Education and Psychology

Majors and Minors Available

Division Mission Statement

The Division of Education and Psychology is governed by the Mayville State University mission statement.

The mission of the division is to prepare highly qualified professionals to work with diverse populations in multiple environments.

Division Goals

• Demonstrate content knowledge in the academic discipline;
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively using a variety of verbal, non-verbal, and media communication techniques;
• Demonstrate the ability to develop effective professional relationships and seek out opportunities for participation in professional growth

Teacher Education Goals

The teacher candidate…

• Understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social emotional and physical areas and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.
• Uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that allow each learner to meet high standards.
• Works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation.
• Understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry and structures of the discipline he/she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners.
• Understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.
• Understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
• Plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
• Understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.
• Engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others, and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.
• Seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, and other school professionals and community members

The conceptual Model of Mayville State’s Teacher Education unit is the Reflective Experiential Model. It is based on the belief that preservice teachers develop abilities to reflect on current educational research, essential and theoretical knowledge, and research-based teaching strategies to gain meaningful insights throughout their clinical experiences.

Some professional courses provide field based experiences under the dual supervision of the responsible university faculty and selected competent and qualified cooperating public school teachers. Clinical field based experiences are an integral part of the professional education program that is designed to help students understand the relationship between classroom theory and application. Students progressing in the Teacher Education program are evaluated periodically on their electronic portfolio entries. Teacher candidates begin to develop an electronic portfolio in EDUC 272- Educational Technology. Throughout the Teacher Education program students identify and store artifacts in their portfolios that demonstrate the ability to meet the ten InTASC standards for teacher candidates. Regular faculty and peer reviews of electronic portfolios support the teacher candidate’s ability to critically reflect on their learning experiences.

Student teaching is the capstone of the professional education program. Reflective practice seminars are required components of the student teaching experience. University Supervisors support Teacher Education candidates throughout the student teaching experience in a research-based supervisory observation process. Near the conclusion of the student teaching experience, teacher candidates will secure two faculty reviewers to evaluate their electronic portfolios and make arrangements to present their portfolio to campus and community members.

It is imperative that Mayville State University teacher education graduates know and demonstrate the content, pedagogical and professional knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to help all students learn, including students with exceptionalities and of different ethnic, racial, gender, language, religious, socio-economic, and regional/geographical origins. The portfolio presentation provides teacher candidates the opportunity to demonstrate professional growth and achievements throughout their Teacher Education program studies.

Early Childhood Program Goals

• To provide Early Childhood settings with trained professionals;
• To meet the needs of nontraditional students who would like to pursue a college education while continuing to work in the field;
• To allow students the opportunity to earn college credits for life experience;
• To provide students with specialty areas that will meet their individual interests and needs; and
• To give students opportunities to participate directly with public schools, special education, cooperatives, social services, public health and other collaborative entities across multiple disciplines.

The Early Childhood program will allow Early Childhood educators the opportunity to further their professional growth through distance learning, including 2-way video and Internet. The philosophy of the Early Childhood program incorporates the reflective experiential model of Mayville State University’s Teacher Education program. The program will prepare students to work in a variety of leadership positions, including Early Childhood Education teachers, Early Childhood administrators, supervisors, curriculum specialists, and education coordinators in preschool programs.

All degree requirements must be met, including a minimum grade point average of 2.00 in all areas: generals, core courses for the major, professional courses, and specializations. Some classes may be transferred from other institutions, however, one-fourth (¼) of the major core professional and specializations must be Mayville State courses and the student must have earned at least 30 semester hours in residence.

Library Media and Information Science Goals

The goals of the library program are to provide students with:

• Knowledge to anticipate changing needs in libraries as well as flexibility to respond to those changes;
• Critical-thinking and decision-making skills needed to apply concepts of librarianship;
• Communication skills to work with library patrons and strategic constituents;
• Technical skills necessary for utilizing technology; and
• Networking skills to expedite cooperation between libraries.

Psychology Program Goals

The goal of the psychology program is to inform students of the science and practice involved with the description, explanation, and prediction of human behavioral, mental, and social processes. Scholarly inquiry of strategies aimed at fostering change and stability are additional areas of training.

Specific Learning Outcomes for the Applied Psychology program include the following:

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of major concepts, theoretical perspectives, and historical trends in psychology;
• Students will understand and be able to apply psychological principles in interpersonal situations and vocational settings;
• Students will use critical and creative thinking, to solve problems related to behavior, mental processes, and challenges faced by persons of all backgrounds and experiences;
• Students will demonstrate effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills using current technology to enhance own and others understanding;

Consideration of a major or minor in psychology could result in the ability to accomplish a variety of goals, including:

• Graduate study in psychology or related fields;
• Development of skills for paraprofessional employment;
• Preparation for teaching high school level psychology;
• Preparation for employment in a business or industry seeking graduates with a broad education, flexible outlook; and
• An ability to attack problems systematically.

This program complements Studies in Education, Health Education, Science, Social Science, and Business.

Special Education Program Goals

The goal of the special education program is to prepare teacher candidates for entry to special education professional practice with the knowledge and skills to practice safely, ethically and effectively with a multi-categorical population of students with special needs. The program consists of a double major in professional education (early childhood, elementary or secondary) and special education as candidates must master appropriate core academic subject matter as well as be prepared for the complex challenges of teaching individuals with exceptional learning needs. The skills of general educator and special educator complement each other, and as such, dual certification is a goal of this program. The special education program seeks to prepare students to:

• Apply specialized pedagogical knowledge and skills.
• Master appropriate core academic subject matter content.
• Demonstrate instructional strategies and assessments that are developmentally appropriate for diverse learners.
• Observe, document, and analyze characteristics, behaviors and learning environments of populations with special needs.
• Apply effective verbal and non-verbal communication, multi-media, computers, and current technology skills in specialized settings.

Demonstrate professional dispositions and ethical practice through collaborative interactions

• Composite in Biology Education
• Composite in Chemistry Education
• Composite in Social Science Education
• English Education
• Geography Education
• Health Education
• History Education
• Mathematics Education
• Physical Education
• Special Education

Library Media and Information Science