PSYC 250 | Human Growth and Development (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on the physical, cognitive, social and emotional aspects of growth from birth through old age. In addition, factors thought to influence this growth are also examined.
General Studies Outcome: Perspectives on Values, Thought, & Aesthetics

EDUC 208 | Foundation and Principles of Teacher Education (2 credit hours)
This course provides an overview of the nature of the teaching profession, including the purpose, history, philosophy, organization, curriculum alignment and standards in American public school education.  Professional dispositions, reflective practice and critical thinking skills will be emphasized.
Corequisite Required:  EDUC 209, Sophomore standing

EDUC 209 | Teacher Education Orientation & Practicum (1 credit hours)
This course will specifically introduce PSC teacher education candidates to the School of Education's conceptual framework and program standards, teacher education program checkpoints, electronic candidate portfolio requirements and implementation, successful completion of a 20 hour practicum, and successful completion of a faculty panel interview.
Corequisite Required:  EDUC 208, Sophomore standing

EDUC 255 | Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on the conceptual, theoretical and philosophical issues surrounding diversity in educational settings and how to successfully implement differentiation of instruction to offer all types of learners with opportunities for engagement in their learning environments. The course also explores notions of equity that will provide candidates with the information they need to create learning environments that are free of bias and provide a differentiated approach to education for all students. Teacher education candidates will adopt a philosophical position and design and implement effective teaching strategies that reflect ethnic and cultural diversity through differentiation.
Prerequisite Required:  EDUC 209 or
Corequisite Required:  EDUC 209

EDUC 300 | Managing the Learning Environment for Effective Teaching (3 credit hours)
This course is intended to provide teacher education candidates the opportunity to explore, discuss, and reflect upon the relationships between managing the learning environment and effective teaching. Research, discussion, and reflection will be focused on current theory and research-based best practices for managing the learning environment in order to effectively meet the needs of all learners. Development of lesson planning approaches, as well as development of individual management styles and plans for their classrooms, will be emphasized in order to assist teacher candidates in enhancing their knowledge and skills related to managing the learning environment for effective teaching.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education

EDUC 315 | Educational Technology (3 credit hours)
This course will focus on understanding and harnessing the power of digital media for teaching and learning. Students will learn to use that power to transform traditional teacher-centered classrooms into student-focused learning environments where P-12 students use digital media tools for the acquisition, analysis, construction, and presentation of knowledge. Hands-on experience will help pre-service teachers broaden their use of digital media tools and techniques, and they will learn rationales and strategies for developing 21st century literacies.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education
General Studies Outcome: Technology & Its Application

EDUC 317 | Assessment for Student Learning (3 credit hours)
This course emphasizes the awareness of the role of the teacher in assessment and his/her impact on student learning via procedures and practices that utilize assessment results to inform instruction. Test construction, analysis of teacher-made tests, and analysis of assessment results will be emphasized along with grading and reporting of student progress for the purposes of addressing "assessment of learning" and "assessment for learning" for a diverse student population. Key pre-service assessment skills, as delineated by the Nebraska Department of Education, will also provide direction in terms of preparation of pre-service teacher candidates for both the Nebraska State Assessment System, as well as any additional federal government expectations concerning assessment.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education

EDUC 400 | Professional and Collaborative Practices (3 credit hours)
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the professional practices associated with teaching today. It is an interdisciplinary approach (incorporating the current political, economic, legal, social, and cultural aspects in education today) designed to provide pre-service teachers with a clear understanding of the teaching profession and the practices, issues, and controversies confronting American education today. Resume writing, interview skills, and an electronic portfolio will be completed during this course to prepare candidates for potential career opportunities. The course will provide novice educators with a broad understanding of how the relationships between students, parents, and community impact the overall educational experience for students. The primary focus is to prepare reflective teachers who will be able to make informed decisions to improve and enhance the learning environment for children.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education

EDUC 411 | Secondary Student Teaching (3 credit hours)
This is a practical application of learning principles in the classroom with a progressive introduction into full teaching responsibilities at the secondary level. Students teach full-time for four to sixteen weeks.

EDUC 420 | Student Teaching Seminar (1 credit hours)
This seminar will provide student teachers with mentorship during the student teaching semester. Workshops for portfolio development and completion of the Instructional Analysis Project will be included, as well as, the activities that were a part of student teaching call backs (mock interview, certification paperwork, preparation for the job search, etc.).
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education

SPED 200 | Introduction to Special Education (3 credit hours)
This course is designed to provide a historical, political and sociological survey of the areas of exceptionality in the field of special education. The course will identify significant changes which have occurred in the education of exceptional populations and provide an introductory experience concerning the various disability groupings.
Prerequisite Required:  EDUC 209 or
Corequisite Required:  EDUC 209

EDUC 309 | Secondary Practicum (2 credit hours)
This course is designed to provide secondary education majors with an opportunity to observe the specific methods being studied in the Secondary Methods course and to begin to practice these methods. The practicum requires a minimum of 80 hours of field experience.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education
Corequisite Required:  EDUC 310 or HPER 315

EDUC 310 | Secondary School Teaching Methods (3 credit hours)
This course provides education majors with opportunities to study, discuss, and practice instructional methods specifically for middle and high school students and to examine these school environments.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education, EDUC 317 (or Corequisite)
Corequisite Required:  EDUC 309 or EDUC 312

EDUC 434 | Content Literacy Across the Curriculum (3 credit hours)
This course is designed to complement the quest for learning at the level presented at Peru State College by preparing teacher candidates to be exemplary professional leaders in the field of education relative to effectively teaching content literacy related to reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and technology in their respective content areas. Collaborative, as well as personal reflection for the purpose of independent critical thought, will be implemented and utilized on multiple theories and best practices in the teaching of content literacy in all content areas to a diverse student population. An emphasis on instructional strategies related to trait-based reading, informational text, process and technical writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and technology as they apply to standards and assessments for improving students' content literacy, will be collaboratively and personally explored, analyzed, and evaluated for the purposes of effective implementation in lesson design. The focus will also include both assessment of learning and assessment for learning, in terms of each of these areas of content literacy.
Prerequisite Required:  Admission to Teacher Education, EDUC 317 (or Corequisite)

HIST 113 | American History Before 1865 (3 credit hours)
This course provides a study of America from the European exploration of the New World to the end of the Civil War.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

HIST 114 | American History After 1865 (3 credit hours)
This course provides a study of the United States from Reconstruction to the present.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

HIST 201 | World Civilization Before 1500 (3 credit hours)
This course is a survey of the beginnings of civilizations in the great river valleys and their diffusion to later civilizations in the Middle East and Europe. Particular attention will be given to the cultural and political institutions of the West that furnish our own cultural heritage.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

HIST 202 | World Civilization After 1500 (3 credit hours)
In this course the rise and decline of European predominance will be analyzed with emphasis upon the major social, political, and economic ideologies and institutions that evolved.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

HIST 329 | History of Nebraska (3 credit hours)
This course is a survey of the political, economic, social, and constitutional development of Nebraska from prehistoric times to the present.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

HIST 425 | Seminar in American History (3 credit hours)
This course describes the major fields and periods of American history, the contributions of leading historians, and the conflicting interpretations of major issues in American history. This course is the capstone course and senior competency for the Social Science major.
Prerequisite Required: Seniors Only
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

Upper Division - American History | (9 credit hours)
(300 level or higher)

Upper Division - World History | (3 credit hours)
(300 level or higher)

Complete six (6) hour blocks in Economics, Geography, Political Science, Psychology and the six (6) hour block in either Anthropology OR Sociology.

ECON 221 | Principles Of Microeconomics (3 credit hours)
Consideration is given to the microeconomic concepts of wages, interest, rent and profits, personal distribution of income, consumption, monopolies, agriculture, government taxation and expenditures, international trade and comparative economic structures.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

ECON 222 | Principles of Macroeconomics (3 credit hours)
This course presents elementary concepts of macroeconomics with an emphasis on equilibrium analysis, monetary and fiscal policy, banking, developmental economics, and comparative economic systems.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

GEOG 101 | Principles of Physical Geography (3 credit hours)
This course is the introductory study of the relationship of man and environment, with an emphasis placed upon climate regions of the world.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

GEOG 103 | Human Geography (3 credit hours)
Human Geography is the study of the human elements of the environment with emphasis on the origins of culture, population trends, world cultures, economies of man, and urban and political systems.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

PSCI 201 | American National Government (3 credit hours)
This course is a thorough introduction to the U.S. political system, its institutions and processes. Topics will include the Constitutional founding, federalism, political culture, Congress, the Presidency, judiciary, bureaucracy, public opinion and the media, the electoral process, and civil liberties.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

PSCI 202 | State and Local Government (3 credit hours)
This course includes description and analysis of political institutions and behavior in American states with interstate comparisons and comparisons between state and national political systems. Lecture topics include the development and role of American local government, its forms and structures, and the relationship to the federal government.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

PSYC 121 | Introduction to Psychology (3 credit hours)
This course is a general introduction to contemporary psychology focusing on basic concepts, principles, terminology, trends in psychological research, and the application of this knowledge.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

PSYC 305 | Social Psychology (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on the effects of culture, society, social institutions, and social learning on the social attitudes and behavior of individuals within groups.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

Choose either Anthropology or Sociology block

ANTH 225 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3 credit hours)
A comparative and historical approach to the religion, social organization, subsistence patterns, and the other aspects of the great variety of cultures around the world.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

ANTH 308 | Native American History and Culture (3 credit hours)
This course is a broad introductory survey of the cultures and historical experiences of North American peoples from pre-contact to the present in ethno-historical perspective. Course content reflects the diverse nature of indigenous experience across a spectrum of culture groups that comprise the Native peoples of North America. Instruction focuses on how the indigenous peoples of North America responded to the ever-shifting societal stresses that accompanied rapid and often violent social, cultural, and environmental transformations of the last four centuries and how they adapted and changed to meet the challenges they confronted as they persisted in their efforts to preserve their homelands, their cultures, their sovereignty, and their right to self-determination. Cross-listed as HIST 308.
General Studies Outcome: Community, Regional & Global Studies/Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

OR

SOC 201 | Principles of Sociology (3 credit hours)
This course is an introductory study of group and social dynamics, cultures, social problems, social institutions, inter-group relationships, and the impact of social policies.
General Studies Outcome: Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science

SOC 300 | Contemporary Social Problems (3 credit hours)
This course is an introduction to the causes, treatment, and prevention of selected social problems with particular emphasis on the problems of conflict and inequality. 
General Studies Outcome: Community, Regional & Global Studies/Methods of Inquiry & Explanatory Schema - Social Science