Learning Sciences Masters
Overview

Videos: Academic Director, Andrew Ortony, disucsses the Curriculum, Masters Project, and Distinctive Features of the Learning Science Masters Program

Access to Faculty
Faculty and the community of researchers work closely with master's students throughout the program through courses and independent research projects. Close proximity provides master’s students with easy access to this community as student and faculty offices are located in the same building. Faculty members make it a high priority to take time with students to provide direction in courses, answer questions and recommend resources. The dean of the School of Education and Social Policy also teaches in the program and often mentors students.

Connected Community
Because the number of master’s students (typically 10 to 12 per year), and the LS community as a whole, is relatively small, the faculty and full-time researchers form many connections. Master’s students and first-year PhD students share offices in the same suite to foster a sense of community and encourage knowledge sharing during time outside the classroom. Shared common workspace is also available for students to form study groups, work on project teams and socialize. In addition, students gather regularly for Brown Bag discussions to share knowledge and research findings.

Customization
Whereas some aspects of the program are fixed (e.g., required courses), there is sufficient flexibility to allow students to tailor their research and project work toward particular topics of interest to them. As the program progresses, students are given increasing options for electives, and they join research teams composed of faculty and PhD students, allowing for even more in-depth experience.

Interdisciplinary Themes
The Learning Sciences MA program draws from cognitive science, education and computer science research. Through coursework and research apprenticeships, students are exposed to classes and projects through which the three major themes — social context, cognition and design — that permeate the research and theory in the learning sciences are interwoven.

The influence of social context on learning results from the social, organizational and cultural dynamics of learning and teaching situations, including classrooms, schools, school districts, museums, corporations and homes. Understanding how cognition is crucial to learning involves understanding models of the structures and processes of learning and teaching by which organized knowledge, skills and understanding are acquired. Finally, design emphasizes the principles governing the creation of effective, often technologically based, learning environments, including innovative curriculum and classroom activity structures.

Providing a Conceptual Foundation
When asked about the greatest value delivered by the program, alumni often indicate that the theoretical foundation to which they were exposed was sufficiently general to apply to a wide array of interests, and that it qualified them for many opportunities in both research and practice.

A Focus on Projects
In addition to extensive course offerings, research projects provide invaluable opportunities for student participation in innovative investigations of learning and teaching in schools, workplaces and other settings. As part of the curriculum, students conduct research with current faculty projects or, occasionally, with external organizations.