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Online MAT in Secondary Education curriculum

Curriculum Details

45–48 total credits required

You can complete the online MAT in Secondary Education in five semesters.

As you prepare for Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) certification, you’ll take a focused content course in children’s literature and language arts, mathematics, science or social studies.

This degree program includes a full-time, semester-long experience in a regionally accredited school classroom.

View the course catalog.

Prerequisite Placement

An introductory course covering basic algebra operations, equations and inequalities, and graphs in the Cartesian plane, including linear, quadratic, polynomial, and rational functions. The course covers algebraic operations of functions, including composition. Emphasis is on problem solving and applying mathematics to real-world situations. Some students will take MS 101L in addition to 101 based on placement score.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of MS 100 with a minimum grade of “C” or an appropriate Brenau Math Placement test score.

Professional Development

Introduction to Teacher Education is designed to provide the initial, basic information and resources required to participate effectively in education course work to all students enrolled in programs leading to initial teacher licensure. The overall goal of the course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to progress successfully within the teacher education program.

Note(s): This course contains a field experience component.

This seminar is designed to provide MAT students the information and resources needed to effectively participate in both clinical experiences as well as education course work aligned to all required clinical experiences, leading to graduation and initial teacher licensure. This seminar requires attendance at three online seminars with dates announced in advance. Some assignments in this course have required fees.

Note(s): Graded pass/fail.

This course provides students with an introduction to the field of special education and the methodologies used to teach students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Broad areas to be covered in this course are areas of exceptionality, major trends and issues in special education with emphases on collaboration and inclusion, service delivery models, roles of general, special class teachers and related professionals.

This course introduces the student to understand a study of child and/or adolescent development and how to design a positive learning environment based on the needs of the learners. Students will apply knowledge of the physical, cognitive and psychosocial development of children as they develop effective classroom management plans.

An introduction to basic lesson planning skills needed to provide a variety of teaching methods, media, materials and resources essential for supporting effective teaching practices in the classroom. Students will also be introduced to methods of assessment in order to meet the varying challenges of accountability, standards based instruction, and state mandated testing. Students will identify school curriculum and testing trends, issues, and materials to support classroom instruction. The Georgia Professional Standards will be reviewed as a basis for public school instruction.

Designed for the in service teacher to develop skills in the use of the microcomputer. A non technical survey course in the effective and efficient use of computers as an instructional medium. The integration of computer software into the curriculum is stressed.

The course is designed to examine the cultural, pedagogical, and social factors that can impact children’s development and academic achievement. Developmental psychologists suggest that cultural, pedagogical, and social factors can impact children’s development and academic achievement. In order to enhance student learning, teachers must not only be aware of these factors, they must also know how to create responsive educational environments reflective of our pluralistic society.

This course is a survey of the legal basis for education; rights and responsibilities of teachers and students, and due process actions for each. This course will enable teachers to become better informed of both the legal issues which can naturally occur as they are interacting with students, peers, and administrators as well as the consequences resulting from these interactions if they are violated. Teachers will develop a sense of awareness that actions have consequences and that constitutional rights are afforded to students as well as themselves.

Major emphasis is given to the further development of skills in unit and lesson planning, lesson presentations, and evaluation of student progress through a critical thinking approach. This course is in conjunction with student teaching/clinical internship.

This course is a study of issues currently faced by education. The course is structured by topics that are presently impacting the educational environment. All age perspectives (p-12) and all levels (local, regional, state, and national) are explored in this class. The students are asked to research and explore the past, present, and future of education in light of an examination of current media sources, professional writings, journals, and books. Through critical reflection and research the students are challenged to make direct applications into what is best for education.

Methods and Content

This course provides the foundational knowledge for teaching content literacy to facilitate learning across the curriculum. The course will include a variety of reading and writing strategies necessary to acquire content area knowledge. This is a placement embedded course; a 48-hour field experience placement in a regionally accredited school is required during the course. Permission from the Clinical Experience Office is required to register.

Note(s): Clinical component required.

Required for all candidates in the Masters of Arts in Teaching program, this course is designed to acquaint students with instructional strategies and philosophies for teaching in the content areas; to familiarize students with structures for use in the planning of daily and long term instruction; to give students opportunities to acquire strategies for integrating content knowledge with effective methods of instruction; and to provide students with pre-teaching experiences designed to build proficiency in teaching in the content areas. This is a placement embedded course; a 48-hour field experience placement in a regionally accredited school is required during the course. Permission from the Clinical Experience Office is required.

Note(s): Clinical component.

Choose one from the list below based on degree field

This course provides an in-depth review of the concepts and concept schemes of both the life and physical sciences presented in the P-8 environment. Class activities will focus on the correlation of science concepts to the Georgia Performance Standards. Emphasis will be on the development of conceptual flow and continuity in the delivery of science instruction. This is a placement embedded course; a 48-hour field experience placement in a regionally accredited school is required during the course.

Note(s): Permission from the Clinical Experience Office is required to register.

A course to review and reinforce all areas of mathematics that are applicable to teachers. Class activities will focus on the correlation of mathematical concepts to the Georgia Performance Standards. Emphasis will be on the development of conceptual flow and continuity in the delivery of mathematics instruction. This is a placement embedded course; a 48-hour field experience placement in a regionally accredited school is required during the course.

Note(s): Permission from the Clinical Experience Office is required to register.

This course focuses on the teaching of language arts for P-8 in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing development. Instructional strategies appropriate for these age groups, skills to be taught, and activities and materials will be used. This is a placement embedded course; a 48-hour field experience placement in a regionally accredited school is required during the course. Permission from the Clinical Experience Office is required to register.

Prerequisite(s): ED 607, ED 612, ED 608 or 609
Note(s): Clinical hours required.

This is a social studies methods course that is designed to refine the instructional skills of teachers through content exploration. The course will focus on national and state standards for Elementary Education and Middle Grades as well as a variety of instructional approaches to social studies education. This is a placement embedded course; a 48-hour field experience placement in a regionally accredited school is required during the course.

Note(s): Permission from the Clinical Experience Office is required to register.

Clinical Experience

A full-time, semester-long experience in a regionally accredited school classroom. Guidance and direction will be provided by the classroom teacher with assistance from university faculty. Students will be required to assume all duties of the classroom teacher for a minimum of four weeks during the experience while demonstrating competence in planning and materials, classroom performance, and professional behavior. The student teaching experience begins when the assigned school begins its semester and continues through the Brenau semester. The student is required to take Clinical Experience Seminar during the student teaching semester.

Prerequisites: All other courses and placements must be completed before student teaching; passing scores on appropriate GACE Content Area Exams are required before student teaching.
Note(s): This course is taught pass/fail. Must have completed all professional education coursework.

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