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Human Development and Family Science
Teacher Certification Program in the College of Education
Human development and family science students acquire a broad knowledge of human development, family development, and family systems in preparation for working with people and communities in a variety of career fields ranging from local organizations, to non-profit, to government agencies.
A minimum of 120 semester hours, of which 42 must be advanced, and fulfillment of degree requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree as specified in the “University Core Curriculum.”
Major requirements
Human Development and Family Science certificate, 55 hours
- HDFS 1013 - Human Development
- HDFS 1023 - Assessment and Observation
- HDFS 2033 - Parenting in Diverse Families
- HDFS 2313 - Courtship and Marriage
- HDFS 3113 - Infant and Child Development
- HDFS 3123 - Child Development for Non-Majors
- HDFS 3213 - Infant and Toddler Intervention and Education
- HDFS 3313 - Interpersonal Relationships
- HDFS 3423 - Family, School and Community
- HDFS 4011 - Pre-Internship
- HDFS 4133 - Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
- HDFS 4253 - Administration of Programs for Children, Youth and Families
- HDFS 4323 - Family Law and Public Policy
- HDFS 4413 - Family Life Education
- HDFS 4433 - Family Resource Management
- EDEC 3613 - Introduction to Early Childhood
- EDEC 4243 - Environmental Processes and Assessment
- EDEC 4633 - Nurturing Children’s Social Competence
- HMGT 1450 - Principles of Nutrition
- CMHT 4750 - Managing a Diverse Workforce
Family and Consumer Sciences certificate, 64 hours
- HDFS 1013 - Human Development
- HDFS 2033 - Parenting in Diverse Families
- HDFS 2313 - Courtship and Marriage
- HDFS 3113 - Infant and Child Development
- HDFS 3123 - Child Development for Non-Majors
- HDFS 3313 - Interpersonal Relationships
- HDFS 4011 - Pre-Internship
- HDFS 4253 - Administration of Programs for Children, Youth and Families
- HDFS 4413 - Family Life Education
- HDFS 4433 - Family Resource Management
- EDEC 4243 - Environmental Processes and Assessment
- HFMD 2400 - Introduction to the Furniture Industry
- HMGT 1420 - Food Sanitation
- HMGT 1450 - Principles of Nutrition
- HMGT 1470 - Introduction to Professional Food Preparation
- HMGT 1500 - Orientation to the Hospitality Industry
- HMGT 3250 - Restaurant Operations I
- HMGT 3700 - Hotel Operations
- MDSE 3250 - Product Development
- MDSE 2650 - Textiles for Apparel
- MDSE 3750 - Consumer Studies
- CMHT 4750 - Managing a Diverse Workforce
Other course requirements, 3 hours
Other requirements
Admission to teacher education
- Junior standing (60 credit hours earned);
- a 2.75 overall GPA (includes all transferred and UNT courses) and a 2.75 GPA in the core with all graded courses complete;
- appropriate exam scores on either the ACT, SAT or Praxis Core: Academic Skills for Educators; (contact the Student Advising Office in Matthews Hall, Room 105, for further information on the exam requirement);
- a rating of “accepted” on the online admission interview questionnaire;
- active enrollment at UNT and a completed or in-process degree audit in the College of Education Student Advising Office; and
- a completed Application for Admission to Teacher Education submitted to the College of Education Student Advising Office once all requirements are complete.
Contact the College of Education Student Advising Office for additional information.
Professional education requirements, 21 hours
Pedagogy, 12 hours
- EDCI 3800 - Professional Issues in Teaching
- EDCI 3830 - Teaching/Learning Process and Evaluation
- EDCI 4070 - Teaching Diverse Populations
- EDCI 4840 - Instructional Strategies and Classroom Management
Reading/English/language arts, 3 hours
Internship (student teaching), 6 hours
- EDCI 4108 - Student Teaching in the Secondary School
- EDCI 4118 - Student Teaching in the Secondary School
Eligibility for teacher certification and endorsements
Teacher certification is a function of the State Board for Educator Certification. Completion of the bachelor’s degree and the required education courses does not necessarily result in certification by the agency. In order to receive recommendation for teacher certification through the University of North Texas, students must have:
- Successfully completed an approved teacher education program for the preparation of secondary teachers;
- Successfully completed student teaching, including attendance at appropriate seminars and passing a comprehensive teacher preparation examination; and
- Passed the content examination from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Students completing course requirements for the Human Development and Family Science teacher certificate will be eligible to apply to the National Council of Family Relations for the Certified Family Life Educator credential. Students completing course requirements for the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher certificate will be eligible to apply to the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences for the Certified Family and Consumer Sciences credential.
Faculty
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Selcuk Acar
Associate ProfessorEducational Psychology
Ph.D., 2013, The University of Georgia
Matthews Hall 316×
Selcuk Acar, Ph.D., is an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of North Texas. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (with an emphasis in Gifted and Creative Education) from the University of Georgia. His primary area of research interest includes divergent thinking, assessment of creativity, and the education of the gifted and talented. Prior to UNT, Dr. Acar has worked at two different centers specialized in the field of creative education: Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development of University of Georgia, and the International Center for Studies in Creativity of SUNY Buffalo State. In addition to numerous book chapter and encyclopedia entries, Dr. Acar published over 50 peer-reviewed articles primarily on creativity. He has served as a PI in a 3-year grant by the Institute of Education Sciences to develop a new measure of original thinking called MOTES. He is currently serving as an Associate Editor at Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts and Journal of Creativity. He is also on the editorial board of Gifted Child Quarterly, Journal of Creative Behavior, Journal of Advanced Academics, and Creativity Research Journal. Dr. Acar is a recipient of APA Division 10’s 2022 Berlyne Award in recognition of outstanding research by an early career scholar and UNT College of Education’s 2021 Faculty Research Excellence Award.
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Amy J. Anderson
Assistant ProfessorShe/HerEducational Psychology
Ph.D., 2020, DePaul University
Matthews Hall 322×
Dr. Anderson’s research program aims to promote positive youth development and social change in schools and mentoring programs. She studies the role of nonparental adult relationships in youth’s lives as an important interpersonal context during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Her current work focuses on cultural humility and social justice supports for adults who work with youth in mentoring programs. She is also interested in advancing understanding of how adult mentors benefit and are changed by the experience of mentoring youth. Her work has been published in the American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Adolescent Research, and Development Psychology, among others.
Prior to joining UNT, Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Community Psychology from DePaul University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at the University of Illinois Chicago. She earned an M.S. in Education from the Johns Hopkins University and B.A. in Psychology with concentrations in Child Development, and Gender & Women’s Studies from Oklahoma State University. She is currently a research board member of the National Mentoring Resource Center, a program of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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Payton Birlew
Lecturershe/her/hersEducational Psychology
M.S., 2017, University of North Texas
Matthews Hall 304×
Payton Birlew received her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Family Science from the University of North Texas in 2017. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Family and Community from the University of North Texas in 2015. Birlew is a Certified Family Life Educator and a certified facilitator of the Prepare/Enrich curriculum.
Birlew is the co-founder of Have & Hold Family Life Education where she provides secular, research-based premarital and relationship education to couples across the state of Texas. She is dedicated to modernizing relationship education by making it accessible and inclusive.
Her research interests include the experiences of nonreligious families (especially related to marriage and parenting), fostering inclusivity and accessibility in Family Life Education, and marriage and relationship education. Birlew has never met a HDFS course she didn’t love to teach and loves working with students as they discover all that HDFS has to offer.
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Dana D. Booker
Senior LecturerEducational Psychology
Ph.D. 2016, University of North Texas
Matthews Hall 316×
Dana Booker holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Human Development and Family Science from the University of North Texas. Specifically, Dana has researched child advocacy practices, multi-system collaborations around prevention and intervention, and parent-centered education through her work at Prevent Child Abuse Texas. Her research interests also include working with military families and military systems to identify effective academic prevention strategies for youth. Dr. Booker has received evaluation training from the American Evaluation Association and worked as the program evaluator for the Texas chapter of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY). It was this opportunity that increased her passion for prevention and intervention work. Originally from Albuquerque, Dana received her B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Educational Psychology from the University of New Mexico. Dana is married to her best friend and is a proud mom of three amazing boys.
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Jason Chiang
Senior LecturerEducational Psychology
Ph.D. 2018, Syracuse University
Matthews Hall×
Jason Chiang received his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from Syracuse University, Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and Methodology from SUNY Albany, and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of Toronto. As a first-generation Canadian and American, Dr. Chiang takes pride in his immigrant identity and actively participates in community activities. He is deeply in love with DFW area and everything Texas.
Informed by John Berry's ecological perspective and his work on acculturation strategies, Dr. Chiang's research involves investigating how familial, school, and cultural factors affect immigrant children’s capacity to cope with challenging educational and environmental situations and succeed.
Before moving to Texas, Dr. Chiang had previously taught at University of Akron as Assistant Professor of Instruction, and at Berkshire Community College as Assistant Professor of Psychology. He also worked briefly as a Head Start Administrator in California.
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