Middle Level Education: Science
A major in Middle Level Science Education is meant to prepare students for a career as a highly qualified teacher in Pennsylvania, skilled to teach any core subject at the 4th-6th grade level and skilled to teach science at the 7th-8th grade level. To earn state teaching certification, students must meet all of the teaching competencies and certification requirements set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
REQUIREMENTS: To successfully complete the Middle Level Education Major in Mathematics, the following coursework is required:
- 69 credits of Education Requirements
- 15 credits of Science Electives
- 37 CORE credits
- A minimum number of 121 credits are required for the degree, the last 30 of which, and 50% of the major must be earned at La Roche University. (Developmental course work does not count toward the minimum number of required credits for graduation.)
NOTE: Education majors enter La Roche as a candidate for the teaching certification programs. In order to become an Official Education Major, students must complete the following requirements by the time they earn 60 total credits (including transferable credits):
- Overall GPA of at least 3.0
- Security Clearances within the past six months
- PA Child Abuse History Clearance
- PA State Police Criminal Record Check
- FBI Fingerprinting Check
- Basic Skills Requirement
Passing scores for Reading, Writing, and Math exams (could include eligible scores from SAT, ACT, PAPA, and CORE)
Summary of Requirements
Education Requirements (Science): 33 credits
EDML2000FOUNDATIONS OF MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION
Credits (Min/Max): 1/1
This course will provide an overview of the rationale and characteristics of developmentally responsive middle schools that serve fourth through eighth grade students. Specific structures and strategies that support the unique needs of adolescent learners will be discussed, such as transition practices, exploratory curriculum, advocacy, and interdisciplinary teaming.
EDSP2015INTRO TO HIGH INCIDENCE DISABILITIES
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides students an opportunity to explore foundations of special education in the United States including: characteristics of each disability category, legislation, over-representation of diverse students, academic and functional needs of students with disabilities, individual learning differences, least restrictive environment, implications for a Standards Aligned System, collaboration and transition. Students will develop an understanding of Accommodations and Adaptations for inclusive environments.
EDSP2025LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course will introduce students to behavior and misbehaviors of students in the school setting, types of misbehavior roles, establish a classroom management plan that will reflect their consideration of students with disabilities, problem solving, conflict resolution, assessing appropriate and problematic behaviors while establishing opportunities for students with diverse backgrounds to interact and share in cooperative learning groups, problem solving to achieve common goals. "Application Models" will be the framework used to demonstrate the approaches used by pioneers as well as 21st century researchers and educators.
EDUC1010INTRO TO EDUCATION AND FIELD EXPERIENCE
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides students with an introduction to the teaching profession. Students will learn the qualifications for becoming an effective and ethical educator. Current programming and educational topics will be explored. Classroom observations in a variety of settings and grade levels are required.
EDUC2010INITIAL FIELD EXPERIENCE
Credits (Min/Max): 2/2
This initial field experience course will provide students with the opportunity to observe and reflect on elements within various classroom environments. This experience will allow the student to interact with the learners in a variety of ways, develop knowledge of effective educational practices, and demonstrate professionalism in an educational setting. Seminars will be included with this course in which students will assess, evaluate, and discuss the field experience.
EDUC2020TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This class focuses on effective instructional strategies for teaching social studies in an inclusive classroom. Students will become familiar with the learning standards and thematic strands of social studies identified by the National Council for the Social Studies, which include the disciplines of geography, history, economics, and civics and government. Emphasis will be on organizing subject matter and translating it to children through a variety of instructional methods. An integral part of the course will be a field experience placement, which will allow the student to connect theory to practice.
EDUC2025
Credits (Min/Max): /
MATH2000MATHEMATICS FOR LIBERAL ARTS
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
As in-depth exploration of the applications of various types of mathematics, with an emphasis on problem solving skills. Writing skills are an integral part of this course. The connecting of mathematical ideas with other subject areas will be emphasized. These areas will include: art, biology, chemistry, coding, computers, demographics, fiction, genetics, logic, management, marketing, music, philosophy, physics, politics, psychology, and social planning. The discussion of original source documents will be an integral part of this course.
MLED2000ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN THEMULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course introduces the most important principles and practices for teachers of children with home languages other than English. Students examine the implications of cultural and linguistic variation for English Language learners. We focus on how educators work in the classroom, the school, and the community to support these learners' language development and academic learning.
PSYC1021INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This survey course introduces students to several critical areas of psychology. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on the scientific method, its application to psychology, and the insights gained from scientific research. The interactions among biological processes, cognitive and emotional responses, sociocultural forces, and behavior are examined. Included are such diverse topics as: health, stress, and coping; consciousness, sleep and dreams; effects of psychoactive drugs on behavior and health; psychological disorders; social psychology; types of learning and behavior management, information processing approaches including memory, encoding and retrieval; and the relationship of the nervous system to thought, feelings, and behaviors.
PSYC2040ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course is designed to provide an overview of the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional developmental changes occurring during adolescence. Attention will be given to the contexts in which development occurs: the family, school, and peer group-as well as psychological changes in identity, autonomy, and intimacy. Psychological disorders that manifest during adolescence will be examined.
PREREQUISITES:
PSYC1021 or PSYC1021H
PSYC2061EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides an introduction to educational psychology, the science of learning and teaching. Students will be exposed to the research methods used in psychological science, theoretical approaches to cognitive development and learning, and applications of those theories to understanding student behavior in the context of the school environment.
PREREQUISITES:
PSYC1021 or PSYC1021H
Education Requirements (Science): Official Major Status Required: 33 credits
EDML4050ML STUDENT TEACHING (GRADES 4-6)
Credits (Min/Max): 6/6
During this portion of student teaching, middle level education majors will be placed in a 4th-6th grade setting, and may be expected to teach any subject area (science, mathematics, language arts, or social studies) for approximately seven weeks. Student teachers will be expected to demonstrate instructional strategies that capitalize on the developmental characteristics of young adolescents and to design successful interventions responsive to the needs of individual middle level students. Student teachers will be supervised by a cooperating teacher and a LRU supervisor, and will be expected to participate in collaborative team building opportunities. Part of the student teaching experience will also include an on campus student teaching seminar, where topics such as certification requirements, school law, and interviewing strategies will be presented.
EDML4055ML STUDENT TEACHING (GRADES 7-8)
Credits (Min/Max): 6/6
During this portion of student teaching, middle level education majors will be placed in a 7th-8th grade setting within their content specialty (science, mathematics, language arts, or social studies) for approximately seven weeks. Student teachers will be expected to demonstrate their deep content knowledge as they apply instructional strategies that capitalize on the developmental characteristics of young adolescents and to design successful interventions responsive to the needs of individual middle level students. Student teachers will be supervised by a cooperating teacher and a LRU supervisor, and will be expected to participate in collaborative team building opportunities. Part of the student teaching experience will also include an on campus student teaching seminar, where topics such as certification requirements, school law, and interviewing strategies will be presented.
EDSP3010LITERACY INSTRUCTION AND INTERVENTIONS FOR DIVERSE LEARNERS
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides the foundation for teaching reading according to PA learning standards for students with a broad range of abilities and diverse cultural backgrounds. The course emphasizes research-based instructional approaches and interventions for Middle and Secondary level students including word level instruction, text level comprehension, reading-writing connection, and assessment. A field experience is a required component of this course.
EDSP3040EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This required course for all education majors will explore the instructional purposes for a variety of assessment strategies, such as: authentic, screening, diagnostic, formative, benchmark, and summative assessments. Future teachers will learn how to interpret assessment data, such as standardized test scores and norms, and will practice how to communicate assessment results to educational stakeholders, while considering legal and ethical issues related to assessment data, such as maintaining confidentiality. Future teachers will also create sample assessments that target academic standards and assessment anchors within subject areas, in order to measure mastery of the curriculum in more than one way.
EDSP4015DEVELOPMENT OF THE IEP AND INCLUSION IN LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
The focus of this culminating course is to prepare the student teacher with a realistic overview of teaching special education in Pennsylvania. The student will create an IEP, become familiar with Inclusion and collaboration, write reflections based on current issues/trends in special education, participate in discussions, create useful artifacts, discuss significant court cases, and understand Transition. The student will also comprehend the special education continuum of services available to the identified student.
EDUC3020INTERMEDIATE LITERACY METHODS AND PRACTICUM
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides the foundation for teaching literacy aligned with the Pennsylvania Core Standards for students in the intermediate grades with a broad range of abilities and cultural backgrounds. The focus is on evidence-based literacy instruction around the following essential components of literacy: phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. An integral part of this course will be a practicum, where teacher candidates will be placed in an intermediate classroom (3rd-6th grade) in order to connect theory with practice.
EDUC3025INTERMEDIATE MATH METHODS AND PRACTICUM
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course provides an exploration of the principles for teaching intermediate math concepts according to guidelines provided in the Pennsylvania Math Standards and Assessment Anchors and by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Teacher candidates will become proficient in using math manipulatives to help students learn mathematical concepts. An integral part of this course will be a practicum, where teacher candidates will be placed in an intermediate classroom (3rd-6th grade) in order to connect theory with practice.
EDUC3030INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE METHODS AND PRACTICUM
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
The goal of this course is to prepare teacher candidates with an understanding of science content related to the Pennsylvania Science Standards and provide experience with using an inquiry-based approach to plan and teach science lessons. An integral part of this course will be a practicum, where teacher candidates will be placed in a classroom within their certification grade span in order to connect theory with practice.
EDUC4005EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONALISM
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
This course will offer teacher candidates the opportunity to identify community resources that can be shared with multiple stakeholders in order to support families and children. Teacher candidates will learn strategies and techniques for working with families to keep them informed of their child’s progress in meaningful and culturally responsive ways. Teacher candidates will also participate in a variety of professional development opportunities.
History Requirement: Choose One: 3 credits
HIST1010US HIST 1607 - 1865 FOUNDATIONS OF A REPUBLIC
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
A study of the history of the United States from 1607 to 1865. This course traces the development of the United States from the earliest European settlers to the formation of a republic, noting the events, people and ideas involved in the struggle to achieve that end. Particular emphasis is given to colonial America, the American Revolution, the constitutional process of 1789, Native Americans and slavery.
HIST1011US HIST: EMERG OF MASS DEMOCRACY (1865-1945)
Credits (Min/Max): 3/3
A study of the history of the United States from 1865 to 1945. This course traces the development of the United States from the aftermath of the Civil War to its emergence as a world superpower, noting the events, people and ideas involved in that development. Particular emphasis is given to Reconstruction, industrial development and World War II. Cross-listed with SLHS1006
Science Electives: Choose from BIOL/CHEM/PHYS Courses: 15 credits
BIOLXXXX
Credits (Min/Max): /
CHEMXXXX
Credits (Min/Max): /
PHYSXXXX
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