Instructional Strategies, M.A.T.
(Thesis option available—see below)
(36 credits)
Available only to licensed teachers in cooperation with Performance Learning Systems (PLS), this track includes a core of graduate level courses designed to provide practical, up-to-date teaching strategies for practicing educators. Up to 6 credits may be transferred in the program.
The 36-hour Instructional Strategies MAT degree requires a professional portfolio. Mastery of instructional skills is a primary goal of the degree. A professional portfolio provides concrete, observable evidence of mastery. Students collect artifacts for Rockford University Teacher Education Program goals, which are aligned with Illinois Professional Teaching Standards. The professional portfolio includes the following components.
- Table of contents
- School demographics and classes taught
- Resume
- List of classes taken and number of artifacts from each class
- One comprehensive artifact for each goal with a reflective analysis describing how the candidate’s teaching was enhanced by a particular class.
- One- to two-page reflective summary of how the master’s program influenced the candidate’s teaching.
Required MAT Foundations Courses (9 credits) Must be taken at Rockford University
| EDUC 615 | Introduction to Research | 3 |
| EDUC 605 | Philosophical Foundations of Education | 3 |
| EDUC 620 | Psychological Foundations of Education | 3 |
Other Required Courses to be taken at Rockford University (6 credits)
Some examples of possible course options for the residency courses:
Professional Learning Systems (PLS) Courses (21 credits from the lists below)
| EDUC 518 | Strategies for Inclusive Classroom | 3 |
| EDUC 560 | Student Engagement and Standards Based Learning | 3 |
| EDUC 575 | Reading Across the Curriculum | 3 |
| EDUC 577 | Designing Motivation for All Learners | 3 |
| EDUC 580 | Building Communication & Teamwork in the Classroom | 3 |
| EDUC 582 | Teaching Through Learning Channels | 3 |
| EDUC 583 | Brain-Based Ways We Think and Learn | 3 |
| EDUC 584 | Behavioral, Academic, and Social Interventions | 3 |
| EDUC 586 | Achieving Student Outcomes Through Cooperative Learning | 3 |
| EDUC 588 | Meaningful Activities to Gen Interesting Class | 3 |
| EDUC 589 | Purposeful Learning Through Multiple Intelligences | 3 |
| EDUC 590 | Special Topics in Instructional Strategy | 3 |
| EDUC 592 | Differentiated Instruction Today's Classroom | 3 |
| EDUC 595 | Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility (S.T.A.R.) | 3 |
| EDUC 596 | Classroom Management: Orchestrating a Community of Learners | 3 |
Online-Only Courses
| EDUC 521 | Foundations of Literacy | 3 |
| EDUC 527 | Cultural Competence: Transformative Journ | 3 |
| EDUC 540 | Building Online Collaborative Environmen | 3 |
| EDUC 542 | Action Research in E-Learning Environment | 3 |
| EDUC 543 | Blended & Synchronous Learning Design | 3 |
| EDUC 544 | Instructional Design for Online Educator | 3 |
| EDUC 545 | Sims & Gaming Technologies for Class | 3 |
| EDUC 547 | Using Online Resources to Bring Primary | 3 |
| EDUC 548 | Educating the Net-Generation Online | 3 |
| EDUC 555 | Teaching the English Language Learner Online | 3 |