanding of reading skills in low level learners.