FINALLY

Good news! I FINALLY picked my classes for next quarter. In my effort to diversify my courses, I had six different schedules I was choosing from. So, without further adieu, here is what I'm going to take that will make my academic life* dramatically better (and busier) than it was this quarter:

Statistical Analysis in Education: Regression
Primarily for doctoral students; part of doctoral research core; prerequisite for advanced statistical methods courses in School of Education. Basic regression, a widely used data-analytic procedure, including multiple and curvilinear regression, regression diagnostics, analysis of residuals and model selection, logistic regression. Proficiency with statistical computer packages. 

I really like stats. And luckily, it's required.

Learning Sciences and Technology Design Research Colloquium

Students and faculty present and critique new and original research relevant to the Learning Sciences and Technology Design doctoral program. Goal is to develop a community of scholars who become familiar with each other's work. Practice of the arts of presentation and scholarly dialogue while introducing seminal issues and fundamental works in the field.

Quarter 2/9

Proseminar 2

Required of and limited to first-year Education doctoral students. Core questions in education: what is taught, to whom, and why; how do people learn; how do teachers teach and how do they learn to teach; how are schools organized; how are educational systems organized; and what are the roles of education in society?

Death by required courses. But I heard the professor is into informal ed, so maybe there's hope?

Science and Environmental Education in Informal Contexts

There are ever-expanding opportunities to learn science in contexts outside the formal classroom, in settings such as zoos, museums, and science centers. How are issues around science and the environment presented in these contexts, how do people behave and learn in these contexts, and what messages do they take away? This course will cover the learning theories and empirical research that has been conducted in these settings. Case studies of nearby science centers will add an experiential dimension. 

There aren't enough exclamation points in the world to describe how excited I am about this class. (!!!!!!!)

Reporting From The Field: Digital Story Telling For Researchers

New technology presents new opportunities for researcher-driven outreach, explanation and presentation of results. This course provides a starting point in multimedia storytelling for graduate students actively involved in field research. Students gain project-based experience in blogging/social media, still photography, audio podcasting, online slideshows and web video production and editing, enabling them to record and report their own research stories from the field.

My first course in the Environmental Science department! So fun!! So related to this blog.

Directed Reading With My Advisor
In this course, we will do many interesting things like read papers about zoos and evaluation and evaluation in zoos. We will also work on a literature review and Kathayoon will finally finish her manuscript from her Masters thesis. 

And that's it! So many classes. Also I'm supposed to sit in on this class for no credit:
 
Environmental Research Design Seminar
Required core course for first year E-IPER Ph.D. students; optional for Joint M.S. students; other graduate students with instructor's permission. Series of faculty presentations and student-led discussions on interdisciplinary research design as exemplars of the research design theories discussed in ENVRES 320. Designing Environmental Research. 

The idea here is to get me to meet the first year IPER (Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources) Ph.D. students so that when I take their core course with them spring quarter, I don't feel so left out of their circle. Also it will be useful to my research.

Yay! My next job in raising my quality of academic life* is to work out what my Ph.D. minor in Environmental Science is going to look like. It will either be in Climate Science...or Global and Community Ecological Something. I can't remember the name.

Two more days left in the quarter!




*Let's face it. That's the only life I really have.