The WPI Teacher Preparation
Program
March 2004
The primary goal of
the WPI Teacher Preparation Program is to provide students with the means and
experiences to become licensed teachers in the
Students completing
the program will have majored in one of these areas and in doing so, met all of
the normal WPI graduation requirements of that major. The requirements to become a licensed teacher
are completely in addition to those of the major. They are met through the general requirements
of Social Science courses, free electives and the IQP (Interactive Qualifying
Project).
WPI students
completing the program and going into teaching bring the following strengths to
their profession: a strong background in their subject matter; a good sense of
the applicability of their subject to contemporary areas of engineering,
technology or society; experience with technology as a useful tool for
complementing science or mathematics, and a general passion and enthusiasm for
their subject area.
These goals are
accomplished by meeting the following requirements:
a major in
an appropriate discipline
Social Science courses in
Psychology of Education (SS 2401)
Cross Cultural
Psychology (SS 2406)
Teaching Methods Course (ID 3100)
PreProject
Preparation
1/3 unit
Teaching Practicum
IQP of 1 total unit
which are the equivalent of 7 courses, the major
aside.
In order to be
licensed, the student must also take and pass the MTEL exam which consists of
two parts: communication and subject matter knowledge. This is done through the Department of Education (see links
on web site for details).
The Teaching
Practicum is done in conjunction with a public high school or middle school
and, of even greater importance, a licensed teacher there who functions as the
student's mentor for his or her teacher experience. That experience has two main components to
it: observation (75 hours minimum) and teaching (150 hours minimum).
It should be made
clear that the purpose of the Practicum is much more than merely gaining
experience and accumulating time. It is to have the student demonstrate
competence with the Professional Standards for Teachers of
The Teacher
Preparation Program is challenging and demanding. The practicum will require a student to
essentially be off campus for the day time of at least two consecutive terms,
thus ruling out taking any WPI courses that are offered in that time frame. The
frequent use of block scheduling in high schools further limits one's options.
Purpose of the Components of the Program
The design of the
program essentially comes out of a Site Visit by a team of educators organized
by the Department of Education in February of 2003. They were pleased by the
strong majors at WPI and the breadth of educational experience gained while at
WPI. Seeking to provide the background necessary
for successful teachers in
Psychology of
Education: in other colleges this might be called "Foundations of
Education". As the two titles
suggest, one is introduced to many of the basic concepts, backgrounds and
approaches to the science of education.
Cross Cultural
Psychology deals with some of the complexities of the modern classroom due to
the mixed cultures present there and provides important preparation for the
student seeking to meet the Professional Standards.
The Teaching Methods
course provides the student with the tools and techniques needed to begin their
practicum. Additionally it provides specific management skills and
information. Students receive specific
instruction on methods depending on whether they are going into mathematics or
science. A significant portion of the
course is taught by Master Teachers from the
The Pre Practicum has
students gaining the specific background about both their practicum school and
The Practicum has
been described earlier and results in the student gaining experience under the
helpful eye of an experienced mentor. At
the end of the experience, the student will have demonstrated competence with
the Professional Standards.