M.Ed. in History Education

This course examines cognition, specifically the psychological processes of how individuals think and remember as applied to developing judgment and reasoning throughout the learning process. This course will also explore critical thinking as a process reflective of Bloom's Taxonomy incorporating active learning by formulating ideas, gaining knowledge and comprehension, making appropriate applications, and moving into higher levels of learning through analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

By creating new dimensions of thought to establish meaning and relevance, the ability to conceptualize promotes transferability. This course builds foundational understanding of practical approaches to teach conceptualization while also developing personal and professional knowledge and skills in interrelations, multiple perspectives, concept map development, generalizations and terminology across disciplines. A focus on synergistic effects moves learning across domains into multiple contexts for use in novel situations.

Students in this course will apply learning theories and instructional design principles across face-to-face, blended, and online environments. They adapt instruction to each setting including collaboration and assessments. Learners create products, set expectations, encourage interactions, select strategies and materials, and design evaluations.

Students in this course will design effective curricula within their professional fields. They apply principles of curriculum alignment and backward design to develop comprehensive curriculum maps. Topics include how to conduct needs assessments, plan curricula, and develop learning activities or resources for in-person, blended, and online learning environments.

This course focuses on ways historians view ideas while utilizing a variety of theories and frameworks which define an approach to thinking. With the goal of communicating ideas gathered from research using professional methodologies, emphasis is placed on a historiographical perspective to identify patterns in human behavior, the cause and effect of events. Through academic studies of the past and the application of course theories to public history, students will focus on various approaches to study and teaching of the past.

Roads connect more than trade goods as cultures, ideas, and people groups move along pathways. By investigating the impact of historical routes on the growth of the United States within geographical and economic contexts, learners explore cross-cultural encounters and the influence of trade and exploration via the Old North Trail, the Mississippi River, the Erie Canal, the Transcontinental Railway System, and Route 66 among others. Exploration of pathways into space and the oceans and experiential learning situations are designed to bring historical concepts into 21st century application.

New ideas ignite revolutions across time and location, influential individuals and ideas, cultures and communities. Individuals and groups promote reform, share the emergence of new media, and capitalize on how ideas develop into action. Through the study of various revolutions, the course offers innovative approaches for investigating how past and present civic responsibilities determine the course of a community, country, or global problems and their outcomes.

This course explores the big ideas of history which have shaped Western thought including the concepts of freedom, justice, equality, and liberty. Using primary documents, ideologies are contrasted from a range of perspectives, including political, social, professional, and personal. Through critical analysis, the lives of those who have influenced change are examined in light of issues such as immigration across time or the impact of education.

This course uses the early history of the United States as a framework to examine the development of its government and culture. Consideration is given to special problems including the causes of war, the benefit of diplomacy, and social movements which have changed to course of nations. Through primary documents, records and images, key pieces of legislature, and the reactions of the populace students explore innovative ways to understand and teach American history and culture.

Without history, understanding current issues is problematic. This course probes leadership skills within historical problems as a way to support critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and writing skills by investigating political murders, the art of political persuasion, civic disobedience and the influence of institutions such as the Supreme Court and governmental agencies. American and world texts are used as the narrative for change. Newspaper clips, photographs, political cartoons, and other media become perspectives to view the legacy of history.

The Capstone Experience is designed for candidates to demonstrate and document the impact of their knowledge and competencies gained throughout and as a result of studies related to the various Professional Education Studies programs.

This course prepares educators to become proficient consumers and practitioners of research in educational settings. They will learn to evaluate existing research, conduct action research, and apply scientific inquiry principles to address current educational challenges. Educators will develop skills in data-driven decision-making and learn to use research as a tool for continuous improvement in their organizations. By the end of the course, participants will be equipped to integrate evidence-based practices into their work, enhancing their effectiveness as educational leaders.