Hi, everybody!
Now that I am completely settled in this side of the Atlantic, I will provide you some information about my classes. First, a brief note on their physical features. Classrooms are very warm and comfortable. All seats are padded, the floor is carpeted and there are Macs everywhere! Regarding the courses, I am attending four completely different courses: Social and Philosophical Aspects of Education, Introduction to Single-Subject Research Methodology, Research Group: Approaches to Fostering Language Learning, and Academic Writing.
In the Social and Philosophical Aspects of Education we are exploring social, historical, contemporary, and philosophical issues and perspectives around public education in US. This course demands us a lot of critical thinking about education-related issues such as goals of education, teacher professionalism, school reform, educational policy, and students’ diversity. In the last two classes we had the opportunity to discuss some of these issues with school Principals.
The Single-Subject course is focused on the use of single subject research methodology within Special Education. Among others, some of its topics are: single-subject research methods foundations and rationale; threats to internal validity and methods for detecting, minimizing, and controlling them; measurement of social validity; requirements, advantages, uses, and limitations of single subject designs; writing introduction, method, and data analysis procedures for single subject studies. As I have a big interest in research methods this course is one of my favorites!
The Research Group is a very small class with 8 doctoral students. During the semester each student will make a presentation about some issue related to its doctoral project. Moreover, we will also discuss some important issues research-related. For instance, last week we analyzed several conferences related to literacy. We compared their missions, coverage, session’s format, and proposal requirements. Additionally, those who had already attended one of the conferences also presented its personal experience.
Finally, I am also attending an Academic Writing course to improve my writing skills. We have been doing several interesting exercises to enhance our writing accuracy and clarity when writing scientific papers. This course is totally individualized. It is very focused on each student needs and goals within his/her research field. Whenever I can, I also attend some interesting journal clubs and conferences. VU provides its students several opportunities to learn new things and meet new people!
On weekends, I try to do some cultural activities. Last weekend, I went to the inaugural parade of the Tennessee's 49th Governor, Bill Haslam. See here a little piece of it. Besides the freezing weather, it was awesome! We have no things like this in Portugal. Tomorrow I am going to Graceland. If you are an Elvis fan, please do not desperate. I will tell you everything in a few days!
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