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Master of Education in
Curriculum and Instruction
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Courses

This 30-credit program includes the 3-credit colloquium, 9-credits of core courses, and at least 15 credits in a specialized path. All required courses and approved elective courses are graduate-level courses at either the 400 or 500 level. The program also requires a master's paper, to be completed under the advisement of a faculty member. 

Core Colloquium (3 credits)

  • 3
    credits

    Introduction to colleagues and program with attention to themes of inquiry, evidence, and assessment. (C I 590 should be the first course in a student's program.)

Core Courses (select 9 credits)

    • 3
      credits

      Current school programs and options and their impact on pupils; problems in introducing new content into the curriculum.

    • 3
      credits

      The analysis and use of the foundations which underlie models of curriculum design.

    • 3
      credits

      This course covers the major theories used to explain learning across educational settings.

    • 3
      credits

      The study of childhood from cultural, historical, psychological, and philosophical perspectives.

    • 3
      credits

      Exploration of the theoretical and empirical foundations of the teaching and learning of science.

      • Note

        Students on the Children's Literature path do not have the option to select this as a Core Course.

    • 3
      credits

      Course guides teachers to develop systematic inquires into effective teaching and learning. CI 501 should be taken the third to last semester before graduation.

      • Note

        CI 501 should be taken the third to last semester before graduation

    • 3
      credits

      Addresses the different research approaches for doing research in children's literature. Specifically, it discusses research methods and topics in a wide range of theoretical and practical fields — including psychoanalysis, literacies, genre studies, critical pedagogies, biographical studies, critical race theory, and reader responses — guiding learners on how to conduct original research around any topic of choice. It also addresses research methods for doing research on creative writing.

      • Note

        Students in the Children's Literature path will take this core course instead of CI 501

      • Timing

        This course should be taken near the end of your program, but not as your last course

Specialized Paths (15 credits)

Children's Literature (15 credits)

Required Course (3 credits)

  • 3
    credits

    Study of various genres of children's literature, from various critical perspectives. Emphasis on role of literature in children's lives.

Elective Courses (select 12 credits)

  • 3
    credits

    An in-depth study of picturebooks as art objects providing aesthetic experiences and contributing to our aesthetic development in literacy education.

  • 3
    credits

    A study of nonfiction literature for children and adolescents with an emphasis on inspiring curiosity and agency.

  • 3
    credits

    Examine work by writers of classic fantasies (H. C. Andersen, A. A. Milne, etc.) written for children, as well as the work of some contemporary authors (J. K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Tomi Adeyemi, Nnedi Okorafor, etc.) and popular comics. We will also look at the role of the imagination in the lives of children and the important ways children may transform their private spaces into spaces of wonder that allow them to flourish and reimagine their possibilities.

  • 3
    credits

    Critical study of adolescent literature, its diversity of cultural voices, and designs for its use in secondary school classrooms.

  • 3
    credits

    Read, discuss, analyze, and reflect on diverse literature from multicultural and critical multicultural perspectives to demonstrate how such ways of readings not only expand literacies but center issues of social justice.

  • 3
    credits

    An in-depth study of myths and folktales shared with children and how these stories are remade across different modes and disseminated today across multiple communities of practices.

  • 3
    credits

    Supervised workshop in the craft and techniques of writing picture books, short stories, longer fiction, and nonfiction literature for children.

Curriculum and Supervision (15 credits)

  • 3
    credits

    Managing and coping with disruptive student behavior in instructional settings so that they support the teaching/learning process.

  • 3
    credits

    The analysis and use of the foundations which underlie models of curriculum design.

  • 3
    credits

    Social and institutional settings for instructional supervision; functions, activities, and practices of supervision; supervisory case studies.

  • 3
    credits

    Strategies and techniques for supervision/coaching of instruction intended to enhance teacher reflection, self-direction, and autonomy.

  • 3
    credits

    Designing, implementing, and evaluating effective staff development programs for personnel in educational settings.

Elementary Education (select 15 credits)

  • 3
    credits

    Managing and coping with disruptive student behavior in instructional settings so that they support the teaching/learning process.

  • 3
    credits

    Critical understanding of basic concepts and principles in second language acquisition and teaching. Teaching of world languages, including English as a second language.

    • 3
      credits

      Develop abilities in planning, conducting, and interpreting mathematics interviews to gain an understanding of students' thinking processes and current knowledge.

    • 3
      credits

      This course develops understandings of research and practices around issues in PreK–12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

    • 3
      credits

      This course develops understandings of research and practices around issues in PreK–12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

  • 3
    credits

    A study of nonfiction literature for children and adolescents with an emphasis on inspiring curiosity and agency.

  • 3
    credits

    Read, discuss, analyze, and reflect on diverse literature from multicultural and critical multicultural perspectives to demonstrate how such ways of readings not only expand literacies but center issues of social justice.

English Language Arts, World Languages/ESL, or Social Studies (select 15 credits)

  • 3
    credits

    A study of nonfiction literature for children and adolescents with an emphasis on inspiring curiosity and agency.

  • 3
    credits

    In depth examination of writing development and the development of writing components of language arts programs K–12.

  • 3
    credits

    Critical study of adolescent literature, its diversity of cultural voices, and designs for its use in secondary school classrooms.

  • 3
    credits

    Read, discuss, analyze, and reflect on diverse literature from multicultural and critical multicultural perspectives to demonstrate how such ways of readings not only expand literacies but center issues of social justice.

  • 3
    credits

    Theories of media literacy, issues of non-print technology in language and literacy.

  • 3
    credits

    This course examines the educational uses, tensions, and implications of historically oriented media for teaching and learning historical literacy, focusing on adolescent and teenage learners in the context of K–12 schooling.

  • 3
    credits

    Critical understanding of basic concepts and principles in second language acquisition and teaching. Teaching of world languages, including English as a second language.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education (select 15 credits)

    • 3
      credits

      This course develops understandings of research and practices around issues in PreK–12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

    • 3
      credits

      This course develops understandings of research and practices around issues in PreK–12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

  • 3
    credits

    Develop abilities in planning, conducting, and interpreting mathematics interviews to gain an understanding of students' thinking processes and current knowledge.

  • 3
    credits

    Survey of the status of knowledge about mathematics learning and instruction, K–12; analysis of research procedures; instruments for evaluating research.

  • 3
    credits

    Exploration of the theoretical and empirical foundations of the teaching and learning of science.

  • 3
    credits

    This course is intended to help experienced educators to critically understand the "E" in "STEM education.

Course Availability

If you're ready to see when your courses will be offered, visit our public LionPATH course search (opens in new window) to start planning ahead.

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