Online Master of Science in Teaching of Biological Science
Grow your STEM initiative!
Biology is changing rapidly; help your students think like a biologist and give them the tools to lead the next wave of change. Online courses and the Master of Science in Teaching meet the needs of today's biology teachers. The fully online format enables in-service teachers to bring the latest advances in biology and evolving pedagogy directly into the classroom.
The Online Master of Science in the Teaching of Biological Science (M.S.) degree program is designed to give practicing teachers the opportunity to earn the M.S. in teaching Biological Science or graduate credits in Biology while living and teaching at home. Teachers certified to teach biology in public schools and admitted by the University of Illinois may take any of these courses, whether they are in a degree program or are a non-degree student.
In addition, pre-service on-campus M.S.T students are also encouraged to enroll in these courses.
Courses taught by University of Illinois faculty are designed explicitly to bring the teachers up-to-date with topics and concepts on the cutting edge of biology. Participants in the program may
- complete the M.S. degree while taking graduate courses in both biology and education;
- earn a certificate of professional development that can be used for merit raises by completing three courses (two biology and one education); or
- enroll in individual courses of interest.
Detailed tuition information can be found here.
This program centers on five 8-week, totally online, 500-level biology courses designed explicitly to bring the teachers up-to-date with topics and concepts at the cutting edge of biology. Many teachers may have earned their BS in Biology some years ago. Completion of these courses will make their knowledge base current and appropriate for teaching the next generation of citizens and scientists. The new courses were designed explicitly for biology teachers, the overall program will thus be extremely relevant to in-service teachers. Course activities, assignments and assessments will be developed to enable conversion into the teacher's classrooms.
Additionally, three education courses were designed to encourage teachers to embrace the current knowledge of how students learn science and to teach science in an inquiry-based framework. In the third education 'capstone' course, students develop and carry out an action research project focused on the use of curriculum materials integrating the new science learned in the Biology courses. Through this action research project, students in the program learn more about their own teaching practices and their students’ learning of science.
Teachers who are motivated to take graduate-level courses because they wish to remain current with the subject matter are encouraged to enroll in the program.
Biology and Education course content will be provided by University of Illinois - School of Integrative Biology faculty and by faculty from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Instructors with advanced degrees in biology and experience in online instruction will facilitate the courses. Faculty will be involved directly with discussion components of the courses.
Students who already have a Certificate and would like to register for the program are encouraged to contact the SIB online learning team at ibio-online@life.illinois.edu. An admission committee, with members from the School of Integrative Biology and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, as well as the Office of Continuing Education, will decide on admittance to the program.