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[1] STEMteach Courses (STEM)
1100 STEP 1: INQUIRY APPROACHES TO TEACHING The course instructor introduces students to the theory and practice behind exemplary inquiry-based science and mathematics instruction, guides them through the process of designing and preparing to teach lessons in local, high-need third-grade through sixth-grade classrooms to obtain firsthand experience in planning and implementation, and assesses their progress toward course objectives.
1101 STEP 2: INQUIRY-BASED LESSON DESIGN This course allows students to continue to develop the lesson planning skills learned in Step 1 as they become familiar with exemplary middle school (grades 6 – 8) mathematics and science curricula. After observing a lesson being taught in a local school district classroom, students work alone, or in pairs, and teach three inquiry-based lessons to middle school students in grades six through eighth. Prerequisite: STEM 1100.
1301 KNOWING AND LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE This course seeks to develop a tool kit of powerful approaches to knowing and learning in mathematics and science. This course focuses on issues of what it means to learn and know science and mathematics. Prerequisite: STEM 1100
2301 CLASSROOM INTERACTIONS This course continues the process of preparing candidates to teach mathematics and science in a secondary setting by providing opportunities to see how theories explored in Knowing and Learning translate into classroom interactions in an instructional setting. Candidates design and implement instructional activities informed by their own understandings of what it means to know and to learn mathematics and science, and then evaluate the outcomes of those activities on the basis of student artifacts (i.e. what students say, do, or create). Prerequisite: Successful completion of STEM 1301 and admission to teacher education, or permission of the instructor.
3300 PROJECT-BASED INSTRUCTION Project-Based Instruction (PBI) is the capstone course in the sequence of professional development courses (Knowing and Learning, Classroom Interactions, and PBI) in the STEMteach program. This course is based on the premise that project-based instruction engages learners in exploring authentic, important, and meaningful questions of real concern to high school students. Project-based instruction equips candidates to promote equitable and diverse participation and to engage high school students in their learning as they learn fundamental science and mathematical concepts and principles that they can apply to their daily lives. Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and admission to teacher education program. Prerequisite: STEM 2301 and admission to teacher education, or permission of the instructor.
3310 RESEARCH METHODS IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE This course equips STEMteach candidates with the tools and resources needed to understand the role that science and mathematics plays in solving problems and in developing new knowledge and insights. Upon completion of the course, candidates will have developed skills in research and in the inquiry approach to teaching and learning. Prerequisites: STEM 1301 or consent of instructor.
4600 APPRENTICE TEACHING This course offers STEMteach candidates a culminating experience that provides them with the tools needed for their first teaching position. In Apprentice Teaching, candidates are immersed in the expectations, processes, and rewards of teaching. Apprentice Teaching requires field experiences in local secondary school and is taken concurrently with a weekly seminar that brings apprentice teachers together with university master teachers to share experiences and work on solutions to problems that they encounter in the field. Prerequisites: Completion of all other STEMteach courses or permission of the instructor. Students must be concurrently enrolled in STEM 4605 Apprentice Teaching Seminar. [ UD UCA Core: Z ]
4605 APPRENTICE TEACHING SEMINAR This course in the STEMteach sequence explores a selection of topics and episodes in the history of science and mathematics and prepares candidates to broaden their approach to mathematics and science instruction so that they might captivate and retain the interest of all students. By conveying particular human stories about why and how various branches of science and mathematics have originated and evolved, candidates gain insights into the critical thinking processes that lead to scientific creativity. The Apprentice Teaching seminar provides a supportive environment where apprentice teachers share their experiences and work on solutions to problems they may be experiencing. Master teachers teach the weekly seminar, share their teaching experiences, and facilitate discussions to help apprentice teachers develop their own successful teaching identities. The seminar is an effective forum for candidates to get guidance and additional assistance on classroom management, teaching strategies, and other issues that emerge during the semester. Prerequisites: Successful completion of all other STEMteach courses (except STEM 4600) or permission of the instructor. Candidates must be concurrently enrolled in STEM 4600.