Across the three institutions, doctoral students can take classes at the other universities. The consortium enables students greater diversity in course offerings and access to other individuals with related interests in the Boston area.
Spring 2023
Tufts University
Title: ED192-06: Special Topics: Power & Politics in STEM Education
Professor: Desen Ozkan
Location: Tufts Medford Campus, Room TBD
Time: Tuesday, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Brief Description: This course will trace histories of STEM education in the US to understand how disciplines have been shaped and seemingly stabilized over time. Over the semester, we will critically examine the political economies and cultures of educational institutions to understand the power relations that exist in present-day education institutions. This historical approach will yield insights into present day ideologies of rigor, objectivity, and meritocracy that legitimize inequities of who is served in educational systems.The focus of this course will be on higher education, which will yield insights into broader STEM disciplinary cultures that inform K-12 and industry contexts.
Title: ED192-06: Special Topics: Power & Politics in STEM Education
Professor: Desen Ozkan
Location: Tufts Medford Campus, Room TBD
Time: Tuesday, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Brief Description: This course will trace histories of STEM education in the US to understand how disciplines have been shaped and seemingly stabilized over time. Over the semester, we will critically examine the political economies and cultures of educational institutions to understand the power relations that exist in present-day education institutions. This historical approach will yield insights into present day ideologies of rigor, objectivity, and meritocracy that legitimize inequities of who is served in educational systems.The focus of this course will be on higher education, which will yield insights into broader STEM disciplinary cultures that inform K-12 and industry contexts.
Tufts University
Title: ED214: Resource-based models of learning in STEM disciplines
Professor: Andrew Izsak ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford Campus, Room TBD
Time: Monday, 1:30 - 4:30 pm
Brief Description: Research on learning in science, mathematics, engineering, history, and other disciplines has often modeled cognition in terms of relatively stable attributes. This seminar will be about more complex models of cognition that emphasize processes involving myriad, diverse “resources” that may become activated in different ways and at different times. A main goal of this course is to understand how “resource perspectives” relate to other perspectives on learning in STEM disciplines. In particular, by the end of the course, students should be more clear about contributions to research on learning that various researchers applying “resource perspectives” have made.
Title: ED214: Resource-based models of learning in STEM disciplines
Professor: Andrew Izsak ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford Campus, Room TBD
Time: Monday, 1:30 - 4:30 pm
Brief Description: Research on learning in science, mathematics, engineering, history, and other disciplines has often modeled cognition in terms of relatively stable attributes. This seminar will be about more complex models of cognition that emphasize processes involving myriad, diverse “resources” that may become activated in different ways and at different times. A main goal of this course is to understand how “resource perspectives” relate to other perspectives on learning in STEM disciplines. In particular, by the end of the course, students should be more clear about contributions to research on learning that various researchers applying “resource perspectives” have made.
Boston College
Title: EDUC9301: Design of Learning Environments in the Learning Sciences
Professor: Kate McNeill ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Campion Hall, Room 306
Time: Wednesday, 9:30 - 12:00
Brief Description: The design of learning environments (e.g. curriculum, technology tools, professional development, museum exhibits) and individuals’ experiences within those environments significantly impact both teacher and student learning. In this course, we will examine different learning environments as well as various aspects within those environments. For example, we will examine curriculum to evaluate the scaffolds to support student learning, analyze digital learning environments for professional development to support teacher learning and critique video of classroom discourse to examine student interactions and community development. In this course, we will consider the environment both as conceptualized by its designers (the design) and as it is experienced by participants as learning interactions unfold in particular settings (the enactment) to evaluate the effectiveness of those learning environments.
Title: EDUC9301: Design of Learning Environments in the Learning Sciences
Professor: Kate McNeill ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Campion Hall, Room 306
Time: Wednesday, 9:30 - 12:00
Brief Description: The design of learning environments (e.g. curriculum, technology tools, professional development, museum exhibits) and individuals’ experiences within those environments significantly impact both teacher and student learning. In this course, we will examine different learning environments as well as various aspects within those environments. For example, we will examine curriculum to evaluate the scaffolds to support student learning, analyze digital learning environments for professional development to support teacher learning and critique video of classroom discourse to examine student interactions and community development. In this course, we will consider the environment both as conceptualized by its designers (the design) and as it is experienced by participants as learning interactions unfold in particular settings (the enactment) to evaluate the effectiveness of those learning environments.
Boston University
Title: ME 702: Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science Education Teaching and Teacher Education
Professor: Leslie Dietiker ([email protected])
Location: TBA
Time: Thursday 5-7:45 PM
Brief Description: Over the past 50 years, research on teaching have been driven by the questions: What is good teaching? How can we assess it? How can we support people to learn how to do it? Researchers and policy makers have attempted to find answers to these questions by considering what “good” teachers know, do, and understand, as well as how organizational and social contexts mediate teaching. In this course, we will explore differing conceptions of the nature of teaching and supporting teacher learning and development – both by examining past and current research, and by conducting a focused case study about teaching or teacher learning. Specifically, we will consider how teaching is defined in research and enacted in practice, theories about teacher learning, and how the field has researched the preparation and support of mathematics and science teachers.
Title: ME 702: Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science Education Teaching and Teacher Education
Professor: Leslie Dietiker ([email protected])
Location: TBA
Time: Thursday 5-7:45 PM
Brief Description: Over the past 50 years, research on teaching have been driven by the questions: What is good teaching? How can we assess it? How can we support people to learn how to do it? Researchers and policy makers have attempted to find answers to these questions by considering what “good” teachers know, do, and understand, as well as how organizational and social contexts mediate teaching. In this course, we will explore differing conceptions of the nature of teaching and supporting teacher learning and development – both by examining past and current research, and by conducting a focused case study about teaching or teacher learning. Specifically, we will consider how teaching is defined in research and enacted in practice, theories about teacher learning, and how the field has researched the preparation and support of mathematics and science teachers.
Spring 2019
Tufts University
Title: ME 171 / ED-192-03: Engineering Education Design
Professor: Kristen Wendell ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University, Anderson Hall 306
Time: Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-2:45 PM
Brief Description: In this course we will unpack engineering as a complex learning domain and explore research-based approaches to the design of engineering learning experiences. Our focus is on the learning and teaching of engineering at the undergraduate level. Issues of diversity and inclusion in engineering education will be a central theme. You will observe student and instructor dynamics in an existing undergraduate engineering course and apply theories of learning to reflect on what you see. You’ll then synthesize your reflections with results from empirical research to plan, practice, and partially implement a carefully designed engineering learning experience of your own. A tentative syllabus can be viewed here.
Title: ED 182-01 Technological Tools for Thinking and Learning
Professor: Marina Bers ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University, TBD.
Time: Tuesday 9:00-11:30AM
Brief Description: Explores the design and use of new tools to think with, including "hands on" technological tools (software) and "heads in" theories and values to examine tools suitable for a wide variety of age levels, settings, and topic areas. Prerequisite: consent.
Title: ED 192: Educational Design and Design-based Research
Professor: Brian Gravel ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University. Paige Hall 007 - Garden Room
Time: Mondays 3:30 - 6:30
Brief Description: This course introduces students to design-based research, which is an approach to studying learning “in the wild.” Paying special attention to authentic contexts for learning, design-based research (DBR) was developed to build theory through design conjectures, where tools, curricula, or environments are designed, and iteratively refined, to explore questions of teaching and learning. Designers build from theory to propose new kinds of tools, arrangements, or materials that help discover new ideas about learning while also providing new materials and activities that can be used by other researchers and educators. In this course, we will explore the roots of DBR, the centrality of theory, and trends in DBR over the few decades. We will workshop designs, approaches to data collection, and ways of reporting findings to build a foundation for your own work as designers and educators.
Boston University
Title: ME 702: Teaching and Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science Education
Professor: Lynsey Gibbons ([email protected])
Location: Boston University. TBD.
Time: Thursdays, 5-7:45
Over the past 50 years, research on teaching have been driven by the questions: What is good teaching? How can we assess it? How can we support people to learn how to do it? Researchers and policy makers have attempted to find answers to these questions by considering what “good” teachers know, do, and understand, as well as how organizational and social contexts mediate teaching. In this course, we will explore differing conceptions of the nature of teaching and supporting teacher learning and development – both by examining past and current research, and by conducting a focused case study about teaching or teacher learning. Specifically, we will consider how teaching is defined in research and enacted in practice, theories about teacher learning, and how the field has researched the preparation and support of mathematics and science teachers.
Title: ME 702: Teaching and Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science Education
Professor: Lynsey Gibbons ([email protected])
Location: Boston University. TBD.
Time: Thursdays, 5-7:45
Over the past 50 years, research on teaching have been driven by the questions: What is good teaching? How can we assess it? How can we support people to learn how to do it? Researchers and policy makers have attempted to find answers to these questions by considering what “good” teachers know, do, and understand, as well as how organizational and social contexts mediate teaching. In this course, we will explore differing conceptions of the nature of teaching and supporting teacher learning and development – both by examining past and current research, and by conducting a focused case study about teaching or teacher learning. Specifically, we will consider how teaching is defined in research and enacted in practice, theories about teacher learning, and how the field has researched the preparation and support of mathematics and science teachers.
Boston College
Title: EDUC971101: Historical and Political Contexts of Curriculum
Professor: Gabrielle Oliveira ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, McGuinn Hall 400
Time: Tuesdays 9:30-11:50
Brief Description:
Introduces Ph.D. students in Curriculum & Instruction to the major curriculum movements in American educational history by examining the history and implementation of curriculum development on the macro and micro levels of schooling. Focuses on key campaigns and controversies in curriculum theory and practice, using primary source materials to place them within the academic, political, economic, and social contexts that have marked their conceptualization, and change inside and outside of schools.
Professor: Gabrielle Oliveira ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, McGuinn Hall 400
Time: Tuesdays 9:30-11:50
Brief Description:
Introduces Ph.D. students in Curriculum & Instruction to the major curriculum movements in American educational history by examining the history and implementation of curriculum development on the macro and micro levels of schooling. Focuses on key campaigns and controversies in curriculum theory and practice, using primary source materials to place them within the academic, political, economic, and social contexts that have marked their conceptualization, and change inside and outside of schools.
PAST COURSES
Fall 2018
Boston College
Title: EDUC973701: Topics in Curriculum and Instruction - Discourse Analysis
Professor: Kristen Bottema-Beutel ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, McGuinn Hall 400
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:50
Brief Description:
This course will cover theory and method related to Discourse Analysis, including Speech Act theory, sequence organization and Conversation Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Classroom Discourse and Critical Discourse Analysis. The course will place an especial focus on the contributions of discourse analytic approaches to understanding educational contexts. Students will be asked to collect, transcribe, analyze, and present their own data over the course of the semester.
Professor: Kristen Bottema-Beutel ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, McGuinn Hall 400
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:50
Brief Description:
This course will cover theory and method related to Discourse Analysis, including Speech Act theory, sequence organization and Conversation Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Classroom Discourse and Critical Discourse Analysis. The course will place an especial focus on the contributions of discourse analytic approaches to understanding educational contexts. Students will be asked to collect, transcribe, analyze, and present their own data over the course of the semester.
Boston University
Title: ME 701: Epistemologies and Theories of Learning in Mathematics and Science Education
Professor: Eve Manz ([email protected])
Location: Boston University. TBD.
Time: Thursdays, 5-7:45
Brief Description:
This course will attend to the theoretical foundations of mathematics and science education. We will focus on understanding what it means to know and be a skilled participant in a discipline, as well as how skills and knowledge develop.
This course is unusual for a few reasons. Typically, epistemology and learning theory are studied separately. Epistemology, or the study of knowledge and knowing, has typically been approached from philosophy, historical, and more recently, sociological traditions. In contrast, learning theory has typically been pursued by educational psychologists and learning scientists. Studying these branches of theory together not only will inform our understanding of research on learning (and therefore teaching), but will allow us to recognize and analyze the epistemological assumptions upon which learning theories and instructional approaches rest.
In this course, students will build a theoretical foundation for their research goals. They will develop an understanding of the historical and philosophical challenges that have shaped perspectives in mathematics and science education, will be able to connect current lines of educational research with their roots in other traditions, and will be able to draw on new disciplines to inform their own research.
Professor: Eve Manz ([email protected])
Location: Boston University. TBD.
Time: Thursdays, 5-7:45
Brief Description:
This course will attend to the theoretical foundations of mathematics and science education. We will focus on understanding what it means to know and be a skilled participant in a discipline, as well as how skills and knowledge develop.
This course is unusual for a few reasons. Typically, epistemology and learning theory are studied separately. Epistemology, or the study of knowledge and knowing, has typically been approached from philosophy, historical, and more recently, sociological traditions. In contrast, learning theory has typically been pursued by educational psychologists and learning scientists. Studying these branches of theory together not only will inform our understanding of research on learning (and therefore teaching), but will allow us to recognize and analyze the epistemological assumptions upon which learning theories and instructional approaches rest.
In this course, students will build a theoretical foundation for their research goals. They will develop an understanding of the historical and philosophical challenges that have shaped perspectives in mathematics and science education, will be able to connect current lines of educational research with their roots in other traditions, and will be able to draw on new disciplines to inform their own research.
Tufts University
Title: ED 111/119 Development of Knowledge and Reasoning in Science/Engineering
Professor: Julia Gouvea ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University. TBD.
Time: Wednesdays, 4:30-7:15
Brief Description:
This is our introductory seminar in science and engineering education. It focuses on eliciting, attending to, and interpreting students' thinking. The main assignments are interviews of learners and readings from education research. Participants develop multiple perspectives on the development of knowledge and reasoning in science and engineering, consider current teaching practices in K-20 learning environments, and complete final projects either to design instructional plans or to begin research on learning.
Title: ED 112 Mathematical Learning Environments
Professor: Andrew Izsák ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University. TBD.
Time: Wednesdays, 4:30-7:15
Brief Description:
And this is our introductory seminar in mathematics education. It also focuses on eliciting, attending to, and interpreting students' thinking, and the main assignments are interviews of learners and readings from education research. Participants explore learning, reasoning, and understanding in various areas mathematics, and they complete final projects either to design instructional plans or to begin research on learning.
Professor: Julia Gouvea ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University. TBD.
Time: Wednesdays, 4:30-7:15
Brief Description:
This is our introductory seminar in science and engineering education. It focuses on eliciting, attending to, and interpreting students' thinking. The main assignments are interviews of learners and readings from education research. Participants develop multiple perspectives on the development of knowledge and reasoning in science and engineering, consider current teaching practices in K-20 learning environments, and complete final projects either to design instructional plans or to begin research on learning.
Title: ED 112 Mathematical Learning Environments
Professor: Andrew Izsák ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University. TBD.
Time: Wednesdays, 4:30-7:15
Brief Description:
And this is our introductory seminar in mathematics education. It also focuses on eliciting, attending to, and interpreting students' thinking, and the main assignments are interviews of learners and readings from education research. Participants explore learning, reasoning, and understanding in various areas mathematics, and they complete final projects either to design instructional plans or to begin research on learning.
Spring 2018
Tufts University
Title: CSHD 114 Children and New Technologies
Professor : Marina Bers ([email protected])
Time: Thursdays 9:00am-11:00am
Brief Description:
This course explores the impact of computer programming, robotics, computer games, social media and other digital technologies in the lives of young people. It is an interdisciplinary course with a focus on developmental, learning and design theories. Students will apply their theoretical knowledge in order to design a new technology for young children in collaboration with a team of engineers. They will develop marketing strategies and will test the product with children. They will present their learning in a final “pitch" with an entrepreneurial style.
Title: CSHD 145 Technological Tools for Playful Learning
Professor : Marina Bers ([email protected])
Time: Tuesdays 9:00am-11:00am
Brief Description:
This course explores the design and use of new technologies for learning. The underlying philosophy of this course is "constructionism", which states that people learn better when engaged in making and designing their own personally meaningful projects. In this course, we will use theory, discussion, and hands-on learning to become designers of curricula around technological tools, to be used in real-life classrooms. Additionally, we will become researchers to assess the thinking and learning fostered by the different tools working in two different schools.
Title: ED 12X Practice of Teaching Science/Math/Engineering
Professor : David Hammer (d[email protected]) and Andrew Izsák
Time:Wed 4:30pm 7:15pm
Brief Description:
This course is required in our Master of Arts in Teaching program, for students in STEM fields, but it is open to anyone who is currently teaching in a STEM discipline. (That includes, e.g. TA’s in college classes as well as educators in informal settings.) The work centers on written and video data from participants’ teaching. We’ll study that data to understand the learners’ reasoning and engagement, and based on what we see we’ll consider possibilities for instruction.
Professor : Marina Bers ([email protected])
Time: Thursdays 9:00am-11:00am
Brief Description:
This course explores the impact of computer programming, robotics, computer games, social media and other digital technologies in the lives of young people. It is an interdisciplinary course with a focus on developmental, learning and design theories. Students will apply their theoretical knowledge in order to design a new technology for young children in collaboration with a team of engineers. They will develop marketing strategies and will test the product with children. They will present their learning in a final “pitch" with an entrepreneurial style.
Title: CSHD 145 Technological Tools for Playful Learning
Professor : Marina Bers ([email protected])
Time: Tuesdays 9:00am-11:00am
Brief Description:
This course explores the design and use of new technologies for learning. The underlying philosophy of this course is "constructionism", which states that people learn better when engaged in making and designing their own personally meaningful projects. In this course, we will use theory, discussion, and hands-on learning to become designers of curricula around technological tools, to be used in real-life classrooms. Additionally, we will become researchers to assess the thinking and learning fostered by the different tools working in two different schools.
Title: ED 12X Practice of Teaching Science/Math/Engineering
Professor : David Hammer (d[email protected]) and Andrew Izsák
Time:Wed 4:30pm 7:15pm
Brief Description:
This course is required in our Master of Arts in Teaching program, for students in STEM fields, but it is open to anyone who is currently teaching in a STEM discipline. (That includes, e.g. TA’s in college classes as well as educators in informal settings.) The work centers on written and video data from participants’ teaching. We’ll study that data to understand the learners’ reasoning and engagement, and based on what we see we’ll consider possibilities for instruction.
Boston University
Title: SED ME 589: Designing Professional Development Programs in Mathematics Education
Professor : Suzanne Chapin
Time: Weds, 4:40-7:25
Brief Description:
Students examine models for the professional development of mathematics teachers; conduct needs assessment of the teachers in their target groups; and design professional development programs that respond to those needs. Programs focus on upgrading mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical and assessment practices. 4cr, 2nd sem.
Professor : Suzanne Chapin
Time: Weds, 4:40-7:25
Brief Description:
Students examine models for the professional development of mathematics teachers; conduct needs assessment of the teachers in their target groups; and design professional development programs that respond to those needs. Programs focus on upgrading mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical and assessment practices. 4cr, 2nd sem.
Boston College
Title: EDUC973701: Topics in Curriculum and Instruction - Knowledge Media and Learning
Professor: Jim Slotta ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Fulton Hall, Room 220
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:30
Brief Description:
This course adopts a learning community pedagogy, beginning with a two week investigation into that approach that include readings and discussions about collective epistemology and learning communities, as well as a review of products from prior course offerings. Students then divide into groups of three to five members, adopting leadership for one of the course themes (e.g., “Cities, health and lifestyle”, “formal education”) which are negotiated in the orientation part of the course. To help our community learn about their selected theme, the leaders design activities that engage us directly with the new forms of media, often in a workshop fashion, or sometimes on field trips, with relevant readings and homework activities that feed into class experiences. For example, one year we adopted a theme of the impact of mobile phones, and the class leaders provided us a homework activity where we used one of three different phone apps within some ordinary activity like grocery shopping, exercise, or driving. We recorded our experiences on our phones, and sent them to the leaders, who then embedded them into the physical classroom space using an augmented reality system called Layar. In this way, we advanced our understandings by actually engaging with the media practices. We tend to have plenty of deep discussions and small group work too. For each theme, the leaders will work closely with the course instructor to define homework activities for the class, as well as to develop a pedagogical plan (i.e., for the class meetings) that engages students with the media and leads to rich discussions about the role of those media within the theme. A major design project is also included, where students work in groups of 2 or 3 (not necessarily the same groups as their leadership team) to conceptualize a media design for learning in one of the course themes. We begin with a review of the wealth of designs from prior courses, then follow a basic design method, with focused “design days” (including peer review) punctuating the syllabus.
Professor: Jim Slotta ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Fulton Hall, Room 220
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:30
Brief Description:
This course adopts a learning community pedagogy, beginning with a two week investigation into that approach that include readings and discussions about collective epistemology and learning communities, as well as a review of products from prior course offerings. Students then divide into groups of three to five members, adopting leadership for one of the course themes (e.g., “Cities, health and lifestyle”, “formal education”) which are negotiated in the orientation part of the course. To help our community learn about their selected theme, the leaders design activities that engage us directly with the new forms of media, often in a workshop fashion, or sometimes on field trips, with relevant readings and homework activities that feed into class experiences. For example, one year we adopted a theme of the impact of mobile phones, and the class leaders provided us a homework activity where we used one of three different phone apps within some ordinary activity like grocery shopping, exercise, or driving. We recorded our experiences on our phones, and sent them to the leaders, who then embedded them into the physical classroom space using an augmented reality system called Layar. In this way, we advanced our understandings by actually engaging with the media practices. We tend to have plenty of deep discussions and small group work too. For each theme, the leaders will work closely with the course instructor to define homework activities for the class, as well as to develop a pedagogical plan (i.e., for the class meetings) that engages students with the media and leads to rich discussions about the role of those media within the theme. A major design project is also included, where students work in groups of 2 or 3 (not necessarily the same groups as their leadership team) to conceptualize a media design for learning in one of the course themes. We begin with a review of the wealth of designs from prior courses, then follow a basic design method, with focused “design days” (including peer review) punctuating the syllabus.
Fall 2017
Boston College
Title: EDUC973701: Topics in Curriculum and Instruction - Design of Learning Environments in the Learning Sciences
Professor: Katherine McNeill ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Cushing Hall, Room 333
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:30
Brief Description:
The design of learning environments (e.g. curriculum, technology tools, professional development) and individuals’ experiences within those environments significantly impact both teacher and student learning. The learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field of research that draws from a variety of domains such as cognitive science, educational psychology, sociology and education to design effective learning and teaching environments. The goals of the learning sciences are to 1) understand the physical, cognitive and social aspects of learning environments and 2) use these understandings to design more effective learning environments. In this course, we will examine different learning environments. For example, we will examine curriculum to evaluate the scaffolds to support student learning, analyze digital learning environments for professional development to support teacher learning and critique video of classroom discourse to examine student interactions and community development (Here is the syllabus from spring 2015 to be updated soon).
Professor: Katherine McNeill ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Cushing Hall, Room 333
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:30
Brief Description:
The design of learning environments (e.g. curriculum, technology tools, professional development) and individuals’ experiences within those environments significantly impact both teacher and student learning. The learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field of research that draws from a variety of domains such as cognitive science, educational psychology, sociology and education to design effective learning and teaching environments. The goals of the learning sciences are to 1) understand the physical, cognitive and social aspects of learning environments and 2) use these understandings to design more effective learning environments. In this course, we will examine different learning environments. For example, we will examine curriculum to evaluate the scaffolds to support student learning, analyze digital learning environments for professional development to support teacher learning and critique video of classroom discourse to examine student interactions and community development (Here is the syllabus from spring 2015 to be updated soon).
Boston University
Title: ME 703: Curriculum Research and Theory in Mathematics Education (Will be broadened to include Science over the summer)
Professor :Leslie Dietiker
Time: Weds, 4:40-7:25
Brief Description:
This course attends to the theoretical foundations of curriculum development, analysis, evaluation, and implementation in mathematics education. Students will carefully examine the theoretical perspectives and assumptions of research in all of its forms, such as its intended (e.g., textbook) and enacted forms. These ideas will be considered from both national and international perspectives. Students will also explore and use methodological tools developed to measure curriculum and to understand how teachers draw from mathematics textbooks.
Professor :Leslie Dietiker
Time: Weds, 4:40-7:25
Brief Description:
This course attends to the theoretical foundations of curriculum development, analysis, evaluation, and implementation in mathematics education. Students will carefully examine the theoretical perspectives and assumptions of research in all of its forms, such as its intended (e.g., textbook) and enacted forms. These ideas will be considered from both national and international perspectives. Students will also explore and use methodological tools developed to measure curriculum and to understand how teachers draw from mathematics textbooks.
Title: LS 750 Cognitive Development and Language (aka Culture, Language, and Cognition)
Professor: Beth Warren
Time: Mondays, 4:40-7:25
Brief Description:
This course focuses on classical and contemporary theoretical and empirical work investigating relationships between culture, language and cognition in literacy development, including disciplinary literacies. It will consider various traditions of inquiry, including cognitive development, linguistic anthropology, cultural psychology, child development, sociocultural theory, cultural historical activity theory, learning sciences, and embodied cognition.
Professor: Beth Warren
Time: Mondays, 4:40-7:25
Brief Description:
This course focuses on classical and contemporary theoretical and empirical work investigating relationships between culture, language and cognition in literacy development, including disciplinary literacies. It will consider various traditions of inquiry, including cognitive development, linguistic anthropology, cultural psychology, child development, sociocultural theory, cultural historical activity theory, learning sciences, and embodied cognition.
Tufts University
Title: ED 214: Resource-based Models of Learning in STEM Disciplines
Professor: David Hammer ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University, Medford Campus, Room TBA
Time: Tuesdays 1:20 - 4:20
Brief Description:
Research on learning, across STEM disciplines, has tended to focus on misconceptions and developmental limitations, barriers learners must overcome or gaps that they must fill. In this seminar, students will focus on models of productive intellectual resources—aspects of learners' knowledge, reasoning abilities, inclinations that are beginnings of expertise. It will be assumed students have a general background in STEM education research, such as from ED 111, 112, or 119. Here is the syllabus from last time. Hammer
Professor: David Hammer ([email protected])
Location: Tufts University, Medford Campus, Room TBA
Time: Tuesdays 1:20 - 4:20
Brief Description:
Research on learning, across STEM disciplines, has tended to focus on misconceptions and developmental limitations, barriers learners must overcome or gaps that they must fill. In this seminar, students will focus on models of productive intellectual resources—aspects of learners' knowledge, reasoning abilities, inclinations that are beginnings of expertise. It will be assumed students have a general background in STEM education research, such as from ED 111, 112, or 119. Here is the syllabus from last time. Hammer
Spring 2017
Boston University
ME 703: Curriculum Research and Theory in Mathematics Education
Dr. Leslie Dietiker
This course explores contemporary and historical research and theory in mathematics curriculum (including written materials and enacted curriculum) and will prepare students for research in this critical area of scholarship. It is open to all advanced graduate students, but is especially designed for mathematics education doctoral students who have an interest in curriculum analyses or the study of intended/enacted mathematics curriculum. During this course, these overarching themes will be explored: mathematics curriculum design and analysis, mathematics curriculum and student learning, history and status of mathematics curricula, policy and mathematics curriculum, and teachers' use and knowledge of mathematics curriculum.
Dr. Leslie Dietiker
This course explores contemporary and historical research and theory in mathematics curriculum (including written materials and enacted curriculum) and will prepare students for research in this critical area of scholarship. It is open to all advanced graduate students, but is especially designed for mathematics education doctoral students who have an interest in curriculum analyses or the study of intended/enacted mathematics curriculum. During this course, these overarching themes will be explored: mathematics curriculum design and analysis, mathematics curriculum and student learning, history and status of mathematics curricula, policy and mathematics curriculum, and teachers' use and knowledge of mathematics curriculum.
Boston College
Title: EDUC973701: Topics in Curriculum and Instruction - Discourse Analysis
Professor: Kristen Bottema-Beutel ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Campion Hall Room 010
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:30
Brief Description:
This course will cover theory and method related to Discourse Analysis, including Speech Act theory, sequence organization and Conversation Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Classroom Discourse and Critical Discourse Analysis. The course will place an especial focus on the contributions of discourse analytic approaches to understanding educational contexts. Students will be asked to collect, transcribe, analyze, and present their own data over the course of the semester.
Title: EDUC975501: Theories of Leadership
Professor: Andy Hargreaves ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Campion Hall Room 010
Time: Wednesdays, 7:00 - 9:30
Brief Description:
Explores various epistemologies of practice and theoretical models of leadership through cases taken from a wide variety of educational settings, paying particular attention to the interplay between a personal ethic and issues of race, gender, and social class. Highlights models and processes of institutional restructuring and interprofessional collaboration. Recommended for doctoral students.
Professor: Kristen Bottema-Beutel ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Campion Hall Room 010
Time: Monday 4:30- 6:30
Brief Description:
This course will cover theory and method related to Discourse Analysis, including Speech Act theory, sequence organization and Conversation Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Classroom Discourse and Critical Discourse Analysis. The course will place an especial focus on the contributions of discourse analytic approaches to understanding educational contexts. Students will be asked to collect, transcribe, analyze, and present their own data over the course of the semester.
Title: EDUC975501: Theories of Leadership
Professor: Andy Hargreaves ([email protected])
Location: Boston College, Campion Hall Room 010
Time: Wednesdays, 7:00 - 9:30
Brief Description:
Explores various epistemologies of practice and theoretical models of leadership through cases taken from a wide variety of educational settings, paying particular attention to the interplay between a personal ethic and issues of race, gender, and social class. Highlights models and processes of institutional restructuring and interprofessional collaboration. Recommended for doctoral students.
Tufts University
Title: Introduction to Educational Design & Design-based Research (EDUC 192-03)
Professor: Aditi Wagh ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford campus, Rm & bldg TBD
Time: Tuesday, 4-7 pm
Brief Description:
This course is about Design-based research, the study of learning as it occurs “in the wild” with tools, curricula, or environments designed and iteratively refined by the researcher(s). This is done in pursuit of two complementary goals: to develop, refine, and test working theories of how people think and learn; and to develop, refine, and test materials and activities that can help support them in such thinking and learning within a given educational context. The course is intended as a half seminar, half workshop-style methods course to support you as you engage in your own projects. Ideally, it will serve two primary goals: to provide you with a collection of resources and skills useful for all phases of design-based research, and to support you in more targeted ways as you start or continue your own design-based projects.
Title: Technological Tools for Thinking and Learning (EDUC 182-01)
Professor: Marina Bers ([email protected])
Location: Eliot Pearson Curriculum Lab
Time: Tuesday, 9-11:30
Brief Description:
Explores the design and use of new tools to think with, including "hands on" technological tools (software) and "heads in" theories and values to examine tools suitable for a wide variety of age age levels, settings, and topic areas. Prerequisite: consent
Title: ME-171-01: Engineering Education Design
Professor: Kristen Wendell ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford Campus
Time: Mon/Weds 1:30-2:45 PM
Brief Description: Research-based approaches to the design of complex engineering learning experiences. Methodologies from the learning sciences. Characterization of engineering cognition, problem-solving, epistemologies, and identities. Considerations of diversity and inclusion in engineering education. Focus is on engineering education at the postsecondary level. Emphasis on applications through student projects.
Title: PHY-0016-02: Computational Physics
Professor: Timothy Atherton ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford Campus
Time: Tues/Thurs 1:30-2:45 PM
Brief Description: Computers have been used to solve physics problems since they were first created, and with their ever increasing power and ubiquity, computing has become a fundamental scientific practice in Physics. Some examples: In High Energy Physics, computers automatically select detected subatomic particle collision events for recording, store them and allow processing of the results on large-scale compute Grids (the origins of Big Data!); moreover, theoretical predictions are made by simulations. In Astronomy, formation processes are simulated at multiple length scales from star formation to galaxy evolution. In Condensed Matter Physics, many-body quantum mechanics simulations predict the electronic structure of materials, bulk properties from molecular dynamics and continuum behavior by solving PDEs.
Title: Physics 11 - General Physics I
Professor: David Hammer ([email protected])
Location: TBA
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00- 1:15 PM
Brief Description: Most students will be freshmen taking it as a requirement for their major in engineering or a science. It’s a different course from what most of them expect, in a strong emphasis on students’ learning how to learn. (Here is the syllabus from last year, to be updated soon.) STEM Ed students may be interested for the opportunity to learn introductory physics and/or to see a very different kind of course in action.
Title: Introduction to Educational Design & Design-based Research (EDUC 192-03)
Professor: Aditi Wagh ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford campus, Rm & bldg TBD
Time: Tuesday, 4-7 pm
Brief Description:
This course is about Design-based research, the study of learning as it occurs “in the wild” with tools, curricula, or environments designed and iteratively refined by the researcher(s). This is done in pursuit of two complementary goals: to develop, refine, and test working theories of how people think and learn; and to develop, refine, and test materials and activities that can help support them in such thinking and learning within a given educational context. The course is intended as a half seminar, half workshop-style methods course to support you as you engage in your own projects. Ideally, it will serve two primary goals: to provide you with a collection of resources and skills useful for all phases of design-based research, and to support you in more targeted ways as you start or continue your own design-based projects.
Title: Technological Tools for Thinking and Learning (EDUC 182-01)
Professor: Marina Bers ([email protected])
Location: Eliot Pearson Curriculum Lab
Time: Tuesday, 9-11:30
Brief Description:
Explores the design and use of new tools to think with, including "hands on" technological tools (software) and "heads in" theories and values to examine tools suitable for a wide variety of age age levels, settings, and topic areas. Prerequisite: consent
Title: ME-171-01: Engineering Education Design
Professor: Kristen Wendell ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford Campus
Time: Mon/Weds 1:30-2:45 PM
Brief Description: Research-based approaches to the design of complex engineering learning experiences. Methodologies from the learning sciences. Characterization of engineering cognition, problem-solving, epistemologies, and identities. Considerations of diversity and inclusion in engineering education. Focus is on engineering education at the postsecondary level. Emphasis on applications through student projects.
Title: PHY-0016-02: Computational Physics
Professor: Timothy Atherton ([email protected])
Location: Tufts Medford Campus
Time: Tues/Thurs 1:30-2:45 PM
Brief Description: Computers have been used to solve physics problems since they were first created, and with their ever increasing power and ubiquity, computing has become a fundamental scientific practice in Physics. Some examples: In High Energy Physics, computers automatically select detected subatomic particle collision events for recording, store them and allow processing of the results on large-scale compute Grids (the origins of Big Data!); moreover, theoretical predictions are made by simulations. In Astronomy, formation processes are simulated at multiple length scales from star formation to galaxy evolution. In Condensed Matter Physics, many-body quantum mechanics simulations predict the electronic structure of materials, bulk properties from molecular dynamics and continuum behavior by solving PDEs.
Title: Physics 11 - General Physics I
Professor: David Hammer ([email protected])
Location: TBA
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00- 1:15 PM
Brief Description: Most students will be freshmen taking it as a requirement for their major in engineering or a science. It’s a different course from what most of them expect, in a strong emphasis on students’ learning how to learn. (Here is the syllabus from last year, to be updated soon.) STEM Ed students may be interested for the opportunity to learn introductory physics and/or to see a very different kind of course in action.