CEP 800 - Learning in School & Other Settings

Summer 2020  

Ron Houtman, Chris Sloan, Kyle Shack, & Brittany Dillman  

This was my first MAET course, and it really set the tone for what was ahead in the program, as it laid the groundwork that it's not about the technology - it's about the learning. We covered many topics in the course including expertise and cognitivism, assessment methods, and the power of habits, and we related this content to settings other than a school. 

The concept that I learned the most from was the personal theory of learning. Focusing on the power of context when it comes to learning was key for me when I developed my own personal theory of learning, as the big assignment for the course. 

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Summer 2020 

Edith Erickson

This course was foundational for the MAET degree program.  I had to create my own website and begin writing a weekly blog. Creating the website had its challenges to someone who was new at it, but I learned much in the process. 

Writing a weekly blog was extremely enjoyable for me. I found that writing my thoughts about a topic was a great way to process them through the lens that others would see them. One of the main focuses in this course was the importance of respecting copyright laws, something that can be difficult in a digital world. 

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Fall 2020

Elizabeth Boltz

I was introduced  to the TPACK model in this course. While I had heard about it, I had never delved into it like we did in this course. The numerous articles we read and the notes we took via hypothes.is were enlightening. We also spent time learning about cognitive load and its effect on learning. 

The final project for this course, which we worked on a little each week, was referred to as our Dream Project. Being encouraged to use something that would benefit us in our professional contexts was so helpful, as opposed to doing just a project to get a grade in this course. I have used this project twice in my 5th grade STEM classes since taking this course.

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Fall 2020

David Wong & Amalia Lira

While this course was not required for my MAET degree, by taking it, I not only gained numerous insights about what motivates people to learn, I also was able to pair it with a course I already took and one other course, to earn a Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology. This was time well spent! 

We read a book about what motivates students to learn, we looked at intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, as well as how other factors affect learning. The Design Project for this course had us doing observations of a student, looking at factors that were affecting his/her motivation, such as the environment, and then creating a presentation with our findings. Connecting course learning to real life was most helpful!

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Spring 2021

Charles Logan

Every assignment in this course was designed to lead to the final project - the wicked problem. One such assignment was learning to design a good survey. I must admit, I thought, "Well, this will be easy!" Oh, how wrong I was! Without even realizing it, I had biases in several aspects of my survey design. It was good to note these biases so that I am aware and can address them properly in the future. 

At the beginning of this course, my wicked problem seemed to be one thing, but as I worked through the various assignments, my wicked problem was actually something much deeper. This course challenged me and forced me to go beyond the surface of my own thinking.

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Spring 2021

Brooke Harris-Thomas

This course was not required for my MAET degree, but it allowed me to complete a Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology along the way. I was challenged to explore the theory of successful intelligence and how these  factors of intelligence -  racial/ethnicity, socioeconomic, and gender - have an affect on students (and people in general).  

For this course I created many infographics, as I found them to be a great way to display information. As a result of the research and study done for this course, I focused my final paper on how STEM education sometimes has a gender bias toward girls. As a result, the information I learned in this class has reframed my conversations in my own STEM classroom.

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Summer 2021

Kyle Shack

I was pushed  and challenged in this course like no other. Through his feedback I learned that I was not thinking critically enough. While completing the scenario-based assignments dealing with the various stakeholders in education, he gave me feedback that highlighted my lack of depth in thinking. This was hard to swallow at times, but it has made me more aware of the danger of shallow thinking. 

Developing a personal leadership philosophy and my leadership vision led to the creation of a video about myself as a leader. I am very grateful for the challenge of this course as it has made me a better leader.

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Summer 2021

Chris Sloan

My principal and I had been having ongoing conversations about challenging teachers to look at assessments through a different lens when school got out for the summer. This course came at a great time for me! We learned a lot about the difference between assessment as learning versus assessment for learning. 

The coursework required designing a formative assessment and an assessment design checklist. I found myself learning about things I had never considered before, like privacy issues in assessments, and biases in assessments. By the end of this course, the creating of my own assessment of learning had me being much more careful and aware as I designed. 

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Fall 2021

Michael Lachney & Marissa Zhu

When I began this course, I had not really thought about the various types of research. We looked at qualitative, quantitative, and humanistic research. We also learned about methods of conducting research. I learned much through the readings in this course, especially as we were required to write a reading response each week to identify what we had learned. 

The one project that really pushed me to think about my own biases and the method by which I gather information was the creation of an interview protocol. For this assignment we were to meet virtually with a partner for feedback, but my partner was unable to do so. Michael readily volunteered to chat with me on Zoom to give feedback. His comments had me completely recreating my interview protocol. This course cemented in my mind that I need to look at my research and surveys through the lens of diversity, inclusion, and my own biases.

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Fall 2021

Colin Gallagher

I must say that I was very disappointed in this course at first because by its title, I assumed (dangerous to do) that it would be about all types of new and innovative tools and methods to add creativity to both teaching and learning. We read the book, Sparks of Genius and focused on these aspects of creativity - perceiving, patterning, abstracting, embodied thinking, modeling, and play. 

At the onset of the course we were asked to define creativity, which we would then either change or keep at the end of the course. My definition, the ability and freedom to explore, design, invent, create, and fail forward - all while having fun, was one I chose to keep at the end, as it embodied all the aspects of creativity which we studied. 

One of the highlight assignments for me was getting to interview my husband as his job is one that focuses on innovation in creativity to lead his company in the future.

So, it didn't start out as what I thought it would be, but I learned so much about the theory of creativity and how it affects both teachers and learners. After all, we are all learners anyway!

Spring 2022

Nicole Zumpano

Apparently, this course is typically taken as the first course in the MAET program, but since we are allowed to design our own journey, it ended up being my final one. This course has many foundational aspects - creating your own website, starting your Twitter account, and beginning a blog. It was nice to have all of these items completed at the start of the course.

We learned about TPACK and about learning, understanding, and conceptual change. There were 3 big projects in this course - identifying your professional learning network (PLN), working on a Network Learning Project (NLP), and creating a 21st century lesson plan.

Once again, in what seems to be true MAET fashion, we were encouraged to choose something for our NLP that was meaningful to us. Just as we want our students learning to connect to real-life, how refreshing to have that modeled by our MAET instructors.

Spring 2022

Matthew Koehler & Aric Gaunt

This is the final course in the MAET program. In this course we curate artifacts, and synthesize our learning during our entire journey toward our Master of Arts in Educational Technology degree. 

As I have gathered my artifacts and reflected on my learning, I find myself quite amazed at all I have learned and created on this journey toward the degree. 

My thinking was at times challenged and at times validated. The feedback from both instructors and peers has made me a stronger, better person.