Courses
GMST-501 Problem-Based Learning (3)
The course will enable teachers to develop an understanding of the theory and practice of problem-based learning (PBL) and its components. PBL is an apprenticeship in real-world problem-solving, which starts students with meeting an actual ill-structured problem with many different solutions. Participants will uncover specific PBL components and techniques needed to design and produce both group and classroom units. The classroom PBL unit will be implemented and evaluated within the teacher’s classroom. The PBL approach offers 1-12 teachers a method of helping their students build thinking and problem-solving skills as they master important knowledge growing from issues or problems carefully linked to educational standards. PBL is both a curriculum organizer and instructional strategy that can be implemented wherever learning goals demand deeper understanding and learner ownership. The student must be currently teaching to enroll in this course.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-502 Inquiry in the Classroom (3)
Inquiry is at the heart of the Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST) initiative. It is an effective, highly motivating means of learning. This course is designed to provide the opportunity for teachers to explore the various aspects of inquiry and to develop a level of comfort with and commitment to this method as they incorporate inquiry into their instructional repertoire. The class participants will experience inquiry lessons from the perspective of a student and will analyze these lessons from the perspective of the teacher. Inquiry lessons from the life sciences, earth science, physical sciences, mathematics, and technology will be modeled. Inquiry in the context of science, technology, and society (STS) education will be an important aspect of this course. As candidates become familiar with the skills necessary to conduct an inquiry-based classroom, they will be challenged to facilitate inquiry lessons of their choice, utilizing the skills and strategies modeled by the instructor.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-503 Ecologies of Teaching (3)
Teaching involves the interaction of a number of ecosystems: societies, schools, classrooms, families, teachers and students. This course provides teacher candidates with an orientation to these ecosystems and an opportunity to explore how each of these ecosystems supports and constrains the profession of teaching. Students will examine their own conceptions about teaching through planning, implementing, and evaluating instruction, and reflecting on their own teaching. Field experiences will be required.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Math Sci Technology EducGMST-505 Developing Reasoning (3)
This course examines the development of quantitative and scientific reasoning from grades K through 12. It includes an examination of various stage-theories and how children progress through stages. It examines approaches to developing reasoning within the curriculum, and how to assess student reasoning within classroom settings. Class participants will work with established approaches to deepening student reasoning, and evaluate the practicality of such approaches within a classroom setting.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-510 Classroom Dynamics (3)
Many exciting, challenging movements are changing the way our classrooms look and operate. If our own learning experience has been traditionally structured in an individualistic, competitive manner, how are we to organize our classes to actively engage our students? The purpose of this course is to provide methods of structure, support, and organization for teachers as they incorporate student-centered pedagogical strategies into their teaching repertoire. Candidates will construct strategies for teaching and assessment that will complement their instructional program. Topics include learning styles, diversity in the classroom, cooperative learning, inclusion in the 7-12 classroom, group projects in mathematics/science/technology, classroom behavior, and classroom climate. Students will also explore the law as it relates to schools, including those relevant to students with special needs.
Attributes: TGMS ZCLX
Pre-requisites: GAED-533 Y S OR GAED-534 Y S
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-511 Integrate Tech in Learng (3)
Traditional models of instruction are being challenged by recent developments in technology. The course will introduce candidates to the essential skills needed for new technologies in education. It will provide a coherent approach to issues surrounding technology and education besides just purchasing equipment and learning how to use it. Candidates will learn how to select and use computer applications in the classroom to produce multimedia presentations and instructional materials. They will also learn to evaluate such instructional products as interactive multimedia software, computer-based instruction software, student electronic portfolios, interactive videodisks, and simulation software. Candidates will be able to integrate the classroom application of computers and communications technologies. They will investigate various teaching trends, learning theory, and current teaching/learning research related to educational technology, multimedia production, presentation software, digital photography, interactive laser discs, web research, and web page design. Telecommunications technology including video conferencing, distance learning, simulation software and virtual reality devices, CD-ROMS, and virtual lessons will be investigated.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-512 Engr Dsgn Solutns Prob I (3)
This course addresses the essential components in design engineering and solutions to technical problems. Elements that engineers utilize in the field are brought into the classroom with the application of mathematics, science, and technology. Candidates apply technology, science, mathematics, and problem-solving to the engineering method and design in the development of engineering activities that are utilized in the classroom. Candidates are given a general theme and are asked to develop a product or device that addresses a real, unmet need in the marketplace. Major activities include, but are not limited to, the following: Ethics, Societal Impacts of Engineering, Optimization and Material Testing, Human Factors Engineering, Modeling, Design, Systems, and Problem-Solving.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-513 Assessment in MST (3)
This course provides a study of assessment in mathematics, science, and technology and relates assessment to the MST Learning Standards. Other major course elements include: characteristics to be considered when evaluating assessment tools, as well as evaluation of existing assessment tools according to these characteristics; assessment methods; basic statistical concepts of educational measurement; brief history of assessment; vocabulary of assessment; assessment as an aid in the decision-making process; and accommodating individuals with disabilities in the assessment process. Development, implementation, and evaluation of assessment tools in the candidate’s 1-12 classrooms will be a major focus. Opportunities will be provided for the candidate to work within the educational community to assist with assessment related to the MST Learning Standards.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-517 Teaching Math & Science (3)
The major focus of all the courses in the GMST program required for adolescence teacher certification in mathematics and science is the intertwining of content and pedagogy. This course, in particular, is designed to immerse the prospective teachers in a learning environment that examines curriculum, instruction, and assessment issues as related to New York State as well as NCTM, AAAS, and NSTA learning standards. Candidates gain experience in implementation of research-based instructional teaching strategies. The candidates will study educational planning and the development of instructional programs in a variety of classroom settings. Behavioral organization and management techniques for educational contexts will be a focal point and will include classroom climate, applied behavior analysis, scheduling, evaluation, interactive instructional strategies for cognitive change, as well as researching and differentiating instruction for students with special needs both due to learning styles and disabilities. The candidates also will have field experiences with practitioners who exemplify the implementation of state and national learning standards in mathematics and science. Designed for graduate candidates pursuing initial certification in mathematics or science.
Attributes: TGMS ZCLX
Pre-requisites: GAED-533 Y S OR GAED-534 Y S
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-520 Science Curriculum Design (3)
This course will allow students to design, pilot, and refine informal science education experiences for adolescents, following a format similar to lesson study. The course will begin with an in-depth examination of the principles of curriculum design and delivery. These principles will be applied to a topic within science to develop an extended experience for adolescent students. Teachers in the course will then pilot those designs with adolescents, and refine the design based on an evaluation of the experience.
Attributes: TGMS ZCLX
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-522 Differentiating Instr (3)
Focuses on differentiating instruction and is designed to prepare teachers to meet the needs of students in today’s diverse classrooms, which consist of various races, cultures, strengths, talents, and readiness levels. Topics include flexible grouping, characteristics of and strategies for managing differentiated classrooms, pre- and post-assessment, and how to create a learning environment that will allow for differentiated instruction. Candidates will practice differentiating content, process, and product relative to mathematics, science, and technology.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-525 Literacy Thru MST Adol (3)
The focus of this course is to immerse teachers in the process of developing reading skills through MST activities. Because of the domain of the subjects of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, there is technical vocabulary needed for understanding the content. Strategic ways of instruction, vocabulary skills, and conceptual awareness will be a focus. Candidates will learn to recognize and analyze words, as well as understand the design of activities for self-development and self-awareness through reading and communication. Study skills, word analysis skills of how words and ideas are comprehended – influencing evaluation and appreciation – will be developed. Integrated project work in Language Arts will be designed and presented in the MST context.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-526 Designing Math Curricula (3)
This course will allow students to design, pilot, and refine informal math education experiences for adolescents, following a format similar to lesson study. The course will begin with an in-depth examination of the principles of curriculum design and teaching. These principles will be applied to a topic within mathematics to develop an extended experience for adolescent students. Teachers in the course will then pilot those designs with adolescents, and refine the design based on an evaluation of the experience.
Attributes: TGMS ZCLX
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Math Sci Technology EducGMST-532 Lrn&Tch Sci thru Explore (3)
This course, designed for elementary and middle school teachers, focuses on developing skills and concepts for synthesizing new information with the student’s existing scientific knowledge through experimentation. Research topics include motion, matter, movement, structure, and environment. Candidates learn content, pedagogical knowledge, and risk-taking while implementing new ideas. Problem-solving tools developed include formulating hypotheses, collecting facts through observations, testing hypotheses through experimentation, and analyzing results. This course will develop cooperative perseverance and an appreciation of carrying out scientific explorations and enables students to apply scientific concepts.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-533 Integrating MST (3)
This course, designed for elementary and middle school teachers, focuses on developing skills and concepts for synthesizing new information with the student’s existing scientific knowledge through experimentation. Research topics include motion, matter, movement, structure, and environment. Candidates learn content, pedagogical knowledge, and risk-taking while implementing new ideas. Problem-solving tools developed include formulating hypotheses, collecting facts through observations, testing hypotheses through experimentation, and analyzing results. This course will develop cooperative perseverance, challenge, and appreciation of carrying out scientific explorations and therefore enabling students to apply scientific concepts.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-534 Geometry (3)
This course will deepen the participant’s understanding of the topics in geometry that are taught in grades K-6. Participants in this course will learn to apply their knowledge of geometry to gain a deeper understanding of how elementary students learn geometry, and how to use this understanding to guide further learning. Topics include inductive and deductive reasoning; area, perimeter, and volume; similarity, congruence, and proportional reasoning; symmetry and transformational geometry, and constructions.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-535 Curric,Instr,Assess MST (3)
This course is a thorough and comprehensive study of national and state curriculum and assessment standards in mathematics, science, and technology. Candidates will study standards for teaching mathematics and science. Additionally, the relative merits of various modes of instructional deliveries, including inquiry-based lessons, lectures, demonstrations, activities, projects, small-group work, and large-group work, will be discussed and analyzed. Other instructional issues include effective use of time and establishing inquiry-based classroom discourse. Assessment issues include the purposes of assessment and methods of assessment. Candidates will be required to prepare a thematic mathematics, science, and technology unit of study. This course can not be taken by GSMT majors.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-536 Data, Stats & Prob (3)
This course will deepen the participant’s understanding of the topics related to data analysis that are taught in grades K-6. Participants in this course will learn to apply their knowledge of probability and statistics to gain a deeper understanding of how elementary students collect and analyze data, and how to use this understanding to guide further learning. Topics include an introduction to the basic concepts of statistics and probability, measures of central tendency and variability, sampling distributions, correlation and regression, and the empirical determination of probabilities. The course focus on the analysis of data, and the mathematics involved with drawing inferences and making predictions. Calculator-based methods for data collection and display, statistical calculation, and simulation of probability experiments are also explored.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-537 Understanding Math I (3)
This course will deepen the participant’s understanding of the topics in number and operations that are taught in grades K-6. It will explore whole, integer, and rational number operations through an inquiry-based approach in cooperative group settings. Through engaging in a variety of problem-solving activities that relate directly to the K-6 mathematics classroom, participants will gain an understanding of the components needed to create a learning environment that encourages and supports all children in building understandings, making connections, reasoning, and solving problems.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-538 Understanding Math II (3)
This course will deepen the participant’s understanding of the topics in number and operations that are taught in grades K-6. It will explore numeration systems, analyses of bases other than base 10, proportional reasoning, and number theory through an inquiry-based approach in cooperative group settings. Through engaging in a variety of problem-solving activities that relate directly to the K-6 mathematics classroom, participants will gain an understanding of the components needed to create a learning environment that encourages and supports all children in building understandings, making connections, reasoning, and solving problems.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-539 Algebra:Functions&Patterns (3)
This course will deepen the participant’s understanding of the topics related to algebra that are taught in grades K-6. Participants in this course will learn to apply their knowledge of algebra to gain a deeper understanding of how elementary students approach patterns and functions, and how to use this understanding to guide further learning. The course will help the participants improve their technical skills in algebra while deepening their understanding of the major concepts and principles underlying algebraic reasoning. Graphing calculators will be used to develop conceptual understanding of algebraic concepts, procedures, and problem solving strategies.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-540 Number Theory (3)
Historical results find modern applicability in public key encryption routines. Using an historical approach, the following topics are covered: Euclid’s algorithm, prime numbers, Diophantine equations, congruences, and applications. The course will culminate with the application of these classic ideas to the modern application of public key encryption.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-541 AP Computer Sci Java (3)
This course, designed for high school teachers, should give the experienced computer science teacher the necessary knowledge and background to teach an AP Computer Science A or AB course using the JAVA programming language. The candidate will achieve a level of mastery of the following topics: built-in types, operators, expression evaluations, control structures (if, if/else, switch, while, do/while, for), I/O, files, functions, use of constructs, pointers, objects and classes, templated functions and classes, exceptions and error handling, and the following required AP classes; string, vector, matrix, stack, and queue. Additional topics may be covered as time permits, as well as a discussion of suitable texts.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-542 Discrete Algorithms (3)
This course, designed for middle and high school teachers, takes an algorithmic approach to the study of abstract mathematical concepts. Mathematical study requires a high level of understanding of fundamental abstract ideas, such as those of sets, tuples, the prepositional calculus, relations, functions, mathematics induction, matrices, and linear spaces. Using the high-level mathematical programming language, ISETL, candidates will construct a mature and highly developed understanding. Using the ISETL computing language has been shown to be effective in aiding students to construct these concepts by writing short programs which become the concrete applications of the abstractions. In addition, ISETL will be used to implement the various algorithms that will be studied; its richness allows for representing functions in more than one way, which can help make the constructions that are necessary to view functions in a way similar to that in which mathematicians see them.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-543 Statistical Reasoning (3)
The course will focus on the broader logical and practical context in which basic descriptive and inferential statistics are used; and address the assumptions underlying statistical inference, the role and limitations of null hypothesis significance testing, parameter estimation, and how statistical power and effect size are related to statistical inference. The aim of the course is to give students a grasp of the underlying reasoning, limitations, and controversies associated with the statistical techniques taught in the AP Statistics course. The course will also cover statistical issues in non-experimental research, including correlation, regression, prediction vs. explanation, control of common-causal variables, and causal inference. Mathematics certification content course.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-544 Experiments in Math (3)
This course, designed for middle and high school teachers, concerns the experimental method as a means of solving otherwise difficult mathematical problems. Experiments will be physical, pencil and paper, computer, and/or conceptual. Where analytical solutions are known, these will be discussed and the results compared with the experimental results.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-545 Geometry: Thry,App&Tech (3)
This course is designed for middle and high school teachers. By introducing geometrical concepts through problem situations and hands-on activities, this course provides candidates with the opportunity to gain experience exploring, making conjectures, and formulating and solving geometrical problems, often by posing their own problems and making use of computer and graphing calculator technologies. Geometrical ideas will be presented from the Euclidean, non-algebraic, coordinate, transformational, and projective perspectives, thereby providing a blend of new and traditional subject matter. Among the topics that may be studied are axiomatic systems, including non-Euclidean geometry, transformations of the Euclidean plane, isometries, tessellations, tiling and patterns, and vector and matrix representations.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-548 History of Math (3)
A study of the development of mathematical ideas from the prehistoric era to the present, with an emphasis on problem-solving across a variety of cultures and eras, and in particular, the mathematics of non-Western cultures. Students research and present their findings on topics of their choice in each of the areas of biography, mathematics within a specific culture during a specific era, and the historical evolution of a single mathematical idea or construct across cultures.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-550 Environmental Science (3)
Environmental science stresses biological concepts but includes the study of concepts from all of the sciences, as well as mathematics and technology. The goal of the course, designed for middle and high school teachers, is to provide candidates with an understanding of the relationships in the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing them. Topics include the study of basic ecology through the construction, study, and manipulations of ecosystems; technological manipulations such as hydroponics plant growth and alternative energy sources; and analysis of the wide variety of environmental problems and opinions through current events. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on how the student may integrate environmental science into his or her own classrooms.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-551 Integrated Science (3)
Integrated science is a coordinated look at all of the sciences, as well as mathematics and technology. The content of the course, designed for middle and high school teachers, is built around understanding disciplinary science and approaching problems in science from an integrated perspective. The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the relationships between the sciences and allow the students, as teachers, to better utilize the concepts of each of the sciences in their classrooms. By studying problems that require input from multiple sciences, students will gain an understanding of the natural relationship between the sciences. Topics include the study of biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics, as well as mathematics and technology. Candidates will be expected to engage in a problem from all of these various perspectives.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-552 Science, Tech & Society (3)
This course, designed for elementary school teachers, will focus on how science, technology, and society are interrelated. Candidates will explore the general principles of science and technology, their relationship to their lives, and the application of scientific skills and technology to real-world problems. Topics will emphasis the issues that are of greatest interest to students and/or of most significance to the local, national, or global community. Candidates will critically evaluate the impact of science and technology on society and the expectations society has of these disciplines. The candidate as teacher will focus on exploring the interconnectedness of science, technology, and society in their world allowing for an enhanced knowledge base to share with their students.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-553 Experiments in Science (3)
The problems and experiments in this course, designed for middle and high school teachers, will demand the use of a variety of problem-solving methodologies including the scientific method, mathematical calculations, and engineering design. Candidates will work in labs designing and conducting experiments to strengthen their mathematical and scientific knowledge. The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the relationships between science, mathematics, and technology and to give each student, as a teacher, some experimental procedures he or she can use to integrate mathematics, science, and technology in his or her own classroom. Topics include: experimental design and execution, data analysis and interpretation, and reporting experiments, with an emphasis on defending results and conclusions. The use of multiple approaches in problem-solving will be emphasized throughout the course.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-554 Forensics (3)
This course is a look at the science of forensics. It integrates concepts drawn from many of the traditional science disciplines such as physics, chemistry and biology. Through this course, students will develop a deeper understanding of both applied science in these three disciplines and current scientific ability to analyze situations to determine what is likely to have happened. The course will be project-based, with students working in teams to explore the science concepts involved and to make determinations about how unseen events may have occurred.
Restrictions: Including: -Major: Math Sci Technology EducGMST-555 Astrobiology (3)
This course is an opportunity to look at relatively new field of science called astrobiology: the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. It integrates concepts drawn from many of the traditional science disciplines such as geology, astronomy, and biology. Through this course, students will develop a deeper understanding of both current scientific endeavors to find life and habitable worlds outside our solar system and the process of developing life on a planet like earth. Along the way, we will look carefully at how each aspect of a planet, from its stellar environment to its geological structure, can impact life on a planet. The course will be project-based, with students working in teams to create an imaginary planet and to write a guide to this world, complete with descriptions of its physical and living environments and how they interact. Science certification content course.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-557 Topics in Science (3)
Covers a science topic not regularly offered in the GMST program.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-560 Three Areas of Tech (3)
This course is designed to instruct and increase the knowledge base of K-12 Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education teachers in the development of MST curriculum units. Through a collaborative effort, candidates will design MST instructional units in each of the three areas of technology. Each unit will have all plans including authentic assessment strategies to be used; material utilization; a specific grade-level application; a rationale for the unit; computer/Internet utilization; a presentation to the class in multimedia form; Bloom’s Taxonomy; and affective, psycho-motor, and cognitive breakdown. Topics in the course are to include, but are not limited to, the following: analysis and implementation of the three areas of technology, historical perspective of technology education and technology to include human wants, needs and societal impacts; technology as a process; teaching creativity; MST instruction; school politics; facility design; and scheduling issues. Various assessment strategies will be modeled.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-563 Electronics and Robotics (3)
This course, designed for elementary, middle school ,and technology teachers, will focus on using engineering design principles to construct and program robots to complete various tasks. Teachers will investigate mechanical and electrical principles, learn simple programming and debugging techniques, and construct and program robots using LEGO robotics materials. Teachers will also examine ways to introduce students to robotics and to support them in their investigations.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-570 Model Change in Math/Sci (3)
In this course, candidates will develop the concepts and tools used in mathematical modeling. This includes skill with developing models, evaluating models, testing models, and redesigning the models. Throughout, the course will be project-based and will focus on using a variety of tools to inform our model building. The ideas of change, systems, variables, and parameters will be explored in a variety of problem-solving contexts. These models will be explored and evaluated by testing their solutions, typically with software such as Microsoft Excel, but prior knowledge of differential equations is not assumed. Possible course modules include predator-prey interaction, curve fitting, heat distribution in materials, fluid flow, queuing theory, and patient-drug interactions. Throughout the course, scientific concepts will play a major role in determining what is important to the model and in evaluating the usefulness of the model for predictions. Candidates should have a T1-83 graphing calculator or the equivalent.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-577 Special Topics in Math (3)
Covers a math topic not regularly offered in the GMST program.
Spring 2015 Topic: Evolutionary Dynamics
Attributes: TGMS
This course will examine the common mathematical models associated with populations and the evolution of species. Models studied include the Lotka-Volterra model (and fixed points and stability of the model), game theory, and population genetics.
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-596 Independent Study (1 TO 3)
An opportunity to explore an area not regularly offered in the program. Independent Study Authorization form is required.
Attributes: TGMS
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-640 Research I (3)
The department expects that the research project will be a collaborative effort between the candidate, the community, and St. John Fisher College. Since the development of Teacher as Researcher is a major emphasis in this graduate program, each core course will assist in this process. As part of GMST 640, seminars will be scheduled where progress on the research project will be presented and discussed as well as guidelines for the research project and final manuscript. The Program Director and/or the instructor will assist the student in the research process. Permission of the Program Director is required to register.
Attributes: TGMS ZRES
Restrictions: Including: -Level: GraduateGMST-641 Research II (3)
Research projects and the final manuscript will be completed. Seminars will be scheduled where presentation of the completed research will occur. Permission of the Program Director is required to register.
Attributes: TGMS ZRES
Restrictions: Including: -Level: Graduate