EDU 250 - Curriculum and Teaching Methodology in the Middle Grades I (3)

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.

A course designed to provide a knowledge base about current research and best practice for working with adolescent learners, including their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Students acquire strategies for developing positive relationships with and among young adolescents with differing adolescent needs, cultures, learning styles, and intelligences. This course explores using learner interests and questions when designing curriculum. Students learn how classroom curriculum is affected by a variety of grouping strategies that emphasize interdependence, cooperation and individual responsibility. Field experiences in the schools allow practical demonstrations and application of the theoretical base about students at this age and assist with the formulation of a personal philosophy of middle grades education.