Students in the Education Sciences – the first program of its kind in the nation – engage in an interdisciplinary exploration of the field of education in schools, communities, and society. Majors will be introduced to and develop proficiency with the five core concepts and competencies guiding Education Sciences.

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Five Core Concepts of Education Sciences

Human Development

Numerous features of a child and their environments interact to guide development. These include factors within the child including individual differences; systems close to the child like home environment, peers, schools, and out-of-school contexts; and factors more distant from the child, including formal organizations, community, and culture.

Learning

Learning is influenced by learners, teachers, instructional tools, curricular design and educational and cultural contexts. Meaningful learning involves processes that may be general across multiple subjects or skills, or discipline-specific. Theories of learning address affordances and constraints of learning situations.

Schools as Organizations

Schools are shaped by internal social dynamics as well as external institutional environments.  Internal dynamics include ambiguous goals, challenges around effective leadership, and the character of social relationships.  Externally, schools are influenced by government oversight, other organizations, and normative societal pressures.

Social Structures & Stratification

Societies historically create and reproduce different forms of social inequality through established systems, practices and policies. These affect access to resources and opportunities for upward mobility. Educational inequities impact communities, schools, classrooms, and individual students.

Policymaking in Education

Education policy choices involve both benefits and costs. Policy makers aim to provide the largest net benefits when deciding among policy options. Student and parent behaviors are also influenced by their perceptions of the benefits and costs of educational programs. This introduces competition to educational markets.

Five Core Competencies of Education Sciences

Application

Students will apply theories from Education Sciences to understand educational decisions, processes, and outcomes.

Methodological Practices and Research Design

Students will critically evaluate the quality of educational research.

Quantitative and Qualitative Data Literacy

Students will be proficient with the principles in the analysis of educational scientific data.

Public Skills and Citizenship

Students will use knowledge from Education Sciences to inform their engagement with the community through service, partnerships, collaboration and advocacy.

Communication

Students will effectively communicate theories, practices, policies and research from Education Sciences with a variety of audiences.