Bachelor of Science - Mathematics - Middle-Level Education

This major is designed for students who wish to teach mathematics at the middle level (grades 4-9). The coursework provides experiences in math content and pedagogy including field experience and addresses the Washington State competencies for middle level math teachers.  Students taking this major are required to apply to the Teacher Certification Program and complete the STEM Teaching Minor.  Students completing this program are required to demonstrate knowledge, skill, and disposition proficiency through a program portfolio prior to student teaching. Students who complete this major and receive a passing score on the NES exam for middle-level mathematics are eligible to receive the middle-level math endorsement.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate critical thinking and reasoning skills, including logical reasoning, pattern recognition, generalization, abstraction, and formal proof.
• Communicate mathematical ideas orally and in writing, with precision, clarity and organization, using proper terminology and notation.
• Acquire proficiency in the use of technology to assist in investigating mathematical concepts, problem-solving and making strong pedagogical choices.
• Apply knowledge of content and mathematical procedures to write lessons and activities to engage learners in interactive, hands-on discovery learning.
• Acquire conceptual understanding and procedural fluency of concepts in numbers and operations, proportional reasoning, algebra, discrete mathematics, calculus, geometry, probability, and statistics.
• Apply knowledge of middle level mathematics to real word problem solving.
• Recognize common misconceptions and analyze student thinking and use the results to inform instruction.