Hgse 2018-2019 Course Catalog PDF
Hgse 2018-2019 Course Catalog PDF
Class Notes: Class will be held on December 7 and lunch will be provided.
This course examines a variety of education policy issues in the United States and abroad, with an
emphasis on rigorous econometric evaluation of such policies. By the course's end, students should have an
analytical framework that allows them to think clearly about the impacts of education policies, as well as be
able to distinguish good research from bad. The first half of the course reviews important empirical
techniques in the context of broad questions, such as whether people make educational decisions by
weighing benefits and costs and whether education improves students' long-term outcomes. The second
half of the course centers on specific current debates in education policy, with the aim of sharpening
everyone's arguments on the basis of existing empirical evidence.
Class Notes: On November 30, class will meet 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
The goal of this course is to learn about the legislative process, specifically focusing on how bills are
drafted, amended, and passed and how stakeholders develop arguments to support their policy priorities.
To do this, students will engage in a simulation following a bill from introduction through committee
mark-up. The bill will focus on establishing standards for the use of seclusion and restraint in schools.
Class participants will take-on roles including congressional members and staff, advocacy organizations,
and school groups. Students will read bills and research, draft legislation, deliver statements, and actively
negotiate priorities with peers. No prior policy experience required.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited to 24.
Class Notes: This course will be offered post-spring semester (May 2019) and will not be
eligible for credit towards a May 2019 degree.
Class Notes: Final exhibitions will take place on Thursday, May 4, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
This course is required for doctoral students who have been accepted into the Data Wise Coach
Certification Program. It provides an opportunity for students to receive support as they build Data Wise
Coach Competencies, with particular focus on developing their ability to design and teach a lesson that
guides others in using data wisely. Bi-weekly class meetings allow students to work collaboratively to identify
learning objectives and develop teaching materials to be used in Data Wise courses training sessions that
will be offered to real audiences this year. The culminating project for this course is the Data Wise Coach
Certification Program portfolio review. Once certified, Data Wise coaches are qualified to (1) teach
educators the Data Wise process, habits, and norms and prepare teams to begin a cycle of inquiry; (2)
coach teams as they work their way through a cycle of inquiry by asking questions and providing targeted
feedback; (3) serve as mentors in on-campus and online Data Wise courses; and (4) collaborate with
certified coaches to document impact of continuous improvement.
Permission of instructor required. Prerequisite: Acceptance in March 2018 into the Data Wise Coach
Certification Program. Additional information available at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/program/data-
wise-coach-certification.
This course is required for doctoral students who have been accepted into the Data Wise Coach
Certification Program. It provides an opportunity for students to receive support as they build Data Wise
Coach Competencies, with particular focus on developing their ability to design and teach a lesson that
guides others in using data wisely. Bi-weekly class meetings allow students to work collaboratively to identify
learning objectives and develop teaching materials to be used in Data Wise courses training sessions that
will be offered to real audiences this year. The culminating project for this course is the Data Wise Coach
Certification Program portfolio review. Once certified, Data Wise coaches are qualified to (1) teach
educators the Data Wise process, habits, and norms and prepare teams to begin a cycle of inquiry; (2)
coach teams as they work their way through a cycle of inquiry by asking questions and providing targeted
feedback; (3) serve as mentors in on-campus and online Data Wise courses; and (4) collaborate with
certified coaches to document impact of continuous improvement.
Permission of instructor required. Prerequisite: Acceptance in March 2018 into the Data Wise Coach
Certification Program. Additional information available at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/program/data-
wise-coach-certification.
Class Notes: Enrollment is limited to 48. Class will be structured as two to three small
working groups of 24 students each, which will join together for lectures and
other exercises. All faculty have taught the flagship Negotiation Workshop at
Harvard Law School.
Class Notes: Class meets on the following dates in Longfellow 222 (Eliot Lyman Room):
Friday, 1/12, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, 1/13, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
(New course.) The Community College Practicum provides students with the opportunity to gain
professional experience by conducting project-related research and providing evidence-based
recommendations to a community college client. The projects will be focused on instructional,
advising, and administrative redesigns that can support improvement in student outcomes. The
course will provide students with the opportunity to draw on their experience and apply their
coursework to help a community college with a real-time problem of practice. Students will work
directly with current professionals in the community college field. There will be individual and
team (2 –4 students) projects. Students will choose from project opportunities at community
colleges in different regions of the nation that will be presented in the first class. In-class
sessions will alternate weeks with required project team meetings with the course instructor.
Class sessions will engage students in project-related learning, including review of research
relevant to projects and discussions with community college practitioners and thought leaders
Project meetings will be conducted in person and virtually. The course will be of most interest
to students seeking to apply learning to professional practice and also those with interest in
education practice redesign and change management.
Permission of instructor required. This course is part of a two-module community college series.
It is recommended that students take the first module of the series, Community Colleges and the
Advancement of Educational and Economic Opportunity in America, unless they have significant
professional experience at a community college or are a graduate of a community college.
In-class sessions will alternate weeks after the first two weeks, with required
project team meetings with the course instructor. Project meetings will be
conducted in person and virtually.
Performing empirical cognitive research in education requires a range of skills in addition to developing a
coherent research question with important educational implications. This module will focus on skills that
facilitate students' understanding of research literature that is relevant to their topic of interest. Students
will learn to conduct literature research using keywords, organizing literature in meaningful ways, reading
an article in a critical manner, understanding different research methods, and develop a research
question. Students will read different types of the literature in this course: review papers, meta analyses,
and empirical studies collecting behavioral measures and neuroimaging data. Students will have the
opportunity to identify a focused research interest, to critically evaluate existing research, and to articulate
research questions with psychological and neuroscience approaches to questions relevant to education.
Across the United States, educators are struggling to determine the most effective ways of creating
learning spaces that are loving and transformational for all students. To do this requires building school
climates that are nurturing and inclusive for students from diverse racial, cultural, socio-economic, and
political backgrounds, and who come to school with diverse identities, learning styles, and challenges.
Feeling safe and welcome at school has direct and measurable effects on students' academic
achievement; but how do we create loving spaces for learning? This module will explore empirical
evidence that supports the creation of safe, loving schools and provide examples of best practices for
educators seeking to prevent bullying and discrimination. By the end of the module, students should be
able to: (1) communicate to educational stakeholders and policymakers about bullying and discrimination
in the United States and, specifically, the importance of social-emotional supports for the academic
development of students; (2) analyze and critique programs that seek to prevent bullying and
discrimination; and (3) apply their knowledge in a practice, policy or research context of their choice. To
accomplish these goals, in the first half of the course we will explore theoretical and empirical research on
bullying and discrimination in schools. Here, we will consider the ways that multiple stakeholders define
safety. During the second half of the course, we will explore practical approaches to creating safe and
loving educational contexts for young people. Here, we will focus on strategies that empower young
people to be active agents in building loving spaces. The course will also provide opportunities to
consider specific types of identity-related bullying, such as homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, and
racism. Although schools will be the central setting examined, course materials are also applicable to
This module can be taken alone or in conjunction with H389B, which will be taught during the second half of the
semester. H389B focuses on supporting adolescents in school, more broadly, by integrating academic, social and
emotional supports.
Class Notes: The first meeting of this course will be on Tuesday, 9/4.
Class Notes: Required, one-hour, weekly section, Thursdays, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Class Notes: Students in the PSP prevention strand should enroll in this section.
Class Notes: Students in the PSP counseling strand should enroll in this section.
Class Notes: Required, weekly, one-hour section, Fridays, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Class Notes: Required, weekly, 90-minute section, Tuesdays, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m .
Class Notes: Required, weekly, 90-minute section, Tuesdays, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
This course is designed for graduate students seeking to gain hands-on research training resulting and
guided research experience. It is structured as a yearlong "research apprenticeship," providing opportunities
for students to gain sustained, hands on research experience, while learning the theory and methods for
conducting research that informs prevention/intervention programs, policy, and practice. Students are placed
as research assistants in a faculty member's active research lab, where they will learn about and conduct
various facets of research, including design and data collection, management, analysis, interpretation of
evidence, and presentation of findings. Based on the research underway in their research practicum site,
students craft research questions and hypotheses of their own, in which they test and analyze in the context
of their work in their research lab. The results from their research project may take the form of a publishable
paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and/or a presentation at a research conference in prevention
science.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited. Fulfills one of the research requirements for Ed.M.
students in the Prevention Science and Practice Program. Enrollment procedure will be posted on the
course website.
This course is designed for graduate students seeking to gain hands-on research training resulting and
guided research experience. It is structured as a yearlong "research apprenticeship," providing opportunities
for students to gain sustained, hands on research experience, while learning the theory and methods for
conducting research that informs prevention/intervention programs, policy, and practice. Students are placed
as research assistants in a faculty member's active research lab, where they will learn about and conduct
various facets of research, including design and data collection, management, analysis, interpretation of
evidence, and presentation of findings. Based on the research underway in their research practicum site,
students craft research questions and hypotheses of their own, in which they test and analyze in the context
of their work in their research lab. The results from their research project may take the form of a publishable
paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and/or a presentation at a research conference in prevention
science.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited. Fulfills one of the research requirements for Ed.M. students
in the Prevention Science and Practice Program. Enrollment procedure will be posted on the course website.
This course focuses on how mindfulness can enhance adult learning and development in all contexts of our lives—
our relationships, workplaces, communities, and civic life. We will learn mindful ways to build inner strengths to
enhance communication and our ability to act skillfully in relational and social challenges. First we will learn to be
more fully present and savor the joys of daily life in the midst of difficulties: to manage stress and deepen well-being
and resilience; develop calm, clarity, and stability in the mind; enhance positive qualities such as gratitude and
compassion for ourselves and others; and develop insight to work consciously with emotional reactivity and
unhelpful habits of thought and behavior, especially those that perpetuate personal suffering and systemic
injustices. After spring break we explore how to mindfully navigate individual experiences of discrimination and
systemic forces of power and privilege to take skillful action in context of race, gender, class, and other social
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited to 20. Enrollment procedure will be posted
on the course website.
Class Notes: Class will meet every other week September 5 - November 14.
Theories on the development of reading proficiency have been influenced by the research and the contexts
in which reading has been situated. In this course, reading development and instruction will be explored
through the lenses of research and best practices. The goals for this course are to explore how children from
kindergarten through high school learn to read across a variety of texts and contexts and how teachers can
use a variety of instructional strategies to address the literacy learning of students from diverse home and
language backgrounds. The influences that first language, cultural background, and motivation have on
reading development will be discussed. The literacy learning of diverse learners will be a central theme
throughout the course, including English learners and students with special needs. Reading programs will be
analyzed, and instructional strategies will be demonstrated. Policies that have influenced literacy programs
and practices will also be presented. The format of the course will be a combination of lectures, discussions,
group presentations, and activities designed to create an understanding of the process of learning to read.
Topics will include (but are not limited to) the history and perspectives on learning to read, developmental
stages of reading, evaluation of materials for reading instruction, and effective reading programs, K-12.
Prerequisites: teaching experience recommended, but not required. Required for Ed.M. students in the
Language and Literacy Program Literacy Coach Strand and those pursuing licensure as a reading specialist
teacher.
Class Notes: Class meets Monday, January 7 - Friday, January 18, 2018, 11:00 a.m. -
2:00 p.m.
Today's young people grow up in a media-saturated environment. As parents and teachers know all too
well, remarkably few of these media offerings are deliberately designed to benefit children or adolescents
educationally. In the realm of informal media designed for learning, the most powerful and successful
intervention ever devised is Sesame Street. You will have the opportunity in this practicum course to work
with researchers, producers, and senior executives from Sesame Workshop--and from outstanding
museums, community centers, after-school programs, libraries, and summer camps--to develop concepts for
a new informal learning venture. You will learn how to undertake a needs assessment; how to conduct
research on media-based learning; how to design, test, and revise materials that are responsive to specific
audiences and objectives; how to make diversity a fundamental component of the design process; and how
to gauge the short- and longer-term impact of an intervention. Course learning activities include lectures,
Young children typically spend thirty hours every week in front of television and other screens. As they grow
up, add listening to music, going to the movies, using tablets and smartphones, playing video games, and
social networking...the amount of time most children and young people invest in media is more than twice
the time they spend in school. What is the impact of growing up immersed in this digital world? What do
children learn from media, and what issues does it raise for them? In this course we examine the pervasive
role of electronic media--broadcast television, videos, movies, music, games, websites, apps, social
networks--in educating and socializing children and teenagers. The course draws on your own experience
with media, and introduces a wide range of psychological, sociological, and survey research. We explore the
variety of content available to young people and their families; document the developing child's patterns of
use and understanding of media; examine theories and methods for assessing media effects; review
research on the role of media in shaping individual identity, social relationships, and responses to
challenging content; and analyze public policies that affect media creators, consumers, and citizens.
Learning activities include lectures, screenings, presentations by guest experts, class discussions, and
student presentations. Section meetings take place during the scheduled class time on Thursday. You have
the opportunity to carry out two structured research assignments, deliver a brief presentation in class or
online, and develop a final paper or project on a topic of special interest to you.
Open to all students, including cross-registrants
This course is designed with the guiding principle that as aspiring "transformational leaders," students must
include themselves in the "change equation." The Personal Mastery Strand of the Ed.L.D. Program is an
integrated set of curricular elements intending to foster (1) a significantly greater understanding of students
as leaders and learners (including their strengths, growing edges, blind spots, and vulnerabilities, which, if
not identified and addressed, are likely to limit and undermine leadership and personal effectiveness); (2) a
deepening ability to help students overcome their gaps and blind spots and manage their vulnerabilities in
their personal growth; and (3) a significantly greater facility with group and team dynamics, including how to
be an effective team leader and member, and how to recognize and address collective processes that derail
a group's capacities to execute, deliver, and learn. Specific components of this course include units on adult
development and team effectiveness, among others. Additionally, Ed.L.D. students are supported in their
leadership development with regular, yearlong, individualized leadership coaching sessions. Before the start
of the course, students will complete a set of assessments (including a leadership 360 feedback
assessment) that will provide baseline data to develop individualized personal learning agendas. These
agendas are pursued and supported in the coaching, within the structure of this course and throughout the
duration of the Ed.L.D. Program.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited to first-year Ed.L.D. students. L-104AY and L-104BY
were formerly L-104A and L-104B.
The central focus of year 2 in Practicing Leadership Inside and Out is on deepening your capacities to be
transformational leaders. At their core, transformational leaders are able to understand systemic problems,
set new directions, lead change and learn quickly from mistakes made in the process. They create a culture
that supports others' development to engage complex work effectively, across a wide array of human
differences given diverse life experiences (race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation etc.)
personality preferences, and conflict engagement styles. The successful enactment of these competencies
calls on leaders to exercise complex psychological capacities. In Kegan's developmental language, they
create a demand for leaders to be "self-authoring". A main goal of the course is to continue supporting
students in their development towards, within or beyond a self-authoring mindset. PLIO Year 2 is
designed to enable you to continue to develop the intrapersonal (within yourself) and interpersonal
(between you and another person or persons) capacities towards becoming a transformational leader.
Additionally, it is designed to deepen your capacity to intentionally create deliberately developmental
containers. The readings, activities, portfolio and relationships create opportunities for you to deepen your
practices of self-observation, reflection, and continual learning in regards to your own development that
you laid the foundation for in Year 1.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited to second-year Ed.L.D. students. Class times listed in the
catalog are approximate; check the Ed.L.D. master calendar for specific meeting times.
Achievement testing is a cornerstone of education policy and practice, but it is complex and is routinely
misunderstood by educators, policymakers, and the media. This course provides the background students
need to understand test results and to use testing appropriately in their later work. It is designed for students
with no statistical training and presents material conceptually rather than mathematically. The course has
three main goals. First, it provides a context for understanding assessment results. For example, we will
explore data on group differences in performance, trends in achievement in the United States, and
international differences in achievement. Second, the course covers the essential concepts of measurement,
such as reliability, validity, and bias. Third, the course applies these principles to a variety of current issues
in education policy, such as high-stakes testing and testing students with special needs.
This is not a methods course and is not intended for doctoral students who may need to use measurement
in their research or evaluate test results using technical criteria. Doctoral students for whom a methods
course in measurement is not appropriate are encouraged to enroll in S-011.
Achievement testing is a cornerstone of education policy and practice, but it is complex and is routinely
misunderstood by educators, policymakers, and the media. This course provides the background students
need to understand test results and to use testing appropriately in their later work. It is designed for students
with no statistical training and presents material conceptually rather than mathematically. The course has
three main goals. First, it provides a context for understanding assessment results. For example, we will
explore data on group differences in performance, trends in achievement in the United States, and
Data often have structure that needs to be modeled explicitly. For example, when investigating
students' outcomes we need to account for the fact that students are nested inside classes that
are in turn nested inside schools. If we are watching students develop over time, we need to
account for the dependence of measurements across time. If we do not account for such
This course is designed for those who want to extend their data analytic skills beyond a basic knowledge of
multiple regression analysis and who want to communicate their findings clearly to audiences of
researchers, scholars, and policymakers. S-052 contributes directly to the diverse data analytic toolkit that
This is a survey course on quantitative methods for educational measurement. Students will learn and apply
techniques essential for the design and analysis of modern educational and psychological assessments,
including reliability, generalizability theory, validation, differential item functioning, item response theory,
scaling, linking, standard setting, and adjustments for measurement error. Contexts of assessments include
small-scale educational and psychological assessments for targeted research studies as well as large-scale
Today, members of most all societies confront a host of challenging topics, both academic and
ethical, that are carried to them over a variety of media. These challenges are often relational,
civic, moral, or societal in nature; they often arise in educational contexts; they are often complex
and layered. This research methods course focuses on understanding how and what youth, and
those who educate them, think, feel, and learn, about these challenging, often controversial,
topics. We will draw upon both cultural and developmental conceptual frameworks to guide our
qualitative analysis of data that are generated in the form of social commentaries and
communications. Ideally, they are data-sets brought to the course by class members; but they may
be "previously-collected" (curated) discourses (e.g., essays written by students; responses to
Today, members of most all societies confront a host of challenging topics, both academic and
ethical, that are carried to them over a variety of media. These challenges are often relational,
civic, moral, or societal in nature; they often arise in educational contexts; they are often complex
and layered. This research methods course focuses on understanding how and what youth, and
those who educate them, think, feel, and learn, about these challenging, often controversial,
topics. We will draw upon both cultural and developmental conceptual frameworks to guide our
qualitative analysis of data that are generated in the form of social commentaries and
This course explores nine controversies in American higher education. The overarching theme is
how to help all students to succeed and prosper in a broad variety of universities. This is a time
when students bring increasingly different backgrounds to campus, and financial constraints are
real. Topics include (1) Changing demographics -- on some campuses the variety of different
backgrounds among students works wonderfully well and everyone benefits. On other
campuses, it works far less well. What concrete policy decisions by campus leaders can
enhance the good? How do we know when we are doing well or poorly? (2) New Technologies --
how will on-line learning opportunities change and reshape different kinds of colleges and
universities? How will the roles of faculty, staff, students, and administrators change? What
decisions must campuses make very soon? We will do an in-class Simulation with student
teams to explore this question in depth. (3) Student services—what constitutes good advising, or
running an effective orientation, and helping students with problems. What are good ways to
structure such services? (4) Assessment—how can we examine rigorously how well a college is
serving its students? What are ways to measure value-added, in other words what students are
actually learning on campus? (5) Enhancing transitions for college success-- What formal
policies can help students to make the important transition from high school to college most
effectively and successfully? (6) Liberal arts--is the future of America's many liberal arts
colleges bright or grim? (7) Public universities--most American students attend large, public
universities. Is a gap between effectiveness of privates and publics widening to become a
chasm? What is the future for public universities? What can be done? (8) Outside of
classrooms--how can universities capitalize on students' many hours outside the classroom to
enrich their overall experiences on a campus? (9) The future: what will the landscape of higher
education look like in 5 years, and how can colleges and universities prepare now? Students will
each participate in one debate, and be asked to participate in a simulation to redesign a
university. The format of this class is that of a large seminar. Obligations include two short
papers, and one substantial research paper on a topic of each student's own choice about a
challenge in higher education. Each student can focus on a topic they care about.
This practicum course is a unique opportunity to work closely with, provide support to, and learn from senior
managers at Sesame Workshop--the producers of Sesame Street and other educational experiences for
young children in more than 150 countries. As the Workshop approaches its 50th anniversary, Sesame's
leaders are seeking to revitalize and reorient the organization. They have committed to exploring new
opportunities for early childhood education, such as engaging parents in their children's cognitive and social
development, expanding services to at-risk populations, exploiting the latest educational technologies, and
personalizing media for individual learners. At the same time, Sesame faces new challenges, including
expanding curriculum demands, competition for the young child audience, and caregivers' shifting media
preferences. HGSE students have been invited to participate in this major renewal task. To help imagine this
21st-century Sesame Workshop, we will work in teams, each advised by a senior Workshop executive. Each
team will undertake focused literature reviews, research informal learning initiatives for young children
Class Notes: Required, weekly section on Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.
Throughout history, social justice movements and social justice organizations have utilized disciplined inquiry or
research to highlight untold stories, illuminate goodness, expose power and colonialism and offer pathways to more
equity and freedom. Yet, we often do not provide practitioners or educators with research methodology training.
More specifically, we often do not provide doctoral students or in the field educations with research methodology
training beyond those traditionally accepted in the Western Cannon. Grounded in critical theory, feminist theory,
queer theory, and post-colonial frameworks, this course aims to introduce all educators (teachers, school leaders,
counselors, teaching artists, and educators working in non-profit organizations) and doctoral students to a strand of
problem-solving approaches that fall under the broad umbrella of emancipatory research methodologies. These
collective ways of exploring questions and gathering knowledge seek to explicitly address power, inequalities, and
injustice while prioritizing the human interactions that exist in research based inquiry. Emancipatory methodologies
ask: How do we engage in research with marginalized populations in ways that honor their voice and their agency?
How are we attentive to who and what is included/excluded in research and how do we expand what is considered
knowledge and how we generate it? Finally, emancipatory research methodologies seek to ensure that any
information gathered is used to push forward a more just society. Through a practice based and exploratory model,
(New course.) This seminar asks students to critically examine recent writings on education that take a
qualitative approach to the study of culture, race, class, gender, and cumulative disadvantage in the lives
of children and youth. Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, the leveler of social differences.
Yet schools and colleges are sites where inequality thrives. What are the social processes that lead to the
reproduction of inequality in these locales? This course will consider how cultural and structural forces
amplify social inequalities. Additionally, the seminar asks students to think through practice and policy
suggestions for schools, universities, and national political officials to address, alleviate, or disrupt this
process. Through close reading, class discussions, presentations, and debate we will investigate the art and
science of qualitative research as we explore how inequality shapes youth's trajectory to and through
young adulthood.
"No prerequisites. Doctoral students given preference. Limited to 15 students."
Class Notes: There will be an interdisciplinary meeting held one Friday per month (dates
and times TBD).
The purpose of this course is to help students face and overcome fundamental problems in the practice and
theory of education. The course focuses on dilemmas that arise from contradictions at the core of
contemporary society and that cannot be solved by applying so-called "best practices." These contradictions
involve class, race and other relations within inherently hierarchical structures: schooling, for example, which
acts as a channel to economic access, at the same time functions as a chief social stratifier; the educator
who tries to give his or her students better access to positions of power, at the same time reincorporates the
students into the oppressive structures that marginalized them. Because conditions that form such
contradictions also form the way we perceive and act upon the world, the individual tends either to willfully
ignore the dilemmas or else experience them in a fractured way. This leads to excessive hope or excessive
despair. In this course we use critical theory, political economy, and psychology to reevaluate such
problems. This work engages students in a process that is intellectual and experiential, individual and
collective, theoretical and practical. The aim is to use a rigorous process of inquiry to hold the complexity of
our problems and arrive at new, radical modes of interaction. The course pedagogy mirrors this process and
is tailored to the particular experience of the students. Issues discussed include the role of class, race,
institutions, politics, and media in education. We will closely study the works of Paulo Freire, W. E. B Dubois,
Karl Marx, Linda Kauffman, and the Frankfurt School, among other writers and philosophers from a wide
range of backgrounds.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited. Ed.M. Enrollment procedure will be posted on the
course website.
(New module.) Meritocratic ideals are at the core of American society, a fact that's clearly visible
in schools. Whether policymakers, practitioners, or researchers, those involved in the
educational enterprise often share a foundational belief that students have (and develop) certain
capabilities, those capabilities can be measured, and demonstrated capabilities should be
rewarded in particular ways. As teachers, for example, we assign grades; as admissions
officers, we assign slots in a highly-stratified university system. We know these measures are
imperfect; we acknowledge how racism, classism, sexism, ableism, and more shape students'
experiences and outcomes in unequal ways. Accordingly, we try to take into account myriad
qualities —like perseverance, intelligence, creativity, ability to work with others, civic
engagement —that we think of as constituting "merit." We sometimes critique specific metrics of
merit, like standardized test scores. But seldom do we step back to consider how our very ideas
about merit, as well as our metrics of it, may perpetuate inequality. In this class, which will be
conducted as a seminar, we will engage with texts discussing various components of merit, like
possession of cultural capital and performance on particular types of assessments. Situating
those constructions of merit in historical, cultural, and social context, we will ultimately critically
assess our ideas about merit and develop an understanding of how our conceptualizations of
merit affect the work we do. This class will require students to be brave, introspective, and willing
to work through discomfort as we, individually and collectively, reconsider what merit is and
could mean.Logistics: No prerequisites. Students from all programs encouraged to enroll, as a
diversity of perspectives and backgrounds will enrich course discussions. See course website for
readings for the first meeting. Course strongly recommended to be taken SAT/NCR; robust
narrative feedback will be given in lieu of grades.
This course investigates the practice of teaching history, civics, and social studies to adolescents in urban
middle and secondary schools. Participants will learn how to set meaningful learning goals and design
curriculum units and lessons that foster rigorous student learning. Participants will also carefully examine
how teachers can differentiate instruction for students with particular learning challenges and English
language learners. Additional topics include how teachers can use primary sources effectively in the
classroom, facilitate conversations about contentious issues, give descriptive and actionable feedback to
students, and integrate current events into the curriculum.
Permission of instructor required. Required for, and limited to, history, political science/political philosophy,
and social studies candidates enrolled in the Teacher Education Program or the Undergraduate Teacher
Education Program.
Designed for students within the Instructional Leadership strand, this four-credit
year-long practicum combines two key learning experiences that are interwoven
over the course of the year. First, students gain field-based experience
observing, analyzing, and practicing instructional leadership in authentic
settings with instructional leaders. Second, whole- and small-group class
sessions provide a space for framing the field work, debriefing and reflecting on
students' experiences, and working with other HGSE faculty and expert
practitioners to develop understanding and skills relevant to instructional
leadership. IL students develop an integrative portfolio over the course of the
year in order to solidify and showcase their own set of principles and practices
of instructional leadership.
Permission of instructor required. Intended for students in the Instructional Leadership Strand of the Learning and
Teaching Ed.M. Program. A required, one-time introductory session will be held on Thursday, August 30, 9:00 a.m.
- 5:00 p.m.
This course is intended for graduate students from all concentrations and programs.
Cross-registrants welcome. Advanced undergraduates permitted upon application to
instructor.
There is no learning without engagement, but engagement without learning is prevalent in today's
digital world. This module explores the relationship between motivation (engagement, self-efficacy,
growth mindset, tenacity), and learning, as exemplified via technology-based experiences. Media
have long been used to excite students' enthusiasm, with mixed outcomes. Interest has grown in the
area of digital games and learning, with the argument that games and immersive simulations (1)
motivate students who otherwise are uninterested in academic content and (2) engage learners in
rich digital or mixed reality environments that provide a powerful context for acquiring knowledge and
skills. But just because a student is deeply engaged in a task does not mean that she or he is
learning something of value. T-510T will build students' knowledge about theories of motivation and
of learning, the extent to which various types of educational experiences exemplify those theories,
and the methods and findings of research in this area. The module speaks to a wide range of
interests about learning and motivation in various types of educational settings across a spectrum of
learners. Lab sessions will focus on technical support, hands-on experiences, and guidance on
course assignments. Students can participate in an online learning community and will complete an
assignment customized to individual preferences..
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited to 35. Enrollment procedures to be posted on
course website. No prerequisites; no prior background in technology or gaming necessary.
Higher-order skills, such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, creativity and collaboration, transform
lives and drive economies. However, measuring these skills with traditional assessment methods is a
challenging task. Recent advancements in computer science, cognitive psychology, and educational
assessment theory are enabling the development of innovative measurement methods. This course offers
hands-on learning experiences on concepts and techniques essential for the design and development of
technology-enhanced assessments for higher-order skills at scale. Students will develop innovative
assessments in K-12, higher education and workplace contexts. Students will explore conceptual
frameworks, gain insights on data analytics and reporting methods. The course will be structured in three
phases. The first phase will emphasize learning and critical review of research in higher-order skills and data
analytics in the context of educational assessments. The second phase will involve assessment design,
along with development of team project proposals for technology-enhanced assessment in K-12, higher
education and workplace contexts. Students will apply theories and techniques to design and develop
technology-enhanced assessment prototypes. In the third phase of the course, students will validate their
assessment prototypes through small-scale pilot testing and will finalize their assessment design. This
course will utilize a combination of lectures, hands-on individual and team assignments, and discussions, to
help participants understand research on technology-enhanced assessment and transformative applications
of real-world skills assessment to learning and college and career readiness.
Permission of instructor required. Enrollment is limited to 40. No prerequisites. This course is supported by
the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning (VPAL).
In formal learning environments such as classrooms, learners are too often positioned as passive--listening,
watching, attending, consuming--rather than encouraged to engage as creators--designing, making,
producing, constructing. In this course, students will (1) investigate the theoretical foundations of learning by
creating and (2) explore how to design learning experiences and technologies that support creating as a
central activity. Topics will include constructivist and constructionist theories of learning, the role of digital
and physical materials in learning, how interest and motivation support learning, the social nature of
learning, and reflective learning practices. Investigations and explorations will be supported through
readings, as well as hands-on experimentation with and reflection on construction-oriented learning
experiences. Students will develop a project related to the theme of "designing for learning by creating;" for
example, proposing a new learning experience, developing curricular resources for an existing learning
experience, or analyzing an existing learning experience. The project should be connected to both the
course themes and student interests.
No auditors. Students must attend the first class to enroll in this course. Anyone who is interested in
exploring the theory and practice of learning through designing, producing, making, and creating is
encouraged to enroll. No prerequisites; no prior experience with technology or design-based approaches to
Class Notes: Required, weekly, 90-minute sections on Monday, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
(New course.) Across a range of contexts –from the supermarket, to the doctor's office, to the voting booth –we
regularly make decisions that are influenced by our understanding of science. While decades of polling data reveal
that American citizens generally respect and value science as an institution, beliefs about specific scientific issues
are much more varied. In this module, we examine the factors that impact perceptions of science, including
cognition, culture, and worldview, as well as the structural inequalities that contribute to variations in scientific
understanding and engagement. The module is intended for students who wish to become more effective
communicators of science, whether in traditional educational contexts, through media or other informal learning
settings, or via interactions with policymakers or other stakeholders. The course is structured around a final project
in which students will apply the course principles to the development of a small science communication prototype.
The project is scaffolded by weekly assignments that build toward the final product, and time in class each week will
be devoted to project workshopping. The class format also includes brief lectures, interactive discussions, and the
analysis of concrete science communication examples that reflect the principles being discussed. Students will also
have the opportunity to engage with new research emerging from The Public Face of Science, an ongoing initiative
led by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences that is designed to explore the complex and evolving
relationship between scientists and the public.