Field Experience & Student Teaching
Learning by doing
Getting experience in a PreK-12 classroom is a huge part of your UNI Teacher Education experience. Here you move from observing to learning and then applying the knowledge gained in your coursework.
Early and often, you’re in a classroom. You’ll complete four levels of field experience that are baked into your coursework (whether at UNI or completed elsewhere prior to transfer). And you’ll gain from additional time in classrooms in fields such as special education. Add it up, and you'll have more than 725 hours of experience by the time you graduate.
UNI has the most extensive network of school partners across the state and beyond. What does that mean for you? Flexibility and opportunity to stay close or venture further afar and experience a host of different settings.
Our goal? To provide you with quality experiences that fit your future.
UNI was the reason my student teaching placement accepted me! My training at UNI helped me to feel comfortable and capable in my first year in the classroom.
Out in the Field
Levels 1 & 2
Is teaching really for you? That’s a perfectly OK question that your initial field experiences should help answer (often, the answer is yes!).
Getting this practical experience goes hand-in-hand with your coursework. You’ll move from observing to assisting in Cedar Valley schools. In level 2, you'll teach your first two lessons! It’s all part of the process toward gaining the skills and confidence for your future classrooms.
Level 3 & more
Your investment in teaching deepens with your Level 3 experiences. How and where you will complete these requirements varies based on your level and teaching major. A shared goal? To complete 40 hours in a classroom setting, a major step in bringing together what you’ve learned to this point.
Depending on major or minors, you may have additional time working – and learning – with students in classrooms.
Student teaching
It all comes together with student teaching in your final semester. Through our extensive network, you’ll be placed in settings ranging from small rural schools to large metro areas both in and out of Iowa.
Student teaching coordinators in nine centers across Iowa facilitate your placements. Feeling adventurous (or just want to be closer to home)? Our out-of-state and international placements make it possible for you to student teach well beyond Iowa.
Levels 1 & 2
Is teaching really for you? That’s a perfectly OK question that your initial field experiences should help answer (often, the answer is yes!).
Getting this practical experience goes hand-in-hand with your coursework. You’ll move from observing to assisting in Cedar Valley schools. In level 2, you'll teach your first two lessons! It’s all part of the process toward gaining the skills and confidence for your future classrooms.
Level 3 & more
Your investment in teaching deepens with your Level 3 experiences. How and where you will complete these requirements varies based on your level and teaching major. A shared goal? To complete 40 hours in a classroom setting, a major step in bringing together what you’ve learned to this point.
Depending on major or minors, you may have additional time working – and learning – with students in classrooms.
Student teaching
It all comes together with student teaching in your final semester. Through our extensive network, you’ll be placed in settings ranging from small rural schools to large metro areas both in and out of Iowa.
Student teaching coordinators in nine centers across Iowa facilitate your placements. Feeling adventurous (or just want to be closer to home)? Our out-of-state and international placements make it possible for you to student teach well beyond Iowa.