Life Sciences Education

Certification in Life Sciences Education is for grades 7-12. In addition to completing the General and Liberal Education Core requirements, students in this program complete a major in Biology designed for certification candidates and complete the required education courses listed below.

In addition to the required education courses listed below, students must meet with both the education advisor and their science major advisor to select courses. This dual advising system is critical to ensuring that they are meeting all of the relevant content certification standards within the content major.

Total field hours prior to student teaching 105 hours
ED487 Secondary Student Teaching Seminar
ED492 Student Teaching 16 weeks

Specific Testing for Certification
• Basic Academic Skills Assessment (BASA) and Subject Area Testing in Life Science

Biology Education Track
BI101-102 Biology I and II (laboratory) (counts toward GLE core) 8 credits
BI211 Genetics (laboratory) 4 credits
BI319 Cellular Biology (laboratory) 4 credits or
BI325 Microbiology (laboratory) 4 credits
BI215 Biology and Health Sciences Seminar 3 credits
BI218 Ecology or 4 credits
BI241 Evolutionary Biology (laboratory) 4 credits
CH101 General Chemistry I (laboratory) 4 credits
CH102 General Chemistry II (laboratory) 4 credits
Two semesters of Math at the MT151 level or above 6-8 credits
(First semester counts as core requirement, second semester counts towards major)
BI460 Internship in Biology or
BI480 Senior Seminar in Biology/Health Sciences or
BI481 Invited Senior Research 3 credits

Note: Students wishing to complete the Secondary Teacher Certification may substitute ED487 Secondary Student Teaching Seminar (1 credit), and ED492 Secondary Student Teaching (14 credits), for Biology Seminar and Biology Thesis.

Recommended Curriculum Guide – Life Sciences

First Year
*Fall Semester*				*Credits*	*Spring Semester*		*Credits*
ED105		Educational Psychology		3	ED112	Teaching and Learning in a Democratic Society	3
______		Primary Major		3	______	Primary Major	3
______		Primary Major		3	MT151 or MT260	GLE Mathematics Elective	3
GLE101		First-Year Inquiry Seminar		3	______	GLE Social Science	3
GLE110		First-Year Composition		3	______	GLE Humanities	3
		Total		15		Total	15
Second Year
*Fall Semester*				*Credits*	*Spring Semester*		*Credits*
ED224		Design and Management of the Learning Environment		3	ED350	Teaching Literacy Across the curriculum	3
______		Primary Major		3	______	Primary Major	3
______		Primary Major		3	______	Primary Major	3
______		GLE Natural Science		4	______	GLE Natural Science	4
______		GLE Social Science		3	GLE230	Second-Year Composition	3
		Total		16		Total	16
Third Year
*Fall Semester*				*Credits*	*Spring Semester*		*Credits*
ED308		Introduction to Assessment		3	ED312	Understanding and Teaching Exceptional Learners	3
______		Primary Major		3	ED314	Scientific Inquiry and Teaching Methods	3
______		Primary Major		3	______	Primary Major	3
______		GLE Art and Design		3	______	Primary Major	3
______		GLE Humanities		3	______	GLE Art and Design	3
		Total		15		Total	15
Fourth Year
*Fall Semester*			*Credits*		*Spring Semester*		*Credits*
ED360	Best Practices in a Secondary Context		3		ED492	Secondary Student Teaching	14
______	Primary Major		3		ED487	Secondary Student Teaching Seminar	1
______	Primary Major		3
______	GLE Humanities		3			Total	15
	Total		12			Total Credits:	120

M.Ed./Teacher Certification in Life Sciences Education (Grades 7-12)

Required Education Courses

	Course	Field Hours	Credits	M.Ed. w/Cert	M.Ed. Only	Cert. Only
ED501	Graduate Teacher Education Program Orientation		2	X	X	-
ED506	Educational Psychology		3	X	X	X
ED505	Teaching and Learning in a Democratic Society		3	X	X	X
ED510	Design and Management of the Learning Environment	30	3	X	X	X
ED508	Introduction to Assessment		3	X	X	X
ED519	Scientific Inquiry and Teaching Methods	15	3	X	X	X
ED509	Understanding and Teaching Exceptional Learners	15	3	X	X	X
ED516	Teaching Literacy across the Curriculum	15	3	X	X	X
ED526	Best Practices in Secondary Contexts	30	3	X	X	X
ED578	Action Research in the Classroom (required for Certification)		3	X	X	X
Elective 1- ED/SOE elective *			3	X	X	X
Elective 2- ED/SOE elective*			3	X	X	X
ED532A	Student Teaching/Seminar for Middle/Secondary Certification		3	X	-	X
ED532B	Student Teaching/Seminar for Middle/Secondary Certification		3	X	-	X
ED574	Student Teaching Seminar (to be taken with ED532 A&B)		1	X	-	X
ED585	Student Research Capstone		1	-	X	-
	Total Credits			42	36	40