Bachelor of Science Degree in Multidisciplinary Science

The Bachelor of Science degree in Multidisciplinary Science is primarily for students preparing to teach science at the secondary school level. Students seeking teacher certification should also refer to the requirements listed in the College of Education and Human Development portion of the catalog.

The minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree, including the Core Curriculum requirements, is 122 or 133.

All candidates seeking this degree must fulfill the Core Curriculum requirements and the degree requirements, which are listed below.

Core Curriculum requirements: Students seeking the Bachelor of Science degree in Multidisciplinary Science must fulfill University Core Curriculum requirements in the same manner as other students. The courses listed in the table below satisfy both major requirements and Core Curriculum requirements; however, if these courses are taken to satisfy both requirements, then students will need to take additional courses in order to meet the minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree. For a complete listing of courses that satisfy the Core Curriculum requirements see pages 9-13 of this catalog.

Degree Requirements

A. 44 or 46 semester credit hours of required science courses:

AST 1013, 1031 Introduction to Astronomy and Laboratory
BIO 1113, 1122 Biology I and Laboratory Investigations in Biology
BIO 2123 Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates
CHE 1103, 1122 General Chemistry and Laboratory Workshop
CHE 1303, 1312 Chemical Principles and Inorganic Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis Lab
GEO 1103, 1111 Introduction to Earth Systems and Laboratory
GEO 1123, 1131 Earth History and Laboratory
GRG 3713 Weather and Climate
ES or GEO 4193 Field-based Inquiry

Either

PHY 1603, 1611 General Physics I and Laboratory
PHY 1623, 1631 General Physics II and Laboratory

or

*PHY 1904, 1911 Technical Physics I and Laboratory
*PHY 924, 1931 Technical Physics II and Laboratory

* Technical Physics is the required option for concentration in chemistry or physics. Note that the prerequisites for technical physics are Calculus I and II (MAT 1214 and MAT 1223). These can be included among the election courses in sciences and mathematics.

B. 21 semester credit hours of approved electives in geology, biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, and/or mathematics; 12 of these hours must be at the upper-division level.

Areas of specialization are available in biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. Students seeking certification should select one of these as their primary science and should select the corresponding certification program within the Education program.
Area of specialization in science-biology. 16 semester credit hours above required science courses.

BIO 1033 Drugs and Society
BIO 1123 Biology II
BIO 2132 Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates Laboratory
BIO 2313 Genetics
BIO 3283, 3292 Principles of Ecology and Laboratory

Area of specialization in science-chemistry.* 15 semester credit hours above required sciences.

CHE 2203, 2242 Organic Chemistry I and Laboratory
CHE 3103 Analytical Chemistry
CHE 3264 Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry
CS 1033 Microcomputer Applications

Area of specialization in science-geology. 15 semester credit hours above required science courses.
GEO 3203, 3211 Introduction to Rocks and Minerals, and Laboratory
GEO 3063, 3071 Paleontology and Laboratory
GEO 3163 Oceanography
And 4 semester credit hours of upper-division electives in geology.

Area of specialization in science-physics.* 15 semester credit hours above required science courses

PHY 3103 Modern Physics
PHY 3143 Computer Visualization of Physics
PHY 3203 Classical Mechanics I
PHY 3233 Environmental Physics
And 3 semester credit hours of upper-division electives in physics.

C. 21 to 30 semester credit hours of electives, as set forth below:

1. For students seeking the degree only (without teacher certification), at least 21 semester credit hours of electives are required, including a sufficient number of upper-division hours to meet UTSA minimum of 39 upper-division hours.

2. For students seeking the degree with teacher certification, these electives must include:

CS 1033 Microcomputer Applications

Either

COM 1043 Introduction to Communication

or

COM 2123 Oral Interpretation

and 24 semester credit hours of professional education courses.