Master of Arts (M.A.) General Program

This program is a professional degree, preparing candidates for work beyond the master’s. Applicants for this degree are assigned to an academic advisor who assists in selecting the specific program of courses. The program of study is normally arranged at the beginning of the first semester of study.

Requirements for this degree include 18 semester hours in education and 18 semester hours in an emphasis option to be selected in consultation with the candidate’s advisor, for a total of 36 hours.

The M.A. program has two options: Option A is for candidates who plan to continue beyond the master’s level and wish to complete a thesis. Option B is for candidates who seek professional preparation as a practitioner and select to do a non-thesis capstone project.

The advisor may require the candidate to complete additional semester hours for this degree.

Student Learning Outcomes Master of Arts Core

1. Candidate is a lifelong learner:
   1. Candidates will learn the advantages and methods of sustaining life-long learning;
   2. Candidates will prepare for future professional growth and learning;
   3. Candidates will be able to use basic statistical procedures to analyze example data;
   4. Candidates will be able to locate and evaluate prior research;
   5. Candidates demonstrate the ability to make data-driven decisions in the classroom.
2. Candidate is empathetic and respectful:
   1. Candidates will develop a firm understanding of their strengths and those of their cohort colleagues;
   2. Candidates will develop an understanding of major socio-cultural issues affecting education as they are experienced by the primary ethnic and cultural groups;
   3. Candidates will explore barriers to student success (especially cultural, racial and gender barriers).
3. Candidate communicates and works effectively with others:
   1. Candidates make explicit their values, goals and preferred learning/leadership/ teaching styles;
   2. Candidates will be able to complete an APA style introduction, literature review, and methods section;
   3. Candidates will develop an action plan for working with students from varied and minority cultures within their own classrooms;
   4. Candidates will apply knowledge and skills of designing, implementing, and writing classroom and/or school-based research studies by a capstone proposal;
   5. Candidates demonstrate professional written and oral communication skills.
4. Candidate has a broad knowledge about the individuals and world around him/her:
   1. Candidates will develop an understanding of the major theoretical issues that affect cultural diversity and education from the field of education;
   2. Candidates will understand how learners may differ in their cultural approaches to learning;
   3. Candidates will explore barriers to student success (especially cultural, racial and gender barriers).
5. Candidate fuses theory and practice:
   1. Candidates will be able to design a major classroom, school, or community-based research project that addresses the student’s integration of professional knowledge;
   2. Candidates integrate past learnings, research, and professional experiences with best practice and data-driven solutions;
   3. Candidates will integrate current knowledge, relevant research, and past professional experiences with best practice and data driven solutions to the issue addressed in a capstone proposal;
   4. Candidates will apply research skills including selection of appropriate methodologies, data collection, and reflective analysis procedures of capstone project outcomes.