Program Description
Master of Arts in Education

The curriculum includes the foundation core, electives, and a capstone experience. The core contains 21 semester hours of philosophy, educational psychology, instructional and curriculum study and research methods. The electives range from six to nine semester hours in liberal arts or specialized professional education. The master's project, thesis or examination is the capstone experience.

Within the electives are liberal arts studies, special topics, and independent study. The liberal arts courses are designed to explore current thinking in science/mathematics, humanities, and social sciences. These courses encourage teachers to add breadth as well as depth to a content area. All students must elect one liberal arts studies course.

Examples of special topics may include courses in testing and evaluation, reading, foundations, diagnosis and remediation, educational technology, etc.

Independent study permits students to investigate an area of interest beyond the level in existing courses. The student, with a supervising professor, establishes goals, methods, materials and expectations of the investigations and evaluation. An outline of the intended study should accompany the independent study approval form. This course may not be used to develop a master's project or thesis proposal.

The Master of Arts in Education degree may be earned by completing one of the following three-capstone options:

• Capstone Option A :
  Master's Project (a minimum of 30 semester hours of coursework plus three semester hours of project work)
  
• Capstone Option B :
  Master's Thesis (a minimum of 27 semester hours of course work plus six semester hours of thesis credit)
  
• Capstone Option C :
  Master's Comprehensive Examination (a minimum of 33 semester hours credit of course work including ED 560 Foundation Seminar, plus successful completion of the examination)