PhD Portfolio

COURSEWORK

EDCI 797a: Merging the Content Curriculum and Technology

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in exploring and developing expertise with emerging models of curriculum design as it can be used to create innovative and robust learning experiences for students. Attention is paid to understanding the role of constructivism, multiple intelligences, expertise, representative problems, performances of understanding, FACTS, and DEAPR as they apply to the design of curriculum. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the design of virtual high school courses.

EDIT 797a: Web-Based Publishing

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in mastering web page publication. Attention will be paid to web page layout and design considerations, page linking, effective color and font design, and web page production. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the production of virtual high school courses.

EDCI 797b: Research and Conceptions of the Content Fields

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in understanding state-of-the-art conceptions that guide curriculum development in their own content fields. Students will divide into small groups by content area and work with methods faculty who research student learning in their own content field. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the design of virtual high school courses.

EDIT 797b: Advanced Web-Based Publishing and Graphics Tools

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in mastering advanced web-page design strategies. Attention will be paid to extending student knowledge about web page layout and design considerations and web page production. In particular, students will learn about strategies for adapting web publications to meet individual styles and needs and to ensure web publications meets 508 Compliance standards. Graphic selection, design, and production will be introduced during this course. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the production of virtual high school courses.

EDCI 797c: Designing and Teaching the Problem-Centered Curriculum

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in selecting and developing problems effective for centering student learning. Attention will be paid to the connection between learning and its applications as well as the role of the online teacher as expert mentor. Students will learn to assess student work for conceptual misunderstandings and strategies for promoting conceptualization and reconceptualization. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the design of virtual high school courses.

EDIT 797c: Advanced Graphic Design and Digital Video

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in a comprehensive understanding of how to design and select appropriate graphical information for use on the Web. Attention will be paid to graphic design principles, production of edited and original graphics, and graphic file structures. Digital video will be introduced during this course. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the production of virtual high school courses.

EDCI 797d: Best Practices in the Content Field

This three credit hour course is divided into three parts. The first part is designed to develop students' knowledge about the world of online learning for K-12 students. As part of the course, students will examine the history of online learning, current trends in online learning, and the characteristics and learning needs of K-12 virtual learners. In addition, students will examine and critique sample virtual high school programs as well as selected demonstration courses made available by a wide range of service providers. Finally, students will examine the literature related to the benefits, limitations, and important criticisms of virtual learning opportunities for K-12 students. This part of the course culminates in the submission of a briefing paper presenting clear recommendations to education policy makers.

EDIT 797d: Advanced Video Editing & Production

This three credit hour course is an extension and elaboration of EDCI 797a and EDIT 797b/797c and is designed to further mastery of advanced web-page design strategies. Attention will be paid to extending student knowledge about web page layout and design considerations and web page production. Prior knowledge related to graphic selection, design, and production will be furthered during this course. These concepts will be used to frame activites that promote the production of virtual high school courses.

EDCI 797e: Online Teaching

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in articulating the ways in which SOL and blueprints have been used to construct courses, in creating rubrics and other evaluative techniques for use in online learning, and in the preparation of online teacher support materials. These concepts will be used to frame effective teaching in virtual high school course environments as well as the development of teacher materials to accompany produced virtual courses.

EDIT 797e: HTML and Java Scripting

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in developing expertise with the coding structures which underlie the publication of web materials. Advanced techniques in html and Java coding will be taught in order to facilitate students' abilities to embed special features in their web publications. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the production of virtual high school courses.

EDCI 790f: Internship in Online Teaching

This three credit hour course provides supervised practice in applying the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the program in an appropriate work setting, i.e. teaching an online summer school course, evaluating student learning in online environments, or teaching/inservicing other teachers as they become online teachers themselves. The exact nature of the internship will be individually planned with faculty supervision.

EDIT 797f: Web-Site Design and Management

This three credit hour course is designed to assist students in the design and maintenance of web sites. These concepts will be used to frame activities that promote the production of virtual high school courses.

EDUC 802: Leadership Seminar

This three credit hour survey course is an intensive study of leadership, emphasizing decision and change processes, leadership and organization theory, and the assessment and development of leadership skills.

EDUC 805: Doctoral Seminar in Education

This one credit hour course introduces doctoral students to selected faculty members in the Graduate School of Education and to the topics in education these faculty members research. Students participate in an information exchange with other students, faculty members, and other scholars concerning current research interests and scholarship.

EDRS 810: Problems and Methods in Educational Research

This three credit hour advanced course in the interpretation and application of education research methods emphasizes comparison of alternative philosophies of research, ways of formulating questions/hypotheses, research plans, and analysis procedures. Students evaluate existing studies and investigate a range of research approaches.

EDUC 800: Ways of Knowing

This three credit hour course examines the realm of epistemology as it relates to research and inquiry methods and the psychological and sociocultural construction of knowledge. The course is designed to support students' awareness of their own ways of knowing and their exploration of alternative ways of knowing as conceptual and practical research tools.

EDUC 805: Doctoral Seminar in Education 2

This one credit hour course introduces doctoral students to selected faculty members in the Graduate School of Education and to the topics in education these faculty members research. Students participate in an information exchange with other students, faculty members, and other scholars concerning current research interests and scholarship.

EDRS 812: Qualitative Methods of Educational Ressearch

This three credit hour course introduces the essential characteristics of qualitative research. The course supports students' understanding of the assumptions embodied in the major approaches to qualitative research studies and their ability to design and carry out qualitative studies.

EDRS 811: Quantitative Methods in Educational Research

The main purpose of this three credit course is to develop in students an understanding of the statistical ideas and procedures required for conducting correct statistical analysis and applications of quantitative methods in the practice of educational research.Students will learn through a combination of text reading assingments, hands-on experience in using a computer program for data analysis, and application activities. Students will be expected to identify and report on quantitative methods used in published research articles, to collect and analyze data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and to provide written reports of methodology and results.

EDRS 820: Evaluation Methods for Educational Programs and Curricula

This three credit course explores the development and types of current systems and models for evaluating educational programs and curricula. The emphasis is on the needs and problems of public and private elementary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities although the needs of government agencies, industry, and health-centered organizations are also considered.

Major: Instructional Technology
Minor: Curriculum & Instruction

Graduate School of Education
George Mason University
4400 University Dr.
Fairfax, VA 22030