Graduate Programs

MAT General Science for K-8 Teachers

Michigan State University’s Colleges of Natural Science and Education jointly offer a Master’s of Arts – Teaching in General Science for K-8 Teachers. This program allows candidates to take science courses tailored specifically for K-8 teachers in conjunction with courses exploring new techniques of teaching math and science. The science content courses offered summers were developed by the College of Natural Science’s Division of Science and Mathematics Education with input from practicing teachers. They are taught by qualified secondary science teachers with extensive experience in meeting the needs of K-8 teachers. All courses use the Michigan Curriculum Framework for Science and AAAS’s Benchmarks as guidelines. The pedagogy courses, taught by science and math education experts in the College of Education, are usually offered weekday evenings during the school year.

Eligibility:

Teachers must have a valid K-8 teaching certificate, should have a minimum of one year teaching experience and currently hold a teaching position.

Time for Completing the Program:

Full-time teachers should expect to complete their program in a minimum of three years. Many may require four or five years for completion.

Notes:

1. Candidates may transfer up to nine credits from another institution or program, with the permission of their guidance committee.
   
   
2. The role of the guidance committee is to:
   • • Evaluate prior coursework for acceptance into the program
   • • Help candidates formulate, design and execute project (SME      889—see below)
   • • Answer any questions regarding the degree program
     
     
3. The independent project (SME 889) will be based on improving the teaching of science and/or math in the candidate’s school. These projects could include, but certainly are not limited to:
   • • Rewriting science/math curriculum for all classrooms at a grade level
   • • Designing and implementing a science/math room or supply closet in your school
   • • Developing a physical science, earth science, or life science articulated curriculum for your school

The following is a brief description of the required courses for the MAT in General Science.

SME 828 ~ Energy and Matter ~ 3 credits
Participants learn about matter, changes of states of matter and energy transfer and transformation. Basic characteristics of matter, properties of elements, states of matter, conservation of mass, mass/volume relationships, atoms and molecules, etc. are presented with appropriate hands-on materials. Other “everyday chemistry” topics presented are acids and bases and polymerization.

SME 829 ~ Everyday Physics ~ 3 credits
Commonly observed and taught physical phenomena such as electricity and magnetism, force and motion, heat, and sound and light are the focus of this course. Participants investigate electrical current and circuits, magnets and magnetic fields, inertia, gravity, rocketry, pendulums, forms of energy, conduction/convention/radiation, molecular motion, conductors and insulators, nature and propagation of waves and the use of toys to teach these concepts.

SME 832 ~ Weather and Space Science ~ 3 credits
The sun and its planetary system are studied in detail. A basic “cruise” through the planets takes place, including exploration of the moon. Weather phenomena and patterns, which are dependant on the physical characteristics of the earth, are incorporated into each day's work. Hurricanes and tornadoes, as well as the greenhouse effect, climate change and weather forecasting are studied.

SME 833 ~ Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils ~ 3 credits
Basic information in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks and the geological processes that led to their formation is provided in an exploratory format. The rocks provide us with a record of these processes: volcanoes, mud slides, earthquakes and sifting sand. A study of sedimentary rocks includes information on fossils (including dinosaurs!).

SME 838 ~ Cells and Organisms ~ 3 credits
What is alive and what is not? What are the smallest units of life? How do plants store and use food? How can you classify organisms? These questions will be answered by investigating and manipulating one-celled organisms, plants and their offspring, photosynthesis and characteristics of vertebrates and invertebrates. A simple, clear analysis of reproduction and heredity concludes the course.

SME 839 ~ Interrelationships of Organisms – Ecosystems ~ 3 credits
This course explores the following questions: How are parts of an ecosystem related and how do they interact? How is energy distributed to living things in an ecosystem? How do materials cycle through an ecosystem and get reused in the environment? How do communities of living things change over a period of time? How do humans interact with the environment?

Required courses for the MAT – General Science.

For more information, please contact:
Merle Heidemann, Director
Michigan State University
Division of Science and Mathematics Education
118 North Kedzie Lab
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-2152, Ext. 107
E-mail: heidema2@msu.edu