EDUC 805 Doctoral Seminar in Education

Syllabus

Synthesis Paper

As EDUC 805 came to a close, I reflected on how much I had learned and how much I had matured during this semester.  After listening to the various professors talk about their journeys, their work in education, and their research interests, I have began to re-evaluate my own goals in the Ph.D. program both as a student and a professional.  Even though not all of the professors had research interests that were similar to mine, I was able to take something away from each presentation.  As a previous classroom instructor even at the university level, I was unaware of all of the research that has been done that addresses some of the problems that we are having in our classrooms.  As a future leader in my field, I think that it is important to make such research accessible and present it in a way such that teachers can appreciate its usefulness and, equally important, are able to apply the research findings without spending too much extra time to incorporate them in their classrooms.

The most influential speakers for me were: Erin Peters, Dr. Priscilla Norton, and the Panel on International Education.  Erin Peters spoke about the inequities in science education which seemed to parallel to those in mathematics education, Dr. Norton about instructional technology which is a shared interest, and the Panel about advocating for equity on several levels, another passion of mine.

Over the course of this course, I modified my definition of a Community of Practice (CoP).  I came to define it as ‘a group of people who participate in a specific discourse community where the shared interests, goals, and practice of participants are closely related, and where their interactions on a group scale and among individuals within the group results in a deeper understanding of the topic in which they engage.’ Following the course, I could better see how I fit into this program as a whole, and also into my cohort as a mathematics educator.