Student handbook

Table of contents

II. Studies for the master's (M.A.) degree

A. Admissions procedures, requirements, and deadlines

Admission forms for quantitative methods in education (QME) may be downloaded at www.cehd.umn.edu/EdPsych/Foundations/admissions.html or may be obtained by contacting the Department of Educational Psychology, 250 Education Sciences Building, 56 East River Road, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455 (phone: 612-624-0042). Additional admissions information can be obtained at www.grad.umn.edu/admissions/ or by contacting the Graduate School, University of Minnesota, 309 Johnston Hall, 101 Pleasant Street, SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455-0421 (phone: 612-625-3014).

Application deadlines are fall term: December 1 (for fellowship and departmental financial aid consideration) or March 15; spring term: October 15; summer term: March 15. Students who wish to be considered for fellowships and departmental financial aid must have all application materials turned in by December 1 for fall admission.

Admission materials are examined by QME faculty, and the recommendation to admit or not admit is made by the faculty. Applicants will be notified of the admission decision by the Graduate School.

B. Student financial support

A variety of financial support is available to qualified graduate students, including graduate teaching assistantships (TAs), research assistantships (RAs), scholarships, and fellowships. TA awards are merit-based in which excellence in scholarship and service are the major criteria for selecting students with the requisite background and experience. RA awards are primarily based on available faculty grants and are also merit-based, but require that students possess the skills needed to assist faculty in their research. A 25 percent TA or RA award assumes a student will work 10 hours per week and includes a stipend and a 50 percent tuition benefit ; a 50 percent TA or RA award assumes a student will work 20 hours per week and includes a stipend and a 100 percent tuition benefit. TA and RA awards are typically made term by term. In most cases, a TA in research methodology will assist faculty with their courses, while an RA will work with one or more faculty on a research project. Students must apply each year for graduate assistantships.

New students beginning their graduate programs during fall semester (December 1st deadline) are automatically considered for fellowships which require nomination from the department. These fellowships include Graduate School fellowships and departmental awards which are based on scholastic achievement. Notification of awards will be mailed in March. Spring, summer, and fall (March deadline) applicants will not qualify for fellowships and may be disadvantaged in the way of TA/RA opportunities. Information about other financial awards available within the College of Education and Human Development and the University can be found at Scholarships and awards.

C. Student advisement

When a student is accepted for admission, a faculty member is assigned to be the student’s academic adviser. The adviser acts as a liaison between the student and the faculty and is responsible for the following:

1. Supervising development of the student’s degree program.
2. Approving all coursework at the time the student registers, including adds and drops.
3. Annually reviewing the student’s academic progress and notifying the student of the results of that evaluation
4. Ensuring that graduation requirements have been met.

The student’s adviser would normally supervise the student’s master’s research paper. The faculty member supervising the master’s research paper is responsible for the following:

1. Assisting the student in identifying an appropriate research topic.
2. Supervising the development of the student’s research paper.
3. Ensuring that the master’s paper is prepared according to APA guidelines and is ready to be reviewed by other faculty.
4. Assigning a grade for EPSY 8993 (master’s internship)
5. Supervising the student’s master’s research paper (EPSY 5991 or 8993)

D. How to progress through the program

Students should read the University of Minnesota Graduate School Catalog for details about master’s degree requirements, which is available online at http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/grad/, and the Educational Psychology Graduate Program Handbook at www.cehd.umn.edu/EdPsych/handbook/.

1. Length of program

The M.A. program in research methodology requires 35 credits (41 for students emphasizing statistical education), a written examination, an internship, and a research paper. With normal progress, most students should be able to complete the degree in 4-5 terms of full-time study (see Appendix A).

2. GPA

The Graduate School requires students to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.80 on a 4.0 scale (A = 4.00, B = 3.00, C = 2.00, D = 1.00, and F = 0.0). Grades of C- or better and S (Satisfactory) are acceptable on the official degree program, but grades of S are not calculated in the GPA. Students pursuing a Plan A master’s degree are required to register for thesis credits (EPSY 8777); these registrations are not graded and therefore cannot be used to meet course credit requirements. At least two-thirds of the course credits included on any degree program form must be taken A-F. All EPSY core courses must be taken A-F as well.

3. Time Limit for Degree Completion

The Graduate School requires all master’s work be completed within a period of seven calendar years from the student’s earliest coursework included on the official degree program form, including any transfer work.

4. Registration

Students must register before the beginning of a term to avoid late fees. To maintain their active status, graduate students must register every fall and spring semester. Those who do not register in the Graduate School each semester are considered to have withdrawn and their Graduate School records are deactivated. Inactive students may not register for courses, take examinations, submit a degree program form, file for graduation, or otherwise participate in the University community as Graduate School students. Those who wish to resume graduate work must request readmission to the Graduate School and, if readmitted, must register in the Graduate School for the term of readmission to regain their active status. Students who are readmitted will be responsible for the course and exam requirements in effect at the time of the readmission.

5. Degree program

Students are required to file an official Degree Program Form with the director of graduate studies (DGS) in the Department of Educational Psychology after completing 10 credits (ordinarily no later than the second semester of the first year). This requires completing the Program Checklist (www.cehd.umn.edu/EdPsych/Foundations/current.html), and the Degree Transmittal/Program forms (www.grad.umn.edu/current_students/forms/gs89a.pdf), as well as the Examining Committee Consent Form (www.cehd.umn.edu/EdPsych/forms/committee.pdf). Students should list all coursework, completed and proposed, that will be offered in fulfillment of degree requirements, including transfer work (see "Transfer of credits and course waivers" below). Revisions to a degree program can be made with the advisers approval by submitting a Graduate School Petition form (www.grad.umn.edu/Current_Students/forms/gs59.pdf) to the DGS.

6. Transfer of credits and course waivers

Students may transfer up to 14 credits (or up to 40%) of graduate coursework taken either at another institution or at the University of Minnesota prior to admission may be used towards a master’s program if approved by the program faculty and the Graduate School. (Courses must be taken at the graduate level and appear on a graduate transcript). Students who wish to have courses waived because of previous coursework, experience, or other proof of competence must complete the Department of Educational Psychology Internal Petition Form. Approval of a course waiver does not change the total number of credits a student must earn in research methodology for the master’s degree. The Internal Petition Form for waiving a course is available at www.cehd.umn.edu/EdPsych/forms/.

7. Educational psychology core requirement

Students must satisfy the educational psychology core requirement of at least 6 credits in statistics and measurement, 3 credits in learning and cognition, and 3 credits in social psychology or personality, and take 6 credits outside of educational psychology.  Students must also take 6 credits of EPSY 5991 or EPSY 8994 (Plan A – 10 thesis credits). Students who take courses in learning and cognition and social psychology outside of educational psychology can satisfy both core and supporting program requirements simultaneously.

8. QME core requirement

Master's students in QME admitted for the fall 2001 term or later must take at least 35 credits in QME. Information about required QME courses is available in Appendix A and at Areas of concentration. Descriptions of all QME courses are available online.

9. Comprehensive written examination

Master’s students are required to pass a written exam covering material presented in required master’s courses (see Appendix A). Students would normally sit for this exam after completing all required coursework. Master’s students whose GPA in QME courses is at least 3.50 are exempt from the written comprehensive exam; those whose GPA in QME courses is below 3.50 must sit for the written exam prior to beginning their master’s research paper. The written exam consists of constructed-response questions prepared by the student’s Master’s Exam Committee, which consists of three QME faculty.

Students will have three hours to answer three questions (approximately 1 hour each). Students may not bring any materials to the exam, and will type their responses into a word-processing program on a computer that will be provided. Students should contact their adviser for information about the date, location, and time of the exam. Responses will be read by members of the Master’s Exam Committee, who will make a pass/fail recommendation to the full QME faculty. Students have two opportunities to pass the written exam. If the student fails the exam both times, the student’s study in QME/educational psychology is terminated.

10. Master’s internship

After completing the written exam (if required), master’s students spend one semester in an internship. In the internship, students demonstrate their ability to apply their training in measurement, evaluation, and statistics. Normally this involves being placed on a research project on campus, although the internship setting is flexible. For example, a student could satisfy this requirement by working on a research study with an individual faculty member. Typically, students are expected to participate in several aspects of the methodology of a study, for example, instrument development, sampling, data analysis including statistical computing, evaluation work, writing or co-writing technical reports, and participating in project meetings and activities. Students are expected to spend at least 10 hours per week in the internship. Once the internship is complete, the student’s adviser will solicit a letter evaluating the student’s performance from the person supervising the internship. This letter will form the basis of assigning a Pass/Fail grade for the internship (EPSY 5272, 5273, 8296, or 8993). Students should regularly apprise their adviser of their activities during the internship as well as any concerns they have.

11. Master’s research paper (Plan B)
6 credits of EPSY 5991 or 8994

Students demonstrate their knowledge of research and scholarship by working independently on a research paper involving a minimum of 120 hours of work. Typically this paper or project resembles a thesis in volume; however, it differs from a thesis in that it need not represent an original, empirical study. For example, a student may prepare a library-based research paper that reviews, organizes, synthesizes, and critiques previously conducted research and scholarly discussion pertaining to issues in measurement and accountability or statistics/statistical education. A paper that involves the analysis or re-analysis of previously collected data may also satisfy this requirement. Two faculty members from quantitative methods in education and one faculty member with graduate faculty membership outside of educational psychology serve as readers. The paper is completed in three stages. First, a 1-3 page description of the topic of the paper and proposed methods is presented to the readers for approval. Second, the paper is completed under the adviser’s supervision and presented to the readers for approval. Third, the student defends the paper in a final oral exam. Students should check with their adviser for details concerning the oral exam. A suggested format for the master’s paper appears in Appendix C. Assuming other program requirements have been met, students may work on their research paper concurrent with serving their internship.

12. Summer term access

Faculty in QME are often not available during the summer term, and students should plan to complete their summer and fall term registrations before the end of the spring term.

13. Graduation requirements

Students should obtain a Graduation Packet early in the term they wish to graduate  (www.grad.umn.edu/current_students/forms/grad_packet/masters/confirm.html). This packet has three forms that must be completed (a) Application For Degree (b) Commencement Attendance Approval, (c) Thesis Reviewers Report Form—Plan A; Final Examination Report—Plan B. The Application for Degree must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar (200 Fraser Hall) by the first working day of the intended month of graduation. The Commencement Attendance Approval form must be submitted to the Graduate School by March 1 for participation in the spring commencement ceremony and by October 1 for the fall commencement ceremony. The Final Examination Report form must be in the Graduate School by the last working day of the intended month of graduation.

November 2004