Mathematics and Science Education Undergraduate Programs
The Department of Mathematics and Science Education has an education program that prepares students for a teaching certificate at the secondary level while they receive a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, chemistry, physics, applied mathematics, computer sciences, or an engineering discipline.
The department’s guiding principle is that those who can, do; those who understand, teach. That is, a math or science instructor must know the subject matter as well as how to teach it. The Department of Mathematics and Science Education is a discipline-based teaching program. Students will learn how to effectively teach their chosen disciplines because personal curriculum focuses on each student’s chosen discipline.
The program draws primarily from constructivist epistemology as a means by which knowledge is developed and fully recognizes the individual perspectives from which learners approach school and life situations. Additionally, the knowledge base utilizes contemporary research on teaching and learning and is philosophically and substantively aligned with Illinois Content Standards and the professional subject-matter organizations. Graduates of the program will be leaders in instructional innovation in mathematics and science.
The overall organizational framework for the program borrows heavily from Shulman’s (1986) Knowledge Growth in Teaching w ith the ultimate focus on the Teacher as Transformer of Subject Matter. At an operational level, the program focuses on the development, revision, and elaboration of six primary domains of knowledge that both theory and research have indicated are essential for effective instruction. It is this combination of domains of knowledge that distinguishes the expert teacher from others possessing one or more of the following domains of knowledge: subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of schools, knowledge of learners, curricular knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge.
Within the Knowledge Growth in Teaching model, the IIT program is committed to providing students with experiences that help them develop a full range of knowledge and skills in the areas of subject matter, pedagogy, pedagogical content knowledge, schools, learners and curriculum within a framework of moral and ethical societal norms, including a commitment to equity and diversity. From a constructivist perspective, individuals are continually structuring knowledge and revising their structures of knowledge in response to differing contexts and new knowledge/perceptions. Consequently, it is important to note that the program does not view any of the domains of knowledge as completed outcomes upon graduation. Rather, the domains provide a basis for continued life-long professional development.