Watson College of Education • University of North Carolina Wilmington

SEC 507:
Advanced Theory and Practice in Secondary Education

Dr. David Macinnis Gill Fall 2026
Welcome

You are already teaching. SEC 507 is the course about why your lessons work, why they fail, and what to do about it before Friday's bell.

This is the methods course for teachers in the Clinical Residency Licensure Program. Five modules, eight learning objectives, one capstone unit plan you can use the week the course ends. Topics: planning, instruction, assessment, classroom management, diverse learners, and the cross-curricular connections that turn a list of standards into a coherent unit.

Your Instructor


DG

Dr. David Macinnis Gill

Professor, Watson College of Education

gilld@uncw.edu

Virtual Office Hours: Thursday 5:00–8:00 PM (EST)

Office Hours: By appointment, Zoom or in person. Email to schedule.

Email: Put "SEC 507" in the subject line. I return emails within 24 hours on weekdays. If you haven't heard back by then, send a follow-up.

Canvas Inbox: Use it for quick questions. For anything with attachments or detail, use email.

Modules


Your Progress
M1M2M3M4M5

Five modules across a sixteen-week semester. The mid-course checkpoint sits between Module 2 and Module 3.

How to use the modules

Each module opens with an overview, the readings, the activities, and the assignments. Read the overview first. Then move through the chapter pages. The interactive activities (drag-and-drops, branching scenarios, self-checks) are not graded, but they get you ready for the assignments that are.

Three things to look for at the start of each module:

  1. The reading list. Confirm you have the chapters before the module opens.
  2. "What You Will Do." A short list connecting that module's activities to the course objectives.
  3. The assignment due dates. Schedule writing time. Lessons take longer than people think.

Module ONE: The Classroom and You

Weeks 1–2 • Marzano 8–9 • Seifert 1, 2, 7, 8

Where the year starts and where the rules get set. Withitness, classroom management, the first day, and the relationships that make every other module work.

Module TWO: Planning Instruction

Weeks 3–4 • Marzano 3–7 • Seifert 9–10

Bloom's taxonomy, performance objectives, lesson plan structure, and the Marzano elements that move kids from passive listeners to active learners.

Module THREE: Assessment

Weeks 5–6 • Marzano 1–2 • Seifert 11–12

Formative checks, summative tests, rubrics, grading systems, and the questions that tell you whether a kid actually learned anything.

Module FOUR: Student Diversity & Special Needs

Weeks 7–8 • Seifert 3–6 • Marzano 11–13 • Burden & Byrd 12–13

Every student in your room arrives with a different developmental, cultural, and linguistic backstory. This module gives you lenses to see them clearly and strategies to teach them all.

Module FIVE: Subject-Area Unit Plans

Weeks 9–16 • English • Social Studies • Science • Math (TBD)

The capstone. Pick your content area and design a two-week thematic unit you can teach next semester: newsletter, rationale, five lessons, rubrics, and one cross-curricular connection that earns its place.

Course Resources


A note on interactivity

Each module page contains interactive activities: drag-and-drop sorts, branching scenarios, self-checks, and accordions. They run on JavaScript and work when you open the pages in your browser or through the Canvas iframe. For the best experience, use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.