Professional Core Field Experiences

We created Professional Core Field Experiences for students because becoming a great teacher does not happen overnight!

All teacher education candidates are involved in field experiences which focus upon specific teaching and learning concepts and seek to support learners in a variety of ways and in various contexts.

The courses listed on this site include field experience components which focus heavily upon engaging learners in positive, constructive educational ways while, at the same time, supporting the goals and objectives of existing school programs.

Teacher education preparation programs include field experiences as course requirements within its professional education core. Taken by all teacher education candidates throughout their programs, these field experience courses focus on specific teaching and learning concepts and seek to support learners in a variety of ways and in various contexts.

Professional Core Courses

EDU 2000 Introduction to Learners, Teachers, and Schools

EDU 2000 Course Focus

As the initial course in the College of Education Core, the purpose of this course is to guide prospective teachers as they explore, examine, and critique the complex relationships among learners, teachers, schools, and educational structures. This course is designed to provide students with fundamental skills and knowledge to recognize teaching and learning as socially-constructed and context-bound experiences. Ten hours of clinical experience is required.

EDU 2000 Field Experience Focus

Students in this field experience will complete a Cultural Inquiry Project assignment that is designed to allow prospective teachers to investigate the connections among teachers, learners and schools and the communities those schools serve. This is the first experience education majors will have within a school setting. For these 10 hours, students will be learning how to gather, interpret and apply information about the learning environment  to which they are assigned. Students will be taking notes and conducting observations within the school. They will also be interviewing various school personnel. Course connections are made through a series of targeted observations used to complete a cultural inquiry project assignment. Supervision is provided by the Appalachian professional core support staff and/or faculty.

EDU 2100 Foundations of Educational Equity

EDU 2100 Course Focus

This interdisciplinary course is designed to help students develop a critical perspective on public schooling and its socioeconomic, political, cultural and historical role in society. The course focuses on ways in which schools can and must engage with and support all students, and how components of identity and positionality, such as gender, social class, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation, affect our educational experiences and trajectories. The course draws on findings and methods from philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history, economics, psychology and political science. Frameworks from these arenas can be used to critically consider issues of equity and inclusion in classrooms, ideally culminating in the cultivation of learning spaces dedicated to democracy, human dignity, and agency.

EDU 2100 Field Experience Focus

There is no field experience for EDU 2100. However, students are encouraged to carefully consider their own observations and experiences in schools to enrich the discussions and assignments within this course.

EDU 3000 Diverse Learners: Teaching and Learning

EDU 3000 Course Focus

This course will provide an emphasis on understanding teaching and learning from an ecological systems perspective that takes into account individual, family, school, and broader socio-cultural and political factors.  Students will explore a range of research-based approaches to provide culturally relevant and inclusive instruction. 

EDU 3000 Field Experience Focus

This field experience involves forty (40) contact hours of classroom observation and interaction with students who represent diverse learner populations. Teacher candidates will be actively involved with learners through tutoring and mentoring while completing a series of targeted observations coupled with formal field notes and a summative field experience reflection on diverse learner characteristics and educational needs.

EDU 3100 Assessment for Learning

EDU 3100 Course Focus

This course  will critically examine factors that influence assessment practices and policies in agencies,  districts, schools, and classrooms. They will consider how formative and summative data can be used to  evaluate student learning, improve teacher instruction, and provide avenues for justice, equity and inclusion. They will analyze and design a variety of developmentally and culturally appropriate assessments for  student learning. Teacher candidates will explore accountability systems and how the results of assessment  data inform instructional decisions.   

EDU 3100 Field Experience Focus

Students will analyze/critique an assessment looking for areas related to equity themes (e.g., potential biases, privilege, culture, language), developmental appropriateness, and reliability/validity and analyze a set of work samples to determine areas where learners were successful as well as areas where additional instruction may be necessary. Twenty (20) hours of clinical experience is required (Lab registration  required). This course is taken in conjunction with major specific program course(s).