Masters of Science Teaching Science
General Science

About the Center for Science Education

The Center for Science Education (CSE) exists to enhance science teaching and understanding through innovative education, research and community outreach programs. These programs have been successful in gaining national support from such prestigious organizations as the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Education. Graduate students in the MST program participate in and contribute to these programs through their scholarship. Past graduate students have had the opportunity to attend and present their research at professional conferences such as the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching and at the International Conference on Service Learning. The CSE's pedagogy follows an inquiry process that challenges students to develop new ways of viewing science education. Students are expected to carry these techniques back to the community, thereby creating more knowledgeable students with a greater capacity for inquiry and a better informed citizenry.

1.0 Program Background

The CSE offers two MST programs.

• Track one is an MST program designed for those who are preparing to teach informal science or in higher education or already hold a teaching certificate. This program is suited to persons who are: current and future teachers desiring to enhance science teaching skills or individuals interested in science interpretation for the general public.
• Track two is the MST portion of the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program. The Noyce program is a two year program designed specifically for pre-service science and math teachers. The first year of this program includes graduate level science content courses and courses that will support scholarship in the area of science education research. The goal of the program is to prepare students for teaching in diverse classrooms in high needs schools. The second year of Noyce program is the Graduate Teacher Education Program (GTEP), where students complete the requirements to earn a recommendation for an Oregon Teaching Certificate and complete their science education research project. The Noyce program includes a scholarship stipend that supports approximately 80% of the cost of the program.

2.0 Admission to the Program

Program Entrance Requirements

All applicants to the MST program must either have a Bachelors of Science or Arts degree from an accredited college or a degree that is equivalent to Portland State University's Liberal Studies, General Science degree. Please refer to the PSU bulletin General Interdisciplinary Studies and Liberal Studies description to determine if your degree meets the requirements for admission to the MST program.

Professional experience in teaching and in the sciences will be considered and applicants with suitable experience may possibly be "conditionally" accepted to the MST program. Those applicants lacking a degree in science will be required to take supplemental science courses either prior to formal admission to the program or during the first year of the two years program. Students with less then 12 credits left to earn in order to qualify for the program will be required to take additional courses during the first year of the program. The MST Admissions Committee makes this decision.

A minimum of a 3.0 GPA is required for consideration of acceptance to this program.

The CSE adheres to the Office of Admissions' graduate student policies regarding admission, enrollment policies, credit regulations, academic standing, and academic honesty. Students should also familiarize themselves with the General Requirements for Graduate Degrees, as described in the Portland State University Admission website at: http://www.pdx.edu/admissions/grad_apply.html

And in the General Graduate Admission section of the current PSU Bulletin on page 7. The current bulletin is available on-line at: https://stage.www.pdx.edu/media/r/e/reg_bulletin_2008_2009.pdf

MST Inquires

Please contact MST program coordinator Jennifer Wells at 503-725-8345 or wellj@pdx.edu for more information about the MST program. If you are interested in exploring whether or not this program will suit your professional development needs or if you want to discuss whether or not you have the educational background suitable for acceptance to the program, she would be more then happy to meet with you either in person or on the phone. Please call or email for an appointment.

All CSE departmental application materials should be sent to:

Portland State University, Center for Science Education (CSE), P.O. Box 751, Portland, Oregon 97221, to the attention of Jennifer Wells.

Information for Graduate Applications can be found on the PSU website at: http://www.gsr.pdx.edu/forms/grad_app.pdf

If an incomplete application is submitted to the CSE, it is the applicant's responsibility to follow up to complete the application and to periodically contact Jennifer Wells to ensure that the materials have been received by the department.

Table One: General Requirements for Admission to the MST Program

• Departmental Application Form
  One official transcript from every college or university attended, including PSU, junior colleges and community colleges
• Resume
• Letter of Intent: Entering the MST Program requires forethought, including an understanding of student goals and how they can be met through the MST program. These thoughts should be laid out in a one to two page letter of intent.
• Two letters of recommendation from a faculty member, community partner and/or workplace associate. The person writing the letter of recommendation should include how long they have known the applicant and in what context. Skills they may wish to address are: Leadership Skills, Initiative/Motivation, Written Communication Skills, Oral Communication Skills, Scholastic Achievement in Field, Group Process Skills, Creativity, Responsibility and Teaching Skills (if pertinent).
• GRE Scores

3.0 Acceptance to the Program

The MST is open to all students who meet the academic prerequisites addressed here. Due to the limited number of advisors available, not all students that apply and meet the acceptance criteria may be accepted for a particular start date. Once the student has completed the application procedure, their materials will be reviewed. They will be notified of their status within 60 days. Students will be accepted as regular, conditional or deferred.

REGULAR STATUS: Those students meeting all prerequisites for the program with appropriate science background, GPA, recommendations, and program goals.

CONDITIONAL STATUS: A "conditional status" may be given to those students with academic deficiencies, including a low GPA or a weak science background. The committee will provide students with recommendations for upgrading their status to regular. Students accepted as "conditional" are still eligible for departmental assistantships. Students must notify the department and provide transcripts when they have met the requirements to upgrade their status to "regular."

DEFERRED STATUS: A "deferred status" may be given to those students with academic deficiencies, including a low GPA or an inadequate science background. The committee will provide students with recommendations for upgrading their status to regular. Students meeting all program admissions requirement may also receive a "DEFERRED STATUS" if the program has reached maximum enrollment and an advisor is not available. Students accepted as "deferred" are not eligible for departmental assistantships.

After acceptance by the CSE, a copy of the student's acceptance letter is forwarded to the Office of Admissions and Records. Following confirmation of eligibility by the Office of Admissions and Records, students are free to start the program. The Office of Admissions and Records determines residency status, calculates applicable grade point averages, and verifies that an accredited institution awarded the student's baccalaureate degree. The Office of Admissions and Records will notify the student as to whether or not their eligibility was confirmed.

Selecting an MST Committee and Lead Advisor

MST students are required to complete a Masters thesis or Masters project. The CSE currently supports a large number of science education research projects that are grouped into "Affinity Groups" and that are mentored by a CSE faculty member. Upon beginning the program, new MST students will receive an orientation on the current research initiatives within the department and new research opportunities that faculty has expressed an interest in pursuing. Students will attend one or more of the six research affinity group's meetings over the course of the fall term to learn more about the research projects and then select the research project that they are interested in joining. Once the student has selected a project, it is the responsibility of the student to contact the professor that is working with that particular research project as the lead faculty MST advisor and set up an interview date to discuss the possibility of joining the research group. In some cases, there may be more then one professor working with a research project. It is up to the student to decide which professor to ask to be his or her lead faculty advisor. Once the lead advisor relationship is established, that advisor will then help the student to consider two additional committee members that the student will then ask to serve on his or her committee. The main role of the lead advisor is to assist with the research project and to provide academic guidance in terms of course selection. The role of the committee members is to provide expertise that relates to the research project.

4.0 Financial Aid

Graduate Assistantships and other forms of financial aid may be available depending on departmental funding. Please fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, available in the Financial Aid Office. The CSE attempts to provide funding for as many of its graduate students as possible. CSE graduate assistants work at the university level as teaching assistants, research assistants or assessment specialist, while others work in the schools, supporting CSE community based education projects. The CSE also works with other departments on campus to place our graduate students in assistantships with other programs such as the MESA program and in the science departments. Those students, who are funded, usually receive tuition remissions, an earned stipend and campus office space.

5.0 MST Program Coursework

MST Thesis or Project: The MST degree requires a masters thesis or a project. This is to be a piece of research in the field of science education on a topic of mutual interest to the student and the student's advisor. The purpose of the thesis is to synthesize different elements of the student's coursework, to develop communication and presentation skills required for professional work and to demonstrate an understanding of research design and methodology. Students may take more than six thesis credits but only six apply towards the MST degree. Recent student research projects include "Wetlands Education as a Service Learning Opportunity" and "Science Education for At-risk Youth Performing Non-native Invasive Plant Recognition and Removal at a Regional Park."

The CSE sponsors a research conference each year where students present their research and participate in research workshops that are specifically designed in response to the needs articulated by the students, advisors and Affinity Group leaders.

Course Work: A minimum of 45 credits are required to graduate with an MST degree.

For those entering the track II MST, Noyce Scholarship program, in preparation to teach secondary level science it is recommended that students meet with the science department endorsement advisor to assess what courses are needed to earn the appropriate endorsement. Secondary level Science endorsement course requirements are listed in the PSU Bulletin under each of the science departments and Jennifer Wells is available to help you to figure out which endorsement advisor to visit. The Integrated Sciences endorsement requirements are posted in the Geology section of the PSU Bulletin. In some cases it is possible to make adjustments to the proscribed endorsement course plan by working closely with the science department endorsement advisor. It is also recommended that all Noyce applicants meet with a GTEP cohort advisor to learn about the program and discuss what pre-requisites are necessary to qualify for the program. Acceptance to the Noyce program does not guarantee acceptance to the MST or GTEP so it is critically important that students establish contact with faculty from each program to ensure good communication in preparation for submitting a strong application.

Graduate students may take one undergraduate level course per term in addition to the nine (9) graduate level courses per term.

          Table 1

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Table 2

                      Table 2.1

Center for Science Education Course Offerings

SCI 507 MSTS Seminar: The CSE graduate seminar serves as an important setting in which to read and discuss science education research professional literature, and present ongoing as well as finished PSU graduate and faculty research. It is expected that graduate students attend and participate in the MST seminar as a key part of their professional education. Noyce Scholars are required to attend three trimesters of this seminar. Track one MST students are required to take two term of the seminar but strongly encouraged to attend as many terms as possible.

SCI 510 Teaching to Diversity Seminar: This is a three consecutive term course designed specifically for track 2 MST, Noyce Scholars to explore issues of cultural competency for classroom teachers. Noyce Scholars learn about a variety of cultural groups represented in k-12 classrooms in the Portland area through readings, cultural immersion experiences, and dialogue with parents and teachers. By the end of the seminar, Noyce Scholars gain an emerging familiarity with these cultural communities and reflect on ways to teach effectively to a diversity of students.

SCI 510 Forging Community Partnerships: An important approach for learning and teaching for the University and for the Center For Science Education is service learning. This course presents the CSE model for program and curriculum development through service and community partnerships. The course considers various models of project-based learning and explores approaches to incorporating community resources into the design of curriculum that involves students in doing inquiry-based science in ways that strive to serve real needs in the community. Participants will discuss approaches to involving community partners in working directly with students and teachers on contextually based projects and explore various avenues for funding project including grant writing and negotiating sponsorships of projects.

Research Based Learning Courses:
Fall Term: Research Based Learning I
This course is designed to teach educators how to engage their own students in the process of scientific inquiry. Working with faculty, students experience the methods and processes of scientific inquiry, including experimental design, the recording, quantification, and interpretation of observations and effective communication of results.

Winter Term: Research Based Learning II
This course is designed to support the MST Masters Thesis or Project. Students explore professional literature to gain an understanding of many important issues and questions pertinent to contemporary science education. Participants in the course are provided with guidance in the development of their contribution to a CSE or partnering department's science education research project. At the same time, students will develop an understanding of an array of quantitative and qualitative social science research instruments such as various statistical analysis models and approaches to case study analysis.

ESR 570 Environmental Education: An overview of the purpose and scope of environmental education. Provides and educational framework and examples of a variety of sites where environmental education is practiced. Specific examples of teaching strategies, materials and methods will be presented. Students will be expected to carry out a site-based project utilizing some of the materials developed in class.

SCI 503 Thesis or Project credit: Offered in all terms. Working with a lead thesis advisor and two thesis committee members, students do literature searches, prepare a research or project proposal, implement the research or project, analyze and synthesize data and write a thesis or project summary in accordance to the protocols determined by the university and the academic advisor. Students then defend their thesis before their committee of at least three faculty members including the lead academic advisor.

ASC 510 Assessment of Student Achievement: This course is designed for educators interested in exploring the underlying theory of academic assessment. Using the work of the statewide committees that are currently redesigning the state of Oregon's statewide science standards and assessment for K-12 as a backdrop for understanding, students will explore assessment as scholarship. Students will consider background literature, concepts and terminology of assessment including learning what constitutes measurable student learning outcomes and looking at the differences between grading and assessment. The course will explore practical approaches for designing assessment plans including the development of assessment measures using qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment and how to achieve validity and reliability of assessment measures. Students explore approaches to survey development, interview techniques, portfolios, assessing writing and critical thinking, assessing learning environments and scoring student work samples. The course also examines use of technology in assessment and using assessment results for program improvement.

SCI 410/510 Diversity and Equity Issues in Science/Science Education: This course will explore the persistent under-representation of women and minorities in the sciences and engineering. A growing body of scholarship indicates that the demographic characteristics of the practitioners of science have implications for the way science is done and how it is used. Thus it is critical for science educators to become aware of the roles they play in shaping the population of future generations of scientists. We will examine the factors that effect diversity in the sciences by 1.) understanding the demographic characteristics of scientists and engineers in the US and globally, and how the science and engineering "pipeline" has changed over time, 2.) analyzing research that attempts to investigate the underlying causes for the disproportionate representation of women and minorities in science and engineering and 3.) examining intervention programs including the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program and Math and Science Partnership Programs such as the Oregon Teacher Scholars Program and pedagogical approaches that attempt to address diversity and equity issues in science.