Program Overview
Degree Requirements
The Visual Art Education program at DePaul University has specific degree requirements that students must fulfill to graduate.
Content Area Courses
All students need to have sufficient knowledge of the subject they will be teaching. The Illinois State Board of Education requires a minimum of 48 quarter hours (32 semester hours) in the content area subject. Students should meet with their designated Content Area advisor at the beginning of their program for an official written content evaluation and provide a copy to their academic advisor. Requirements can be satisfied by undergraduate coursework or courses taken elsewhere. Content courses must be completed before student teaching.
Requirements for Secondary Education Visual Arts
All coursework in the content area must earn a grade of C or better and a minimum of 18 quarter hours (12 semester hours) must be coursework at an undergraduate upper level or graduate level.
- Two Dimensional Foundation
- Three Dimensional Foundation
- Drawing
- Intermediate or Adv. Drawing
- Painting
- Sculpture
- Computer Graphics
- Printmaking
- Principles of Art History
- Photography
- Video Art & Design I
- Art & Design II
Course Requirements
Introductory Courses
12 quarter hours required, grade of C or better required.
- T&L 404: Introduction to Elementary Education (4 quarter hours)
- SCG 401: Advanced Lifespan Development (4 quarter hours)
- Select one of the following:
- SCG 408: Education and Society
- SCG 409: Sociology of Education
- SCG 411: Philosophy of Education
Advanced Courses
36 quarter hours required, grade of C or better required.
- SER 446: Psychology and Education of the Exceptional Child (4 quarter hours)
- BBE 501: Teaching Adolescent English Language Learners and Dialect Speakers Across the Curriculum (4 quarter hours)
- TCH 465: Art and Pedagogy (4 quarter hours)
- TCH 525: Reading, Writing, and Communicating Across the Curriculum (4 quarter hours)
- TCH 480: The Teacher as Professional (1 quarter hour)
- TCH 466: Teacher as Artist (4 quarter hours)
- TCH 495: Assessment Practices in the Middle Grades and Secondary Education (4 quarter hours)
- TCH 565: Independent Studio Topics (4 quarter hours)
- T&L 418: Learning Through the Arts (4 quarter hours)
Student Teaching
8 quarter hours required. Registration in student teaching requires completion of all requirements and procedures listed in the college core section.
- EDU 95: Clinical Experience with Children and Youth (non-tuition, PA grade required) (0 quarter hours)
- TCH 590: Middle Grades and Secondary Student Teaching (6 quarter hours)
- TCH 591: Middle Grades and Secondary Student Teaching Seminar (2 quarter hours)
Master of Arts (MA) Option Degree Requirements
4 quarter hours required. This is a Master of Arts degree requirement only. A master's thesis is written to fulfill the requirements of this course. An oral examination on the thesis is required.
- T&L 589: Thesis Research in Teaching and Learning (4 quarter hours)
Licensure Tests
All individuals licensed by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) are required to complete licensure tests specific to their teaching license. Secondary Education Visual Arts majors must complete the following tests:
- Visual Arts Content Area Test (test #145) assesses knowledge of elements, principles, and expressive features of visual arts. Test is required before Student Teaching (deadlines apply).
- EdTPA - assessment conducted during the student teaching experience including video clips of instruction, lesson plans, student work samples, analysis of student learning and reflective commentaries. Students will submit an electronic portfolio to an outside agency for independent evaluation and a fee will be imposed by that agency as part of the assessment.
Field Experiences
Each student seeking licensure from the College of Education/Professional Education Unit must complete supervised field experiences in appropriate settings in conjunction with education courses. The field experiences must include a variety of grade levels, multicultural experiences, and a minimum of 15 hours in special education settings. All field experiences must be completed prior to final approval for student teaching. Field experience hours should be entered by the student into the FEDS system when completing courses with field experience requirements.