Faculty:

• Steven G. Bassett, Ph.D.
• Jessica Brzyski, Ph.D.
• Daniel Casebeer, Ph. D.
• Jamie Fornsaglio, Ph.D.
• Kathleen Harris, Ph.D.
• Bobbie Leeper, Ph.D.
• Robert Michalow, Ph.D.  
• Ja’Nean Reay Ph.D.         

For teaching certification requirements and learning objectives go to ”Education -Teaching Certification ”.

Learning Objectives: Biology

1. Demonstrate the proper use of the language of biological science in oral and written communications.
2. Utilize the Internet as an information and communication resource in the practice of biological science.
3. Summarize one’s own data and interpret others’ data through the use of graphs, charts, and tables.
4. Communicate to others one’s knowledge of key biological concepts. 
5. Address the unity of life at the cellular, organism, and population levels. Comprehend that evolution is the source of both unity and diversity in living and extinct organisms.
6. Identify key concepts of biological science including those from the disciplines of anatomy, ecology, evolution, genetics, molecular biology, physiology, and systematics.
7. Discuss the relationships between biology and the disciplines of chemistry, mathematics, and physics.
8. Apply a scientific approach to problem solving.
9. Access, read, and analyze the scientific literature.
10. Distinguish between pseudoscience and authentic science.
11. Identify and gain experience with the tools of biological research including those associated with the laboratory, field studies, and computers.
12. Analyze one or more biological subdisciplines to formulate original questions and synthesize information in ways that go beyond memorization of facts.
13. Develop and test a hypothesis in a laboratory setting.
14. Delineate the influence that biological ideas and discoveries have had on the development of culture and society.
15. Identify a role for one’s self in the global community of individuals who pursue scientific solutions to many of the problems that plague humanity.
16. Analyze the insights provided by science concerning the impact of human activities on the environment.
17. Identify and be prepared for specific career options associated with biological science, including those that require graduate-level education.
18. Address the important role that personal integrity and honesty play in the continuing advance of science.
19. Evaluate ethical considerations associated with applications of biotechnology, especially in the fields of ecology and genetics. Be able to express one’s own position on such issues.
20. Advocate the need for women to pursue careers in the sciences.

This certificate program prepares the student for a teaching certificate for seventh through twelfth grade.