PDP Courses

Featured Professional Development Courses
Need PDPs? Gordon's Graduate Education program offers courses that provide three graduate credits and 67.5 Professional Development Points.

Click here to register for an upcoming course.

SUMMER 2013

ART602 Life Drawing (3)
Drawing from human figure; studies in anatomy; continuous use of live model.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

ART613 Advanced Painting (3)
Explores and extends personal visual language and promotes greater sophistication of painting technique and theory.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

ART625 Clay Sculpture (3)
Hands-on course to develop skills in three-dimensional thinking and gain working knowledge of sculptural properties of clay. Both additive and subtractive processes of construction used.  Conceptual focus on mass, volume, concavity, convexity and overall interaction of form in space, along with proportion, detail and surface texture. Works completed using a combination of various methods including firing, painting and glazing.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

ART650 Anatomy for Artists (3)
Intensive study of structure and proportion of human figure, skeletal and muscular systems and their operation, to better equip students for figurative works; memorization and drawing of each part and its relationship to the figure as a whole.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

ART670 Design (3)
Explores elements of design through study of both Western and non-Western design.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

BIO625 Nutrition (3)
Explores fundamentals of current nutritional science; emphasizes physiological basis. Analyzes proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and their major functions, and importance of water. Encompasses whole person and integral role of nutrition in human health.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

BIO635 Envirnomental Science (3)
Introduces a broad range of science concerning the environment. Topics selected that are relevant to understanding science and the environment. Focuses on conservation biology and the biological side of environmental science.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

EDU670 Educating the Human Brain: How Neuroscience Can Inform Teaching Practices (3)
This course will explore best practices of teaching in light of recent research from the disciplines of memory, learning theory, cognitive psychology, and brain science. A central goal is to bring together contemporary theories of how we learn with specific teaching strategies. An emphasis will be placed on brain development; how the brain can change (plasticity), and the limitations the brain can place upon mastering material presented in a classroom.
Dates: Weekdays: July 8–12, 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m., additional time using Blackboard

EDU677 DIBELS Next Essential Workshop (1)
This two-day workshop will support users who are new to DIBELS. It will cover the foundations and research behind DIBELS, how to administer and score all the measures, logistics of assessment, and use in an outcomes-driven model. Dr. Priscilla Nelson is a Gordon professor and DIBELS mentor (Dynamic Measurement Group).  A materials fee of $25 will cover the DIBELS Next Essential workbook and a DIBELS stop watch.
Dates: August 5 & 6, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Cost: $200 for PDP credit or $325 for graduate credit + $25 materials cost

EDU679 DIBELS Deep (1)
In this one-day workshop DIBELS users will learn to administer DIBELS Deep, a new assessment tool that provides the practical bridge between data and instruction.  The session will begin with a quick review of the foundations of DIBELS and move to the adminstration of DEBELS Deep, designed for the daignostic assessment of students who are welll below the benchmark or exprected grade level performance.  A materials fee of $20 will cover the assessment manual.
Dates: August 7, 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m.
Cost: $150 for PDP credit or $325 for graduate credit + $14 materials cost

ENG636 Poetry and Literary Analysis (3)
Exploration of genre of poetry. Using literary elements, students analyze how meaning is created in poems, compare the Sonnet of Petrarch and Shakespeare, and explore early roots of poetry and poetic novels of Mel Glenn and Sandra Cisneros. Practice in writing of poetry demonstrates literary concepts.
Dates: Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

HIS644 History of the Ancient Greek World (3)
This course will consider the sweep of ancient Greek history, form the proto-Greek cultures of the Minoans and Mycenaeans and Homer's Troy, down through the classical period and Hellenistic era.  How much time is spent on each time period will depend on student interest.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

HIS672 U.S. Constitution: Origins and Applications (3)
This course will focus on the background, foundations, drafting, implementation, and some subsequent history of the U.S. Constitution. The class will examine each major section of the Constitution separately, and consider along the way how this advanced study can be incorporated into individual classroom settings at different levels.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

HIS678 Using Museums in the Classroom (3)  
This course will explore a variety of creative techniques and strategies that enable teachers to make effective use of museums as classroom learning resources. The course will include readings in museum education and learning resource packets from area museums. The class will visit some Boston-area museums to explore exhibitions and the teaching resources available for curriculum development.
Dates: July 22–26, 8 a.m.–4:15 p.m.

MAT605 Quantitative Reasoning: Mathematics and the Greeks (3)
Explores the significance of Greeks in development and application of mathematics.  Includes Pythagoras, Euclid and the "Great Theorem." Follows historical and philosophical underpinnings of the discipline of mathematics.
Contact the Graduate Education Office for schedule.

MAT636 Mathematical Inquiry (3)
Would you like to further your knowledge of mathematics? In this course, a problem-centered approach will be taken. You will gain in-depth knowledge of algebra, geometry, and measurement. Mathematical Inquiry is a course appropriate for any current or future teacher of mathematics or for a math specialist.
Dates: Weekdays: July 22–26, 8:30 a.m.–3:45 p.m

SPN618 Survey in Latin American Literature (3)
Study of representative short stories and, at least, two novels. Conducted in Spanish.
Contact Graduate Education Office for schedule

SPN636 Latin American Poetry (3)
Study of representative Latin American poets. Focus on two poets. Conducted in Spanish.
Contact Graduate Education Office for schedule

SPN638 Spanish Syntax for Instructors (3)
Development of understanding of more complex points of syntax and idiomatic expressions through explanation, practice and application in both oral and written format. Intended for language instructors that look for teaching methodologies. Conducted in Spanish.
Contact Graduate Education Office for schedule

SPN647 Latin American Narratives (3)
Study of representative short stories and novels. Reading of two "canonical" novels. Conducted in Spanish.
Contact Graduate Education Office for schedule

SPN673 Selected Topics: Spanish and Latin American Culture (3)
Study of strategies and methodologies to teach Spanish-speaking culture in language classes. This class will evaluate audiovisual materials that can be used for "teaching culture" for beginner and intermediate Spanish. Conducted in Spanish.
Contact Graduate Education Office for schedule

SPN695 21st Century Latin American Film (3)
Study of representative Latin Amerian short films and feature films post-2000. Conducted in Spanish.
Contact Graduate Education Office for schedule