CURRICULUM PROPOSAL FORM #2
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER

CHANGE IN A DEGREE, MAJOR, OR SUBMAJOR

Check Exactly One:
 
Change in:   Degree   Major
x
 Submajor
Deletion of:       Major   Submajor

Total Number of Credits in Program:
(if "change in" is checked - even if credits remain the same)

23
 Before Change  
23
 After Change
Program Title: 
 HISTORY MINOR - ELEMENTARY EDUCATION EMPHASIS
Sponsor(s): 
 Seth Meisel, Elizabeth Hachten
Department(s):
 History
College(s):
 Letters and Sciences
Other Programs Affected:
 Education
Effective Term:
 Fall 2001
Submit the following:

I. Exact description of request

FROM:

HISTORY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION EMPHASIS

MINOR - 23 CREDITS

  1. HIST 740-154 AND 740-155 AND 740-311
  2. SELECT 3 CRED, AT THE 300 LEVEL OR ABOVE, FROM COURSES IN U.S. HISTORY CHCN 854-310, HIST 740-300, 740-301, 740-302, 740-304, 740-305, 740-306, 740-307, 740-315, 740-316, 740-362, 740-390, 740-392, 740-394, 740-400, 740-401, 740-403, 740-420 OR 740-424
  3. SELECT 3 CRED, AT THE 300 LEVEL OR ABOVE, FROM EUROPEAN HISTORY HIST 740-351, 740-352, 740-355, 740-366, 740-367, 740-371, 740-372, 740-375, 740-380, 740-381, 740-441, 740-451, 740-452, 740-459 AND 740-460
  4. SELECT 3 CRED, AT THE 300 LEVEL OR ABOVE, IN AFRICAN, ASIAN, LATIN AMERICAN, OR MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY HIST 740-340, 740-346, 740-348, 740-410, 740-432 AND 740-433
  5. SELECT 6 CRED FROM HISTORY COURSE LEVEL 300 OR 400

    6.  
TO:

HISTORY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION EMPHASIS

Minor – 23 Credits

  1. U.S. HISTORY
    A. EARLY U.S. HISTORY. SELECT 3-6 CREDITS HIST 740-124, 740-300, 740-301, 740-302, 740-304, 740-316, AND 740-324

    B. MODERN U.S. HISTORY. SELECT 3-6 CREDITS HIST 740-125, 740-141, 740-305, 740-306, 740-307, 740-315, 740-317, 740-324, 740-362, 740-390, 740-394, 740-401, AND CHCN 615-310

    C. WISCONSIN HISTORY 740-311
     

  1. EUROPEAN HISTORY

    2.  

     

    A. EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY. SELECT 3 CREDITS HIST 740-154, 740-355, 740-371, 740-380, 740-451, AND 740-452.

    B. MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY. SELECT 3-6 CREDITS HIST 740-155, 740-333, 740-351, 740-352, 740-367, 740-372, 740-375, 740-381, AND 740-460
     

  2. AFRICAN, ASIAN, LATIN AMERICAN, OR MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY. SELECT 3-6 CREDITS HIST 740-130, 740-131, 740-340, 740-342, 740-343, 740-346, 740-347, 740-432, 740-433 AND 740-434

    3.  
  3. COMPARATIVE AND GLOBAL HISTORY. SELECT 0-3 CREDITS 740-190, 740-326, 740-333, 740-335, 740-367, 740-455*, AND 740-493

    4.  

     

    A MAXIMUM OF 12 CREDITS IN 100 LEVEL COURSES MAY COUNT TOWARDS THE MINOR

*Depending on the semester's offering, this course may fulfill other geographic breadth requirements for the major. II.  Relationship to mission and strategic plan of institution, and/or College/Department goals and objectives: One of the History Department’s key missions is to provide training for future teachers of history and social studies. The History Minor - Elementary Education Emphasis is one of several major and minor programs that serve the needs of that group of students. This program is designed for students who wish to be certified to teach history at the elementary school level. All of the history department’s education programs need to be revised in light of changes in the way that Wisconsin teachers are licensed as well as the recent revisions to the UW-Whitewater core curriculum.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is currently undertaking an extensive restructuring of the guidelines for teacher certification, shifting the emphasis away from the completion of specified courses to standardized examinations that test required "content knowledge." These proposed revisions of the History Minor - Elementary Education Emphasis represent the History Department’s current judgment of how best to prepare our students for these examinations. We should note, however, that the DPI is still in the process of clarifying the exact nature and content of the examinations; future revisions of the education majors and minors may become necessary. We are going ahead with our proposed revisions now since last year’s changes in the core curriculum make it impossible for us to delay.

The History department last revised all its major and minor programs in 1994, when the introduction of the new core curriculum necessitated significant changes in history offerings. The changes were driven to a great extent by expediency in light of the heavy staffing demands placed on the history department by the need to service the required history core course (The U.S. Experience in World Context, 900-120. In particular, it forced a reduction in the number and variety of 100- level courses that the department was able to offer. The two-semester American history survey sequence had to be dropped, leaving the history core course as the only introductory American history course offered on campus.

The recent revisions in the core curriculum have necessitated yet another overhaul of all our majors and minors. The history core course is no longer required of all students but is instead an alternative to Global Perspectives. As a result, the history core course itself is becoming more global in focus, and less of an American history course. It can no longer serve to fill the gaps in our lower level offerings in U.S. history. Luckily, the decreased demand for sections of the history core course makes it possible for us to again offer a larger number and variety of 100-level courses (especially in American history).

The department has taken this opportunity to strengthen the History Minor - Elementary Education Emphasis to better fulfill DPI requirements and departmental objectives, as well as reflect current trends in the teaching and study of history. The history portion of the new program mandates broad exposure to United States, western, and world civilizations in both the pre-modern and modern eras (Departmental Subject Matter Objectives #1, #2, #4 and Cognitive Development Objectives #2 and #3). This fits with the anticipated broad scope of the future DPI examinations. Our history curriculum has also been reinvigorated by the new prominence placed on global, comparative, and interdisciplinary courses in the major, which reflects the cutting edge of current historical practice. The minor continues to require a two-credit course in Wisconsin history which is a topic emphasized in elementary school history classes.

 III. Rationale: As a result of revised General Education Requirements (March 15, 2000), UW-Whitewater undergraduates, retroactive to fall 1994, are no longer required to take U.S Experience in a World Context (900-120). The current minor requirements assumed that all prospective minors would have already taken this introductory course in American history. Because this can no longer be assumed, the newly designed minor expands the number of required introductory courses (100-level courses). In particular, introductory surveys in American history, which have not been part of the minor since 1994, have been re-introduced into the curriculum.   The newly redesigned History Minor - Elementary Education Emphasis responds to recent changes in the DPI guidelines for certification in history, as well as the History department's evaluation of how to best prepare our graduates for their prospective careers as social studies teachers. (As a result, the History Minor - Elementary Education Emphasis is quite different from the liberal arts minor in history.) DPI Teacher Standards makes licensure dependent upon applicant's ability to demonstrate that the teacher "understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of the subject matter meaningful for pupils." The revised minor answers these goals in the following way. It refines the structure of the minor, placing a renewed emphasis on breadth of historical knowledge and on survey courses. The number of credits that may be earned in 100-numbered courses is expanded from the current 6 credits to a maximum of 12 credits. Geographical and chronological breadth requirements are also built into the upper level history requirements as well. These changes are significant, as they will provide minors with a broad overview of American, western and world civilizations over time. With the move by DPI away from requiring specific courses for licensure to requiring instead a standardized examination testing content knowledge, the greater emphasis on 100-level courses, and the significant breadth requirements of the history program more generally, should help students to pass the certification examination as well as prepare for their future teaching assignments.   Like the other history programs, this minor retains a great deal of flexibility for students in their choice of courses within the required fields of study. Minors will be expected to work closely with their advisors in both History and Education to craft a program that fits their own needs, interests, and background in history.   IV. Cost implications: No cost implications as all course offerings are already part of the History Department faculty members' current course rotations.