The Physics Education Certification program is one of four science education certifications offered by Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In the last forty years, approximately 150 students have received Pennsylvania State Certification in Physics from IUP.

Our teaching philosophy states:

“The science education faculty at Indiana University of Pennsylvania believes that the preparation of science teachers for middle/secondary school classrooms must include strong backgrounds in both pedagogy and a science discipline. As such, science education majors at the university complete essentially the same core of courses as their non-education peers do in the discipline. Each science education program at IUP follows the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers Association for constructivist-based instruction. Since student-centered teaching is modeled by the science education faculty in the classroom, IUP's pre-service teaching graduates are used to blending cooperation, challenge, and critical exploration in their teaching. The National Research Council states such teaching effectively promotes scientific literacy for all students.” (from the IUP Science Education recruitment brochure)

The IUP College of Education (COE) offers Bachelor of Science in Education Degrees in Earth and Space Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. The College of Education supports our programs in many ways. Each year the college hosts meetings and workshops for administrators, cooperating teachers, support personnel, who are involved with our student teachers, and university supervisors. The COE report explains in detail its mission, its work with local education entities, its collaboration with numerous members of professional education, and its reporting and admission/advising/monitoring procedures. These procedures and practices are discussed and approved by the Teacher Education Coordinating Council (TECC), a committee of all the coordinators of the education programs in the University. The committee meets monthly during the academic year.