Welcome to Avondale » Courses » Postgraduate (Research) » Master of Education (Research)

Master of Education (Research)

Course coordinator: Dr Cedric Greive
Course code 5001

Master of Education (Research) is a research masters degree offered in the Faculty of Education, that provides students an opportunity to conduct a supervised independent research project on a topic of their choice, resulting in the submission of a thesis. Students are supervised by a principal supervisor and normally an associate supervisor, and undertake research in the field of education. In addition, the Master of Education (Research) aims to develop students appreciation, understanding and application of research knowledge, skills and abilities, in order to make an original contribution to existing knowledge. It allows free choice of topic (within the constraints of the availability of supervisors, resources, infrastructure and the broad discipline of education), to cater for students interests and professional requirements.

Candidates may draw on a range of qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies, and the research may be related directly to their own professional life, or to another type of study, including ethnographic or sociological research, a survey-based study, policy analysis, historical research, or discourse analysis. Consultation with the Course Coordinator for the Master of Education (Research) and Dean of the Faculty of Education, will assist applicants to determine eligibility for admission, to identify proposed topics for research, and to ascertain the availability of suitable supervisors.

The course is designed to enable educators, particularly Christian educators, to take more responsible, intelligent decisions and actions that are useful and relevant to education in their particular time and location. Thus, the course is intended to (a) enable students to increase their capacity for wise decisions and actions, derived from evidence-based knowledge and understanding, and, consequently, to achieve more effective outcomes; and, (b) encourage students to advance beyond the horizons of conventional knowledge or understanding, and traditional professional boundaries, while adopting a futures and global perspective beyond the here and now.

Duration

This course can be taken full-time over three academic semesters (18 months full-time) minimum, or three years maximum full-time enrolment. Students who elect to undertake the degree part-time must be enrolled for a minimum of three years or a maximum of six years. Students who are granted a period of leave-of-absence during their candidature must complete their degrees within seven years from course commencement. Students who move from part-time to full-time candidature will have minimum and maximum periods of enrolment calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Mode of delivery

Full-time or part-time on campus (Lake Macquarie)
Full-time or part-time by distance education

Title

Master of Education (Research)
Abbreviation: MEd (Research)

Accreditation

The course is accredited by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training to 9 December 2012 and may be offered to Australian students or international students (CRICOS Number 062227A). International students are subject to regulations outlined in the ESOS Act (2007) and the National Code.

Entry requirements

The Master of Education (Research) requires the student to have attained from a university or accredited higher education provider either (a) an undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Education at an average of Distinction; or (b) a Graduate Diploma in education at an average of Distinction; or (c) a Bachelor's honours degree with a major in education, or equivalent. In addition to the above academic requirement, the applicant must have completed a minimum of two years in professional education practice. Where applicants are adjudged to have not met the entry requirements, they will be required to complete appropriate Master of Education coursework units prior to enrolment in the M.Ed(Research) degree.

Course content and structure

To a large extent the conceptual framework for the course is individually constructed by the candidates themselves who form a theoretical framework particular to their individual study within a field of education. However, in general, the aim of the program is to develop scholarly researchers skilled at discovery-type scholarship and who are capable of using the research process in problem solving.

The Master of Education (Research) is comprised of two subjects (12 credit points, .25 EFTSL, or 17% of the degree) and major thesis (60 credit points, 83% of the degree). The Master of Education (Research) is consistent with the requirements of a research masters degree as outlined in the Australian Qualifications Framework (http://www.aqf.edu.au). It is intended that graduates will have:

• a high degree of mastery in their chosen area of study in education;
  
• advanced knowledge of a specialist body of theoretical and applied topics;
  
• higher order skills in analysis and critical evaluation through the planning and execution of a piece of scholarship or research;
  
• creativity and flexibility in the application of knowledge and skills to new situations; and
  
• the ability to solve complex problems and think rigorously and independently.
  

Students are required to: differentiate known from unknown knowledge; critically analyse the existing knowledge; understand the dimensions of the unknown and from this understanding focus on a manageable field of endeavour; understand and use various ways of locating new knowledge; select from a range of options, a methodology appropriate to the purpose of their individual study; collect and accumulate data pertinent to the research question; merge new knowledge with existing concepts; interpret and make sense of the new knowledge and communicate the findings of this process to assist others to merge the new knowledge into existing conceptual schema in a field of education; and envisage the implications of findings.

The unit sequence for full-time students is as follows:


Part time students normally are enrolled at 50% the normal full-time load and undertake the following sequence:

Supervisors

Advanced standing and credit transfer

Prospective students applying for credit transfer or advanced standing in the Master of Education (Research) are encouraged to consult Avondale's Advanced Standing/Credit Transfer policy located on the College website (http://www.avondale.edu.au). Students who consider that prior completed studies should be taken into consideration with their application for candidature, then complete the Credit Transfer/Advanced Standing Form and attach documentary evidence in support of their claim. This application, supporting evidence, and the current policy will be considered at the time students apply to enrol in the degree, and students shall be advised of the outcome of the decision in the Letter of Offer.

Avondale's policy on Advanced Standing and Credit Transfer together with the processing form is located in Section 5. It should be noted that the greatest amount of Advanced Standing and/or credit transfer that may be awarded towards the Avondale College Master of Education (Research) is 12 credit points for those candidates who have successfully completed 2 subjects equivalent to ED521 Understanding and Conducting Research in Education and ED522 Research Project Proposal. Normally studies completed in a Graduate Diploma in Education would not be credited to the Avondale College Master of Education (Research) unless the applicant had completed two research subjects assessed as equivalent to ED521 Understanding and Conducting Research in Education and ED522 Research Project Proposal.

In every case, the Faculty Research and Teaching Committee and the Avondale College Research Committee review all such requests for advanced standing, prior to the awarding of advanced standing. This evaluation might include review of subject outlines, text materials, and the perusal of examination and course materials. Generally, marginal grades or requests for transfer credit from universities outside of Australia are not accepted.

Application for admission

Prospective students must make application to study in the Master of Education (Research) through the normal application processes (click here to download the application form). The Course Co-ordinator, and Dean of Faculty, review all applications and accept or reject applications based on the applicant's ability to meet the entry criteria as stated above, the capacity of the faculty to supervise the student, and the capacity of the library and other resources required. Associate supervisors or co-supervisors may be appointed to supplement faculty expertise. For those applicants who meet all of the criteria above, the Dean and the Course Coordinator recommend acceptance of the student to the Faculty Research and Teaching Committee and the Research Committee.

Research topics

Prospective candidates are invited to contact the Course Coordinator to discuss possible topics for research.

English language proficiency requirements

Courses at Avondale College are delivered in the English language. In order to complete the courses successfully, applicants from a country where English is not the first language must demonstrate proficiency in English in one of the following ways:

• Provide documentary evidence that a significant part of the education was conducted in the English language; or
  
• Successful completion of at least two years of tertiary study conducted in the English language in Australia or in another country in which English is the official language within the last two years; or
  
• Provide documentary evidence that an IELTS score of 7.0 has been achieved with no individual band score less than 6.5.
  

International students

Overseas applicants are required to satisfy the Australian Government visa requirements (see Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

The M.Ed(Research) thesis

The M.Ed(Research) thesis normally will report a research investigation (including findings). As a general rule the thesis length should be 30,000-40,000 words. However, the actual length of the report rests with the student after discussion with the supervisor, and it is somewhat contingent on the topic and the purposes of the research. The thesis is a coherent exposition of the research study and follows a sequence describing the research objectives, methodology, and methods employed.

Thesis binding

The theses shall be bound in dark blue binding upon which lettering will be in gold.

Academic regalia

The standard black masters gown is overlaid with a hood of green and a standard mortar board.

Enquiries

For any postgraduate study enquiries, please contact the Course Coordinator on 61 02 4980 2181 or the Faculty Secretary on 61 02 4980 2188