Curriculum and Instruction

Changlan Shao, an associate professor in the College of Education at Tianjin University of Technology and Vocational Education, is studying in the UI College of Education during the 2014-15 academic year as a visiting scholar. She is conducting research with Associate Dean James Gregson on vocational-technical education and training for sustainable development and teacher education for sustainable development. Shao is hoping to leverage her experiences as a visiting scholar to develop a center at Tianjin University to prepare schoolteachers and industry trainers to infuse sustainability into their practices. Gregson and Shao are working with Gendong Shi, China’s Dean of Education for Sustainable Development, in an initiative to collaborate with the development of this center.

A book club hosted by Julie Amador, assistant professor of math, and Abe Wallin, regional math specialist, completed its second year. Thirty educators at various points in the career path — from UI students and first-year teachers to experienced math teachers and coaches — meet several times for 1.5 hours throughout spring semester to discuss a chapter of a book on mathematics teaching. The intent is to bring together educators at different levels to build partnerships, relationships and mentorships while increasing knowledge about the chosen book. This spring’s focus was “The Teaching Gap,” which compares math education practices in multiple countries.

Associate Dean James Gregson represented the College of Education at the eighth biennial meeting of the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions Associated with the UNESCO Chair on Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability. This meeting was Nov. 14-17, 2014 in Okayama, Japan. This arm of UNESCO contributed to significant pedagogical innovation and policy and curriculum in Education for Sustainable Development in more than 40 countries — from early childhood learning through adult technical training. The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-14) contributed to extensive partnerships and networks — within and between private and public sectors — resulting in the transformation of educators, schools and communities in how they understand sustainability and the need to address it for the economy, culture/society and the environment. As a follow-up to the Decade, UNESCO has developed a Global Action Program on Education for Sustainable Development and Jim will be working with the educator preparation programs in the College to increase the integration of ESD into student experiences.

Dozens of students and teachers participated in Dign’IT Camps at University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene. The free program, it its second year, was designed for middle school female students to help increase their interest in careers in computer science and software engineering. This year, the program expanded to include teachers who are learning how to teach computer coding. “The teachers are learning three programing languages,” Julie Amador, Dign’IT program coordinator told the Coeur d’Alene Press. “The teachers are really looking at, ‘Here’s how I teach math through computer coding.’ ” More than two dozen students participated and 20 teachers were in the program.

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Margaret Vaughn, assistant professor of literacy, was selected as co-editor of an issue of the journal Theory Into Practice themed “Adaptive Teaching: Theoretical Implications for Practice,” which will be published in 2016. The journal has an acceptance rate of zero to 10 percent.

The COE was ranked No. 14 among the Best 30 Online Master in Special Education Degree Programs in the U.S. by TheBestSchools.org. The special education program, which is state-approved and has received national accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, offers a master of education program with four different tracks.