Program Overview

Physics Teacher Education

Illinois State University

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 strong physics content major of 44 - 48 semester hours (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. Teacher Education courses taught by Physics Department personnel 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.)
CHE 140 -- General Chemistry I (4 s.h.)
CHE 141 -- General Chemistry II (4 s.h.)

All physics teacher education majors are required by state law to complete requirements for a second area of endorsement. Most obtain the second endorsement in the area of chemistry by completing a course in organic chemistry. A number of other options are available.

The professional education sequence consists of the following courses:

Curriculum & Instruction 214, 215, 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). Complete details about ISU's new General Education program may be found on the University's Web site.

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.

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