Course Description

A variety of international developments have created an extremely strong need to improve the quality of our educational systems and programs. At the same time, a wealth of new ideas on teaching, learning and assessment have emerged in the last few decades that offer us unusual opportunities to create creative responses to this situation. In addition, the explosion of science knowledge, revolution in digital technologies, the pressure to develop high-performing educational systems to meet the demands of twenty-first century globalization and the drive among excellence, equity and social justice all combine to question our approach to teaching, learning and assessment.

In this seminar, you will critically examine the relationship between teaching, learning and assessment. We begin the course with the surfacing of your own beliefs: a practice consistent with contemporary beliefs about how learning occurs. With the focus on global perspectives and the demands of 21st-century societies, we will construct personal philosophies, generate research questions and raise questions about practices taken for granted in our education system. This seminar is specifically designed for doctoral students and other advanced graduate students both inside and outside of the College of Education who have an interest in curriculum-related issues. The course aims to challenge and empower graduate students as they critique and explore theoretical, practical and research-related issues associated with teaching, learning and assessment.

Course Learning Goals

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Examine global perspectives and relationship among teaching, learning and assessment and the implications for 21st-century education.
2. Discuss the legacies of behaviorism and the move to contemporary beliefs about teaching, learning and assessment.
3. Develop significant learning experiences consistent with contemporary beliefs about teaching, learning and assessment.
4. Engage in critical review of teaching, learning and assessment toward the development of personal philosophies.
5. Prepare a position paper that reflects contemporary beliefs about teaching, learning and assessment for public consumption.

Download the Course Syllabus