Northern Illinois University
Educator Licensure
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

ILAS 401 and its departmental equivalents (BIOS 401, CHEM 401, ENGL 482, FLMT 401, GEOL 401, HIST 401, MATH 401, and PHYS 401) are the final discipline-based clinical experiences preceding student teaching and require a minimum of 40-60 hours of clinical experience at the school the candidate will student teach at the following semester. 

The course prepares candidates for the student teaching experience by familiarizing them with their cooperating school and providing experiences in preparing and presenting lessons to secondary students. Candidates develop an understanding of their school and their subject area department or team and establish professional working relationships within that department or team.

This final clinical experience gives candidates the opportunity to put into practice theories on creating and managing productive classroom environments, working with diverse populations and engaging students in active learning.

For the final clinical experience, each discipline coordinator designs activities for his or her teacher candidates and links these requirements to the teaching methods course in which the candidates are simultaneously enrolled.