Welcome to the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I)!

We offer high quality learning programs to prepare education professionals for positions in schools, higher education, and the workplace. Undergraduates in C&I may enroll in programs leading to teacher licensure in elementary education or social studies education. At the graduate level, students may pursue advanced degrees in education disciplines including curriculum studies, education for work and community, educational technology, literacy and language education, mathematics education, science education, and social studies education.

Our faculty conducts research that links theory to practice leading to new discoveries in many aspects of the teaching and learning process across a wide variety of educational contexts. C&I serves the needs of society through engagement with our local, state, national, and international communities. We value collaboration, community, diversity, global perspectives, inquiry, and reflection, and we aspire to provide educational leadership in an increasingly diverse, interconnected, and technology-rich world.

Sincerely,
James D. Lehman
Head of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction

John Staver and Mary Nakhleh were inducted in the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). They were recognized at the AERA annual meeting.

Dan Shepardson, with Earth and Atmospheric Science colleague Dev Niyogi, has developed curricular Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change program through a grant from the National Science Foundation's Geoscience Education program. The activities can be accessed at the Indiana State Climate Office at http://iclimate.org/ccc.

Anita Roychoudhury, associate professor of science education, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how middle schools students learn about global warming and climate change. The grant, "Making Sense of Global Warming and Climate Change: Model of Student Learning via Collaborative Research," also involves C&I faculty members Dan Shepardson and Brenda Capobianco.

C&I faculty members, Mary Nakhleh and Tim Newby, were inducted into Purdue's Book of Great Teachers. Inductions into the Book of Great Teachers, which occur only once every 5 years, honor faculty members with at least 10 years of service at Purdue for outstanding teaching. Honorees names are inscribed on the Book of Great Teachers plaque which hangs in the west foyer of the Purdue Memorial Union.

Bill Watson, assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the educational technology program, has created a new Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments with seed funding from the Discovery Learning Center. The new center is a place for faculty and graduate students to collaborate on their work with virtual environments and video games that can be used as learning environments. For more information, see the available Purdue Exponent article.

Jill May, professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the literacy and language program, received the 2008 Anne Devereaux Jordan Award from the Children's Literature Association (ChLA) at the organization's 35th annual conference. The award "is intended to honor the lifetime achievement of an individual whose scholarship and service have had a significant impact on the field of children's literature."

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