Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Graduate Catalog 
    
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2024-2025 Graduate Catalog

STEM Education, Graduate Certificate

About the Certificate

The STEM Education graduate certificate program is for prospective and practicing teachers, PreK-12 educators with or without STEM background, instructional coaches, school administrators, and informal educators.

The program will prepare prospective and practicing teachers to integrate and incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to PreK-12 instruction inside and outside the classroom. The program was developed in response to the calls at the national and local levels to recruit, educate and support PreK-12 educators to plan, teach, assess, and reflect on integrated STEM instruction. Teachers will study the core ideas in science, cross-cutting concepts, and science and engineering practices based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Specifically, the goals of the STEM Education program are to:

  • Enhance teachers’ knowledge building and development of disciplinary core ideas in science (i.e. physical, Earth system, life, environment).
  • Develop teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in teaching integrated STEM with connections to literacy (reading and writing). PCK includes teachers’ assessment of student learning, teaching orientation, knowledge and use of suitable resources and curricula.
  • Improve teachers’ ability to incorporate, develop and implement instructions, units of study, and curricula with the following STEM practices: (a) use of students’ prior knowledge to ask questions or define problems, (b) develop  conceptual or physical models, (c) use models to design experiments or prototypes, (d) conduct experiments to test these models, (e) construct explanations and solutions, (f) use and apply mathematics and technology, (g) revise models or prototypes, and (h) argue in light of new evidence (NRC, 2012).
  • Foster teachers’ scientific, mathematical, and technological skills.
  • Develop the next generation of teacher leaders with global perspectives towards STEM, society, education, energy, environment, and sustainability. 
  • Promote students’ 21st century skills such as creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication through STEM practices.
  • Increase the number of teachers with STEM Education background.
  • Enhance partnerships between Arcadia University and PreK-12 School Districts in the professional development of teachers and redesign of science curricula to integrate STEM Education.

Study Abroad

Highly unique to Arcadia’s Graduate Certificate in STEM is its integrated study abroad program that includes 40 hours of fieldwork in Sicily. Arcadia is ranked first in the U.S. in study abroad programs according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors Report. Note that the study abroad component is only available to students enrolled in the Arcadia University Graduate Certificate in STEM Education.

Certificate Requirements (15 credits)

NOTE: Transfer credit is not permitted in this program.

All students completing a graduate Education certificate or other non-degree program are required to submit an AU Graduate Program (non-degree) Completion form.

STEM Endorsement Requirements

Recognized and endorsed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. A valid and active Instructional I certificate is required to add an area of Endorsement.