Ken Wester, PTE Coordinator
Department of Physics,
Illinois State University,
Campus Box 4560,
Normal, IL 61790-4560
Email Ken Wester
Physics Department
Phone: (309) 438-8756
Fax: (309) 438-5413
email: info@phy.ilstu.edu
The Physics Teacher Education program at Illinois State University prepares students to teach physics and at least one other subject at the high school level. This program provides a thorough study of representative fields of physics, plus training in astronomy, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. This program of study integrates a physics content major of 40 semester hours (s.h.), other natural science courses of 15 s.h., with a professional education sequence of 22 s.h., and the University's general education requirement of 45 s.h. The required content major course work and the number of semester hours may be found below.
Courses taken by Physics Teacher education majors:
The following 55 semester hours (s.h.) of required courses will provide solid science background as you prepare for a career in high school physics teaching. Nowhere else in Illinois will you find such a complete and supportive plan of study for future secondary physics educators. Required physics teaching methods courses taught by Physics Department appear in italics.
PHY 107 -- Frontiers of Physics (2 s.h.)
PHY 110 -- Physics for Science and Engineering I (4 s.h.)
PHY 111 -- Physics for Science and Engineering II (4 s.h.)
PHY 112 -- Physics for Science and Engineering III (4 s.h.)
PHY 205 -- Origin of the Universe (3 s.h.)
PHY 209 -- Introduction to Teaching High School Physics (1 s.h.)
PHY 217 -- Methods of Theoretical Physics (3 s.h.)
PHY 220 -- Mechanics I (3 s.h.)
PHY 240 or 284 -- Electricity and Magnetism I (3 s.h.) or Quantum Mechanics (3 s.h.)
PHY 270 -- Experimental Physics (2 s.h.)
PHY 302 -- Computer Applications in High School Physics (1 s.h.)
PHY 310 -- Readings for Teaching High School Physics (3 s.h.)
PHY 311 -- Teaching High School Physics (3 s.h.)
PHY 312 -- Seminar in the History of Classical Physics (3 s.h.)
PHY 353 -- Seminar in Student Teaching (1 s.h.)
BSC 101 -- Concepts in Biology (3 s.h.)
CHE 140 -- General Chemistry I (4 s.h.)
CHE 141 -- General Chemistry II (4 s.h.)
GEO 100 -- Earth Systems Science (4 s.h.)
Curriculum & Instruction 212, 214 and 216 (or 289.75 in lieu of 214 & 216); Psychology 215; plus ONE of the following three courses: Educational Administration and Foundations 228, 231, OR 235.
In addition, all physics teacher education majors must complete a 15-course general education requirement (45 semester hours) including a global studies requirement. Complete details about ISU's General Education program may be found on the University's website.
A total of one hundred clock hours of pre-student-teaching clinical experiences are associated with required professional studies and science methods courses. Physics teacher education majors must complete 8 s. h. of student teaching in their content area.
Students enrolled in the PTE program, as students in the College of Arts & Sciences, are also required to meet a foreign language requirement. See the Undergraduate Catalog for details about this and all other requirements.