Program Overview

The program of study for the chemistry/mathematics majors provides many benefits to students, such as close student-faculty contact and relatively small classes. The students have direct access to modern laboratory equipment and instrumentation, and there are opportunities for research work under the direction of a faculty advisor. As a practical matter, Mathematics is a science of pattern and order. Its domain is not molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form, algorithms, and change. As a science of abstract objects, Mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as its standard of truth, yet employs observation, simulation, and even experimentation as means of discovering truth.” From: Everybody Counts: A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education (c) 1989 National Academy of Sciences.

Teaching mathematics and chemistry is a challenge, a responsibility, and an opportunity. Learning to teach mathematics and chemistry occurs through a variety of means: the study of a wide variety of mathematics and chemistry, pedagogical preparation within a mathematical and science context, formal clinical preparation in education, an extended internship, and continual experiences as a student, learner, and problem solver in mathematics and chemistry.

Everyone aspiring to be a mathematics and chemistry teacher is aware of the demand for qualified teachers at the secondary level, but there is an even greater need for quality mathematics and chemistry teachers - teachers who care about students, mathematics and chemistry teachers who have a broad and deep understanding of mathematics and chemistry and teachers who are thoroughly professional. The responsibilities are great, but the rewards are even greater.

As a prospective teacher you need to focus on expanding your personal understanding of mathematics and chemistry and capitalizing on opportunities to work with pre-college students as a tutor, as a classroom assistant, as a practicum student, and as a novice teacher in your internship.