Teaching and Research Methods II is a course designed to continue the development and facilitation of the knowledge and skills essential for beginning teachers. Specifically, this course focuses on planning and managing the teaching and learning environment, reflective thinking, managing student behavior, employing ethical practices, and developing a teaching philosophy. Students will utilize assessment and evaluation techniques relating to the implementation of teaching and/or management techniques that will culminate in an action research project. Students will also be engaged in using research to inform teaching practice and communicate those practices to peers. Preservice teachers will attend workshop sessions covering a wide range of educational topics such as interpersonal communication, multicultural issues, community resources, health issues, career planning, and legal issues.

The course was designed in accordance with the Pennsylvania General and Specific Standards for certification in elementary and special education (M/PH), the Professional Standards and Practices of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and the goals and competencies of the Department of Education at La Salle University.

Students will be able to:

1. State and justify a personal philosophy for teaching, learning, and managing behavior
(CEC #1).

2. Compare, contrast, and evaluate prevalent approaches, models, and strategies for the management of behavior (CEC #60; PDE Special Education Standards I.B, II.E)

3. Utilize a critical reflection model as a guide in the selection and development of effective interventions (CEC #78; PDE Special Education Standards II.C).

4. Demonstrate their knowledge of assessment, ecological, curricular, and management strategies to change social and/or academic behaviors (CEC #77, 79; PDE Special Education Standards I.G).

5. Reflect upon and apply practices that are supported by empirical research that meet the learning style, learning, and developmental needs of individual students (CEC #61, 66;
PDE Special Education Standards I.B, II.C ).

6. Analyze antecedent and consequent events affecting the behavior of students (PDE Special Education Standards II.E)

7. Critically reflect upon and evaluate the adequacy of applied management models or strategies based upon their theoretical constructs, objective data, and anecdotal records (CEC #28, 31; PDE Special Education Standards, II.C).

8. Debate the merits and limitations of behavioral, cognitive, social learning, and humanistic approaches to the management of behavior. (PDE Special Education Standards, II.E)

9. Reflect upon and discuss the ethical and procedural safeguards regarding the planning and implementation of behavior management strategies (CEC #71, 72; PDE Special Education Standards III.B).

10. Articulate the theoretical assumptions underlying inclusion practices as well as the various models of inclusion (CEC #6; PDE Special Education Standards II.F).

11. Demonstrate an ability to adjust and accommodate instruction to meet the needs of individual students with disabilities within the general education classroom (PDE Special Education Standards II.C, II.D)

12. Demonstrate knowledge of the special education process and legal procedures involved with the screening, pre-referral, referral, and classification process for students with special needs (CEC #3, 4, 19; PDE Special Education Standards I.F and I.H).

The students will satisfy the following objectives through workshop sessions:

1. Understand the educational relevance of health related issues such as drug and alcohol abuse and AIDS (General Standard IX).

2. Discuss methods to facilitate interpersonal communications (General Special Education Standard III; CEC #85).

3. Identify potential victims of child abuse (General Special Education Standard IV).

4. Suggest appropriate teaching strategies for student populations that include sexual, racial, religious, socio-economic, and ethnic diversity (General Standard IX; CEC #44).

The instructors of this course will model a variety of teaching strategies in order to create a dynamic learning community. Large and small group discussions based on practical experiences and readings will enable students to connect theory with practice. Short lectures, writing exercises, workshops, student presentations, role-playing, guest speakers, and videotapes will also be used to reinforce new information. All students are expected to be active participants in their own learning and to use critical reflection as a tool to enhance their teaching practice.

The seminar format is one in which a group of individuals discuss ideas, knowledge, and perspectives with respect to a particular topic or focus. Active participation, therefore, is vital to developing a community of learners. In order to fulfill this objective, students are required to attend all classes, complete assigned readings in advance of each class, remain current on projects, and be punctual.

Attendance at a professional conference may be expected. This will have an additional charge associated with registration.

100-93 A 93-90 A-

84-86 B 87-89 B+ 80-83 B-

74-76 C 77-79 C+ 70-73 C-

64-66 D 67-69 D+ 60-63 D-

59 and below F

* Selected readings will be copied, and in some cases bound, for you. You will be charged $20.00 to cover these costs.

The purpose of this assignment is to expose you to the vast resources that are available to special education teachers. It is important to understand that all teachers utilize a variety of resources to ensure that their students have enhanced opportunities to learn. This assignment will expose you to many new resources. Below is a menu of options that you will choose from in order to complete this assignment. You can earn a total of 15 points in this activity. This will require that you choose more than one menu option.

You will need to be prepared to share this assignment with your classmates on September 6th. Make every effort to provide handouts, brochures, or other relevant information to your classmates. We will not be holding class one of the afternoons so that you can spend time working on this activity.

____ Option 1: (5 points). Visit any one of the following agencies, by calling them first and asking whether an appointment to visit is needed. Gather materials and take notes while on site. Compile the information you gathered in a two to three page paper (include any pamphlets you have gathered in your visit). The papers must include a description of the site as well as your personal reaction to the site visit. If you decide to go to one of the sites with others from your class, note that the papers must be completed individually.

Eastern Regional Resource Center (601) 265-7321 (This is a center that loans out special education materials for you to use with your students)

Orton Dyslexia Society (215) 527-1548

Pennsylvania Association for Adults & Children with Hearing Disabilities (215) 458-8193

United Cerebral Palsy Association of Philadelphia (215) 242-4200

Center for Autistic Children (215) 878-3400

Pennsylvania Association for Adults and Children with Learning Disabilities

Association for Retarded Citizens (215) 229-4550

Special People in the Northeast (SPIN) (215) 331-8800

Overbrook School for the Blind (215) 878-8700

An organization of your choice with the approval of the instructors

____ Option 2: (5 points). Conduct Internet research on three organizations. Download relevant information and write a two to three page summary of what you discovered or learned about the topics and sites.

Orton Dyslexia Society

Learning Disability Network

United Cerebral Palsy

National Association for the Mentally Ill

Center for the Study of Autism

National Federation for the Blind

Recordings for the Blind

Council for Exceptional Children (No)

Special Needs Network

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Disability Net

Council on Education of the Deaf

Down Syndrome

Center for Accessible Technology

An organization of your choice with instructor approval

____ Option 3: (5 points) Conduct research in any one of the following areas. Write a two to three page paper that summarizes what you have learned.

Reading programs (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading, etc.)

Math programs for students with special needs

Teaching social skills to students with special needs

Life skills training/Functional curricula

Assessment tools for students with disabilities (Thoroughly investigate one area: Reading, math, etc.)

Conflict resolution

Parent involvement and students with special needs

Assistive Technology

Inclusion

_____ Requirement 4: (5 points). Complete any of the following activities:

Develop a collage that depicts the research or site visits that you conducted. Be prepared to share it with the group.

Write a poem that describes what you learned. Be prepared to read your poem to the group.

Write a song that summarizes what you have learned and be prepared to sing it to the group.

Create a dance that captures the essence of what you have learned. Be prepared to perform your dance in front of the class.

Design a political cartoon that encompasses all that you learned. Be prepared to share it with your peers and professors.

Create a power point presentation that demonstrates what you have learned. Be prepared to present it to the group.

Because of our belief in the importance of critical reflection and problem solving as central to the characteristics of professional special educators, we have prepared a research project that makes use of these concepts. This semester long project will guide you through a process of observation, reflection, research, problem solving and action. You will be guided by being required to submit drafts of the project throughout the semester. The professors will provide feedback on your drafts. You will then expand on each draft as you work to combine it with the next step. At the end of the semester you will share and submit the results in the form of a paper and accompanying documentation to support your work. The nature of each student’s project will differ depending on the problem or dilemma that each student chooses to pursue. Together, the student and professor will fine-tune the project according to the needs of the problem chosen. Therefore, the appearance of each student’s final submission may differ. We urge you to choose an issue that is interesting or important to you, timely, and relevant for you and your student teaching site. The more relevant and interesting your project is, the more you will enjoy the process.

There are six steps in the development of the project.

1. Exploring ~ during the exploration phase you will spend 2 weeks exploring potential, dilemmas, issues, or problems that you would like to focus on for the purpose of this project. This could be a student related issue, classroom issue, professional issue, related community issue, or family issue. There may even be other areas that we have not considered. During the exploration phase you will submit a "structured" journal to your seminar instructor each week. This journal entry can also be submitted to your FPI and used as one of your required student teaching journals. (Each journal will likely be 2-4 pages long)

2. Naming ~ you will next have to name a dilemma, issue or problem that you would like to focus on for the semester. You will have to describe the issue and provide a rationale for having chosen this particular issue. You will be guided through a process of reflecting about the issue for the purpose of devising a plan for further investigation. (2-4 pages)

3. Investigating and Critically Reflecting ~ you will thoroughly investigate your issue by researching and collecting data. This investigation will force you to examine multiple perspectives. You will develop a plan of action based on your research and submit the summary. (6-10 pages)

4. Acting ~ you will next choose and implement a plan of action. As you implement your plan you will be required to collect data on your progress. You will evaluate your data to determine the effectiveness of your action. (2-4 pages)

5. Analyzing ~ the next step is to summarize your progress and, in light of the previous step, identify future goals or changes you are considering. (4-6 pages)

6. Disseminating ~ Finally, you will put all of the pieces together so that you can communicate the results to your professors and colleagues.

In addition, during each phase of the project you will be required to provide evidence of having had a discussion about that phase with your cooperating teacher or other stakeholder in your project.

The purpose of this activity is to use the journal as tool to explore potential action research projects. As you narrow down your topic of exploration, the journal will become a means of gathering and analyzing data on the topic. The instructors will read and comment on your journal entries each week. For each journal entry that you submit to your instructor please use the following format. You may also use these journals to submit to your supervisors as part of your required journaling.

Description of the event: The description of the event or situation (dilemma) should be short and concise, but detailed enough to provide a full picture of what transpired. The author should take care to provide a non-biased and objective description of the event. This means that no personal opinion should be offered here. In choosing the initial dilemma to write about, refrain from focusing on the cooperating teacher. Try, instead to focus on a student in your classroom or a school-related issue that involves you directly.

Analysis: Here you will provide the following analysis of the event described:

An analysis of perspectives from a variety of sources, when appropriate (e.g., student perspective, parent perspective, teacher perspective, etc.)

An analysis of patterns of the behavior (academic, behavioral, or otherwise) that will help you to make sense of the situation.

An analysis of what you have learned, either through the teacher education experience or in your research that might help you to resolve the problem at hand.

An analysis of the impact of the school, family, community, and/or society on the event described (a view from the social, political, and economic situation that may impact on the dilemma).

Future Considerations: Using your analysis in section two, describe how you will use the information gathered to solve the problem. The solution may be that you need to gather more information and you will tell us how that information will be gathered. Or, you might want to try a strategy that you have analyzed in section two. In either case, you will tell us what your next step will be in this section.

Use this document to provide evidence of having discussed this phase of your action research project with your cooperating teacher, supervisor and/or other stakeholders in your project.

Student teacher: _____________________________________ Date:___________________

With whom did the discussion take place? __________________________________________

Briefly describe the nature of the discussion:

Briefly identify new ideas or new thinking that arose:

Signature of stakeholder: __________________________________ Date: ___________________

Role (circle one)

Cooperating teacher

Supervisor

Other (please identify role)___________________________________________

The dilemma, issue or problem that I wish to focus on is:

I chose this because:

I have considered the following perspectives:

I plan to find out more by (identify potential sources of information such as data you might collect, people you might interview, research you will do, observations you must make):

Use this document to provide evidence of having discussed this phase of your action research project with your cooperating teacher, supervisor and/or other stakeholders in your project.

Student teacher: _____________________________________ Date:___________________

With whom did the discussion take place? __________________________________________

Briefly describe the nature of the discussion:

Briefly identify new ideas or new thinking that arose:

Signature of stakeholder: __________________________________ Date: ___________________

Role (circle one)

Cooperating teacher

Supervisor

Other (please identify role)___________________________________________

Provide a summary of what you learned. Include relevant research and data. Be sure to cite your references and create a reference list using APA format. Your must reference at least 8 sources, at least 4 must be articles from scholarly publications.

Data must be collected and presented. Include raw data, however graphic presentation for ease of interpretation is highly encouraged.

(This will be a 6-10 page document, excluding your reference list, and the following "evidence of discussion" sheet)

Use this document to provide evidence of having discussed this phase of your action research project with your cooperating teacher, supervisor and/or other stakeholders in your project.

Student teacher: _____________________________________ Date:___________________

With whom did the discussion take place? __________________________________________

Briefly describe the nature of the discussion:

Briefly identify new ideas or new thinking that arose:

Signature of stakeholder: __________________________________ Date: ___________________

Role (circle one)

Cooperating teacher

Supervisor

Other (please identify role)___________________________________________

How will you use your research? What is your plan of action? How does your plan connect to your research? How do you plan to collect additional data? What will this data tell you?

Use this document to provide evidence of having discussed this phase of your action research project with your cooperating teacher, supervisor and/or other stakeholders in your project.

Student teacher: _____________________________________ Date:___________________

With whom did the discussion take place? __________________________________________

Briefly describe the nature of the discussion:

Briefly identify new ideas or new thinking that arose:

Signature of stakeholder: __________________________________ Date: ___________________

Role (circle one)

Cooperating teacher

Supervisor

Other (please identify role)___________________________________________

Part A: Summarize your data. What happened as a result of your action? Summarize the effect of your action. Examine this action from multiple perspectives. What did you learn? What changes would you make? What future goals do you have? What responses, suggestions or criticisms did your cooperating teacher, supervisor or other stakeholder have when you shared your analysis with them?

Part B: Understanding that personal philosophies of education are dynamic, what is your current philosophy of education and how does this project connect to, influence or fit with that thinking?

(This will be 6-10 pages in length, plus the following "evidence of discussion" sheet)

Use this document to provide evidence of having discussed this phase of your action research project with your cooperating teacher, supervisor and/or other stakeholders in your project.

Student teacher: _____________________________________ Date:___________________

With whom did the discussion take place? __________________________________________

Briefly describe the nature of the discussion:

Briefly identify new ideas or new thinking that arose:

Signature of stakeholder: __________________________________ Date: ___________________

Role (circle one)

Cooperating teacher

Supervisor

Other (please identify role)___________________________________________

Create a final document that begins with a cover page, followed by a table of contents. The table of contents, and thus the document, should follow this order: