Science Education, Southeast Missouri State University


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Southeast Missouri State University

Science Education

Why Should I Study Science Education at Southeast?

Our program is unique! Science Education stands alone in at least three distinct ways:

The degree is offered by the College of Science & Mathematics
Courses are designed in the unique way
The program is flexible to meet the needs of individual students

Our program is taught in the College of Science and Mathematics and not in a college of education as are most other comparable programs in the US. The curriculum offers science courses in which content is integrated with pedagogy as a significant part of our core; all of the Topics courses (BS618: Topics in Biology Education; CH 618: Topics in Chemistry Education; GO 618: Topics in Earth Science Education; PH 618 Topics in Physics Education) integrate pedagogy and modeling with substantive content in the respective discipline. We offer a program that serves public science educators as well as elementary school teachers, middle school teachers and secondary teachers that allows them to design their curriculum to suit their needs. All students receive the same fundamental content in science education as well the same grounding in science content. However, applying the content and pedagogies they are learning to their own teaching practice (via various assignments and research) allows them to see how to modify concepts and practices to different levels and settings of science education.

This is not a program that leads to teacher certification.

Options/Areas of Emphasis

1. For certified teachers

Secondary Science Education
Middle School Science Education
Elementary Science Education

2. Other: Our program is also designed for curriculum specialists, instructional resource persons responsible for K-12 science education, and others who wish to pursue studies in the field of science education for a variety of reasons. We are flexible enough to work with people in the fields of public or informal science education, such as museum specialists and medical educators.

Admissions Requirements: Individuals admitted to the Master of Natural Science program must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. For more information, please consult the Graduate Bulletin.

Courses and Curriculum: Science Education program consists of 32 hours of study, 18 of which are in the area of emphasis, 6 in the Complementary Area and 8 hours of Electives.

Note: This is a non-thesis track. As such, a scholarly paper and a written comprehensive examination are additional requirements.

For more information about the courses, please consult the Graduate Bulletin.

Advising procedures/information: Each graduate student works with an individual faculty advisor, and these are coordinated through the Godwin Center.

Capstone Requirements: Students in our program engage in an action research project – an investigation often executed within their own classrooms; this research is the basis for the required scholarly paper.

Graduate Assistantship Opportunities: There is currently one graduate assistant position in the Science Education program. This assistantship includes waiver of courses fees for up to 24 hours of graduate coursework annually, as well as a stipend of $7,100 per year. Please contact the Godwin Center for information on availability and the application procedure. For more information please see the graduate assistantship web site.

Student Organization: Graduate Student Advisory Council

Research Opportunities: There are multiple opportunities for students to complete research with graduate faculty during their program. Research interests of our faculty include case-based teaching and learning, student attitudes towards science, magnetic properties of materials, and phase transitions.