Elem Course #??? 3 credits Fall 2009
Wednesdays 4:30 – 7:30 PM (hybrid delivery method; online weekly with three face-to face meetings on September 16, October 14, and December 9)
Classroom TBA
Michelle A. Fleming, PhD
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Office location: 518 Nursing/Education Building
E-mail: flemingm@uwosh.edu
Office phone: 920-424-3159
Office hours: Wednesdays and by appointment
College of Education & Human Services Mission Statement
The mission of the College is that the College of Education and Human Services
(COEHS) will be a community of inquirers working collaboratively to make living a humane and hopeful experience for all. Our ultimate purpose is to prepare professionals in education, counseling, and human services who are caring intellectuals.
Conceptual Framework for Preparation of Educators
The central themes of the Conceptual Framework are:

Promoting caring intellectual educators through inquiry, critical thinking, and reflection;

Honoring the culture and diversity of our communities and learners; and

Fostering a commitment to lifelong learning and professional development.
The two semester set of coursework is designed to reflect the conceptual framework in numerous ways. One of our main goals will be to use inquiry, research, and reflection to explore and begin applying the knowledge, skills, and dispositions utilized by highly effective teachers. In addition to writing formal reflections about teaching, in-class and outside of class activities support knowledge construction through the use of an evaluative inquiry process. Additionally, readings, activities, and course assignments will allow participants to learn more about meeting the diverse needs of elementary students.
Finally, participants will learn about a variety of online and professional teaching resources that will support their learning both now and in the future.
Coursework Description
Knowledge is not compartmentalized into disciplines. Knowledge is constructed and built on through experiences. Connected or integrated teaching and learning are rooted in constructivism. Students revise their schemas or reconstruct their thinking to be consistent with their experiences and observations in the classroom. Students

Multidisciplinary Teaching Methods, page 2 comprehend more complex and meaningful concepts when disciplines are connected and these relationships are constructed by teachers. If a primary goal of a teacher preparation program is to build coherency between teaching methodologies and disciplines, then preservice teachers must construct these connections within the methods coursework.
Leading education organizations recommend connecting or integrating disciplines.
Today, students should be locating issues within larger frameworks of thought, negotiating multiple perspectives, and developing habits of critical questioning and creative problem-solving. Therefore, teachers must be prepared to create learning outcomes for their students that are coherent, connected bodies of information. Teachers need the assessment and evaluation skills necessary to translate meaningful learning experiences in the classroom.
This multidisciplinary methods coursework sequence will address the contemporary interest in multidisciplinary teaching methods through inquiry and application.
The coursework is distributed over two semesters as participants develop a deep understanding of the multidisciplinary connections and disconnections between and within the elementary disciplines of language arts, science and environmental education, health, social studies, mathematics, art, physical education and music.
Fall Course . During the Applied Multidisciplinary Methods for Teaching course, students will implement and reflect on two cycles of the evaluative inquiry process, a multidisciplinary method for cultivating and sustaining the evaluation capacity of P-12 educators. By engaging teachers in an evaluative inquiry process, this course seeks to develop an evaluation culture designed to support new teachers in the continual examination of methods with the ultimate intent of improving educational opportunities for all students. The course emphasis on practice and application will feature samples of empirical work, as well as engagement with mixed methods inquiry. Students will document and reflect on their growth in new knowledge, skills, and dispositions in the new teaching licensure area. Participants will focus and reflect on the understanding and improvement of their practice, as well as the socio-cultural, economical, and environmental contexts in which they work. Class readings will include information on creating an evaluation community of teachers to promote student success in the elementary classroom. On a metacognitive level, participants will be asked to continually reflect the following questions throughout the course:
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What counts as evidence in the different disciplines and why? What kinds of questions get asked by different disciplines?
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How can multidisciplinary exploration enhance or hinder discovery and communication?
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What pedagogical approaches best lend themselves to multidisciplinary learning?
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Does sustainability succeed as a big idea for exploring these questions?
Coursework Goals
By the end of the second semester, participants will be able to:
1.
Continually inquire by exploring, synthesizing, applying and reflecting on new knowledge, skills and dispositions in teaching multiple disciplines.

Multidisciplinary Teaching Methods, page 3 a.
Implement two sequential multidisciplinary units with three or more student assessments per unit. b.
Improve their capacity to use evaluation data and engage in continuous improvement and data-based decision-making. i.
Reflect on each evaluation inquiry cycle. ii.
Create and implement instructional goals (as suggested by evaluation data) to increase student academic achievement. c.
Engage in collaborative inquiries with colleagues by offering support and guidance throughout the course.
2.
Rationalize an effective conceptual or theoretical model for integrating disciplines based on evidence.
3.
Generate a unique contribution to the multidisciplinary teaching methods and integration of disciplines conversation and literature.
Course Outline: Topics & Assignments
Tentative outline and due dates are subject to change.
DATES T OPICS A SSIGNMENTS
1 Wednesday
Online
2 Wednesday
Face-to-face meeting
3 Wednesday
Online
September 9 Syllabus/Course Overview
Continuing the discussion: What is the purpose of education? Why teach? Nature of disciplines and learning
Sense of place – classroom and school community
September 16 “Who are my students?” activity
Sense of place – classroom and school community (continued conversation)
Effects of the cultural milieu including racial, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity
Culturally responsive teaching
Infusing diversity and home learning opportunities – aligning instruction to the assets and differential needs of diverse student populations
September 23 Response to Intervention (RTI)
The evaluative inquiry process
Focus for evaluative inquiry
Data collection and analysis
Plan of action
Monitoring results
Ethical issues in collaboration and consultation
Post “Sense of Place” activity, review CEC members’ posts and provide feedback.
Begin collecting information on your classroom and school community.
Post “Who are my students?” activity in discussion. Review class members’ posts.
Bring a copy of your first unit and curriculum materials to class meeting; be prepared to share.
Post instructional goals for unit 1; read over CEC group members’ goals and provide feedback.
Begin implementation of first unit and data collection and analysis.

Multidisciplinary Teaching Methods, page 4
4
5
6 Wednesday
Face-to-face meeting
7
9
Wednesday
Online
Wednesday
Online
Wednesday
Online
8 Wednesday
Online
Wednesday
Online
10 Wednesday
Online
11 Wednesday
Online
September 30 Teacher content knowledge and efficacy
Importance and value of collaboration (internal and external stakeholders)
Methods for communicating goals and plans
October 7 Effective classroom management strategies
English language learners
Meeting the needs of exceptional learners
October 14 Impacting student achievement through
October 21
November 18 instructional goals
Developing relationships/partnerships with businesses, higher education, community groups, and professional organizations
Ongoing collaboration – enhance and advance in a professional manner
October 28 Methods for assessing and evaluating instructional practices
Collecting, organizing and analyzing multiple assessments to evaluate progress toward goals
November 4 Advocating for evidence based practices
Advising your colleagues
Reporting students’ performance and evaluation of instructional units
November 11 Determining essential instructional strategies for integrating disciplines and using multiple methods
Generating an evidence based theory for integrating disciplines and using multiple methods
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Issues of sustainability
Post reflection of the implementation process for first unit; respond to CEC members’ reflections; continue data collection and analysis.
Finish implementation of unit 1; post reflection of the data and instructional outcomes; begin writing instructional goals for second unit.
Bring a copy of your second unit and curriculum materials to class meeting; be prepared to share.
Post instructional goals for unit 2; read over CEC group members’ goals and provide feedback.
Begin implementation of second unit and data collection and analysis.
Post reflection of the implementation process for second unit; respond to
CEC members’ reflections; continue data collection and analysis.
Finish implementation of unit 2; post reflection of the data and instructional outcomes; begin writing instructional goals for future unit.
Post instructional goals for future unit; read over CEC group members’ goals and provide feedback.
Post evidence based theory
(generated through online content and discussion)
Begin working on final presentation.

Multidisciplinary Teaching Methods, page 5
Wednesday
12 Wednesday
Online
13 Wednesday
Face-to-face meeting
14 Wednesday
Online
November 25 Thanksgiving Recess – no class session
December 2 Evaluating students’ success
Being an agent of change – self perceptions, school culture and current practices
Finalizing presentations
December 9 Presentations
Final course evaluations
Celebration
December 16 Preparation for the future
Sustainability of the CEC
Final reflections
Continue working on final presentations and preparing for final face-to-face sharing session.
Post presentations; provide feedback to CEC members’ presentations.
Post final reflection entry on new knowledge, skills and dispositions of teaching.
All D2L posts should be completed by 12am (midnight) on the date the assignment is due. Email Michelle with questions, suggestions, thoughts or concerns and to set up office or teleconference appointments.
Textbooks and Materials
Readings (journal articles), presentations and information will be posted on D2L for clarification of information and assignments. You are responsible for checking the D2L site weekly for updates.
Recommended texts :
Darling-Hammond, L., Barron, B., Pearson, P. D., Schoenfeld, A., Stage, E. K.,
Zimmerman, T. D., Cervetti, G. N., and Tilson, J. L. (2008). Powerful Learning:
What we know about teaching for understanding . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Harvey, S., and Daniels, H. (2009). Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry circles in action . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Parsons, B.A. (2002). Evaluative Inquiry: Using evaluation to promote student success . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Technology
This course contributes to participants’ understanding of technology and/or the uses of technology in education. Course documents, important information, and participants’ work will be posted on D2L to facilitate online class interaction.
You are responsible to save your work in multiple ways (i.e. hard drive, external hard drive, USB/Flash Drive (or some removable drive)). Do not merely depend on one way to save your work. Backup all of your work. If the computer or server “goes down”, you are still responsible for completing the assignments on time.

Multidisciplinary Teaching Methods, page 6
Diversity
This course contributes to students’ understanding of the diversity of paradigms, philosophies, and methodologies in educational research and practice. Reflecting and inquiring on the practices of teachers work with diverse student populations in various settings is an important part of this course. Participants will review educational researchbased literature and explore a variety of pedagogical strategies that promote increased understanding of diverse perspectives in multiple content areas.
Course Assignments
The assignments below are aligned with the particular Wisconsin Educator Standards for
Teachers and are denoted with the labels in parenthesis. The standards can be read in their entirety at: http://www.dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/stand10.html
.
Participants will:
___ 1. Effectively communicate and collaborate with the instructor and their colleagues.
Regular communication is essential and required in this course (in accordance with university policy). Learning is viewed as a social process. Therefore, to gain the maximum benefit, participants should attend the face-to-face campus meetings and participate actively in all D2L posted discussions. Sharing personal experiences and perceptions, knowledge and teaching goals are an important part the course. Most activities conducted in the CEC are intended to promote sharing and collaboration between colleagues is encouraged. (6, 10)
___ 2. Teach two related instructional units to elementary students. Units will include multidisciplinary lesson plans, graphic organizers, classroom management methods, differentiated instructional methods/extensions and three or more assessment methods. (1 – 8)
___ 3. Use evidence from the inquiries, readings, reflections, and class notes to create a theory for integrating disciplines and using multiple methods in the elementary classroom. Participants may work individually or collaboratively to generate this model. (1, 6)
___ 4. After completing two cycles of the collaborative inquiry process, participants will summarize , synthesize , critique , challenge or otherwise engage the material in the course in some final product. The product can take one of many forms, including a conventional course paper, a publishable article, a presentation for a conference or – using an alternative representation – a story, poem, or performance. Participants will disseminate results of their inquiries during this final presentation. (2 – 4, 6)
___ 5. Reflect on their growth in understanding and learning. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences related to teaching, the evaluative inquiry process, and collaboration with colleagues and stakeholders involved in the units. Participants will further reflect on the new knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teaching that they have acquired through the course. Within the final reflection, participants will reflect on new knowledge, skills and dispositions of teaching, as well as make connections to instructional goals and practices. (9)

Multidisciplinary Teaching Methods, page 7
For “A” grade, participants will successfully complete all of the above assignments with academic charm as well as:
___ 1. Create blogs or continue blogging on blogger.com
to capture weekly insights, thinking, reading, practicing and exploring during the course. Nothing can be put in the blog unless it is personally valuable. Post weekly text, photos, and videos to the blog that showcase personal reflections of learning and teaching. (6, 9, 10)
___ 2. Write a synthesis paper that details the lived experience of a participant in this course. Using all of their reflections, experiences and perceptions of course activities and readings, this paper provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on their own experiences (i.e. moods, surprises, frustrations, triumphs) during the semester in a phenomenological way. (6, 9)
Evaluation of Student Performance
Student performance will be based on the completion of all requirements. The requirements are listed above. Feedback will be provided on all assignments, but individual points or grades will not be assigned. You may be required to rework these assignments until they meet graduate level status. Failure to communicate and meet discussion expectations may result in lowering of a grade per discussion. The distribution of grades is shown below.
Achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.
A 93 – 100 %
AB 90 – 92%
B 83 – 89%
BC 80 – 82%
Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.
Achievement that meets course requirements.
Achievement below a “B” does not earn graduate credit and the course does not count towards the master’s program.
C 73 – 79%
D 66 – 72% Achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements.
F below 66% Represents failure and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit, or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I.

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I Incompletes are assigned at the discretion of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances, e.g., hospitalization, a student is prevented from completing the work of the course on time. Requires a written agreement by the end of the semester between the instructor and student.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty in any portion of the academic work for a course shall be grounds for awarding a grade of F for the entire course.
Make-up Policy
I expect that you will participate and submit assignments on the date that they are due. If situations arise that interfere with your ability to fulfill this expectation, please talk to me individually and we will determine an appropriate course of action (depending on the circumstances, you may not receive full credit for your work).
Statement on D2L Site Usage
In this class, our use of technology will sometimes make students' names and Internet IDs visible within the course website, but only to other students in the same class. Since we are using a secure, password-protected course website, this will not increase the risk of identity theft or spamming for anyone in the class.