Course Overview
This course introduces students to the art and science of teaching. It provides a thorough exploration of pedagogy, curriculum, standards and practices, and the psychological factors shown by research to affect learners. In five units of study, lessons, and projects, students engage with the material through in-depth exploration and hands-on learning, to prepare them for teaching and training careers. Students are given many opportunities to be the teacher or trainer, and to explore the tasks, requirements, teaching strategies, and research-based methods that are effective and high-quality.
Unit One provides foundational information on the evolution of education, educational formats, learning theories and theorists, and the interconnectedness of knowledge areas in teaching and training careers. In Unit Two, students become teachers, creating courses and lesson plans to standards, in their exploration of instructional design and planning. They investigate resources and types of materials teachers select, use, and create.
Unit Three focuses on classroom strategies, as students role-play in simulations to devise methods of handling classroom issues and engage individual learners. They assess student and teacher performance through assessments themselves, examining the effectiveness of various methods. Unit Four focuses on the importance of a positive environment, as evidenced through research, and students identify elements that achieve this outcome. Students contrast inclusion-based education with previous instructional models from educational history. Unit Five completes the 30 lesson segments with student investigation of data collection; rankings; student records; and how data is collected, compiled, used, and stored. Students research outreach methods and accountability regulations and practices, to see how data use affects community standing and relationships, policy reform, and school reputation.
Students complete the course with a comprehensive knowledge of what is required in educational qualifications, preparing for, obtaining, and excelling in a teaching and training career they are encouraged to determine for themselves. They gain an informed awareness of research-based methods, effective strategies, the needs of individual learners, and the challenges teachers and trainers face in today’s educational landscape.
Objectives
- Categorize uses of statistics, evaluations, and reports.
- Compare learning styles and effective tools.
- Compare presentation and preparation attributes of teaching with other professions.
- Compare training and teaching goals and learning strategies.
- Identify components or types of lesson segments.
- Argue the importance of engaged learners and a positive environment.
- Describe the benefits of inclusive classrooms .
- Describe the importance of well-planned lessons for holding attention.
- Describe knowledge areas in training in contrast to teaching.
- Describe learning theory and theorists.
- Describe research on individual learners and school readiness.
- Describe teaching styles and lesson planning.
- Differentiate training pedagogy from that of teaching.
- Evaluate the needs of individual learners.
- Identify teacher-parent interactions.
- Identify the value of effective teaching styles.
- Summarize the effectiveness of balanced lesson flow.
- Summarize the evolution of learning theories.
- Summarize factors important to adult learning.
- Summarize factors in classroom environments that affect learning.
- Summarize the theory of multiple intelligences.
- Summarize ways in which materials assist individual learners.
- Summarize Worldviews in learning theory.
Teaching and Training Careers Course Requirements
There are no requirements that must be met before the student begins this course.
Teaching and Training Careers Course Outline
Unit 1 Foundations of Pedagogy
- Chapter 1: History, Learning Theories and Theorists
- Lesson: Educational Knowledge Areas
- Project: Your Pet Theory
- Lesson: Learning Theories and Student Experiences
- Lesson: The Difference Between Teaching and Training
- Project: Training Day
- Lesson: Educational Knowledge Areas
- Chapter 2: Standards and Standardized Learning
- Lesson: Defining Instructional Standards
- Project: Pick a Subject and Plan a Class to Standards
- Lesson: Assessing Instructional Standards
- Lesson: Individual Learning in Standardized Classrooms
- Project: Classroom Anecdotes as Research
- Lesson: Defining Instructional Standards
Unit 2 Planning and Preparing a Lesson
- Chapter 1: The Lesson Plan
- Lesson: Creating the Lesson Plan
- Project: Build Your Lesson Plan
- Lesson: Revising Lesson Plans for Effectiveness
- Project: Revise Your Lesson Plan
- Lesson: Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Lesson: Creating the Lesson Plan
- Chapter 2: Curriculum Resources
- Lesson: Choosing and Using Resources: Textbooks
- Project: Find a Great Textbook for Your Class
- Lesson: Resources: Teacher-Created Materials
- Project: Explore Teacher-Created Materials
- Lesson: Resources: Evaluating the Source
- Lesson: Choosing and Using Resources: Textbooks
Unit 3 Delivering and Assessing
- Chapter 1: Teaching Styles
- Lesson: Teaching Skills for Effective Lessons
- Project: Think Fast!
- Lesson: Lesson Components for Success
- Project: Rethink Your Lesson Plan for Successes
- Lesson: Active Learning Strategies
- Lesson: Teaching Skills for Effective Lessons
- Chapter 2: Assessments
- Lesson: Focus on Assessments
- Project: Research Assessment Requirements in Your State
- Lesson: Types of Assessments
- Lesson: Creating Assessment Activities
- Project: Create an Awesome Assessment
- Lesson: Focus on Assessments
Unit 4 Managing the Learning Environment
- Chapter 1: School Environments in the Community
- Lesson: Schools in the Community
- Project: A Moment in School History
- Lesson: Developmentally Appropriate Materials
- Lesson: Creating Positive School Environments
- Project: Create a Positive Environment
- Lesson: Schools in the Community
- Chapter 2: Inclusive Classroom Strategies
- Lesson: The Inclusive Classroom
- Project: The Non-Inclusive Classroom: A Cautionary Tale
- Lesson: Improving Learning Environments
- Lesson: Inclusion of Multiple Intelligences
- Project: Multiple Intelligences in Action
- Lesson: The Inclusive Classroom
Unit 5 Data and Use in School Relations
- Chapter 1: Data Collection in Schools
- Lesson: Keeping Track of Performance
- Project: School Report Cards and Rankings Check
- Lesson: Data Collection Systems
- Project: Data Collection Systems Hunt
- Lesson: How Data Affects Policy in Education
- Lesson: Keeping Track of Performance
- Chapter 2: Education Outreach
- Lesson: Education Advocacy
- Project: You’re the Advocate
- Lesson: Teacher-Parent Communication
- Lesson: Accountability in Education
- Project: Accountability Project
- Lesson: Education Advocacy