EDS 8800 Program Orientation and Scholarly Writing
This course is designed to orient candidates to the Ed.S. program, the Specialist Candidate Learning Outcomes Log, the complexities of the extended GSTEP framework and the expectations for scholarly writing during the program. Scholarly writing is defined as writing which occurs in a scholarly context for a specialized audience. This style of writing is often written by experts in a subject area and is usually supported by some level of empirical research. This course will address scholarly writing from three perspectives: reading, writing and thinking. An explanation of the Flagship Writing Assignment which is a requirement for each course in the Ed.S. program is a major theme of the course content. The purpose of the course is to strengthen communication and consistency across the candidate's program by preparing him or her to conceptualize the entire program of study early on and continue to build on themes across the graduate experience. Candidates will explore policies and procedures of the State of Georgia and support agencies related to their program of study. Issues and concerns will be discussed about paradigms in educational research writing guidelines, requirements for graduation including the Specialist Program Candidate Learning Outcomes Log, advisement issues, professional development, programmatic themes, resources and services of the college, and library facilities. The goal of this course is to bring together a student's graduate experience, culminating in a research project (end of program), which demonstrates the individual's mastery of conceptual, content, and pedagogical skills and illustrated through a scholarly research project meeting all APA rules for publication. In other words, students will demonstrate the integration of theory and practice related to content knowledge, pedagogical strategies, and scholarly writing.