Requirements
The chemical education option is directed at students planning to teach high-school chemistry. Students can earn a chemistry degree in four years and obtain experience that can be useful when applying for the Master of Science in Teaching from OSU. This option includes ten courses covering teaching methods, a secondary area, an undergraduate teaching internship and seminar in chemistry.
Chemistry core (79 - 81 credits)
Chemical education option (34-36 credits)
Notes
a MTH 112 can be taken to prepare for MTH 251 if the score on ALEKS Math Placement test is 59% or less. MTH 112 is not a required course for the chemistry degree.
b Chemistry majors are strongly encouraged to take the chemistry major's orientation course, "Careers in Chemistry," fall term. This is a 1-credit course and graded P/N.
c The analytical chemistry combination of CH 421 (fall), CH 422 (winter), and CH 461 (fall) is recommended for the strongest background in analytical chemistry and should be taken the third year. With this option, only one inorganic chemistry course is required (either CH 411 or CH 412) so that this option adds only 2 credit hours to the total.
d These electives should be decided on no later than winter term of your junior year in consultation with your chemistry advisor. You are advised to also meet with an advisor in the College of Education (Professional Teacher Education - Science and Mathematics) to discuss choices for these electives (15 cr) and they should be from the course lists posted on their web page for the primary endorsement areas other than chemistry.
The order of courses in the table is suggested. For the track-two core courses (CH, MTH, PH), the order is critical because of prerequisites and the fact that most CH courses are taught only one term per year. The options courses (SED, etc.) can be taken at different times than indicated, but one must be concerned with the prerequisites and the fact that many of these courses are taught only one term per year.
Bacc Core courses or the chemistry education electives (secondary endorsement) courses are not shown in this table. Courses in the above table are considered at the "pre-professional" level for teaching science and this program does not result in licensure.
The one year Professional Teacher Education Masters Program at OSU is a Licensure Program. For more information please see the M.S. in Education Site here. OSU also offers a double degree in education that can take an additional year to complete with the B.S. in chemistry program. For more information on the double degree, please see an advisor in the College of Education.
Baccalaureate Core courses are not shown on the chart above.
Additional information
- If students choose the analytical chemistry sequence CH 421, 422, 461 instead of CH 324, only one inorganic course (3 cr), CH 411, is required. CH 411 and CH 412 are a sequence so that CH 411 is the specified inorganic chemistry course.
- CH 463 is the recommended WIC course. If CH 462 is taken as the WIC course or an extra lab, CH 422 is strongly recommended as a co-requisite with CH 462. CH 464 is a WIC course and has a prerequisite of CH 442.
- SED 416 is no longer offered to undergraduates. If you did not already take SED 416, the following courses are acceptable substitutes (note some have prereq's):
Purpose, Structure, and Function of Education in a Democracy (3)
Mathematics Materials and Labs (3)
Multicultural Issues in Education (2) (not allowed after Winter 2010)
Learning Across the Lifespan (3)
Human Lifespan Development (3) (prerequisite PSY 201 & 202)
Adolescent Development (3) (required for the licensure program)
Also see policies for other information including external research.
Overview
The B.S. chemistry degree with an option in chemistry education requires courses that fall into two primary categories:
- Two courses taught by the chemistry department; CH 407, a seminar about teaching techniques (only meets fall term) and CH 410, a teaching internship that involves being a teaching assistant for a section of general chemistry. More information can be found at these links: CH 407 Chemistry Teaching Seminar and CH 410 Undergraduate teaching internship
- Additional courses taught outside the chemistry department. These include:
- PSY 202
- Three courses on teaching methods and materials: SED 412, 413, and one more from list
- TCE 409 — a teaching practicum in which you are an assistant to a teacher in science classes at a local middle school or at a high school.
- 15 credits of elective courses in a second endorsement area (SEA) which provide background in a science or math endorsement area other than chemistry. (Since most high school science teachers are assigned to teach two or more science courses, it is in your best interest to have some coursework in a secondary endorsement area. You should select the SEA electives based on what other area of science or math you want to teach in high school.)
You are also encouraged to seek out a secondary advisor in the Department of Science and Math Education to discuss these options and graduate school opportunities.
Suggested courses that meet the SEA requirements for the chemistry education option are found on the College of Education department webpage at College of Education Advising sheets.
Note also that these 15 credits cannot be ones already specified in the chemistry core. For example, since PH 201 or PH 211 are already required in the chemistry core, they cannot be counted twice for a SEA in physics. If you select physics as your SEA, then the physics courses you use to satisfy the SEA must be from courses beyond the general physics sequence. However, if you select biology as your SEA, then a biology course such as BI 211 can be used for the SEA requirements because BI 211 is not required for the chemistry core.
Courses in the above table for option courses are considered at the "pre-professional" level for teaching science.
OSU offers both an initial licensure program and a continuing program that lead to the M.S. degree.