Master of Science in Outdoor and Environmental Education
Course descriptions
OEE 605 The Science Literacy of Outdoor and Environmental Education (3)
This course will experience the wide variety of outdoor and environmental curricula offered in Alaska through field trips, hands on training, and readings on their history, philosophy, methods, and issues. Students will incorporate natural history and science into curricula. The course will also explore certification and training options for the students enrolled in the MSOEE graduate program.
OEE 607 Teaching Science in the Outdoors (3)
This course will cover in detail the theories and methods used in outdoor and environmental education. Students will learn to integrate the natural sciences into standard outdoor and environmental teaching methods. The emphasis is on practical techniques utilized in both formal and non-formal education in an environmental context.
OEE 609 Assessment of Outdoor and Environmental Education (3)
This course will focus on the assessment and evaluation of environmental and outdoor education programs, curricula, and materials by using formal measures (e.g., rubrics and standardized tests) as well as informal observational techniques. Emphasis will be on the design of assessment and evaluation tools used to measure outcomes of environmental and outdoor education programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
OEE 611 Curriculum Design for Experiential Educators (3)
This course will explore the role of the curriculum design as a foundation of successful outdoor and environmental education by making students familiar with the educational materials and curricula that are offered nationally and locally. Focus will be on students' ability to design their own curriculum and to adapt it to different audiences.
OEE 681 Thesis Research (3)
Students will study an area of their interest in outdoor and environmental education, developing a research question, collecting, compiling, and analyzing data, and writing a professional paper summarizing their thesis. Work will be supervised by a thesis committee with a presentation and defense of work, and approval of thesis before graduation.
OEE 685 Practicum (3)
This course involves supervised fieldwork in a professional setting with emphasis on organizing, leading, and assessing outdoor and environmetal education programs. Students will work with professional organizations that deliver curriculum, assisting them, learning organizational and teaching techniques, and developing project and research proposals.
