Teacher Education Program Model

The program model developed at University of Georgia over the course of the 3-year project included development of some new courses and revision of many others, including:

Pre-professional courses: Two existing required courses for teacher education in educational psychology (Learning and Development in Education) and educational foundations (Social Foundations of Education) were revised to include contextual teaching and learning principles and applications.

Community Work Experiences: Academic Service Learning, an existing elective course involving service projects in various community agencies was redesigned to include structured field projects in business, government, and other professional work settings. Another existing elective course, Internship in Business and Industry, was offered to students interested in completing an extensive internship in the private, corporate sector. In addition, students were involved in other classes or seminars with business or community short-term internships, tours, field trips and interviews, focus groups, and other nonschool contexts to help them connect knowledge with real-world applications.

Seminars: A new series of core CTL seminars were developed to involve students in field experiences that connect education and the world outside of schools. These seminars were entitled (a) Disciplinary Knowledge: Basic Principles and Ways of Knowing; (b) Workplace and Community Experiences: Connecting Academic Learning to Out-of-Classroom Contexts; and (c) Contextual Teaching and Learning in Schools. The content of these three seminars is incorporated into a new 3 credit course, Introduction to Contextual Teaching and Learning, during the final years of the project.

Disciplinary Courses: Required courses in curriculum and methods of teaching, subject matter disciplines, and student teaching were revised to incorporate contextual teaching and learning examples and concepts so that students could experience and apply CTL strategies in school and nonschool settings. New elective courses were added in some departments to enrich the preparation of teachers specifically in contextual teaching and learning. A 12-credit, interdisciplinary, freshman core course with considerable CTL approaches was introduced in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Over 50 courses in the Colleges of Education and Arts and Science have been revised to include strategies identified with contextual teaching and learning.

The CTL Curriculum Model
The following is the CTL Curriculum Model at the University of Georgia

CTL Foundations Courses (required of all teacher education students)	EPSY 2020 Learning and Development in Education (3 cr.)
	EFND 2030 Social Foundations of Education (3 cr.)
CTL Seminar Courses (elective seminars developed and initially taught in CTL project have now been reconceptualized into a 3-credit course.)	CTL Seminar I: Disciplinary Knowledge Basic Principles and Ways of Knowing (1 cr.)
	CTL Seminar II: Workplace and Community Experiences Connecting Academic Learning to Out-of-Classroom Contexts (1 cr.)
	CTL Seminar III: Contextual Teaching and Learning in Schools (1 cr.)
	Introduction to Contextual Teaching & Learning (3 cr.)
Experience in Community/Work Settings (elective courses)	EDMS 5060 Academic Community Learning (3 cr., revised course)
	Situated Cognition Theory and Implications for Teaching (3 cr., includes field activities, new course)
	EOCS 5450/7450 Internship in Business and Industry (1-3 cr., revised course)
Curriculum and Methods Courses (required for all teacher education students)	Teacher education program courses in varied academic discipline fields (e.g., math education, science education)
Student Teaching (required for all teacher education students)	Student teaching practicum in teacher education program area disciplines (e.g., social science education, language education)

Two basic core classes are required in Georgia of all teacher education students: Foundations of Education and Educational Psychology (focused on learning and motivation). Special sections of these courses were initially offered to students interested in the CTL emphasis. These special sections, although retaining the core contents of educational foundations and educational psychology courses, included supplemental content and activities appropriate for a contextual teaching and learning emphasis.

Three one-credit CTL seminars focusing on disciplinary knowledge, workplace and community experiences, and contextual teaching and learning in schools were created. These five classes constituted core classes of CTL, addressed the major principles of the framework, and emphasized applications of these principles in public schools and in teaching.

CTL faculty who participated in CTL, but who did not teach one of the core classes, began to change the content of curriculum and methods of teaching classes within their own departments, as well as activities and projects required and assessment of students. As a result, courses in occupational studies, mathematics education, science education, social science education, and middle grades education, as well as biology, mathematics, and genetics were altered to apply CTL within specific content areas. Through this process, the infusion of CTL among the many courses within the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences began.

This became known as our "infusion" model, where CTL was infused by many more faculty members, into more courses, and experienced by more students at UGA rather than being limited to a small cohort of students as originally envisioned. In the third year of our project, eight departments with teacher education programs in the College of Education committed to infusing CTL throughout courses and activities in the entire department. The infusion model allowed for the maximum number of students, faculty, and departments to become involved with CTL and addressed issues of continuity and sustainability after the project funding ended.

Student Portfolios