Grading
Grading will be based on participation and assignments. Numerical grade equivalents are as follows: (A+ is reserved for flawless work of exceptional quality reflecting original insight, creativity and perfect attendance.)

A                     (95-100)                                                          C                     (73-76)

            A-                    (90-94)                                                            C-                    (70-72)

            B+                   (87-89)                                                            D+                   (67-69)

            B                      (83-86)                                                            D                     (63-66)

            B-                    (80-82)                                                            D-                    (60-62)

            C+                   (77-79)                                                            E                      (59 - 0)

It is expected that candidates will maintain the highest academic and ethical standards. The college is an academic community that values integrity and takes seriously its responsibility for upholding academic honesty. Plagiarism, whether by neglect or by design, injures the learner and the community of learners; it is usually avoided by consistent and conscientious work habits. Violations will be handled according to College policies published in the College Handbook, the College Catalog, and the Code of Student Conduct and Related Policies.

Learning Activities and Assignments:
The following are requirements of this course. You will be asked to evaluate yourself on each of these throughout the duration of this course.

1.      Class Participation

·        Demonstrate your thorough understandings of the assigned readings.

·        Contribute regularly in class – not dominating discussions or having to be prompted to contribute during classroom discourse.

·        Listen attentively.

·        Attend every class, on time and prepared.

2.      Reading Assignments

·        There is extensive reading for this course. You are expected to come to class having already read the assigned material. Occasionally, there will be in-class assignments related to your reading, as well as in class group assignments.

·        There is a course requirement that all students successfully complete an online tutorial pertaining to the protection of human subjects. All students in this course are required to successfully complete Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI). The tutorial can be accessed at: https://www.citiprogram.org

3.      Written Assignments

·        One reflection of a videotaped small group lesson.

·        One Master’s Capstone Project Proposal.

4.      Teaching Assignments

·        Practicum assignments require teaching at least 10 different lessons including:

§         Teaching one lesson that your host teacher planned.

§         Teaching one lesson that you and your host teacher jointly planned.

§         Teaching one lesson that you independently planned.

§         Teaching four one-on-one tutorial sessions assisting students with diverse needs (with reflections).

§         Teaching three small group instruction lessons (with reflections).

5.      Presentation Assignments

·        One videotaped lesson and reflection (also listed above).

·        One cooperative team-teaching presentation.

·        One on-line portfolio presentation.

Course Assessment and Evaluation
Evaluation should be designed to (1) promote your own growth and learning; (2) give you on-going feedback; (3) strengthen the working relationship between the teacher and the student.

Detailed descriptions of all assignments and corresponding grading rubrics will be handed out in class. Please follow the rubric and assignment explanations carefully to avoid misunderstandings.

Detailed descriptions of all assignments and corresponding grading rubrics will be handed out in class. Please follow the rubric and assignment explanations carefully to avoid misunderstandings.

Assessment and evaluation of this course will be based on a 100-point system and is outlined as follows:

In class participation                                                                5 points

            Videotaped Lesson and Reflection (field based)               10 points

            Cooperative Team-teaching Presentation (in class)          15 points

            Master’s Capstone Project Proposal and Presentation     40 points

            Practicum Assignments (field based)                                   10 points  

            CITI Tutorial Completion (online)                                           10 points

            On-line Portfolio                                                                       10 points

·        Participation in problem solving and discussion (5 points): All students are responsible to read all of the assigned readings. In making an assessment about class participation I will consider the extent to which: (1) your participation demonstrates thoughtful consideration and understanding of the reading assignments; (2) you bring pertinent information to the class discussions (personal experience, learning from other courses, etc.) that extends challenges, or clarifies issues raised in the readings; (3) your critical comments are well –founded and to the point; and (4) you bring a positive attitude toward making the class an informative positive community rooted in what Damon (1994) has referred to as “respectful engagement.”

In a discussion seminar where difficult issues are being considered, respectful engagement is foundational to the success of the class. Respectful engagement includes, but is not limited to the following: active listening that does not involve side conversations while someone is talking or derogatory facial gestures; attacking agreements and ideas rather than the people who propose them; participation without dominating; and generally attempting to understand new perspectives—even if you choose ultimately to disagree with them. Some persons are more comfortable talking in class than others, so my assessment is based more on the quality than the quantity of your participation. Attendance is not necessarily participation. You should be attentive to the requirements outlined, and seek to meet them to the best of your ability. Each student should be prepared to demonstrate some leadership in the class discussion.

·        Videotaped Lesson and Reflection (10 points): Candidates will plan for and be videotaped teaching a fifteen-minute lesson with a small or large group of students in a host classroom. The lesson that is videotaped can be one that is required for another MST course. After teaching your videotaped lesson, candidates are expected to watch and analyze their tape and write a three to five page double spaced reflection and analysis paper on the teaching and learning that was observed. Students will choose a 5 to 10-minute video clip of their teaching to present in class.

·        Cooperative Team-Teaching Presentation (15 points): Candidates will work in small cooperative groups to read an assigned chapter from Kohn’s (2004) What Does it Mean to be Well Educated? Afterward, students will cooperatively plan and teach the important points that the author made in the chapter while connecting the information to relevant, current issues in education. Candidates will use outside sources of information to portray current viewpoints found in the media today. Candidates are required to use technology including but not limited to PowerPoint to facilitate classmates’ learning on their assigned topic.

·        Master’s Capstone Project Proposal (35 points): Candidates will complete a Master’s Capstone Project Proposal that includes the inquiry, development and initial implementation of an action research study throughout the duration of this course. Upon successful completion of this assignment, candidates will submit a critical review of all relevant sources that were used as background for the study (minimum 15 sources, maximum 3 internet sources), as well as an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion and recommendations sections of a study. It is important to note that this project serves as a proposal that will be continued throughout the subsequent semester of the candidate’s MST program. Therefore, the findings (results), discussion and recommendations sections will be completed using preliminary data that is gathered throughout this semester.

     Aims of This Assignment:

·                    To do a systematic and sustained search and analysis of research pertaining to a topic

·                    To diversity the sources used to investigate a topic

·                    To increase facility with searching diverse sources and making judgments about suitability of materials

·                    To translate bibliographic entries into a coherent, personalized, focused literature review.

·                    To demonstrate facility with conceptualizing and designing a coherent research topic

·                    To write and present an original proposal that may be the basis for your master’s project.

All candidates should complete a short research project that may be collaboratively designed, carried out, analyzed and reported. It is expected the topic may evolve over the first sessions of the course. APA Style will be followed and the format determined according to the research method applied and described in the Johnson text, on course handouts and from in-class discussions. Each assignment will be progressively more refined and sophisticated in research and writing techniques as follows:

§        Draft #1 is a mini-literature review of at least seven (7) articles on your chosen topic of study. The articles’ components will be analyzed in a chart (format provided in class) and will be cited on a references page using APA format. All articles will be photocopied and submitted with this first draft.

§        Draft #2 is a revision of the mini-literature review draft #1 AND builds upon that information by including at least eight (8) additional sources pertaining to your chosen topic of study. As in draft #1, the components of the newly selected articles will be analyzed in a chart form building on the information provided in draft #1. References from this draft will be added to the references page from draft #1, maintaining APA style. Articles will be photocopied and submitted with this draft. Draft #1 should be submitted along with this draft so editing and revising can be tracked to document improvement.

§        Draft #3 is a revision of the second draft AND builds upon that information by adding an abstract, introduction, methodology section and complete reference page (only those sources referenced in the paper should be cited). At this point, the literature review of at least 15 sources should now be complete.  This will customarily include the following: Title Page, Abstract (in future tense only), Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology (in future tense only), and a reference page. Previous drafts are not submitted at this time.

§        Final Submission is the final draft of the Master’s Capstone Project Proposal. The paper should include draft #3 AND preliminary findings from sample data that have been collected. In addition, early, ongoing data analysis will provide information for the following new sections of your project: Analysis and Results, Discussion/Conclusions and Appendices. The project should be comprehensive, about 15-20 pages in length. Final Drafts should incorporate feedback from first drafts, and adhere to APA guidelines and the corresponding grading rubric (handed out in class).

·        Master’s Capstone Project Proposal Presentation (5 points): Candidates will be expected to use available technology including PowerPoint or other presentation software to create a presentation for the class of the project. The instructor will provide individual feedback; individual conferences are encouraged during office hours or by phone or email. Email conversations are particularly helpful for formative evaluation and frequent feedback.

No assignments will be accepted after the final class meetings. All projects must adhere to the ethical guidelines for human subjects as described in the policies of SUNY Cortland, and the school system in which the study is initiated, as appropriate.

·        Practicum Assignments (10 points): Candidates are required to complete at least 100 hours of field experience for the requirements of this course. Candidates must teach at least 10 different lessons including (but not limited to):

§         Teaching one lesson that your host teacher planned

§         Teaching one lesson that you and your host teacher jointly planned

§         Teaching one lesson that you independently planned

§         Teaching four one-on-one tutorial sessions assisting students with diverse needs (with reflections)

§         Teaching three small group instruction lessons (with reflections)

Students must complete and submit ALL lesson plans and reflections. Practicum teaching assignments that have been assigned in other MST classes can be used to fulfill these requirements. However, the reflections of these assignments must follow the guidelines reviewed and distributed for this class.

·        CITI Tutorial (10 points): This course requires that candidates plan and collect preliminary data for an educational study that they will complete. Therefore, ALL students must adhere to strict policies to protect the human subjects that they will be studying. Early in the semester, students must successfully complete the CITI On-line tutorial. Upon successful completion, candidates must print a completion report and submit it in class. It is important to note that this tutorial includes many modules and quizzes and will require much time to complete. Students will need high-speed Internet access to successfully view and respond to all components of the tutorial. The CITI Program can be accessed at: http://www.citiprogram.org

·        On-Line Portfolio (10 points): Students in this course will continue to work on the on-line portfolio that they began early in their MST program. Students will need to add relevant information that portrays their understandings of pedagogical and content knowledge. Although this assignment and its requirements will be reviewed in class, no in-class time will be provided to complete this assignment. The successful completion of the portfolio is a program requirement; students are required to showcase their work at the MST Portfolio Review on a future date to be announced in class.

Rewrite and Re-do policy:

      If you receive less than full credit on your practicum assignments, you can set up a time to meet individually with me to review your lesson plan and reflection and to implement my suggestions for improvement. Revisions can be made and you can resubmit your revised lesson plan and/or reflection for full credit. This is to ensure that you can apply what you’ve learned in class to your own planning and reflecting in and on your teaching.

      The Videotaped Lesson and Reflection assignment will not be accepted late, nor can it be redone.

      The Cooperative Team-teaching Presentation will not be accepted late, nor can it be redone.

      The Master’s Capstone Project Proposal will be submitted in a series of drafts. Each draft of the project will not be accepted late. However, to ensure that you can apply what you’ve learned in class to your own research and writing, revisions can be made and you can resubmit your revised work for full credit. The final submission of the Master’s Capstone Project Proposal will not be accepted late, nor can it be redone.

      The Master’s Capstone Project Presentation will not be accepted late, nor can it be redone.