Pre-Education Biology Option
This option is available within the Biology major at the following location:
- Corvallis
The Biology major Pre-Education option is designed to complete the requirements for the Science Education option in the OSU Education master's degree and other U.S. graduate licensure programs for secondary education. Students should consult the requirements for specific schools before they apply because requirements can change and vary some between institutions. The option couples the strong background of the Biology major with core science education and science electives, as well as a required practicum experience. Students receive specific education advising to integrate teaching and other essential professional experiences during their time at OSU.
Option Code: 226
Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:
- Explain and apply the fundamental concepts of the biological sciences, including biochemistry, cell and molecular biology and genetics; physiology and organismal biology; and ecology and evolution.
- Identify and access information (from primary literature and other relevant works) for a particular topic and evaluate the scientific content and context of these sources.
- Generate relevant and testable scientific questions, formulate testable hypotheses, and identify measurable predictions based on observations or previous research.
- Design and implement observational or experimental investigations to collect relevant data, and employ appropriate analytical methods to analyze that data.
- Interpret data and/or observations to support or refute hypotheses, draw conclusions, put findings in the context of current scientific knowledge and literature, and/or suggest future avenues of research.
- Use effective formal and informal communication (i.e., written, oral, graphical, multimedia) to convey scientific information in ways that are appropriate for scientific and non-scientific audiences for a particular topic and evaluating the scientific content and context of these sources.
- Integrate and analyze information within and across spatial and temporal scales as well as levels of biological organization.
- Identify, reflect upon, and evaluate assumptions, biases, and alternative hypotheses or interpretations for their own scientific claims or those of others.
- Justify the importance of science and science literacy for individuals and society.
- Integrate biology with other disciplines to make evidence-based decisions on socio-scientific issues.
- Explain how biases and societal factors affect the processes of science (and vice versa), access to participation in science, and the differential outcomes and impacts (both positive and negative) of science on individuals.
- Explain and justify the ethical standards of their discipline, evaluate the ethics of published science, and articulate their personal code of ethics.
- Use effective and appropriate forms of collaboration.
- Produce a self-assessment of interpersonal and academic behaviors needed to achieve their individual career goals.
The Pre-Education option requires 15 or fewer additional credits beyond the basic Biology major, and most students can complete the additional option coursework in four years. Courses used to satisfy the Pre-Education option requirements also satisfy the Physics or Computational and Quantitative Electives, Writing Intensive Course, and Experiential Learning or Integrative Biology Elective. The option will also fulfill the Core Education Difference, Power, and Oppression Advanced, and Beyond OSU II requirements.
Students may not declare more than one option in the Biology major. Option requirements can be shared with other programs unless those programs have restrictions on sharing.
For further information, see MyDegrees or the Integrative Biology website.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Science Education Core | ||
| ED 455 | +DISABILITY AT THE INTERSECTIONS: EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS & MARGINALIZED IDENTITIES | 3 |
| ED 472 | FOUNDATIONS OF ESOL EDUCATION | 3 |
| HDFS 313 | ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT | 4 |
| SED 413 | INQUIRY IN SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION | 3 |
| BI 319 | +^COMMUNICATION, THEORY, AND PRACTICE IN THE LIFE SCIENCES | 3 |
| PH 201 & PH 202 & PH 203 | +*GENERAL PHYSICS and *GENERAL PHYSICS and *GENERAL PHYSICS | 15 |
| Electives | ||
| Select a minimum of two courses from the following: 1 | 6-10 | |
| ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY | ||
| INORGANIC CHEMISTRY | ||
| OSU Integrated Science Endorsement | ||
| +*CLIMATE SCIENCE | ||
| METEOROLOGY | ||
| +*ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES | ||
| +*PHYSICAL GEOLOGY | ||
| +*EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE | ||
| +*EVOLUTION OF PLANET EARTH | ||
| +*SOCIETY AND VOLCANOES | ||
| +*MINERALS, ENERGY, WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT | ||
| *NATIONAL PARK GEOLOGY AND PRESERVATION | ||
| *GLOBAL CHANGE AND EARTH SCIENCES | ||
| +*OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| +*DESCRIPTIVE ASTRONOMY | ||
| Integrative Biology Electives (not for endorsement) 2 | ||
| ADVANCED HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY and ADVANCED HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY | ||
| OCEANS IN PERIL | ||
| MARINE ECOLOGY | ||
| SYMBIOSES AND THE ENVIRONMENT | ||
| FIELD METHODS IN ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION | ||
| BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION | ||
| PALEOBIOLOGY | ||
| PHYLOGENETICS | ||
| BIOGEOGRAPHY | ||
| POPULATION BIOLOGY | ||
| MONSTER BIOLOGY | ||
| DISEASE ECOLOGY | ||
| ANIMAL BEHAVIOR | ||
| INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY and INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY LABORATORY 3 | ||
or Z 461 | MARINE AND ESTUARINE INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY | |
| BIOLOGY OF INSECTS | ||
| VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY and VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY LABORATORY | ||
| GENETICS AND DEVELOPMENT | ||
| VERTEBRATE PHYSIOLOGY II and VERTEBRATE PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY | ||
| BEHAVIORAL NEUROBIOLOGY | ||
| HERPETOLOGY | ||
| Experiential Learning | ||
| Select any combination of three credits from the following: | ||
| TEACHING PRACTICUM (by approval) | ||
| RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP (by approval) | ||
| PROJECTS: CURATORIAL ASSISTANT (by approval) | ||
| ADVANCED TEACHING PRACTICUM (by approval) | ||
| INTERNSHIP (by approval) | ||
| FIELD PRACTICUM (if you have not met the teaching experience for admission to the MS program) | ||
Study abroad experiences by approval | ||
| Total Credits | 37-41 | |
- *
Baccalaureate Core course. Applies to general education requirements for undergraduate students in a catalog year up to 2024-2025
- +
Core Education course. Applies to general education requirements for undergraduate students in catalog year 2025-2026 and beyond
- ^
Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) course
- 1
Students work with the Biology Pre-Education option advisor to select a minimum of two elective courses, one of which must be upper-division
- 2
Cannot be shared with Biology major requirements
Option Code: 226