FASTFACTS

As a middle school science major, you receive an education that prepares you to lead a classroom. Courses like Middle School Science Methods, Educational Psychology and Directed Teaching provide you with the skill set to lead this unique age group. You’ll also take Earth Science, Biological Concepts and General Chemistry.
You can observe real classroom settings before student teaching during the final semester of your senior year. You’ll do everything that is expected of a middle school science teacher, but you’ll have guidance too. Your cooperating teacher and a faculty member in PC’s Department of Education will meet with you regularly to help you along the way.
As a capstone to the major, you conduct a comprehensive project or original research in middle school science education. During this process, you will learn to read and interpret research articles, plan a research study to complete in a school setting, collect data, analyze data and present research findings to your peers and PC faculty. The middle school science major prepares you for the licensing exam – required of all education majors – and for the real-world classroom.
Middle school science teachers work in public, private and charter schools. Those who go on to earn a graduate or doctoral degree also have the opportunity to teach at the college or university levels.
According to PayScale, the average salary of a middle school science teacher is $43,088.
Eighty-two percent of PC education graduates begin their teaching careers right after they graduate. PC education students are well-prepared for the national licensure examinations and experience a high pass rate. Our graduates are employed in rural, urban and suburban areas across the United States. Some go abroad to teach.
PC education majors become school teachers, principals, district office administrators and school board members. Majoring in education doesn’t mean you can only teach after you graduate. You may choose to pursue a career outside the classroom. In recent years, some PC education majors have become nurses and psychologists.