Syllabus

Master of Science in Education

Syllabus Straw Man: A Streamlined Approach

Credits - 3

Description

The goal of this course is to familiarize participants with the role literacy plays in the classroom and the workplace; specifically in regard to training and professional development as well as in formal classroom settings. Participants in this course will examine literacy in different contexts including social, digital, the media, and English as a second language. Students will create materials that adult learners can access at multiple literacy levels, and develop strategies for best practice.

Materials

Required:

Gordon, E. E., Ponticell, J. A., & Morgan, R. R. (1991). Closing the literacy gap in American business: A guide for trainers and human resource specialists. New York: Quorum Books. (ISBN: 978-0899306216)

Quigley, B. A. (1996). Rethinking literacy education: The critical need for practice-based change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (ISBN: 9780787902872)

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Students will:

Describe historically significant data regarding adult literacy
Discuss strategies to address literacy issues faced by adult learners in the workplace or in a formal classroom environment
Construct materials appropriate for adult learners at multiple literacy levels-Active Experimentation

Assignments

Discussion Assignments:

Each week you will be tasked with some form of research related to the topic covered in the learning modules. You will then share your findings with reflections in the discussion board for further analysis and discussion with your peers.

Final Assignment:

Students will disseminate a message for their population of adult learners. This material should reach adult learners at multiple levels of literacy and blend in knowledge gained from this course. This could be in the form of a pamphlet, a training guide, a video, a PowerPoint presentation, etc.

Elements to incorporate:

The media and the four dimensions of analysis
Situative learning and the intersects between life roles and the practice of everyday literacy
Digital Literacy

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Points
Week 1 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 2 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 3 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 4 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 5 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 6 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 7 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Week 8 Discussion Assignment	10 points
Final Project	20 points
Total	100 points

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00

Schedule

With the exception of Week 1, which opens on a Wednesday, each week opens on Monday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Sunday at 11:59 pm ET. Specific due dates can be found within the Blackboard Calendar feature in your Global Navigation.

Week	Topic	Readings	Assignments Due
Week 1	Literacy, a History in the US	Chapters 1-2: Gordon, E. E., Ponticell, J. A., & Morgan, R. R. (1991). Closing the literacy gap in American business: A guide for trainers and human resource specialists. New York: Quorum Books. Chapter 1, pg 3-32: Quigley, B. A. (1997). Rethinking literacy education: The critical need for practice-based change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.	Week 1 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Friday; responses due Sunday.
Week 2	Literacy in the Social Context	Chapters 2: Hughes, N., & Schwab, I. (2010). Teaching adult literacy: principles and practice. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Taylor, M. (2006). Informal Adult Learning and Everyday Literacy Practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(6), 500-509.	Week 2 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.
Week 3	Literacy in the Workplace	Chapter 4: Gordon, E. E., Ponticell, J. A., & Morgan, R. R. (1991). Closing the literacy gap in American business: A guide for trainers and human resource specialists. New York: Quorum Books. Department of Labor, United States, Department of Commerce, United States, Department of Education, United States, & Department of Health and Human Services, United Stats. (2014). What works in job training: A synthesis of the evidence. Washington, D.C.: Department of Labor, United States.	Week 3 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.
Week 4	Literacy in the Workplace (continued)	Chapters 6 & 7: Gordon, E. E., Ponticell, J. A., & Morgan, R. R. (1991). Closing the literacy gap in American business: A guide for trainers and human resource specialists. New York: Quorum Books.	Week 4 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.
Week 5	Literacy in the Media	Chapters 3 &7: Potter, W. J. (2004). Theory of media literacy SAGE Publications.	Week 5 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.
Week 6	Literacy: English as a Second Language	Passel, J. S., & Cohn, D. (2017, March 8,). Immigration projected to drive potential U.S. labor force growth through 2035.	Week 6 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.
Week 7	Digital Literacy	Eshet-Alkalai, Y. (2004). Digital literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1), 93.	Week 7 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.
Week 8	Reflection	n/a	Final Assignment due Friday. Week 8 Discussion Assignment: Initial post due Friday; responses due Sunday. Week 8 Discussion Reflection: Initial Post due Wednesday; responses due Sunday.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Education page

UNE Libraries:

Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
Education Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/education/
Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:

UNE Student Academic Success Center

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.

ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.

Career Ready Program

The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!

The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.

Policies

AI Use

The Graduate Programs in Education holds the position that Grammarly and other AI writing and generative technology should not be used when completing course assignments, unless explicitly permitted by course faculty and assignment instructions. These tools do not support a student’s personal and direct capacity to develop and hone skills in creativity, logic, critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, theorization, and writing, which are central to graduate-level rigor, assessment, and research. Use of these tools when not explicitly permitted may result in an academic integrity infraction.

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools the University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Attendance Policy

8 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

16 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.