FRES 1010 – Contemporary Issues in K-12 Education

Fall 2001

Instructor:    Denise S. Mewborn

Office:         Aderhold 109A

Phones:        542-4548 (office)

                     548-9596 (home: 7 am – 10 pm)

e-mail:         dmewborn@coe.uga.edu

Overview

We will examine contemporary issues in education through readings, discussion, and guest speakers.

Objectives

Whether or not you become a teacher, you will be faced with constant media reporting about education. And, if you have children, these issues will become personally important to you. Thus, it is important to be able to discern fact from opinion on these issues. The goal of this course is to identify a number of contemporary issues in education that are of interest to the group, to find out what positions are being taken on the issues by various people or groups, and to begin to form our own opinions about the issues based on reading relevant material.

Attendance

Enrollment in this course is voluntary, so I assume that by signing up for this course you intend to be a full participant. Attendance and participation are essential in this class, both for you to learn and so that others may benefit from your input. The ideas and concepts we will discuss cannot easily be transmitted through class notes. You are responsible for all announcements made in class even if you are not there.

Class Participation

It is likely that you will have some strong opinions about some of the issues we discuss. You own schooling, your upbringing, your values, and other personal aspects will play into the formation of your opinions, and these are likely to vary from person to person. The purpose of this seminar is NOT to try to change people’s opinions to conform to our own. Rather, the seminar permits an exchange of ideas that will allow each of us to reflect on our ideas in light of what others think. I provide the following guidelines for class participation to ensure that we have lively, productive discussions in which no one gets their feelings hurt:

            • Come to class prepared, having read the assigned material, so that you are speaking from an informed point of view.

            • Be a good listener. Try not to interrupt others.

            • Make sure that what you are saying is linked to the comments made by others and/or to the reading. We only have 50 minutes, so it is important that we not stray too far off topic.

            • Monitor your participation to ensure that you are not dominating the conversation.

            • Be clear about what type of information (fact, opinion, belief, something you read, etc.) you are providing when you make a comment.

Grading

This course is graded on an S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) basis. In order to earn a satisfactory grade, you need to

            • Attend all class meetings, and arrive on time.

            • Be prepared for class each day.

            • Participate in class discussions in a manner that is respectful of your peers, the instructor, and guest speakers.

            • Satisfactorily complete a course project.

            • Provide meaningful feedback to 2 peers on their projects.

Course project

            • Select an educational issue that is of interest to you.

            • Locate 5 pieces of information relevant to your topic. These may be

                        Magazine articles

                        Newspaper articles

                        Web sites

                        Interviews with relevant people

                        Brochures produced by organizations

                        Etc.

            • Write a paper of roughly 1500 words (about 5 typed, double-spaced pages) describing the issue, various perspectives on the issue, additional questions that are raised by your reading, implications of the issue, etc.

            • To help you attack this project in a timely fashion, we will adhere to the following deadlines:

University policies

All university policies with regard to withdrawals, early final exams, academic honesty, etc. will be strictly followed. It is your responsibility to be familiar with these policies.

Schedule of readings