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Online Master of Education in Middle Grades Education curriculum

Curriculum Details

31 total credits required

You can complete the online Master of Education in Middle Grades Education program in two years.

You’ll have the opportunity to select a primary and secondary concentration. Choose from language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.

View the course catalog.

Note: ED 744 – Analysis and Correction of Reading Difficulties: The following course is not required for the MEDMGE Language Arts concentration. However, taking this course, in addition to the other LA concentration courses, will lead to a Reading Endorsement.

Professional Development

Credits

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.

To prepare classroom teachers for teaching content courses in an online format.

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.
The purpose of this course is to provide candidates enrolled in the advanced education programs the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to plan, deliver and assess a standards-based instructional sequence that facilitates learning in a clinical setting.

Research

Credits

A study of research methods, procedures and design. Emphasis is placed upon critical thinking, evaluation and application. 

Note(s): Recommended to take by second semester of enrollment.

Language Arts Concentration* (Choose Two)

Credits

This course focuses on current approaches to language arts instruction for grades 4-8 including content knowledge, curriculum design, instructional strategies appropriate for this age group, skills to be taught, activities, and materials. Emphasis is on holistic, integrated language arts instruction, incorporating the oral and written language skill areas.
This course examines the process of reading acquisition and those areas related to becoming an effective reader as well as those factors or correlates related to difficulty in reading. Teachers should demonstrate an understanding of the impact of physical, perceptual, emotional, social, cultural, environmental, and intellectual factors on learning, language development, and reading acquisition.
This course recognizes the necessity of a reading teacher to possess a thorough understanding and competence in classroom diagnostic principles and practices for improving learner reading ability. The course attempts to provide experiences, both theoretical and practical in nature, that will enable the prospective or practicing classroom teacher, resource teacher, or reading specialist to gain competence with: (1) the skills of reading, reading assessment tools, and techniques for diagnosing reading strengths and weaknesses of an individual; (2) the procedures for developing individual needs; and (3) specific remediation techniques for correcting varying degrees of reading disability.
Based on the assumption that effective reading teachers must understand both what to do during instruction as well as why it should be done, the course will address the most consistent research findings on the reading process, the role of the reading teacher, and on cognition and language as they emerge and contribute to the developmental process of reading.

Math Concentration* (Choose Two)

Credits

The concepts of deductive reasoning, measurement and construction of angles and polygons, and geometric proofs will be emphasized through an integration of plane geometry and arithmetic, algebra, coordinate geometry and logic.
Math methods, materials, content and activities for the middle grade learner are included.

This course addresses principles of diagnosis and remediation of math problems, with emphasis on informal and formal assessment techniques and remediation procedures based on identified needs.

Science Concentration* (Choose Two)

Credits

This course provides an in-depth integrated review of the concepts and concept schemes of life, physical, and earth and space sciences presented in the 4th-8th grade environment. Class activities will focus on the correlation of science concepts to the Georgia Performance Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. The course is designed around the 3 D Learning Model of incorporating Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts in discovering ways to teach NGSS/Georgia’s New Science Standards in the MG classroom.
Experiential-orientated course designed to prepare the early childhood and middle grades classroom teacher for the development of field-based science education activities which occur outside of the typical classroom setting. Content will emphasize environmental science as a global concern as well as the importance of environmental education. Course work emphasizes the development of skills for selecting appropriate resource materials, planning field exercises and the incorporation and application of technology to field science investigations.
Emphasis is placed on the most recent curricular developments in the philosophical approaches to the teaching of science in the middle grades classroom. Student activities include the research of instructional strategies and the creation of instructional materials incorporating current techniques for teaching science.

Social Studies Concentration* (Choose Two)

Credits

This course will help the prospective Middle Grades Social Studies teacher develop an understanding of current global issues with an emphasis on utilizing effective instructional methods appropriate for a middle grades classroom.
This course moves the experienced teacher beyond the usual reliance upon textbooks found in the typical social studies classroom and into the level of teacher as lead instructor. Students in this course will explore innovative topics and instructional practices found in the social studies and will use them in their own classrooms to enhance learning.
This course explores the content in the Social Science disciplines of political science, geography, history, and stereotypes of ethnic groups, anthropology and the uses of television and media in teaching children. Additionally, the course addresses the current trends and issues in social studies instruction. This course is not limited to these concepts but emphasizes content research and instructional design. An examination of the media and professional journals will support the study in the course.

Capstone

Credits

The Capstone Experience will allow students to identify, analyze, and synthesize selected areas of educational topics. The outcome of this course is an oral and written exhibition demonstrating a synthesis and application of the overall educational attainment within the program.

Note(s): M.Ed. Middle Grades and Special Education students will nee College of Education permission to take this course; students cannot register themselves. The chair of advanced education programs will register students for the comprehensive exam once they have been cleared to take the exam by his/her adviser. This course is taught pass/fail.

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