General Information

General Description of the Discipline

Subject Area:
Biology is the science of living nature, making it part of the natural sciences. Biology research is essential for informed interaction with living nature, as well as its responsible use and conservation. Our biology programs teach the knowledge, methods, and skills needed for academic work in this field.

Teacher Training Degree Programs in Biology

The various subjects offered by the faculty of biosciences can also be taken as part of a teacher training program for middle schools (L2), high schools (L3), or special education schools (L5). The department of biosciences didactics provides modern professional training that is continuously developed to meet today's requirements for competent biology instruction in schools.

About the Degree Program

The field of study biology in the teacher training degree program for elementary schools (L1), middle schools (L2), and special education schools (L5) is divided into a six-semester course of study in subject-specific and subject didactics, structured through modules. In the teacher training program for high schools (L3), an eight-semester course of study must be completed. The study and examination regulations govern the course of study and module examinations. In addition, it contains subject-specific appendices that describe the content and goals of the fields of study and their components, and define the skills to be acquired in the modules. The acquisition of fundamental subject-specific knowledge is followed in the course of study by the development of subject didactic competencies. To this end, the courses in subject didactics provide students with an introduction to the fundamentals of subject-specific didactics. In addition, students learn to apply the subject-specific scientific content to the conception and practice of biology instruction.

Prerequisites

The prerequisite for the course of study is a higher education entrance qualification, which is usually the Abitur. In addition to an interest in biology and a desire to work with students later on, good knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and a sufficient familiarity with the English language are recommended for admission to the course of study. If these skills are lacking, they must be acquired during the course of study. All applicants with foreign certificates must pass a German language test at the DSH-2 level before being admitted to the course of study.

Structure and Content of the Course of Study

The modules taken in the teacher training degree programs for the subject biology are described in detail in the examination regulations. They consist of roughly equal parts of theoretical and practical courses, as biology, as an increasingly experimental-analytical science, is most effectively conveyed through the broad spectrum of subject-specific methods. In the conception of the subject didactic modules, particular attention was paid to a close content-related and organizational alignment with the subject-specific courses in order to ensure the necessary coherence. In this context, students have the opportunity, particularly in the second subject-specific school internship (L2/L5) or the internship semester (L3), to test the practical application of their subject-specific and subject didactic knowledge in school biology instruction, both through observation and under instruction.