Education affects the lives of everyone in this country. As future professionals, voters, teachers, parents, and leaders, students at the University of Michigan will help shape the quality of life in the United States, and education will matter – a lot. This course will introduce students to the role of education in today’s world. Topics will include the implications for schooling our increasingly diverse population; principles of how kids learn; ways schools facilitate student achievement (or not); and the changing nature of literacy in the information age. In addition to readings and discussions, there will be opportunities for hands-on experience and interactions with K-12 students in schools.  

EDUC 118 is an approved course to satisfy the LSA Race and Ethnicity Requirement.

This class meets the Race & Ethnicity requirement.

Education Policy in a Multicultural Society explores policy and school improvement, and focuses in particular on the U.S. public school system, with an emphasis on both equity and access. In this course we begin by asking: what is public education for, and then consider how schools can be improved so that educational outcomes are ambitious and equitable. We build on students' understandings of the practice of teaching, developed in ED118, to investigate the dynamics of education reform.

We closely examine authentic texts – including artifacts from our own experiences in schools, as well as mandates and legislative texts, policies, data on school improvement, and other resources designed for the improvement of schools. We critically examine each of these, looking for assumptions about teaching and learning and their improvement, assessing the key levers for improvement that they provide, and extrapolating implications for the design and valuation of change. In so doing students will develop critical skills of analysis and interpretation that will enable them to (1) better understand and evaluate efforts to improve schooling in the United States, (2) collaborate substantively, (3) and write and speak about educational policy persuasively. Given the courses strong focus on equity and access, issues of inclusion, voice, and rigor will be consistent through-lines.

Service-Learning in Mathematics Tutoring

Critically examines literacy research from historical perspectives, including behavioral and cognitive/metacognitive research paradigms. Historical perspectives are considered in terms of theoretical frameworks, research methods, and implications for curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Prerequisites: EDUC 695 or equivalent.
 
Examines how to assess the efficacy of educational programs. In a constrained fiscal environment, there are limitations on the number of programs the public can (or will) support. Thus, it is important to ask, “Does this program really work?” “Is it better than other alternatives for attaining its stated purpose?” The purpose is to develop students’ skills in answering such hard questions. Before impacts can be assessed, the program and its aim must be well understood. This raises questions such as “What is this program?” “What is it meant to accomplish?” “Are these goals realistic given the parameters of its definition?"

Investigates contemporary issues related to research on literacy. Specific topics vary each time the course is offered.

Prerequisites: EDUC 794 or equivalent.
 
Treats advanced issues in measurement theory and practice, including a consideration of the use and misuse of standardized tests in American education.
 

Prerequisites: Enforced. Restricted to doctoral students only. Advisory Prerequisite: EDUC 606 or equivalent.
 
Focuses on the development and acquisition of memory, knowledge, and expertise in classrooms from a cognitive psychology perspective.  Considers conceptual change models of learning as well as cognition and instruction in the content areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Prerequisites: Enforced. Restricted to doctoral students only. Advisory Prerequisite: EDUC 606 or equivalent.
 
Focuses on student motivation in classroom settings and includes discussion of different motivational theories such as attribution, social cognitive, intrinsic motivation, and goal theory. Considers how different characteristics of classrooms influence student motivation to learn.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.
 
As one of the four core courses in the mathematics education area of specialization, the course aims at familiarizing doctoral students with theories, problems, and practices that are specific to mathematics education research.  The course addresses sample lines of research to illustrate issues of theory, design, method, or application paying attention to epistemological issues in the pursuit of research in mathematics education.  Students engage in reading and discussing articles on the epistemology of science and social sciences and commentary and review papers in mathematics education.

May be elected twice.

This course focuses on rigorous evaluation of policies and interventions intended to support children's early learning and success in k-12. Evaluations will be discussed in the context of the current and historical landscape. Specific topics will include theories across developmental psychology and economics, school accountability, teacher-focused policies, and digital learning.

Prerequisites: EDUC / PUBPOL 712
 
Explores methods for causal inference in research on postsecondary education. The focus is on topics relevant to education policy, including student aid, debt, college-match quality, attainment, and the labor-market returns to schooling.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.
 
Explores topics in education and psychology based on the interests of faculty and students in the program. The topics addressed change each term. Students should consult the office of the Combined Program in Education and Psychology for the current list of offerings each semester.

Prerequisites: Enforced. Restricted to doctoral students only. Advisory Prerequisite: Combined Program student standing or permiss

(Program students are required to sign up for three credit hours.) An advanced seminar on issues in education perspectives for psychologists. It is primarily for third and fourth-year program students and is a required course. The seminar is designed to identify and review issues critical to "educationalists": researchers, those concerned with issues of training, policy specialists, and practitioners. The major focus is to become broadly conversant with the range of issues associated with the study and practice of education and to use this knowledge to analyze and reflect upon those issues. Participants will be encouraged to relate their scholarly interests to matters of practical significance.