COURSE CURRICULUM

The Chemistry Education, B.S. program at Avila University requires students to complete a comprehensive set of core, education, and content-specific courses to prepare for teaching chemistry at the high school level. As part of the liberal arts core, students complete mathematics, typically MA 125 Precalculus, and a natural science with lab, such as BI 111 General Biology: Cells & Genes or BI 112 General Biology: Ecology & Evolution. The program includes 46 credit hours of education courses covering foundational and specialized pedagogy, including developmental and educational psychology, psychology of the exceptional child, tests and measurements, multicultural foundations, general and advanced teaching methods, technology in education, reading strategies and interventions, classroom management, and culminates in the Final Clinical Experience and Education Capstone. Chemistry-specific content courses total 42-44 credit hours and include General Chemistry I and II, Organic Chemistry I, Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry I, Physical Chemistry for the Biological Sciences, and Calculus & Analytic Geometry I, along with Physical Geology and a physics course option. Students also select courses in ecology, conservation, or human-environment interactions and complete a course in Women & Science, Scientific Thinking, or a Special Topics course in the history and philosophy of science and technology. This integrated curriculum combines rigorous chemistry knowledge with practical teaching experience, ensuring candidates are well-prepared for certification and effective instruction in high school chemistry classrooms.