Master of Arts in Gifted Education Advanced Program for Continuing Professional Education
Overview
Teach Gifted and Exceptional Learners
With Grand Canyon University's (GCU) Master of Arts (MA) in Gifted Education degree, you can learn innovative ways to teach gifted students and help them realize their potential. Offered by GCU's College of Education, this masters in gifted education program helps you develop ethical instructional practices and explore the formation of gifted education programs.
The masters in gifted education online degree program reviews current methods used to identify, teach and nurture gifted children academically, mentally and emotionally. Observation and practice opportunities throughout graduate coursework allow you to gain hands-on experience and evaluate researched concepts in P-12 classrooms. This masters in gifted education degree aligns with National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) standards and can prepare licensed teachers for gifted endorsement.
You must submit a copy of your current teaching license or provide evidence of a minimum of one year of teaching experience to apply for this program. In addition, it is essential to have access to a K-12 classroom to complete the program assignments.
Degree Outcomes
Learn Skills to Engage Gifted, Talented and Creative Students
In this masters in gifted education online program, you examine neuroscience, cognitive and educational research to develop teaching practices that address the learning needs of exceptional students. In addition, you explore collaborative learning cultures as well as learn to identify, evaluate and assess giftedness. The capstone course allows you to reflect on learning experiences and theories to demonstrate your understanding.
What You Will Learn
Study Masters in Gifted Education Curriculum
In this Master of Arts in Gifted Education program, you examine:
- Multicultural gifted education curriculum development and instructional strategies
- Historic foundations of research that guide education
- Evaluation and identification procedures that apply to gifted, talented and creative P-12 students
- Instructional methods that meet intellectual and social-emotional needs
- Academically stimulating activities that enhance learning and creative thinking skills
Career Outcomes
Choose a Career in Gifted Education
Common careers after gaining this advanced degree in gifted education include elementary, junior high or high school gifted or advanced placement (AP) teacher, program facilitator, curriculum specialist and gifted programs coordinator. Potential workplaces include private, charter and public schools, colleges and educational consulting agencies.
Course List
Program Core Courses
Course Description
This course is designed to prepare students for the graduate learning experience at Grand Canyon University. Students have opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills necessary to succeed as graduate students in the College of Education. Emphasis is placed on utilizing the tools for graduate success.
Course Description
This course focuses on brain research (from neuroscience to the behavioral and cognitive sciences) that relates to teaching and learning and suggests ways that brain research can be translated into what teachers do in schools and classrooms. Teacher candidates will examine the inner workings of the brain and the effect on student learning, memory, and transfer. Specifically, the course explores the body of knowledge that represents the application of brain research to classroom practice, and how knowledge about the human brain can affect the curricular, instructional, and assessment decisions that teachers make every day. Practicum/field experience hours: None. Fingerprint clearance not required.
Course Description
This course provides teachers with an introduction to applied research in education across the major quantitative, qualitative, and action research traditions. Coursework focuses on understanding the research process and its integrated components and evaluating published research reports from the perspective of a critical consumer. Teachers explore scientific reasoning and research design.
Course Description
In this course, candidates explore the historical foundations and evolution of gifted education, including definitions of giftedness. Candidates compare and contrast perspectives of giftedness, and describe characteristics of gifted, talented, and creative students and their implications for academic instruction. Emphasis is placed on identifying major contributors and their contributions to the field of gifted education, as well as major theories of intelligence and their relevance to gifted education.
Course Description
This course focuses on developing skills to measure intelligence, achievement, creativity, and other dimensions of giftedness. Candidates evaluate identification procedures and expanding the dimensions of gifted education to include new directions for identification and programming. Emphasis is placed on reviewing the principles of assessment and evaluation that apply to the education of gifted, talented, and creative students, including national gifted standards, testing, performance-based assessments, and other methods of observations and student evaluations in K-12 classrooms. Practicum/Field Experience hours: 5. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SPD-503.
Course Description
This course outlines instructional and managerial techniques used to address the individual learning needs, strengths, styles, and preferences of gifted, talented, and creative students in K-12 classrooms. Candidates explore the design, delivery, and implementation of differentiated curriculum and instruction for gifted learners. Emphasis is placed on differentiation strategies that improve student achievement through use of instructional strategies targeting large groups, small groups, and individuals. Practicum/Field Experience hours: 10. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
In this course, candidates study the theoretical and practical aspects of creativity and explore how it can be developed in gifted, talented, and creative students. Candidates analyze definitions of creativity and learn techniques for stimulating creative thinking as well as strategies for adapting existing curricula to develop creative thinking abilities in students. Emphasis is placed on the assessment of creative thinking, methods for enhancing personal creative abilities, and techniques for examining the creative process. Practicum/Field Experience hours: 5. Fingerprint clearance required.
Course Description
This course explores the development of effective programs in gifted education. Candidates evaluate gifted education programming related to gifted curriculum models, focus on the development of a well-founded rationale for gifted programming, compare appropriate delivery models for gifted programs, and identify comprehensive services for gifted, talented, and creative students. Emphasis is placed on evaluating and modifying learning environments and classroom climates to assist students who are gifted, talented, and creative to adapt to their environment, as well as advocating for gifted programs. Practicum/field experience hours: 10. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SPD-553.
Course Description
In this course candidates use current research and material relevant to special populations to develop skills to assist gifted, talented, and creative students address social and emotional issues that may arise. Emphasis is placed on twice exceptional, profoundly gifted, perfectionism, hypersensitivity, gender, underachievement, and special populations. Practicum/field experience hours: 5. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SPD-503.
Course Description
This course is designed to teach candidates to develop conceptual understandings and skills to assess, identify, and nurture giftedness in all gifted, talented, and creative students, including those students who are typically underserved. Special emphasis is placed on advocacy for underserved populations, culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional students, social justice, critical topics in gifted education, and family and community engagement. Practicum/Field Experience hours: 10. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SPD-513.
Course Description
This course provides a reflective, experience-based integration of theory and practice as the culminating experience in the gifted education program. Candidates apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired through their coursework to develop a useful, meaningful, and practical project. Practicum/Field Experience hours: 30. Fingerprint clearance required. Prerequisite: SPD-583.
Program Locations
Online
Evening
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program’s published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution’s catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who graduated between 7/1 – 6/30 of the preceding year. The On-Time Completion rate is determined by the number of students in the cohort who completed the program within the published program length divided by the number of students in the cohort who graduated.
Online and Evening program disclosures (17 month program)* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.