Curriculum

Take What You Learn, Apply It Tomorrow

Every aspect of the curriculum in the Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning (M.A.T.L.) program helps you bridge the gap between what you learn about education and how you apply that knowledge in the classroom. The curriculum's goals are to help you:

• Acquire or refine strategies and skills that help you design engaging and relevant learning experiences so all students have opportunities for success and greater academic achievement.
• Develop or refine the skills and dispositions of a master teacher.
• Become a teacher leader who makes positive changes in your school.

More broadly, the Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning program incorporates the five core propositions of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).

1. Commitment to students and learning
2. Knowledge of subject area and how to teach it
3. Management and monitoring of student learning
4. Reflection on teaching practice
5. Membership in learning communities

The Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning (M.A.T.L.) program is not intended as actual preparation for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification. The expressed principles of professional development of teachers are clearly incorporated.

Program Format and Specialization

This program encourages participation, analysis and reflection as important components of improving your professional teaching skills. The interactive mix of text, best-practice strategy videos and Web-based peer interaction will provide you with an intensive, quality-driven learning experience. Learn more about program materials, view samples and see future schedules.

The program is designed so that you can complete it in just 14 months by following a 30-credit-hour sequential curriculum. There are four 10-week terms and one eight-week summer term. Each course is powered by an action research project that enables you to link all of your learning. Click here for course descriptions.

One of the program's most exciting aspects is the selection of specializations you have to choose from:

• Curriculum and Instruction
• Elementary Reading
• Elementary Math
• K-12 Technology Integration

Eighteen credit hours will be devoted to your specialization, which must be determined when you begin the program. All students, regardless of specialization, take EDUC 610 & EDUC 620.

EDUC 610 Classroom & Instructional Management is the first block and allows you to explore interactive inquiry-based learning and strategies to incorporate such a learning process. Linked with this exploration is an analysis and study of classroom management strategies & techniques, especially as you investigate active learning.

EDUC 620 is the last block and emphasizes instruction & assessment for diverse classrooms. This block gives you the opportunity to reflect on the whole of your learning as you think about and discuss assessment mechanisms, including portfolios, and then think about teaching and learning in the inclusive classroom.

For each course, you will create portfolio artifacts and will be able to reflect on the whole of your learning as evidenced by the artifacts.

The remaining three blocks focus on your specialization. The second block in your program is the action research block in which you will explore teaching and learning strategies and if & how they are appropriate to your content area. This block seeks to refine or revitalize your research skills and your self-perception & practice of lifelong learning.

The third and fourth blocks (12 credit hours) form the nexus of your area of specialization. In these blocks, you work very specifically in the specialization drawing from what you have learned in the first two blocks and preparing to step back to survey & reflect on your teaching in the last block.

The Learning Experience

Learn from renowned educational researchers, authors and theorists from NSU's Fischler School of Education and Human Services. Your instructors will have expertise in the curriculum blocks they teach, as well as classroom teaching experience. They will share their insights, discuss best practices and review current field research with you. Faculty will directly interact with you to answer questions, discuss concerns, provide feedback and evaluate coursework. You'll also collaborate with a fellow teacher-partner for immediate feedback on assignments to maximize your success in the distance learning setting. And thanks to advanced video technology, "you are there" as instructors demonstrate how to apply theory in the classroom. The program's state-of-the-art learning system, WebCT, offers you many tools to make distance learning convenient and enjoyable. Participate in online exercises to strengthen skills, easily submit assignments, view grades and communicate with professors and fellow students from the program's distance-learning site.

More Learning Resources

This program supports your learning in so many ways. The Student Services Team is there to help advise you throughout the program. Study groups are a great way to share ideas with colleagues. What's more, you'll have access to the NSU electronic library. Search online for listings of books, periodicals, and other items available in the NSU libraries. Access electronic databases and online journals, newspapers, and selected Internet sites as well.

Grading and credit transfers

Grades for each instructional block are based on the completion of course assignments, weekly contacts, and regular participation in all aspects of the course. You must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (B). Due to the sequential nature of the Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning program, the curriculum does not allow for transfer of credit from other graduate programs.