Explore opportunities in the Education minor
I. Overview
The Education Minor is approved in all Colleges at Cornell.
Students must apply for formal admission to any minor, including this one. Applications must be received no later than the first day of classes in the senior year.
Students completing the Education Minor take 3 core courses and at least 6 elective credits. They also complete a small capstone project.
Students who want to commit to K-12 teaching and wish to take advantage of Cornell’s agreement with the teacher preparation program at Ithaca College should complete the version of the Education Minor described in section VI.
II. Core Courses
The three courses in the core provide a foundation of vocabulary, analytic tools, and practical experience for all Education Minors.
A. Students must complete EDUC 2410: Art of Teaching. This course surveys major issues and
perspectives in education that are explored in greater depth in the courses below. We
recommend that students take this course as early as possible.
B. Students must complete one course from each category below (2 courses total):
Category 1: Education history, policy, philosophy
- EDUC 2710: Social & Political Context of U.S. Ed.
- EDUC 3405: Multicultural Issues
Category 2: Direct experience with learners
- EDUC 2200 / DSOC 2100 Introduction to Adult Learning
- EDUC 2210 / DSOC 2210 Designing and Facilitating Learning for Development
- EDUC 3110: Educational Psych
- EDUC 4050: College Teaching
III. Elective Courses
Electives are an opportunity for students to go deep on a specific interest or stay broad. Minors must complete at least 6 elective credits, using at least two different courses.
Any course from this list of EDUC courses can count as an elective. There also are some approved non-EDUC electives. They are ANTH 4790/7790, ASRC 1825, ENTOM 3350, PLHRT 3270, and PAM 2550. If you have an education-focused course not on this list that you wish to count as an elective, please hmm1 [at] cornell.edu (email the director).
At most 4 of the elective credits can be unstructured. Unstructured credits are internships, independent studies, and TAships (EDUC 4960, 4970, & 4980). TAing for a non-EDUC course may qualify as an approved elective if it requires significant planning and teaching, not just grading. Contact the director of the education minor to see if a non-EDUC TA experience might count.
Minors who want to stay in Ithaca after graduating and enroll in Ithaca College’s 13-month Master of Arts in Teaching program should see section VI below for guidance on which electives to take.
IV. Policies Related to Minor Courses
A. Grading:
All courses that students wish to count for the minor must be taken Graded. Only courses with a grade of C or higher will count.
B. Credit:
Imagine taking an EDUC course to fulfill a requirement of your major--not your College distribution requirements, but your major. Students may count no more than two such major-fulfilling courses towards the education minor. Counting any more than that would mean earning an Education Minor without investing significant additional effort beyond your major.
C. Course substitutions:
Requests to allow non-Cornell course substitutions (e.g., courses taken elsewhere over the summer or before a student transferred to Cornell) will be considered case by case. The Director of the Minor will consult with the Cornell faculty member teaching the course. Ideally, students will request permission to substitute before taking the non-Cornell course; however, we will consider after-the-fact requests.
Between core and elective courses, students may request at most one course substitution.
V. Capstone
In both the core and elective courses, students have a significant amount of choice. To ensure that this freedom fosters deep engagement in learning, all Education Minors reflect on the insights that they have developed via their coursework and related experiences. Minors express these insights by participating in one of two opportunities once they have completed all other minor requirements or are finishing one final course.
Option 1 (Conversations):
- During a one-hour event held each December and May, Education Minors participate in a 20-minute conversation with adults from the community (e.g., local teachers and parents). Minors will spend 5-7 minutes summarizing their new perspectives and insights on education and how they developed across coursework and related experiences. Q&A follows.
Option 2 (Publications):
- Education Minors may submit a product that explains their insights on education and how they came to be. Past products have included short stories, podcasts, videos, and more conventional papers. All reflections in a given academic year will be compiled each summer and published on the Education Minor website.
VI. Teacher Preparation at Ithaca College
Teacher Certification: Transfer Articulation Agreement between Ithaca College and Cornell University
This articulation agreement facilitates the entry of Cornell undergraduates into Ithaca College
graduate teacher education programs. The agreement is based on a mutual commitment by
Cornell University and Ithaca College to support the preparation of outstanding, academically talented
teachers for today’s schools.
This agreement is designed for students at Cornell University completing a Bachelor’s degree
who wish to attend Ithaca College to pursue a Master of Science (M.S.) in Childhood Education,
a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) in Adolescence Education (grades 7-12), or a Master of
Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) in Agriculture Education (grades K-12).
The M.S. program prepares students for New York State certification to teach grades 1-6. The
M.A.T. program prepares students for certification to teach grades 7-12 in the area of English, history/social studies, Spanish, French, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, earth science,
or agriculture.
Students at Cornell University will be granted admission to the M.S. in Childhood Education or
M.A.T. program at Ithaca College provided that the following requirements are met:
1a. Students interested in the M.S. program (to teach in grades 1-6) must have taken at least 6 credits in each of the following core areas of the elementary-school curriculum:
*English language arts (English, Writing, Communications)
*Mathematics (Mathematics, Statistics)
*Science (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Physics)
*Social Studies (History, Political Science, Geography, some Sociology/Anthropology)
1b. Students interested in the M.A.T. program (to teach in grades 7-12) must complete a
Cornell University major in the desired area of certification.
- 1b.i. For agriculture, the appropriate major is Agricultural Science. Other majors (e.g., Plant Science and Animal Science) may be considered on a case-by-case basis; please note the following stipulation from the New York State Education Department: “College study in the field of agriculture includes coursework in such areas as animal science, plant science, pomology, entomology, soil science, animal genetics, crop rotation, animal husbandry, and similar courses normally offered by recognized schools of agriculture.”
- 1b.ii. For history/social studies, the appropriate majors are history or government. Please note the following stipulation from the New York State Education Department: coursework must include the “study of economics, government, and at least a total of 21 semester hours of study in the history and geography of the United States and the world.”
- 1b.iii. For earth science, the appropriate major is Science of Earth Systems. Other majors (e.g., Atmospheric Science and Environmental & Sustainability Science) may be considered on a case-by-case basis; please note the following stipulation from the New York State Education Department: “Acceptable studies include courses in scientific methods, space systems, atmospheric systems, geological systems, and water systems. Courses in environmental science, conservation and wildlife management, and agriculture are generally applied science courses and, therefore, are not acceptable.”
- 1.b.iv. For all other areas of certification, see the notes regarding prerequisite content area coursework.
2. Students must successfully complete the Cornell University Education Minor with a set of
courses satisfying the entry requirements of Ithaca College’s M.S. and M.A.T. programs.
Specifically, students should complete the following or their equivalents as determined by
the director of the Education Minor at Cornell University:
* EDUC 2410, The Art of Teaching, 3 credits [includes 30 hours of fieldwork, which must be with K-12 youth]
* EDUC 3110 (cross-listed as HD/COMM 3110), Educational Psychology, 4 credits [includes 20 hours of fieldwork, which must be with K-12 youth]
ONE of the two following courses:
EDUC 2710 (cross-listed as EDUC 5710, AMST 2710, DSOC 2710, SOC 2710), Social and
Political Context of American Education, 4 credits
or
EDUC 3405 (cross-listed as AMST 3405, ANTHR 3405, LSP 3405), Multicultural Issues in Education, 4 credits
*Note: EDUC 2410 and 3110 together provide the required 50 hours of fieldwork. If students are unable to take one of these courses but still wish to qualify for this agreement, they may petition the director of Cornell's Education Minor to satisfy the requirement via another fieldwork-intensive course or co-curricular commitment (for example, tutoring with Upward Bound).
3. A minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average is earned, as well as a minimum 3.0 in the
major, and the student is making satisfactory progress in the final semester courses prior to
admission to Ithaca College.
4. The student has satisfactorily completed the Ithaca College Admission Application
Process. Note: The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required for admission. Also, the
requirement for two letters of recommendation will be waived if the student is
recommended by the director of the Education Minor at Cornell University.
5. The student is in good disciplinary standing at Cornell University.
Applicants who do not meet the above-listed requirements and/or who have course withdrawals and/or incompletes on their transcripts are not eligible to participate in this articulation agreement but can be considered for admission to the M.S. or M.A.T. programs at Ithaca College on an individual basis.
Applicants are eligible to apply for Graduate Assistantships and tuition scholarships at Ithaca
College.
VII. Applying for and Completing the Minor
1. From your Cornell email, send a blank email, with the word "join" in the Subject line, to edminor-l-request [at] cornell.edu (Note: That’s a lower-case L after edminor-.)
2. Complete the online application.
3. education_minor [at] cornell.edu (Email the director of the Education Minor) to arrange a brief advising meeting.
4. Complete the courses, making sure you keep the requirements in mind.