Research and Professional Development
Annual Inquiries into Teaching and Learning Conference
As teacher-scholars for social justice, graduating teacher candidates present their poster or oral presentations as a culmination of their capstone research experience during the Annual Inquiries into Teaching and Learning Conference in conjunction with the John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference .The year 2017 marked the 10th anniversary of this education conference and launching of our open access undergraduate research journal. The School of Educational Studies research posters from this conference continue to be one of the most downloaded IWU undergraduate research projects accessible here and abroad through Digital Commons.
Research Honors
Some teacher candidates pursue a Research Honors in addition to their captsone undergraduate research experience. Students having a cumulative grade average of 3.25 overall and 3.50 in their declared major are eligible for this honor. Eligible students who decide to seek research honors must declare their intent to do so before initiating their project. The deadline for declaration of intent is October 1 of the senior year and is accomplished through completing the paperwork available in the the office of the Associate Provost in Holmes Hall 211. Examples of Education honors projects from previous years can be found in the Digital Commons.
Student Teaching Symposium
As teacher-scholars for social justice, teacher candidates actively engage in leading professional development events on campus. Previous events include sharing their perspective about what social justice means to them, promoting awareness and knowledge of people with disabilities, demonstrating how they integrate technology into their teaching, and facilitating discourse during teacher panels. Student teachers also lead interactive sessions on curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy topics (e.g., building teacher-student relationship, classroom management, standard-based grading, IEP) during a student led Student Teaching Symposium. This annual event serves as a professional development opportunity for teacher candidates to learn from their peers.