Teacher Preparation Program

Teachers Make a Difference
Changing the World through Teaching
Armed with leading-edge educator skills and a mastery of your chosen discipline, you’ll be prepared to become a new kind of teacher—a teacher who engages and challenges students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects and meets the future challenges of American education.
By joining the Teacher Preparation program at WPI, within your 4-year undergraduate program you will gain:
- A strong background in your STEM discipline
- A good sense of the applicability of your subject to contemporary areas of engineering, technology, or society
- Entry into a community of future educators ready to shape young minds and help direct tomorrow’s technologies
- A Massachusetts-authorized Initial License in one of the following:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Middle School Science
- Middle or High School Mathematics
- Middle and High School Technology/Engineering
- Communication and leadership skills that will go beyond the classroom

Program Requirements
Courses
In addition to the course required for your content major, you will need to take the following pedagogy courses:
- ID 3100 Teaching Methods
- ID 3200 Sheltered English Immersion
- PSY 2401 Psychology of Education
- PSY 2410 School Psychology or PSY 1404 Developmental Psychology (offered alternate years)
See the undergraduate catalog for course descriptions.

Application
Applications to the program are due in mid-November each year and are open to first year and sophomore students majoring in math, science, or engineering.
A completed application consists of
- Application form coming soon!
- 2 Letters of Recommendation
- Resume
Interviews are conducted in November by the program director and the operations management assistant.
Program decisions are made by December 31st.
Contact
Contact Jillian DiBonaventura for more information.
Field Experiences
Pre-Practicum I: K-12 Hours
- 10 hours completed in C or D term of first year or summer after first year
- Hours can be volunteer or paid
- Opportunities include
- Tutoring
- After-school or summer programs
- WPI coordinated events
- STEM tutoring at the YMCA
- Math tutoring at WPI
- Teacher assistant or tutoring at Worcester Tech High School
- Science Festival at the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg & Leominster
- Summer employment with the Pre-Collegiate Outreach office
Pre-Practicum II: Present Lesson at Community-Based Organization
After our fall retreat in September, you will work together in a team to develop and deliver your first lesson at one of the following locations/events.
Location | Date | Details |
Girls, Inc Worcester | Last Monday in October | Present to 8th grade girls in the Eureka program. The theme is "Spooky Science" |
Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster | October and March breaks | Present activities to K-5 and 6-8 students in after-school programs on various STEM themes to be determined by Boys & Girls Club Director |
Pre-Practicum III: Central MA Classroom Visits
As a field component of the Teaching Methods in Math, Science, and Engineering class (ID 3100) you will visit 6 classrooms around central Massachusetts to observe teachers in a variety of settings, styles, and subjects.
Teaching Practicum
In the teaching practicum, you are immersed in a classroom in which you complete your student teaching. You have the opportunity to do your student teaching as an IQP or an Independent Study. Physics majors may also count the practicum as their MQP.
Overview of the practicum
- 15 week experience in a local school. Our placements are most often in one of the following districts.
- at least 300 hours in the classroom, 150 hours as the teacher of record
- weekly seminar in which you are able to connect with other teacher candidates
Meet Our Students

Jonathan Han
Class of 2020
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Licensure: Middle School Math
Future Plans: Harvard Graduate School of Education

Marco Gomez
Class of 2019
Major: Chemical Engineering
Licensure: High School Chemistry
Current Occupation: High School Chemistry Teacher

Tom Young
Class of2019
Major: Physics
Licensure: High School Physics
Future Plans: Teach high school physics and complete and complete WPI's Master's in Physics for Educators (MPED) program
Class of 2020
Major: Computer Science & Psychology
Licensure: High School Math
Future Plans: Teach High School Math
- Kim
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Matthew
- Electrical and Computer Engineering