EDUC 120 - Observations Experiences for Grades 5-12

3 Credits: (2 lecture, 2 lab)

Course Description
This course is a basic introductory course for students interested in exploring education in grades five through twelve as a career. The course involves lecture, seminar participation and observation of actual school situations.

Note Schools may require Act 34/114/151 clearances.

Text
Posner, George J., and Craig T. Vivian. Field Experience: A Guide to Reflective Teaching. (7th ed.) Boston: Pearson, 2010. Print.

Objectives
The student will be able to:

A. Describe generally and in detail the school and classroom observation in which the student participates.

B. Utilize skills in direct observation, interviewing, and note taking.

C. Collect and interpret data on the physical environment of the school, the social system of the school, and the nature of the instructional process.

D. Describe new insights developed on life in schools and the realities of teaching in a setting that is diverse from previous educational experiences.

Content
A. Learning how to observe.

B. Methods of data collection.

C. Distinguishing between Descriptive and Interpretative Data.

D. Physical Environment of Schools.

E. Instructional Environment of Classrooms.

Student Evaluation
A. Evaluation will be based upon development of a field experience log, participation in observational-learning experience, and completion of assigned projects and papers.

B. Written tests and a final examination.Bibliography
Cazden, Courtney B. Classroom Discourse: The Language of Teaching and Learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1988.

Cohn, Marilyn, Robert Kottkamp and Eugene Provenzo, Jr. To Be a Teacher: Cases, Concept, Observation Guides. New York: Random House, 1987.

Cooper, James, ed. Classroom Teaching Skills: A Handbook. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath, 1986.

Goodlad, J. I., A Place called School. New York: McGraw Hill, 1984.

Howe, Ann C. Engaging Children in Science. New York: Merrill, 1993.

Kidder, Tracy. Among Schoolchildren. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989.

Kozol, Jonathan. On Being a Teacher. New York: Continuum, 1981.

Lightfoot, Sarah L. The Good High School: Portraits of Character and Culture. New York: Basic Books, 1983.

Lortie, D. C. Schoolteacher. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975.

Mentor Teacher Handbook. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1987.

Oppenheim, Joanne. The Elementary School Handbook: Making the Most of Your Child’s Education. New York: Pantheon Books, 1989.

Safford, Phillip. Integrated Teaching in Early Childhood: Starting in the Mainstream. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1989.

Searfoss, Lyndon. Helping Children Learn to Read. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Smith, L. et al. Anatomy of an Educational Innovation. New York: Wiley, 1986.

Spindler, George. Doing the Ethnography of Schooling: Educational Anthropology in Action. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1982.

The Future of Science in Elementary Schools: Educating Prospective Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994.

Thorne, Barrie. Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1993.