SEC/536 - Social Studies Content and Curricular Knowledge

Course Description

This course explores the application of instructional methods and strategies for teaching history and social sciences in diverse middle and high school settings. Teacher candidates review national and state standards, current issues, and approaches to instruction and assessment in the social sciences. This course assists prospective educators in developing skills to select and adapt social science resources to support curriculum that meets the needs of all learners and integrates literacy and technology, and to plan for professional development and enrichment activities. Throughout the course, candidates will complete a content-specific unit ready for use in a classroom or inclusion in a professional portfolio.

If you reside in California please click here to enroll in the California version of this course.

This graduate course is 6 weeks.

This course has a prerequisite. Please see details in the Prerequisite section below.

PLEASE NOTE:
Attendance and participation are mandatory in all university courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy in the Catalog for more information.

This course is not available for enrollment to residents of Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming and individuals who reside outside the United States.

Course Objectives

Week 1

• Examine state and national standards for secondary history and social studies. 
• Describe current trends and issues in secondary social studies education. 
• Investigate the importance of teaching and learning civics and civic duty. 
• Examine secondary-level core content in world history, United States history and government, and economics. 

Week 2

• Investigate resources for secondary social studies curriculum. 
• Examine how primary-source literature can shape teaching and learning perceptions in the social studies classroom. 
• Evaluate methods and resources for integrating technology into secondary social studies curriculum. 
• Determine strategies for creating engaging lesson and unit plans for achieving curricular goals. 

Week 3

• Evaluate strategies for assessing student understanding of social studies content. 
• Analyze strategies for utilizing formative and summative assessments and rubrics. 
• Describe the use of data from formative and summative assessments in planning. 
• Examine strategies for engaging learners in assessing their progress. 

Week 4

• Investigate methods for incorporating culturally responsive instruction in history and social studies. 
• Evaluate strategies for teaching skills and concepts in history and social studies. 
• Analyze ways to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of culturally, academically, and linguistically diverse students. 
• Investigate strategies for using inquiry to develop reasoning skills in a social studies context. 

Week 5

• Examine core standards for literacy instruction in secondary social studies. 
• Evaluate current texts, trade books, and media for teaching secondary social studies. 
• Determine effective methods of teaching writing in secondary social studies. 
• Determine methods of integrating other content areas with secondary social studies instruction. 

Week 6

• Determine strategies for using self-reflection to stay current and improve instructional practice. 
• Determine strategies for collaborating with all stakeholders to improve student learning. 
• Investigate professional organizations and resources for social studies educators. 
• Identify professional development opportunities available to social studies teachers.

Notes

Disclaimers

The University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses.

Although our continuing education for teacher’s courses are accepted by some state agencies in the United States toward teacher certifications and endorsements, this may not be the case in all states or foreign jurisdictions. If you plan to use courses for certification or endorsement, please check with your own state agency and your school district for applicability. Continuing education for teachers’ courses is not eligible to apply to degree programs at University of Phoenix. These courses are not eligible for federal financial aid.

Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice.

While widely available, not all programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats. More information about eligibility requirements, policies, and procedures can be found in the catalog or please check with a University Enrollment Representative.