The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in the School of Education at the University of Indianapolis is designed to prepare secondary teachers for professional service and leadership. The curriculum emphasizes the knowledge, dispositions, and skills required of the professional secondary teacher.
Candidates with an undergraduate degree in a content area complete a comprehensive program designed to ensure that they know how to teach adolescents; that they think systematically about their practices and learn from their experiences; that they consider themselves members of a learning community devoted to best practices in teaching and effective classroom management; and that they express a strong commitment to students and learning.
The program consists of 36 semester hours, which are taken over a two-year period including the intervening summer. Candidates register for a minimum of five hours per semester, which ensures eligibility for student loan programs. The candidates accepted in the program each fall form cohorts and remain within their cohorts for the entire program. The program is designed for persons already holding a degree in a content area. Applicants' credentials/educational backgrounds are evaluated and if content area deficiencies exist, they must be addressed. Any required content hours are not included within the hours of the MAT program. The program is structured to meet the needs of adult learners; classes are offered in the evenings and on Saturdays. However, the clinical practice semester demands special sacrifices from the candidates. The internship is a full-time obligation. Candidates must plan to take a leave of absence from their employment. Candidates receive no compensation for the clinical practice internship and should make allowances for the loss of income.
The program is structured using the "cohort" concept with all of the advantages of that configuration. Members of a cohort encounter a common set of learning experiences and opportunities to share reflections on those experiences. They provide one another insights based upon a collection of perspectives, set up patterns of collaborative behaviors, and develop contacts that may be sustained over time. The diversity within the cohort enables the achievement of a broader understanding of adolescence and teaching and establishes the foundation and dispositions necessary for building and maintaining a community of learners.
Because of the unique design of the MAT program, no courses may be transferred into the first 28 hours of the program. The program includes a 28-hour core leading to recommendation for initial teaching licensure at the secondary school level. This is the first tier of the program and includes field experiences and a fulltime clinical practice experience as well as education classes. The candidate must then take an additional eight hours to complete the master's degree.
The University of Indianapolis School of Education offers the following licensing areas. Specific content area courses for each of the following are listed on curriculum guides available from the Master of Arts in Teaching Program Office, Esch Hall 003.
Middle Level/High School Licenses are offered in the following areas:
All Grade Licenses are offered in the following areas:
The MAT program is two-tiered with the first tier resulting in the completion of the secondary teacher licensing requirements of 28 semester hours. The second tier results in a Master of Arts in Teaching degree. The program consists of the following 36 semester hours:
EDUC-505 Designing and Assessing Teaching and Learning I 3.5 hours
EDUC-506 Designing and Assessing Teaching and Learning II 3.0 hours
EDUC-524 Perspectives in American Education 3.0 hours
EDUC-532 Adolescent Development 3.0 hours
EDUC-551 Content Area Pedagogy 2.0 hours
EDUC-571 Climate and Culture of the Classroom 2.0 hours
EDUC-583 Technology in Education 1.5 hours
EDUC-590 Introduction to Educational Research 3.0 hours
EDUC-596 MAT Internship and Seminar* 10.0 hours
EDUC-588 Introduction to Alternative Education 2.0 hours
Elective in Content Area/Education 3.0 hours
(To be determined in consultation with advisor)
*Culminating Course for Licensure: The candidate must have completed all required course work in the content area, taken and passed the PRAXIS I and II, and successfully completed all the required MAT courses before being admitted to this course.
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