Biology with a view to Education

The Learning Potential Test (Czech only)

The knowledge required to pass the Learning Potential Test is not obtained by studying specific information sources. Examples of previous years' tests can be found on http://www.muni.cz/study/admission/tsp

The Learning Potential Test results

The study programme is a part of a double-subject programme and constitutes the first level of the university studies leading to a teaching qualification for secondary schools. The goal of the study is to provide general knowledge and give a good orientation in both study branches together with the basics of pedagogy and psychology. It should prepare graduates for the follow-up Master's study programme of Upper Secondary School Teacher Training in Biology.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• understand basic terms from pedagogy and didactics.
• understand actual trends in biology teaching.
• to manage a classroom with help of the teacher.
• understand basic terms from psychology.
• understand basics of recent school politics and understand actual trends in education.
• apply the knowledge and skills from cell biology, anatomy and histology.
• characterize basic phylogenetic lineages of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, plants and animals.
• understand basic ecological principles.
• apply the knowledge and skills from plant and animal physiology.
• determine and identify typical plants and animals of the Czech Republic.
• design and conduct school biological experiments.
• correctly and safely perform school biological laboratory and/or field techniques.
• pply their biological training to critically evaluate and accurately explain scientific information.

Graduates can use their skills in various positions in basic and applied research, such as laboratories. Although they are not fully qualified for teaching, they can prepare special activities and seminars at primary and secondary schools (e.g. seminars for gifted students, preparation for the Olympiads and different competitions, or for entrance exams to higher education institutions). They can also get involved in the popularization of biology. Graduates can pursue their studies in the follow-up Master's study programme – to become fully qualified teachers of biology at secondary schools.

XS090 Initial teacher training

During the course student stays at the secondary school where, in both subjects of his study, he/she takes at least 7 lessons of sitting in the classes and 3x10-15 minutes of his own teaching (at least in three different lessons). Students stays at school a half day weekly for a period at least 6 weeks.

During the course students gets to know working at the secondary school, pedagogical documentation, he/she assists the teacher with preparing experiments, correcting homework and tests, etc., in the total range of 7 hours in both of the subjects of his study.

Main objectives can be summarized as follows: to get information on the practical teaching of the subject (sitting in the classes); to get basic acquirements with practical teaching; to get information on working at the secondary school.

Aims of the Bachelor's theses are given on the web pages of Department of botany and zoology or on the web pages of Department of Experimental Biology.

There are two basic scopes of the thesis:

1. Research topic

For example floristic or faunistic research of selected study area in the Czech Republic, or some other research topic. The thesis has the character of an empirical research.

2. Literature search topic.

A standard scope of a literature search thesis includes at least 30 excerped sources (papers, books, etc.). Students should demonstrate the ability to work critically with specialized texts, process the concepts and theories discovered there, analyse and synthetise so far published knowledge and find relevant answers to the given questions.

The Bachelor's thesis includes at least 30 pages of continuous expert text.

After the successful completion of the Bachelor's study programme, students can pursue their studies in any Master's study programme (after satisfying the admission requirements). At the Faculty of Science of MU – to become fully qualified teachers of biology at the secondary schools, students can apply for admission to an Upper-secondary teacher-training follow-up Master's degree programme in Biology – Ecological and Evolutionary Biology.