Science Education (Concentration in Physics), BSEd

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Total number of hours for the program: 128. These hours include the Liberal Studies program, the Professional Education Sequence , the Concentration in Physics, and general electives.

(Nine credits that count for the major may also fulfill requirements in Liberal Studies)

Admission to the Science Education Program

Students seeking admission to the Science Education Program must declare their major and meet the requirements for admission to the Teacher Education Program .

Admission to the Professional Education Sequence

Students in Professional Education must be admitted to the Teacher Education Program and are subject to all of the teacher education requirements. EDCI 201 is the only course in the professional education sequence that may be taken prior to admission to teacher education.

Continuation in the Science Education Program

To continue in the program, students must meet the continuation requirements of the Teacher Education Program .

Liberal Studies (42 hours)

Liberal Studies Program Requirements

Professional Education Sequence (23 hours)

EDCI 201 - Teacher Leadership in a Diverse Society Credits: 3
PSY 323 - Psychology Applied to Learning and Teaching Credits: 3
SPED 339 - Designing Classrooms as Responsive Learning Communities Credits: 3
EDSE 483 - Secondary/Special Subject Area Internship I Credits: 2-3
SCI 491 - Supervised Student Teaching in the Sciences, 9-12 Credits: 3
EDSE 490 - Supervised Student Teaching Credits: 6
EDSE 495 - Seminar Credits: 3

Science and Math Requirements for Physics Concentration (65 hours)

The major requires 65 hours as follows:

SCI 150 - Introduction to Secondary Science Education Credits: 1
SCI 301 - Nature of Science Credits: 3
SCI 422 - Principles and Methods of Science Education Credits: 3
MATH 146 - Precalculus Credits: 4
MATH 153 - Calculus I Credits: 4
BIOL 140 - Principles of Biology I Credits: 4
BIOL 141 - Principles of Biology II Credits: 4
CHEM 139 - General Chemistry I Credits: 4
CHEM 140 - General Chemistry II Credits: 4
GEOL 150 - Methods in Geology Credits: 4
GEOL 155 - Historical Geology Credits: 4
PHYS 230 - General Physics I Credits: 4
PHYS 231 - General Physics II Credits: 4
PHYS 310 - Modern Physics Credits: 3
PHYS 322 - Optics Credits: 3
PHYS 325 - Thermodynamics Credits: 3
or
CHEM 352 - Physical Chemistry: Chemical Thermodynamics Credits: 3
MATH 255 - Calculus II Credits: 4
PHYS 360 - Laboratory Physics Credits: 2

Capstone (3 hours)

PHYS 380 - Research in Physics Credits: 1-3, R12

Additional Requirements

To complete 120 hours, students should take 7-16 hours (number depends on how many Liberal Studies courses also count toward the major). To satisfy general university degree requirements, students must take at least 30 hours at the junior-senior level at WCU.

Visit the department’s website at: https://www.wcu.edu/learn/departments-schools-colleges/ceap/stl/secspeced/undergraduate-secondary-education.aspx to view the eight-semester curriculum guide.