Science Ed M.A. Research Requirement

Both the thesis and non-thesis programs require the successful completion of a final culminating project, during which, research hours (SCI ED 6299) are earned.

It is strongly recommended that SCI ED 6500 Research Methods in Science be completed before initiating the research project and enrolling in research hours.

Research hours may be spread over more than one semester and for varying number of hours per semester, depending on individual project plans. Although research hours may be earned at any time, they are frequently taken during the last 2-4 semesters of the graduate program. No more than 3 credits for non-thesis and 6 credits for thesis can be counted toward completion of the program.

Requirements to be met for each number of credits are listed below.

Criteria for research requirement

All projects (thesis or non-thesis) can be subdivided into three phases: 1) Proposal, 2) Implementation, and 3) Write-up. Each phase is worth one third of the total number of research credits required (3 credits for non-thesis; 6 for thesis). Grades are awarded when the criteria listed in each phase of the project are completed. Refer to the Final Project Information for complete details and information about the requirements for each type of final project.

Phase 1 (credit #1 for non-thesis and #1-2 for thesis):

Requirements consist of the entire project proposal:

Ch 1 – Introduction
Ch 2 – Literature review
Ch 3 – Proposed methods/curriculum topic/portfolio unit
Complete proposal presentation to committee

Phase 2 (credit #2 for non-thesis and #3-4 for thesis):

Significant amount of the project complete

Thesis: collected data and analysis started
Non-thesis:
Curriculum is written, implemented and/or assessed
Action Research implemented and data collected
Award/portfolio application completed

Phase 3 (credit #3 for non-thesis and #5-6 for thesis):

Completion of paper, final presentation and formalities:

Entire paper completed and polished
Final presentation completed
Required paperwork signed by advisor
Final document submitted to either the graduate college (thesis) or graduate coordinator (non-thesis)

Phase criteria not completed within the designated term of research registration, will be assigned a grade of “Research Continuing” (RC) until the project criteria for that phase is completed. The grade assigned for the final phase of research will be based on the Final Project Scholarly Rubric. All RC grades must be changed before graduation. All RC grades will be replaced with a grade of F if not completed four (4) years from enrollment.