Educational Experience Courses

1-3 graduate-level credits per course

$79 per semester credit / unit

How It Works:

Step 1

Complete a professional development experience of your choice: conference, workshop, webinar or seminar.

Step 2

Submit coursework based on and inspired by what you learned.

Step 3

Earn Graduate-Level Semester Credit from University of the Pacific — Benerd College.

Graduate-level credit for Conferences Workshops Webinars Seminars

Create, Use and Evaluate New Activities Based on Your PD Learnings…

Earn up to 3 hours of graduate-level semester units of credit (per course) for implementing strategies and activities derived from professional development conferences, workshops, webinars or seminars that you complete on your own personal time and away from professionally paid hours.

Add new tools to your teaching toolkit – don’t just admire them. We know the value of professional development in rejuvenating an educator’s enthusiasm, providing renewed motivation to engage students in the learning process, and imparting new information and experiences to add interest and depth to your teaching, but implementing the process of what you learn from your professional development is the key to educational success. With this unique PD course option you can finally implement what you’ve learned and earn credit at the same time. 

Graduate-level credit will be awarded upon completion of the following items:

  • Complete a workshop, conference, seminar, webinar or training that is relevant to your professional development.
  • Register and pay for a university-approved course from below.
  • Complete a follow-up practicum based on your learning experience.
Coursework Requirements

Upon successful completion of a professional development workshop, conference, webinar or training, you will invest time reflecting on your learnings, research and relevant readings to culminate in an innovative project of your choice (e.g., lesson[s], curriculum, learning activities, or a professional development plan, etc.) that applies the strategies learned. As a student, your practicum requirements will consist of developing learning activities and completing a reflection paper to demonstrate the implementation of strategies learned. An additional expectation is to complete a time log that documents the time spent for completing your coursework requirements. The specific requirements concerning your reflection paper and time log are based on how many credits you take per course.

 

 

Credit Requirements

1 credit = 3-page reflection + 3 activities

2 credits = 6-page reflection + 6 activities

3 credits = 9-page reflection + 9 activities

 

Completely designed for busy teachers like you, you will get up to 6 months to submit coursework requirements, and extensions are always granted upon request. Opportunities are available across all teaching grade levels, disciplines, and subjects or topics. The overall course objective is aimed at implementing the best practices of education while meeting educational standards set by your school district or state. A University of the Pacific instructor is available for support and feedback throughout the entire course duration.

 

*Additional course guidelines, formatting requirements, and information will be provided upon course enrollment.

About the Credits & Pacific

The credits offered are post-baccalaureate, graded, graduate-level semester units of credit, provided directly through University of the Pacific — Benerd College. They are specifically designed to meet the needs of educators for Salary Advancement and Recertification.  The credits are acceptable where local districts approve and applicable to state licensing where authorized. We always encourage that you check with your employer for acceptability of these credits. Course participants are responsible to determine acceptability of these credits for their intended use. Each graduate-level semester credit is equivalent to 15 hours of academic involvement. 

 

University of the Pacific, established in 1851, is California’s oldest private chartered university and is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Grades & Transcripts

Completed courses are letter graded and will appear on an official transcript from University of the Pacific, Benerd College. An Official Transcript with your final course grade(s) is available from Pacific upon successful completion of coursework. The course ending date that will appear on your transcript will reflect the date on which your completed coursework was reviewed and graded.

Please Note: There are different course titles available when registering for this course option. The choice is yours. You choose which course title and how many graduate-level semester credits you would like to earn. Enrollment is open year round and you may register for multiple courses at checkout.

Register Today!  
It's simple...

Overview of Reflection Paper Requirements

Type a 3-page, single-spaced reflection paper describing in detail your professional development with Echoes & Reflections. Be creative with your writing and try to incorporate the key points below into the structure of your paper:

Activities, projects, strategies, or techniques of implementation:
Describe the lesson plan, activity, project, strategy, or technique that you developed and implemented (or plan to implement) as a result of completing a professional development workshop, conference, webinar, etc. Be sure to include materials and resources utilized. For example, handouts, video/power point presentations, visual aids, props, books, learning strategies, etc. Detail why you chose this idea and how it fits into your professional development needs or those of your learners. Explain the actual process of introducing your project and the methods used for instruction.

Population target: grade level, type of class, groups:
Define the needs and goals of the learners that you designed these ideas for and how they might correlate to their specific needs and/or core objectives. Indicate if these learning methods were designed for special need students, specific groups within a class, developmental ages, etc.

Objectives and goals:
Describe the specific targeted learning objectives and how they related to the goals of your instructional program. Try to correlate the objectives/goals to the specific activity/project you presented. Possibly correlate, when appropriate, the objectives/goals with the Common Core Standards set by for your curriculum.

Evaluation methods utilized:
Describe how you evaluated the success of the projects you developed. What methods or criteria did you use to assess your achievement of specific goals? 

Overall outcomes and reactions:
Include your personal assessments of how the learning objectives and goals were achieved. What were the reactions of your learners? How would you redesign or change the methods utilized with future utilization of the projects?

*Additional course guidelines, formatting requirements, and information will be provided upon course enrollment.

©2020 UOP Affiliate. Teacher Friendly. All rights reserved.

Overview of Reflection Paper Requirements

1 credit = 3-page reflection paper

2 credits = 6-page reflection paper

3 credits = 9-page reflection paper

Each graduate-level credit requires a 3-page, typed, single-spaced reflection paper. The reflection paper will demonstrate your professional development by describing in detail the projects you have created and implemented into your educational setting. Try to incorporate the following key points into the structure of your report.

Activities, projects, strategies, or techniques of implementation:
Describe the lesson plan, activity, project, strategy, or technique that you developed and implemented (or plan to implement) as a result of completing a professional development workshop, conference, webinar, etc. Be sure to include materials and resources utilized. For example, handouts, video/Power Point presentations, visual aids, props, books, learning strategies, etc. Detail why you chose this idea and how it fits into your professional development needs or those of your learners. Explain the actual process of introducing your project and the methods used for instruction.

Population target (grade level, type of class, groups):
Define the needs and goals of the learners for whom you designed these ideas for, and describe how they might correlate to your learners specific needs and/or core objectives. Indicate if these learning methods were designed for special need students, specific groups within a class, developmental ages, etc.

Objectives and goals:
Describe the specific targeted learning objectives and how they related to the goals of your instructional program. Try to correlate the objectives/goals to the specific activity/project you presented. Possibly correlate, when appropriate, the objectives/goals with the Common Core Standards set for your curriculum.

Evaluation methods utilized:
Describe how you evaluated the success of the projects you developed. What methods or criteria did you use to assess your achievement of specific goals? 

Overall outcomes and reactions:
Include your personal assessments of how the learning objectives and goals were achieved. What were the reactions of your learners? How would you redesign or change the methods utilized with future implementation of the projects?

*Additional course guidelines, formatting requirements, and information will be provided upon course enrollment.

©2020 UOP Affiliate. Teacher Friendly. All rights reserved.

Self-Created Time Log Sample

Document all the time you spend creating and implementing lesson plans, curriculum, activities, projects, strategies, or techniques inspired by what you learned. Creating your own log gives you the freedom of documenting all the time and effort you have dedicated to completing your coursework requirements. Your log must be specific and include dates and accomplishments. For each graduate-level credit, you will document 15 hours of academic involvement. All your coursework participation must be away from professionally paid hours.

Sample Time Log

Date Objective & Goals Times Hours
4/21
Created new curriculum & lessons for upcoming semester
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
6
4/23
Developed new learning activity for my curriculum/lesson plan
7:00 am - 9:00 am
2
4/27
Created powerpoint/video presentation incorporating new strategies
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
2
5/2
Reviewed workshop materials and wrote draft for reflection paper
2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
2
5/3
Developed new learning activity for lecture
3:15 pm - 4:45 pm
1.5
5/6
Typed 3 page reflection paper discussing new lesson (first credit)
6:00 am - 7:30 am
1.5
Total hours of involvement/participation must meet 15 hours per credit
15

It may be that you require more or less time to complete own personal activities and/or projects, and that’s why we have left it to you to decide how you manage your time. 

*The log above is only a sample. Specific course guidelines and requirements will be provided upon course enrollment. 

 

©2020 UOP Affiliate. Teacher Friendly. All rights reserved.