Science (SCI) and Science Education (SCED) Courses

SCI 301 Essential Science I
In-depth focus on key concepts in the areas of chemistry and physics. Application of these concepts to real world situations and to topics in the elementary science curriculum are emphasized. Credits: 3

SCI 302 Essential Science Lab
Designed for childhood education majors, this laboratory engages students in experiments from biology, chemistry, geology and physics. Most of the experiments are interdisciplinary in nature. The students will plan and execute experiments and then evaluate their data and document their conclusions. Evaluation will be based on laboratory notebook, written lab reports and oral presentation of experimental results. Credits: 1

SCI 303 Essential Science II
In-depth focus on key concepts in the areas of biology and geology. Applications of these concepts to real world situations and to topics in the elementary science curriculum are emphasized. Credits: 3

SCI 325 Science Teaching Assistantship
This course is designed to provide science education majors with science teaching experience guided by science faculty. Students will assist in curriculum development, preparation and instruction for lectures, interactive activities and laboratory experiments in the areas of biology, chemistry, earth science and physics. The students will be teaching assistants for SCI 301, 302, and/or 303. Prerequisite(s): SCI 301 and SCI 302 and SCI 303 Credits: 1

SCI 491 Special Topics in Science Education
Courses on topics of special or current interest or, experimental courses in science education. Credits: 1-6

SCED 105 Nature of Science and Science Education
This course provides an introduction to planning, teaching styles, classroom management, and instructional materials for the secondary classroom. It will also examine the history and foundations of education and the roles of school staff, students, parents and the community in student learning. In addition this course will prepare (7-12) science teachers to have knowledge and skills in order to accurately represent what scientists do, how scientific knowledge is produced and debated, and what are the limits to scientific inquiry. Direct experiences with children are an integral part of the course via the field component, SCED 106. Co-requisite(s): SCED 106 Credits: 3

SCED 106 Nature of Science Education Field Experience
This course is the field component to SCED 105 and provides candidates the opportunity to gain experience teaching the nature of science in 7-12 classroom. Co-requisite(s): SCED 105 Credits: 0

SCED 276 Literacy and Technology for Science and Mathematics
This course provides an overview of the processes involved in literacy acquisition and instructional technologies available to enhance teaching in science and mathematics. The relationship of reading and writing, and aspects of writing development and writing process appropriate to each stage of reading development will be presented. Topics: conceptual and methodological issues related to instruction and acquisition of reading, the role and use of technology in literacy instruction, assessment of candidate’s reading and writing, diversity in reading acquisition, use of computers, graphing calculators and other multimedia applications. Credits: 3

SCED 305 Diversity in the Teaching of Science and Mathematics
This course provides a theoretical framework for exploring and developing a culturally responsive approach to the teaching of mathematics and science. In exploring different instructional formats, this course allows candidates to develop approaches that prepare them for an ever-increasing population of students that reflect diverse backgrounds and abilities. The field experience is a co-requisite that allows the candidates the opportunity to apply their knowledge on the issues presented in the course work to a diverse population. Prerequisite(s): SCED 105 Co-requisite(s): SCED 313 Credits: 3

SCED 313 Diversity in Teaching Math and Science Field Experience
This course is the field component to SCED 305. Candidates will use different instructional formats to develop effective approaches for teaching science to students with different backgrounds and abilities in diverse educational learning environments. Co-requisite(s): SCED 305. Credits: 0

SCED 419 Adolescence Science Methods
This course is an active inquiry into how and why we teach science, considering from what science is, how science literacy could be acheived, what “learning” entails, and what kinds of curricula and teaching best enable science learning. Credits: 3

SCED 510 Nature in the School Curriculum
Students will focus on using the local environment as a unifying theme for interdisciplinary learning at all grade levels. Fieldwork will predominate. Students will investigate soils, rocks and fossils; plants; animals; and other components of natural systems; and how these factors interact to create ecosystems. Students will write and model lesson plans and accompanying assessments which will address NYS Learning Standards. Credits: 3

SCED 511 Teaming with Nature
Students learn how to use a one-square-kilometer area surrounding their school as an outdoor laboratory for interdisciplinary learning. Students learn how to keep field journals, read and create maps, do ecological survey, use community resources, and create a plan for interdisciplinary place-based natural and cultural studies linked to their curriculum. Credits: 3

SCED 512 Vernal Pool Project
Students will learn how to use a specific component of the local natural environment - vernal pools - in their standards-based curriculum. Students will learn how to keep field journals, read and create maps, identify vernal pool organisms, enter data into the project web site, and become part of a growing community of citizen scientists focused on these unique and threatened ecosystems. Credits: 3

SCED 540 The Earth in Space
An examination of how science ideas are constructed in informal and formal social settings. Exemplary science teaching methods will be demonstrated and evaluated. Research focusing on elementary students' formal and naive science understanding concerning the relationships between the Earth, Moon, and the Sun will be investigated in detail. Credits: 3

SCED 541 Electricity & Magnetism
In Electricity & Magnetism, we examine the behavior of simple electric circuits as a basis for the construction of scientific models, which allow for the prediction and explanation of electrical phenomena. We conclude by examining magnetic interactions to develop a model of behavior of magnets and magnetic materials. Credits: 3

SCED 542 Light & Color
An examination of how science ideas are constructed in informal and formal social settings. In Light & Color, we investigate and begin with the investigation of the formation of shadows and images. We then develop a mental model that helps us account for the behavior of light in the formation of images and in the effects of color. Exemplary science teaching methods will be demonstrated and evaluated. Research focusing on elementary students' formal and naive science understanding of light and color will be examined. Credits: 3

SCED 543 Moving Objects
In Moving Objects, we study how motion can be described in terms of the concepts of position, displacement, force and speed. Graphical and algebraic representations are introduced and used to predict and represent the motion of objects. Credits: 3

SCED 544 Properties of Matter
An examination of how science ideas are constructed in informal and formal social settings. In Properties of Matter, we will investigate some basic properties of matter. We will develop the concepts of mass, volume, and density and use these in the context of how students explain physical phenomena. This inquiry will be extended to the study of solutions while providing a context for developing the important scientific skills of proportional reasoning, reasoning by analogy, and control of variables. Credits: 3