FAQ’s about New Program Improvements
in College of Education for Fall 2008
Starting Fall 2008, the College of Education will undergo exciting improvements in their curriculum requirements for the following programs:
- Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education
- Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education/Special Education
- Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
- Master of Education in Elementary Education
- Master of Education in Special Education
- Master of Education in Secondary Education
Here is a list of questions and answers that relate to these changes.
- If I am already a student in one of these programs, how do these changes affect me?
New courses will be added to the Programs of Study for all the above programs. If you started coursework prior to Fall 2008, you will be able to continue in the old Program of Study (POS) that relates to the catalog pertaining to your entry semester. However, despite the POS in which you started all courses will have more explicitly outlined requirements related to practicum experiences and benchmark assignments with rubrics.
- What will the new improvements in practicum requirements entail?
There have always been practicum requirements for the College of Education programs. Practicum experiences are field-based learning opportunities that focus on observation, application, and reflection. Practicums require the COE student to spend a prescribed amount of time in real-life classroom settings in order to demonstrate competency with predetermined activities that are aligned to professional standards in the field of education. Unfortunately, these requirements have not been consistently adhered to by students and instructors. This may be partly due to lack of sufficient communication by the College of Education. As a result, the College of Education has made efforts to provide explicit explanations of these requirements. These explanations will be further described in all course descriptions, syllabi, and assignments within courses. Both Faculty and students are required to use the practicum guidelines in each course and are held accountable for fulfilling the practicum activities.
- What is meant by Benchmarks and Rubrics?
Based on new requirements by the Arizona State Board of Education, all teacher candidates (i.e., COE students who are in teacher education programs) will have to demonstrate competency with essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are based on the Arizona Professional Teaching Standards (APTS). Therefore, certain critical assignments in each course will be developed as “benchmarks” that serve as checkpoints of student competencies. Some of the benchmarks will be practicum-based and others will not. A rubric for each benchmark will be developed and made available in each course so that students and instructors will know the pre-outlined levels of competency performances for the benchmark assignments.
- How will I find out more about these improvements in the College of Education programs?
The College of Education will offer several opportunities for you to learn about these new exciting improvements. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of these so that you can learn the new information and changes related to your program. **These trainings and Meet and Greets are mandatory for all instructors who want to continue teaching for GCU starting in Fall 08.
- Self-paced, online workshops for Instructors- A series of self-paced workshops will be available to provide more information and materials related to the changes. These workshops will be supported through ANGEL (see dates below). These workshops will last 5 days each.
- Meet and Greets- A series of ANGEL supported Meet & Greets will be offered three times over the summer (see dates below). Each of these Meet & Greets will allow you to directly chat with COE Program Chairs and ask questions about the new improvements. These Meet and Greets will last one week each.
- COE Website- A new COE website will be launched by the end of May. The website will allow you to gain more information about all the improvements that will take effect in Fall 2008
Meet and Greet dates:
Students: June 30, July 14, August 18
Instructors (mandatory to attend one): June 30, July 14, August 18
Self-paced, online workshop dates:
Instructors (mandatory to attend one): June 23, July 07, August 11