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Hey folks, I've been a classroom teacher for four years, a part-time science teacher for two years, and full-time science teacher for three years now. I was moved into the Science position because, basically, it was a needed spot at a new public school I helped to found and I had some experience teaching science. I took on the role with lots of enthusiasm and three years later, really want to stay as a Science Teacher. The problem is, my background in science is academically limited. I took AP Bio in High School, Chemistry and Chem Lab in college, and then went on to major in American Politics and Spanish American Literature. I earned my Masters in the Science of Teaching with an Elementary Education focus. I love science and read up as much as I can on my own, take webinars, etc, but would like to further my academic knowledge in order to make me competitive as a science teacher. I've been looking for online Elementary Science Ed programs and can't seem to find any. I would appreciate any and all suggestions.

Christian, I think it is great that you want to learn more in the area of science. I am very impressed you figured it out with only four years experience. I got my Masters in Science Education but as a second M.Ed but I was around 20-25 years into my career. I actually have a suggestion. It is Lesley College in Boston, MA. They have an online Masters in Science Education degree. I have two colleages who were part of this progra and cannot speak highly enough about it. Here is the link so you can check it out. If after looking , you are interested, I will connect you to one or both of them. http://scienceonline.terc.edu/ At this link, it tells you who to contact. I know Sue Doubler also. I hope this was helpful Kathy

Christian, What do you want to get from your graduate degree? Do you want additional content, pedagogy, the chance to do research, a oombination of content/pedagogy/theory/research? You specifically said a masters in Elementary Science Education. Those programs aren't common although masters programs in science education in general are more and more common and many are being pushed to go online. Before grabbing a degree program, you might want to outline what your goals are for your career (as Adah said, if you want to teach at the college level, you need 18 hours of graduate level content to do so) and what you need to get there. If you're interested in administration, that's an entirely different path in most states. That's a good place to start. Then investigate university websites to find out if they are offering an online master's degree that will get you where you want to be. For example, my institution, The University of Texas at Tyler, will have an online master's degree with a science education emphasis within a year. It can be quite generic unless you want to take the graduate science classes - but that part isn't online because of labs, field labs, etc. Other universities have perfected the online lab though. Bambi

Christian said,
I've been looking for online Elementary Science Ed programs and can't seem to find any.'
Hi Christian,
I know you are looking for elementary ed programs to increase your knowledge in science, but frankly those two things are incompatible. Besides the great suggestions already mentioned, another suggestion is to take additional college level science courses to get enough semester hours to qualify for a 'minor' in a science discipline. For example, in order to teach biological sciences in most high schools, administrators will be looking for at least 30 semester hours in that discipline. By adding science content courses, you will be able to increase your competency and confidence to teach science in K - 12. If you can show on a transcript that you have taken those key science courses, then you can usually take the state tests and become certified to teach specific science courses.
Christian also said, 'I love science and read up as much as I can on my own, take webinars, etc, but would like to further my academic knowledge in order to make me competitive as a science teacher.'
It sounds like you are acquainted with the webinar offerings through the NSTA Learning Center. Have you had a chance to complete a PD Indexer? If you have any questions please click on the Live Support icon and an online advisor can help you set up a Professional Development (PD) plan utilizing the online content quizzes. The NSTA has numerous resources to help you increase your knowledge and understanding of key science concepts in all of the major disciplines (and it's free). For example if you miss several questions in the Earth science indexer, then you will be provided resource suggestions like the science objects for Earth science.
I hope this helps.
Carolyn

Christian, I agree with many of the posts. What are your future goals? If you are wishing to remain a classroom teacher-the cheapest,easiest, and I think great way to extend your content knowledge is by using the SciObjects found in the NSTA Learning Center. If you have a young family; time and money is often a large factor in deciding what to do. I have suggested using the SciObjects to other teachers before and have found them to be very helpful. They are short (2 hour) training sessions in specific contents areas that you might be pursuing in your classroom. By using these Objects you can get the knowledge that you want and need in short manageable bites. There are also the SciPacks ($39) that take about 10 hours to complete. They are very thorough however. Even though I have degrees in science and math,I love the SciObjects. I constantly, before a new Unit, go back and refresh my knowledge by going through them. Science is so vast, especially if you are teaching a general course, that you are never an expert in all of the areas. Also, if you decide to take college courses, the LC has many resources that can help you with your course work. Good luck!

Hello Christian -

I echo the fantastic advice of my colleagues, if you can, take college courses in science and/or pursue a MS in Education degree, with a science emphasis. The MS degree would also open up opportunities for teaching at most 2 year colleges (junior colleges and technical colleges).

Of course, you will need to check with your state's department of public education to determine their requirements for teacher certification. Make sure you meet all those state requirements.

Check to see if your state has any 'Alternative Certification' pathways for people pursuing a science teaching certification outside of a traditional Bachelor's program in education. I pursued my teacher certification through an Alternative Certification program in Wisconsin (I decided to go into 7-12 science teaching after my graduate degree in science).

Also, I'd recommend you check to see if your state has any 'emergency certifications' or state teaching 'permits' in science, which is often a high need teaching area. When I lived in Texas years ago, I held a state Teaching Permit for High School Science in a rural area with a high need for science teachers.

It would be helpful to this discussion if the group knew which state you are in, so that we could help you narrow down your search.

Online programs are a great option, as they provide flexibility in both time and location, but you may run into paperwork snags if the program is in a different state. You'd be wise to verify up front that the online program would meet your state teacher requirements for certification.

Good luck!

Dorothy Ginnett

Hi Christian, I would like to second the Montana State program. Offered as a MS in education, the program offers a good variety of online classes in science, and if you really want a fantastic experience, spend a summer there and do some of the field classes. I started there taking an oceanography class to replace one at my local university (the content locally was too watered down) and ended up with a working oceanographer teaching the class online from Puerto Rico. The classes have been mostly very high quality, and I cannot speak highly enough of the experiences I have had, especially after a summer that included a field trip to Yellowstone to study bacteria in extreme environments. Do check it out!

Hi Christian,

Tina Harris posted: I have no idea how good the program is, but our state governor has been recommending Western Governor's University, which is a totally online school and has a varied program in education

I wanted to follow up on Tina's recommendation for Western Governors University. I attended WGU and earned a post-bacculaurate certificate in secondary science education (this is the preliminary work toward a Master's of Teaching in secondary science education, but I need to complete my research project and thesis). WGU has several different science education programs to choose from, so I'm sure you will find something to meet your needs. Additionally, the school is all on-line and is a competency based school. This enables you work at your own pace. For instance, if you are able to complete all of the tasks for a class in 1 month, you complete the course in one month. If it takes you 3 months, then you complete it in 3 months. You will work in 6 month blocks to complete your classes. Each student is assigned a mentor who calls you twice a month to check on your progress, answer questions, and provide support.

WGU offers an excellent educational model for graduate students who have dynamic schedules, jobs, families, etc. If you have any more questions about the program, please either write back here or private message me and I'd be happy to answer your questions.

Good Luck!

Maureen