Education Eclipse

It’s been well publicized that there is a teacher shortage. Well there’s also a shortage of individuals from Native or Tribal communities who are state-certified teachers. Enter in Ti’Tooqan Cuukweneewit, a project through Washington State University’s College of Education, that helps those in Tribal communities to take life experience and their already acquired Indigenous Knowledge … Continue reading "043 Ti’tooqan Cuukweneewit"

Hannah Martian is a sophomore Sport Management major in the College of Education. She’s from Arlington, WA and has a desire to one day become a baseball play-by-play broadcaster. In the meantime, she has recently filed to run for ASWSU Senator and represent the College of Education.

Quite simply, we can teach better, as a society, when we better know how students learn. A lot of research has been done through classroom observation. But getting down to learning from a neurocognitive perspective, can really help researchers better assess what works and what doesn’t. Jonah Firestone, from WSU Tri-Cities, runs a lab, called… … Continue reading "039 Learning how to learn (SIMIAN Lab)"

We’ve all heard the phrase “best practice,” or, as is often used after research, “evidence-based practice.” Not all current teachers know what that best practice may be because they are uninformed about the newest research, or professional development hasn’t been provided to them. That certainly holds true for special education. We met up with Yun-Ru … Continue reading "038 Evidence-based practice in SPED"

For stage actors, it’s not just about what is said, but how it’s said. And the body language that is used. The same can be said for teachers. Educational psychology doctoral student David Alpizar talks about something called “signaling,” which can be a variety of ways to emphasize thing for students; to draw their attention. … Continue reading "037 Signaling in the multimedia classroom"

During a teacher shortage, one place to look for teachers is the classroom itself. Washington state already has a lot of paraeducators… folks who are in the classroom day in and day out, and aren’t certified teachers for a variety of reasons. Lindsay Lightner is at WSU Tri-Cities, and introduces us to its Alternate Route … Continue reading "036 From Parapro to Teacher"

This might sound like a no-brainer, but something that captivates a students’ attention, will help them to then better engage in the lesson, activity, discussion, or what have you. Personal interest is something that is more long-term… more innate… it’s value-based. Situtational interest is something that teachers often have incredible ability to control, and it’s … Continue reading "035 Increasing classroom situational interest"

Law enforcement officers often consider their fellow officers as a brotherhood or sisterhood. That extends to canine officers. Police dogs. Quite frankly, some officers spend more time with their canine companions than they do with their own families, making those dogs de facto family. But how do we train police officers to render first aid … Continue reading "040 A special police bond"

Every year, a WSU student wins the Inga Kromann Book Award. We’ve highlighted previous winners on our podcast. The purpose of this award is to recognize the literary talents and efforts of the students. This year’s winner is Stephanie Sparks, with her book A Pencil Named Benson. She tells us more. Education Eclipse starts now.

People are bringing dogs into schools more than ever before. Usually, the reason deals with social aspects or social skills. Comfort dogs, for example. A lot of times, we call it canine therapy. But do we know the effect that dogs truly have on learning? Some research suggests there are some benefits to dogs in … Continue reading "034 Dogs in school"

Research has shown that small interactions between students during small group learning environments can help the overall achievement of that group. But then do those small group interactions help the collective, whole classroom level of interaction? It’s not something recognized as having previously been investigated. We talk to Josh Premo, a graduate student in the … Continue reading "033 From small group to big classroom"

You may have heard, but Sesame Street is debuting its first autistic character, Julia. Good timing, because, April is also Autism Awareness Month. As one reporter from a Staten Island news outlet wrote: “Producers of Sesame Street said they took a lot of care in how they portrayed Julia. They worked with autism advocates, teachers, … Continue reading "032 How Literature Treats Autism Spectrum Disorder"

Classroom technology integration has always been vital. So with every new building built, we must look at not only how to integrate current technology, but how to prepare for future technology, whatever that may be. That’s no easy feat. Educational psychology doctoral student Kripa Sundar joined some of WSU’s AMS experts to research active learning … Continue reading "031 Active Learning Classrooms"

It’s the academic advisor who is on the ground floor and sees the student’s whole academic career pass. They’re there when the students start and when they graduate. They see the struggles. They see the triumphs. Dan Overbay is an academic advisor at WSU Vancouver. We talked to him about the differences between being a … Continue reading "030 The Role of an Academic Advisor"

We talk about STEM all the time. Well, since half of STEM is math and science, it stands to reason that a doctoral program that has both of those in it might be fairly important. The Washington State University College of Education has just that. The Mathematics and Science Education program is led by Dave … Continue reading "029 Math and Science Education program"

On this edition of Education Eclipse, intern Brittni Willis sits down with Pullman Police officer Riley Myklebust. In addition to Officer Myklebust having been ASWSU president during his time as a student, he was actually a College of Education graduate. So how does a guy who is an elementary ed major become a cop? And, … Continue reading "028 From Teacher to Cop"

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. In a complex world, with complex societal grand challenges, it’s important for our nation’s youth to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to solve these tough challenges. Yet, how we teach these is also under the microscope then. STEM Education is a passion of Tamara Holmlund … Continue reading "027 Today’s STEM Education"

There’s never been a more important time to have really good teachers. And, as long as we’re talking about teachers, we might as well talk about school principals. Whenever you hear about a school turn-around, or an amazing reform effort, one of the indispensable components of these is a good principal. On the flip side, … Continue reading "026 WSU Principal Certification program"

Salina King is a recent graduate from the College of Education. You could say that she’s doing a victory lap as she is using this Fall 2016 semester to finish her program and receive her teaching certification. She’s student teaching in a 4th grade classroom in Colfax, WA.

Today’s education requires more than just the status quo. That’s where Washington State University’s College of Education comes in. The college has a dynamic statewide educational leadership program, including superintendent certification, principal certification, and the best, most well-respected educational doctorate program in the state. One of the college’s ed doctorate grads is Jared Hoadley, the … Continue reading "024 Making a difference through educational leadership"