Connected Communities: Using the City as a Learning Laboratory for Future Teachers
| Initiative: | Connected Communities: Using the City as a Learning Laboratory for Future Teachers |
| University: | UH, College of Education |
| Focus: | Urban/Minority Education |
Program Description
The mission of the College of Education is to graduate teachers who are socially aware and culturally sensitive, in addition to being pedagogically adept and highly skilled in technology. We believe that early, meaningful experiences in community-based learning, grounded in the identification and solution of real problems, will mark the culmination of our already proven teacher education program aimed at effective strategies for teaching diverse youth. Technology is an essential element, a truly connective, adaptable tool-making it the indispensable agent of community conscious education for all students.
Using our own action research design model and a rigorous systematic evaluation plan, UH will build upon faculty development and program restructuring efforts implemented in previous grants. UH will work in close collaboration with community organizations and diverse urban, suburban, and rural school districts in the Houston area. Preservice teachers will develop advanced technology expertise as well as strong content knowledge closely aligned to state standards. This will be accomplished through a service learning approach consisting of community-focused courses and an extensive variety of activities and interactions with educators at community organizations as well as mentor teachers in K-12 schools.
Preservice teachers will collaborate with community partners and mentor teachers to design, develop, and implement high-quality instructional materials that ensure high standards of achievement for every student. Innovative technologies will enhance the recording of community experiences, the application of that knowledge with preservice teachers, and the subsequent development of rich instructional resources and community-based modules. Preservice teachers and faculty will have a comprehensive support model of classroom instruction, one-on-one mentoring, summer institutes, and field-based experiences with a cadre of skilled technology fellows, community partners, and master teachers serving as community liaisons.
Priorities Addressed
Currently, every elementary and middle school preservice teacher in the College of Education must complete three one-hour technology courses to meet the Texas State Board for Educator Certification's requirements for beginning teachers. These preservice teacher technology courses do not currently include collaborations and connections with the rich and diverse community in which we live and work. Our preservice teachers and faculty need practical examples of how campus content specialists, community organizations, and K-12 teachers can assist them with finding content, aligning content with state standards, designing appropriate instructional materials, and meeting the needs of diverse learners.
In addition, our preservice teachers and faculty need support in incorporating authentic content, such as art works and scientific exhibitions provided by museums and community institutions, into instructional materials. Hands-on, highly interactive activities using new technologies and incorporating high-quality content will be developed in partnerships with community organizations. Innovative ways of collaborating with local museums and other community organizations also could be shared.
Background and Qualifications
Dr. Sara McNeil teaches in the college's Department of Curriculum and Instruction and has a strong research focus in instructional design and the use of computers in the classroom. She has presented information on the topic at international, national, and regional conferences and was the editor of the 1997 and 1998 editions of the Technology and Teacher Education Annual. In 1998, she was selected as one of two professors to win the Continuing Education Faculty Award for her online course in Instructional Design. She also was a 1999 recipient of the Enron Teaching Excellence Award, recognizing exemplary teaching at UH, and the University Distance Education Teaching Award. She is on the editorial board of several technology and teacher education journals.
Dr. Melissa Pierson is an assistant professor in the Instructional Technology Program. Her K-12 teaching experience has led to research interests, including the appropriate use of technology in K-12 settings, the relationship between teaching excellence and expertise with technology, the use of portfolio assessment, and technology integration in the education of future teachers. She has coauthored the book Using Technology in the Classroom, 5th Ed. (2001) and 4th Ed. (1999) is on the editorial board for Current Issues in Technology and Teacher Education and also has been involved with the development of National Educational Technology Standards: Connecting Curriculum and Technology.
Dr. Steven Mintz, representing the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, is the John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History. His Pulitzer-nominated book, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty, is a landmark work using primary source documents from the Gilder Lehrman Institute in New York. His area of research centers on the history of private life. He is an active collaborator with the College of Education on two national grants and a number of community projects, and will represent the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences for this grant.
Project Components: (1) service learning and community collaboration, (2) access to innovative and advanced technology for all students, (3) faculty and preservice teacher support in using advanced technology, (4) strong consortium of school, community, and university partners.
Funding Request
$1.8 million ($600,000 per year for three years)
