Program Overview
College of Natural and Health Sciences
Contact: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Location: Ross Hall 3480
Email: chemistry@unco.edu
Website: www.unco.edu/nhs/chemistry
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of four parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
- University-Wide Credits
*For Educator licensure majors, PTEP coursework counts towards the minimum of nine upper-division UNC credits (300-400).
Program Description:
This program is designed to prepare students as secondary school chemistry teachers licensed in science by the Colorado Department of Education. In addition to a strong background in chemistry, students will receive training in biological sciences, physics, earth sciences and mathematics. Students receiving this degree can be certified by the American Chemical Society. See advisor for details.
Students graduating with this degree concentration will be well prepared to teach chemistry and other sciences in junior and senior high school. Students completing this program will be prepared to pursue graduate study in chemical education or science education.
The program will take four-five years to complete depending on high school background and the point in the educational career at which the program is entered.
Program Admission Requirements:
Academic Good Standing
Program Requirements:
- All students in the program must take an assessment examination before graduation.
- Students majoring in chemistry must earn a grade of “C” or better (C- is not acceptable) in all courses having a CHEM and SCED prefix which count toward the major.
- In accordance with University Policies, coursework earned more than 10 years prior to the date of matriculation to UNC may not be used to satisfy any major or minor requirements. Any exception to this policy is at the discretion of the academic program.
Program Recommendations:
- Graduate level CHEM courses are recommended for juniors and seniors. Other recommended electives include MATH 132, MATH 221, MATH 335, STAT 150, PHYS 321 and PHYS 343.
- It is recommended that students have a fundamental background in computers.
- Qualifying students may be eligible for a five-year program resulting in a B.S./M.S. degree. Consult your advisor early in your program for details.
PTEP Program Requirements:
Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.
If you are seeking licensure in your program area, the following items are required to complete your program.
- Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP – referred to as Checkpoint #1 (Enrollment in this checkpoint will result in a one-time program fee, assessed to student accounts to pay for assessment software. This checkpoint will also require an out-of-pocket payment - to the chosen approved vendor - to obtain a fingerprint background check, which is required by the Colorado Department of Education.)
- Completion of Full Admission to PTEP – referred to as Checkpoint #2
- Completion of Application for Student Teaching – referred to as Checkpoint #3
- Completion of content specific PRAXIS test prior to Student Teaching
- Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the STE Director.
- All PTEP Field Experiences and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
- Student Teaching outside the supervision of UNC Faculty may or may not be approved.
- Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they were once students or where they have a close relative attending and/or working.
- Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.
Please work with your content advisor to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout your program. Students must consult with their major advisor to receive information on any additional graduation requirements.
Degree Requirements — 121 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
To complete the degree in 121 credits as outlined, the program recommends the below LAC courses that also count toward the 67 required major credits.
Any additional coursework completed outside of the recommended list below may extend the length of the program of study.
Written Communication — 6 credits
SCI 291 is recommended to fulfill Intermediate Written Communication requirement and will fulfill both the major requirements and the liberal arts curriculum.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
MATH 131 is recommended to fulfill Mathematics requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS], and International Studies [MS] — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
CHEM 111, CHEM 111L, and BIO 110 are recommended to fulfill Natural & Physical Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major — 70 credits
Take all of the following courses:
Choose 1 of the following courses:
| AST 100 | The Sky and PlanetsLAS1LASL | 4 |
| MET 205 | General MeteorologyLAS1LASL | 4 |
Science Licensure
3. Required PTEP — 36 credits
Phase I (5 credits taken concurrently).
| EDF 290 | Foundations of Education | 3 |
| STEP 161 | Observation and Analysis of Secondary Teaching I | 2 |
Phase II (8 credits taken concurrently)
| STEP 262 | Observation and Analysis of Secondary Teaching II | 2 |
| EDSE 360 | Adaptation, Modification, and Integration of Curriculum for the Secondary Exceptional Learner | 3 |
| PSY 349 | Educational Psychology for Secondary Teachers | 3 |
Phase III (11 credits taken concurrently)
| STEP 363 | Clinical Experience: Secondary | 2 |
| ECLD 341 | Content-Based Literacies for Equitable Access to PK-12 Instruction | 3 |
| ET 449 | Integrating Technologies into Secondary Education Pedagogy | 3 |
| SCED 441 | Methods of Teaching Secondary School Science | 3 |
ECLD 340: may be taken outside of Phase III
Phase IV (12 credits)
4. University-Wide Credits — 0 credits*
*Note: Students must apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum requirements and the major requirements to complete this degree program in 121 credit hours. Students may have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree depending on the number of credits applied to both the LAC and the major. See your advisor for details.
This degree has received an exemption from the state to exceed the 120 credit hour limit.
ACS Certification obtained by completing the following:
Program Notes
All Students in the program must take an assessment examination before graduation. Students wishing to participate in the Honors Program should consult their advisors about LAC selections and other requirements.
A minimum grade point average of 2.5 in chemistry courses and a successful interview with members of the chemistry faculty are required for admission to PTEP, for eligibility to student teach, and for graduation.
Transfer students must take chemistry courses from two different UNC faculty before applying for admission to PTEP.