You can learn more about doctoral degrees by referencing the School of Teaching & Learning website on the different degrees available to students.
Admission Criteria
- Earned master’s degree in science education, environmental education, or a related field
- Acceptable scores on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
- Two to three years of relevant work experience either in classroom teaching or work at an informal science or environmental education site
- Strong content background: equivalent to a master’s degree in a science content area
- All other requirements for School of Teaching & Learning doctoral students
Minimum Requirements for Completion of Doctoral Program
This degree requires a minimum of 90 hours of graduate coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree.
Required coursework can be broken down into seven major categories:
- Area of Specialization: 12-15 credits in science education, educational technology, or environmental education
- Content Area Specialization: 12-15 credits of upper level/graduate science conent coursework (preferably courses with a laboratory or field experience component)
- Curriculum and Foundations: 6 credits in curriculum or foundations including psychological, social, or historical foundations
- Doctoral Seminars: 6 credits of doctoral seminars in the School of Teaching & Learning
- Research Methods: 12 credits of educational research coursework in qualitative or quantitative research
- Doctoral Research: 12-24 credits of supervised dissertation research
To earn the formal Concentration in Science Education, which will appear on your final transcript, students must complete the following as part of the required coursework:
- 9 credits of any SCE prefix at the 6000 level or higher (see SCE courses in the graduate catalog)
- 9 credits of any prefix at the 5000 level or higher from a college other than education that is affiliated with a science, medical or engineering domain (e.g. Biology, Geology, Chemistry, Veterinary Medicine, etc.)
Supervised Teaching
Doctoral students should teach at least one science/environmental education course and/or supervise science education interns for at least one semester. Supervised teaching experience can be obtained through a teaching assistantship or by earning supervised teaching or supervised research credit hours.
Residency Information
A full-time residency is not required, but it is strongly recommended that doctoral students spend at least two consecutive academic semesters (Fall/Spring) as full-time students in residence at the University of Florida. Minimum enrollment is 9 credit hours for a full-time student on an assistantship and 12 hours for a full-time student not on an assistantship.
