Secondary/High School Biology Education (Grades 9-12), B.A.

General Education Requirements

A minimum of 49 credit hours of general education courses is required for the Secondary/High School Biology Education B.A. degree. Some of the courses listed below are required to fulfill the general education requirements and others may be used as electives. Other courses not listed below may also be considered to fulfill electives that comprise the General Education requirements. General Education courses must meet the following criteria:

Humanities - Fine Arts Elective (Music, Art, Performance - 3 hours), Literature Elective - 3 hours, Multi-Cultural Elective - (Study Abroad, Foreign Language, other - 3 hours) = Total 9 hours

Literacy - (ENG 101 Writing I and ENG 104 Writing II required) = Total 6 hours

Mathematics - MATH 207, 116 OR117, AND Math 208 = Total 6 hours

Science - SCI 131 OR 132, AND SCI Elective with Lab or Lab Experience = Minimum Total 6 hours

Social Science - EDUC 220m HIST 121 OR 122, PSCI 101, and PSYC 254 = Total 12 hours

Electives - EDUC 100 - Introduction to Schooling is required of all freshman education majors and strongly recommended as an elective for all other education majors.  All freshmen are also required to take INTD 101 - University Seminar. EDUC 301 Peer Tutoring is strongly recommended as an elective for middle school and secondary/high school education majors.Total = Minimum 9 hours of elective credit.

Please work with your life coach and faculty mentor to determine which of the listed general education courses are appropriate for you.

• ENGL 101 - Writing I: The Writing Process
• ENGL 104 - Writing II: Research and Argumentative Essays

• Select ONE of the Following: MATH 207 OR MATH 116 OR MATH 117

• MATH 207 - Algebra for Educators
• MATH 141 - Elementary Statistics
• SCI 132 - Energy and Our World

• Select an additional science elective with a lab or lab experience 

• EDUC 220 - Economic Geography

• Select ONE: HIST 121 OR HIST 122

• HIST 121 - U.S. History to 1877
• HIST 122 - U.S. History since 1877
• PSCI 101 - American Government
• PSYC 254 - Human Development through the Lifespan
• EDUC 100 - Introduction to Schooling

• Strongly recommended as an elective for all education majors

• INTD 101 - University Seminar

• First Year Requirement

• EDUC 301 - Practicum in Peer Tutoring

• Recommended for middle and secondary/high school education majors

Professional Education Requirements

• EDUC 201 - School and Society
• EDUC 241 - Fundamentals of Secondary Schools
• EDUC 313 - Adolescent Development and Learning
• EDUC 321 - Literacy Across Academic Disciplines
• EDUC 315 - Educational Developmental Psychology: Learning and Management
• EDUC 361 - Instructional Interventions in Reading: Secondary
• EDUC 352 - Educ/Psych of Exceptional Children
• EDUC 441 - Teaching Secondary Science Methods
• EDUC 404 - Student Teacher: Professional Seminar

Practicum Experiences - (20 Hours)

Education majors spend a considerable amount of time in schools gaining firsthand classroom experience with students. Beginning in the sophomore year, all education students are required to complete a practicum experience each semester, with increasingly rigorous expectations regarding student interactions, lesson planning and delivery, and collaboration with professional educators in the field. These experiences build upon one another to provide teacher candidates with exposure to students from multiple grade levels in diverse schools and districts, as well as to a wide variety of teaching/learning opportunities in real-world settings. These practicum experiences culminate in student teaching experience in the final semester if he initial teacher preparation program.

• EDUC 200 - Practicum in School and Society
• EDUC 240 - Practicum in Fundamentals of Secondary Schools
• EDUC 320 - Practicum in Literacy Across the Academic Disciplines
• EDUC 360 - Practicum in Instructional Interventions in Reading: Secondary
• EDUC 440 - Setting Up School Experience and Practicum in Teaching Science Methods: Secondary
• EDUC 400 - Student Teaching:

Content Requirements

A total of 41 credit hours in the content area are required for the Bachelor of Arts in Secondary/High School Biology Education degree. In addition to the courses listed below, candidates must select appropriate science electives to fulfill the content area requirement. Teacher candidates must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 in content area coursework as well as a GPA of at least 2.75 overall to be eligible for endorsement for certification by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

• SCI 132 - Energy and Our World
• SCI 140 - History and Philosophy of Science
• BIOL 117 - General Biology I
• BIOL 118 - General Biology II

• Select ONE of the Following: BIOL 314 OR BIOL 351

• BIOL 314 - General Botany
• BIOL 351 - Cell Biology
• BIOL 270 - Evolution
• BIOL 260 - General Genetics
• CHEM 103 - General Chemistry I
• CHEM 104 - General Chemistry II

• Select ONE from the Following: PHYS 103 OR PHYS 153

• PHYS 103 - General Physics I
• PHYS 153 - Calculus-Based Physics I

• Select ONE: BIOL 352 OR ENV 112

• BIOL 352 - General Ecology

Recommended Electives

EDUC 100 - Introduction to Education, EDUC 668 - Behavior Management, and EDUC 616 - Differentiating for All Learners are strongly recommended as electives for all education majors. Ideally, EDUC 100 should be taken in the fall of the freshman year. EDUC 668 and 616 should be taken in the senior year.

• EDUC 100 - Introduction to Schooling
• EDUC 668 - Behavior Management
• EDUC 616 - Differentiating for All Learners