Become a change-maker in K-12 education with a master’s in curriculum and instruction

Learning theories and instructional design models are the two fundamental pillars for the field of instructional design. In this course, students will study the learning theories and philosophies that have formed, influence, and support this field. Students will also study instructional systems theories, models, and systematic approaches to instructional design. In this course, students will apply these theories, strategies, and instructional models to create a learning, instructional design, or training event in their chosen setting, whether business, government, healthcare, higher ed, industry, k-12, or other. At the end of this course, students will make a plan on how to prepare for an instructional design career.

This course presents fundamental principles and practices for evaluating courses and programs, with a focus on formative and summative evaluation and criterion-referenced testing. Students will explore evaluation models and theories, create a learner satisfaction survey, create criterion-referenced tests, create grading rubrics, and work with a data set to interpret data and make recommendations to improve a course or unit of instruction. Projects completed in the course will become part of the student’s portfolio.

In this course, students will learn advanced instructional design skills for the workplace, contemporary research in instruction design, and modern learning technologies. Students will also face design challenges and provide solutions to address those challenges. This is a course to prepare students to enter the workplace and be successful. Students should take this course in the latter part of the degree.

The Capstone Project experience provides students with the opportunity to receive academic credit for experience in an authentic work environment, which may be either external or internal to the University depending on the student’s preference. The Capstone Project involves a partnership among the student, the faculty member, and an approved project sponsor. The faculty member and the project sponsor will evaluate project deliverables according to the achievement of milestones and the submission of materials identified in a Learning Contract. The Learning Contract must specify a relatively comprehensive experience that can be completed within the time frame of the 12-module course. Projects completed in the course will become part of the student’s portfolio.

In this course, you will learn a framework for understanding human performance by working with scenarios and case studies to analyze performance problems, determine the level and type of intervention required, and make recommendations for a suite of solutions that will achieve the desired impacts.

In this course, students will study the practices employed to manage and deliver instructional content in an online environment. Students will interact with a functional Learning Management System (LMS) to manage the design, development, delivery, and evaluation of reusable learning content.

This course examines current and emerging issues and trends impacting education: inquiring into demographic shifts; globalization; technology, data-based decision-making; inclusion of diverse learners in American schools; and recent research on student achievement when influenced by race, gender, and poverty. Additionally, the issues and responsibilities related to understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal and cultural contexts as they impact the school community.

This course will examine curriculum leadership in higher education. Students will learn foundations of curriculum in U.S. Colleges and Universities, curriculum design principles, frameworks, processes and curriculum mapping. Students will also learn the techniques for evaluating a curriculum and proper instructional alignment.

The purpose of this course is to provide a survey and overview of student affairs theory and practice. It introduces learners to the foundational philosophies of the profession, examines the integration of student affairs functions and administrators in higher education, explores the variety of roles student affairs professionals play on college campuses, and seeks to develop an understanding of institutional cultures and the professional's role within those cultures. These objectives will be explored within the context of examining the central role student affairs plays in helping students gain and articulate transferable skills gained through experiences outside of the classroom.

This course will focus on the tools that educators need to achieve deep alignment. Effective curriculum design and deep alignment are critical factors in maximizing student achievement. The purpose of the course is to strengthen the knowledge and skills of learners as instructional designers and managers by evaluating models for managing curriculum as they identify and research current and emerging issues in curriculum.

This course examines current and emerging issues and trends impacting education: inquiring into demographic shifts; globalization; technology, data-based decision-making; inclusion of diverse learners in American schools; and recent research on student achievement when influenced by race, gender, and poverty. Additionally, the issues and responsibilities related to understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal and cultural contexts as they impact the school community.

This course covers curriculum and intervention strategies for working with children in a supportive, equitable, culturally responsive, and inclusive culture within the educational environment. Learners will use their observation, assessment and communication skills to meet the individualized needs of children in inclusive environments. Includes the role of the teacher as a professional working with families, collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, and cultural competence.