The conceptual framework is shared with College faculty and school-based practitioners, and it appears in program folios. The knowledge base of the conceptual framework is an interactive model of education built upon a constructivist view of education. This allows students to construct an understanding of the complexity and richness of the teaching process, thereby empowering the learner. The programs within the Education Unit rest on an understanding of research, theory, application, and practice. The curricula for the teacher preparation programs in the Education Unit are based on a broad and deep foundation in the arts and sciences.
Specific programs require particular courses to fulfill some divisional distribution requirements.
For example, secondary candidates take an adolescent psychology course as a distribution requirement. Teacher certification students must take a course in American constitutional government and satisfy requirements in core skills by completing two English composition courses, a course in speech communication, and a health course. In addition, students must demonstrate competence through testing or coursework in computer literacy and mathematics. This requirement provides partial evidence that candidates have satisfactory written communication skills and critical literacy knowledge that are necessary for effective teaching.