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Degree Requirements

Students must meet all university requirements for a bachelor’s degree; and, in addition, students must complete the General Education Requirement for Teacher Certification, Initial Secondary Certificate listed below. Completion of this requirement meets the general education requirement.

In addition, students must:

  1. have a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.75 or higher;
  2. earn a grade of “C” or better in all general education courses;
  3. have a G.P.A. of 2.75 or higher for all general education courses taken at Governors State University;
  4. have a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher in biology, physics, earth and space science, and chemistry courses with a grade of “C” or better in each course;
  5. have a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher for EDCP3101, EDUC4440, and SPED4100, with a grade of “C” or better in each course;
  6. earn a grade of “B” or better in EDUC33200, EDUC2310, EDUC4330, and EDUC4340;
  7. earn a grade of “B” or better in EDUC4999;
  8. complete a minimum of 100 clock-hours of supervised pre-student teaching experiences;
  9. provide evidence of successful completion of the Illinois and U.S. Constitution examinations;
  10. complete at least one three-hour course in non-western or third world cultures;
  11. complete the following course work with a grade of “C” or better: eight hours of general biology with laboratory, three hours of botany with laboratory, three hours of zoology with laboratory, eight hours of general chemistry with laboratory, eight hours of organic chemistry with laboratory;
  12. show evidence of having passed the Assessment of Professional Teaching;
  13. meet any additional requirements listed in the Teacher Certification section of this catalog; and
  14. receive a positive recommendation from the Secondary Education Student Progress Committee.

I. General Education Requirements for Teacher Certification, Initial Secondary Certificate, Biology (48 Hours)


The following courses must be taken at the lower-division level:

General Biology with Lab (8)
General Chemistry with Lab (8)

The following courses can be taken at either the lower-division or upper-division level and must include at least one three-hour course in non-Western or Third World cultures:

Written Communication (6)
Oral Communication (3)
American History (3)
U.S. Government (3)
Humanities (6)
Fine Arts (3)
Introduction to Psychology (3)
Health (2)
MATH 2281 Applied Calculus (3)

II. Required Courses (87 Hours)


The following courses can be taken at either the lower-division or upper-division level:

Botany with Laboratory (3)
Zoology with Laboratory (3)
Organic Chemistry with Laboratory (8)
BIOL 3360 Comparative Anatomy (3)
BIOL 3361 Comparative Anatomy Laboratory (1)
BIOL 4430 Microbiology (3)
BIOL 4431 Microbiology Laboratory (1)
EDUC 2310 Foundations of Education (3)
PHYS 3141 Intermediate Physics I (3)
PHYS 3142 Intermediate Physics I Laboratory (1)
PHYS 3143 Intermediate Physics II (3)
PHYS 3144 Intermediate Physics II Laboratory (1)
SPED 4100 Survey of Exceptional Children (3)

The following courses must be taken at the upper-division level:

BIOL 3322 Ecology (3)
BIOL 3323 Ecology Laboratory (1)
BIOL 3340 Genetics (3)
BIOL 3370 Cell Biology (3)
BIOL 3371 Cell Biology Laboratory (1)
BIOL 4450 Animal Physiology (3)
BIOL 4451 Animal Physiology Laboratory (1)
BIOL 4460 Plant Physiology (3)
BIOL 4461 Plant Physiology Laboratory (1)
BIOL 4491 Undergraduate Research I (1)
BIOL 4492 Undergraduate Research II (1)
EDCP 3101 Introduction to Educational Technology (3)
EDUC 4330 Principles of Science Education (3)
EDUC 4340 Teaching Secondary School Science (3)
EDUC 4440 Educational Psychology in Action (3)
EDUC 4999 Student Teaching: Secondary Biology (12)
PHYS 3211 Earth and Space Science (3)
STAT 4129 Statistical Methods (3)

III. Total - 135 Hours