Curriculum: STEM and Sustainability Education Graduate Certificate

This course will provide an interdisciplinary approach to integrating STEM into practice across the disciplines. The course will involve the participation in problem-based and project-based learning activities, mathematics and science inquiries learning tasks, and using technology to gain and display information. Students will practice backwards design to develop their own STEM learning activity. Graduate students will implement their activity in a classroom and monitor student learning outcomes.

In recent years, there has been a major emphasis on STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) within educational policy and practice. This focus in STEM can be understood from a variety of perspectives such as policy-makers, businesses, institutions of higher education, parents, and our K-12 school systems. In addition to STEM education, there has also beena recent societal-level push for "sustainability."This buzzword has been adopted by a range of players, from the Department of Defense, to institutions education, businesses, local municipalities, and non-governmental organizations, and is equally if not more misunderstood than STEM. This course explores the rich connections and intersections between these two popular discourses. In this class students investigate how STEM education might function as aform of environmental or sustainability education.Students will evaluate the history, policy, and practices of STEM education from an ecological perspective. Topics include: components of STEM the model; project-based learning; links between STEM and ecological literacy; the similarities anddifferences between STEM education and

Study of teacher behaviors that influence the academic achievement of students. Participants learn new effective pedagogy and implement one or more of the various strategies into their diverse clinical placements, gather data, and analyze the impact on student learning. This clinical experience can be completed in a student's current work setting or in a arranged placement determined with their advisors. Students in the medical and advanced teaching master's degree programs must participate in the field experience prior to the completion of their degree.

This course addresses the interface of science andthe philosophy of science during various historical time periods. Participants will explorehow historical context shapes what is accepted as science and scientific knowledge, the purpose of scientific investigation, and how scientific knowledge is validated.

This course is appropriate for students who teach mathematics, science or interdisciplinary course work in a variety of school settings and grade levels, K-12. Specific strategies and general heuristics are discussed.

With the continued consequences of climate change in communities across the world, we expect to see growing inequity in access to education and natural resources. This course might focus on how educational environments, schools, teachers, and communities can respond to and teach about rapidly changing social, political, economic, and environmental circumstances. This course explores the growth of resilient STEM educators that envision an equitable and empowering STEM education. Students will develop an understanding of diversity and equity by challenging dominant narratives of STEM education that fail to empower students and teachers. The development of STEM identities will be investigated regarding student experiences and the incorporation of instructional practices that empower historically marginalized students.

This course provides an overview of the increasingly complex array of digital media and technology-based resources available for use in blended and online environments. Students will apply theory to practice to truly redefine lessons to enhance learning through technology. Students will also learn practical skills, ranging from facilitation skills needed to manage a technology-based class to troubleshooting technology problems. The course also explores burning issues surrounding educational technology such as inequalities and accessibility issues, technology distractions, internet safety, and other ethical issues.