PH.D. Program*

• Admission Requirements
• Ph.D. Program Requirements
• Financial Aid

Please contact Professor Brian Hand, Coordinator of Science Education, if you are considering applying to this program. 

Admission Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in Science Education is appropriate for those who aspire to college and university positions as science educators; major supervisory posts in national, state, and local systems; teachers in small liberal arts colleges; instructors of general education science courses at major universities; positions as research directors in science education; or positions in medical and/or allied health education.

Applicants should have:

• A bachelor’s degree in a given science area (or combination of science areas), science education, or a degree in elementary education with a science emphasis.
• A 3.0 GPA on undergraduate studies and any previous graduate work.
• A minimum combined score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
• Three letters of recommendation.
• A statement of purpose describing reasons for pursuing graduate work as well as the goals toward which you are working
• An example of student’s academic writing

Transcripts, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, statement of purpose and example of academic writing are all used by faculty members in recommending action on an application.  Consideration of applications cannot occur until all of these data are available.   

Students from non-English speaking countries must complete the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based test, 215 on the computer-based test or 81 on the internet based test.  Students scoring between 550 and 600 on the paper-based test, or between 213 and 250 on the computer-based test and 81 and 100 on the internet based test, are required to sit for an English evaluation and take whatever English proficiency courses are prescribed as a result of the evaluation.

A Master of Science degree in Science Education may be conferred in this program by meeting all requirements of the Masters degree in Science Education.

Students applying to the PhD program who have a master’s degree from another institution will have coursework evaluated for inclusion of appropriate courses into the plan of study and may be required to take additional coursework to meet the requirements of the program.

Ph.D. Program Requirements

A total of 85 s.h. of coursework and research are required for the Ph.D. degree in Science Education.

 Science Education (15 s.h.)

7S:257 Learning in the Science Classroom*                                                  3 s.h.

7S:259 Advanced Pedagogy*                                                                      3 s.h.

7S/7E:250 Assessment in Teaching & Research*                                         3 s.h.

7S:258 Writing in the Science Classroom                                                     3 s.h.

160:195 Issues in Rhetoric of Science                                                          3 s.h.

7S:256 Nature of Science                                                                            3 s.h.

Education (12 s.h.)

7S/7E:304 Schooling in the United States* OR                                            3 s.h.

7S:333 Seminar on Teacher Education*

7E:300 Design and Organization of Curriculum                                            3 s.h.

7P:200 Educational Psychology                                                                  3 s.h.

7P:275 Constructivism and Design of Instruction                                         3 s.h.

Research Methods (15 s.h.)

7P:143 Intro to Statistical Methods                                                             3 s.h.

7P:202 Understanding Educational Research*                                             3 s.h.

7C:338 Essentials of Qualitative Inquiry                                                       3 s.h.

7P:220 Quantitative Educational Research Methods                                    3 s.h.

7S/7E:451 Advanced Qualitative Data Anlysis                                            3 s.h.

Research (21 s.h)._

7S:355 Research in Science Education (Research work with

individual faculty) – 5 semester registrations of 3 s.h.                                    15 s.h.

7S:350 Science Ed Seminar (3-1 s.h. registrations)                                      3 s.h.

Science (12 s.h.)

To reflect a family of courses in major science area                                      12 s.h.

Thesis (10 s.h.)

7S:493 PhD Thesis                                                                                     10 s.h.

                                                                                        Total s.h.             85 s.h.

 *No substitute course will be approved for these courses.

Financial Aid

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available in Science Education. They usually involve teaching and/or supervising in the undergraduate teacher preparation program courses and practicum experiences. An application for assistantship may be requested at the time of application to the program by contacting the Science Education Office, 319 335-1168, or e-mail valia-dentino@uiowa.edu

A listing of all graduate assistantships in the College of Education is available in the Student Services Office, N310 Lindquist Center. Assistantships are often available in the specific science departments (e.g., biology, chemistry, physics). Additional information concerning financial aid can be found in the Office of Student Financial Aid, 208 Calvin Hall, 335-1450 (www.uiowa.edu/homepage/hub/financial-aid.html).

Special Graduate Assistantships in Education are available in a limited number through the Iowa Testing Programs and the Iowa Measurement Research Foundation to support student research work.

Contact Information

Brian Hand

Program Coordinator

brian-hand@uiowa.edu

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