The joint master's degree/certification program in Physical Science and Physics Education are designed for individuals who possess a baccalaureate degree in physical science or a closely related field from an accredited institution of higher education and who wish to pursue certification and a master's degree in education at the same time. Certificates are recommended only in conjunction with the completion of the requirements for the Ed.M. degree.

The program has four major goals:

1. To help students learn pedagogical content knowledge of physical sciences, i.e., content-specific teaching methods in physics and chemistry;
2. To provide students with a grounding in the historical and philosophical contexts of the discipline that they will be certified to teach, i.e., history and philosophy of physical science;
3. To provide students with research experiences in physical science.  this will help them better understand how scientists work and how discipline-specific knowledge develops.
4. To provide students with the knowledge and skills of integrating technology into physical science instruction.