Product of Learning

All students in the Advanced Masters program work on a culminating product of leaming in the course of their degree. Students have two options for this requirement: an action-based research project or a portfolio of pedagogical materials. Students will choose a mentor early in their program of study and begin the planning process to complete this assignment. Once they have decided that a particular subject-area is of special interest to them--or when they have formulated at least some broad notions about a suitable topic which they find intellectually appealing as a prospective thesis subject--they should express that interest to a faculty member with the appropriate specialization or competence.  If the faculty member agrees to the product of learning on the proposed topic/subject areas, the director, in consultation with the student, selects two other members (one from the College of Education, one a high school practitioner) to comprise the remainder of the thesis committee.

This product of learning is intended as the culminating experience of the advanced master�s degree experience. As such, it permits the student to develop a product of learning that will serve both to encapsulate the accumulated programmatic reflections developed by the student over time and to demonstrate to the profession the increased knowledge and competencies the student acquired from his/her program of studies. The product of learning will be based on the following organizational and/or operational principles. The product must:

1 . Include classroom impact (e.g., on-site visit and report; feedback from supervisors, colleagues, students, parents, and other individuals who might provide information about the candidate's performance, student performance data and its analysis, higher score on exit exam in content; etc.);           2. Reflect advanced teacher knowledge and skill; 3. Consist of both some physical product and an oral presentation/defense of the product;

4. Reflect both what was learned from the program of studies and the effects of applying that knowledge to a school or classroom setting;

5. Provide evidence that the product of learning has undergone some rigorous form of peer review prior to its submission and presentation;

           6. Contain evidence of impact on the academic lives of students in classrooms; 7. Be aligned with the goals and objectives of the essential competencies for the degree and the goals and objectives in the respective program areas;

8. Be consistent with standards of accepted practices for its format (i.e., MLA Handbook for theses; standards for performance portfolios developed by NSDC, etc.).

9. Be presented in an open forum to a panel of university faculty and professional practitioners, who will evaluate whether or not the product of learning is a satisfactory demonstration of competence.

 The specific product of learning is to be developed and designed by the student, in consultation with the student's major advisor. The product may be one of the following models: 1. A summative action research project. This project should be designed so that it tests and captures the cumulative effects of learning for the entire program of studies. This project should result in both a high quality paper and an oral presentation of the paper. 2. A performance-based portfolio. This option will adhere to established standards of sound portfolio development. The content of the portfolio must be reflective of the entire program, and must contain evidence of performance activities and personal reflections between new learning from the degree and impact on the school or classroom. The portfolio will be presented publicly and defended in an oral presentation.


Product of Learning Rubrics

Product of Learning Option I Rubric: Action-Based Research

1) The student adequately states the problem to be explored in the educational setting.

2) The student states the methodology for exploring the problem.

3) The student provides a prospectus to appropriate committee members and documents knowledge and approval for school-based research from appropriate authorities at the educational site. The student obtains permissions from students (and parent) who will be involved in the research study.

4) The student provides an overview of research and theory related to the action research.

5) The student acquires thick description of the educational environment.

6) The student provides a thorough description of findings and adequate analysis of how they might be applied to future educational environments.

7) The student provides at least a preliminary application of findings to an educational environment.

The student will show clear linkages between the action research and classroom impact and will reflect teacher knowledge and skills, as follows:

1) The student investigates and solves educational problems relating to the English classroom through data gathering and evaluation of student learning, classroom processes, and school practices.

2) The student shows evidence of the ability to modify instruction and learning environments based on assessment of student learning problems and successes.

3) The student monitors the effects of instructional actions, selection of materials, and other instructional decisions on student learning behavior.

4) The student seeks, implements, and evaluates the best pedagogical practices for teaching Literature, Language, and Writing within the context of a specific school setting.

5) The student uses technology to create learning environments that support students' learning.

6) The student provides evidence of ties to other appropriate advanced master�s standards.

Product of Learning Option 2 Rubric: Portfolio

1) The student will establish a committee to oversee the development of the portfolio.

2) The student will be prepared to have the portfolio reviewed on three occasions. The first review will focus on organizational structure and goals for studying English Content and Pedagogy. The second review will focus on connecting Literature, Writing, Language and Pedagogy obtained from course-work to hypothetical high school English Teaching. The third review will focus on connecting Portfolio resources to a specific high school English curriculum.

3) The student will provide pertinent resources, notes, essays from appropriate journals, bibliographies, classroom papers, selected literature, and handouts appropriate for a high school English classroom.

4) The student will generate curriculum appropriate for the high school English classroom. This may include unit plans, daily lesson plans, handouts, tests, and strategies.

5) The student will show connections between specific course-work and the curriculum that has been created.

6) The student will provide an overview for each section of the portfolio. This overview will include (when appropriate) a philosophy for teaching Literature, Language and Writing in the English classroom.

7) The student will document direct connections among projects, presentations and research in individual courses to English teaching in a high school setting.

8) The student will connect portfolio resources to the following Advanced Master�s standards for English, Secondary Education:

    a) Commitment to Students and Learning.

       --recognizing individual differences.

       --improving knowledge of how students develop and learn.

    b) Knowledge of subject and how to teach it to students.

       --exploring how subjects are created, organized, and linked to other disciplines.

       --exploring the connections between the teaching of Literature, Language, and Writing.

       --showing how curriculum helps generate multiple paths to knowledge.

   c) Managing/monitoring student learning.

       --linking English content to student engagement.

       --improving assessment of student progress.

       --linking principal objectives to specific curriculum.

   d) Systematically exploring practice.

       --making pedagogical/content-knowledge choices appropriate for English courses.

       --seeking advice from others at both the university and the high school.

   e) Establishing learning communities.

       --establishing opportunities for collaboration from professionals and parents.

       --establishing opportunities for using community resources.

9) The student will connect resources to appropriate technology to create learning environments that support students' learning.

10) The student will explain how designing and modifying curriculum is responsive to differences among learners.

11) The student will document how research expertise can be directly applied to a specific classroom. The student will demonstrate future goals for using data gathering and action research to evaluate students' learning, classroom practices, and school practices.