From Jim Burcio, MA in Ed Admin
Yes my program currently has the Thesis and Synthesis format.... but if the Merification Plan goes through this might change.
The document you attached seems appropriate... I understood that the one person who was authorized to do the final "delivery to ProQuest" was Mel.
From Laurie Edwards, MAT
I'm currently the director of the new Master of Arts in Teaching program. The program was explicitly designed for credential students, and does not include a thesis. Instead, the students create a capstone project, which is a substantial educational product, usable in the classroom or by other colleagues, or by the broader educational community (parents, etc). The description of the project in our guidelines is as follows:
"The Capstone Project in the Master of Arts in Teaching program has several purposes: to allow you to synthesize the content and pedagogical content knowledge that you have been building throughout the program; to create a concrete, useful and usable educational product; and to let you share your new knowledge with your students, colleagues and/or the broader educational community. We hope that this project is just the first of many more that you will develop as an educator, and we hope that the process used in the program will provide a foundation for your continuing creativity. "
The projects by our first cohort were just presented last night, and ranged from pamphlets and binders of material for teachers and parents of special needs students to wikis on teaching Othello to webquests to curriculum units, etc etc. One of the goals is for students to choose a project that is meaningful and useful to them; thus we don't want to limit the form that projects take.
Thus our students do not complete a thesis or other document that would be suitable for uploading to Proquest (even if some of the capstone projects are primarily text, it wouldn't be fair for some students to be required to upload their projects and others not to).
From Patricia Chambers, MA in ECE and Montessori Elementary Education
We have a master’s in Early Childhood Education with 3 possible concentrations, Supervision and Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction, or Montessori Early Childhood Education. We also have an MA in Montessori Elementary Education. All of these MA’s require a thesis or thesis project that is published on Proquest.
Those of our students who take the M.Ed. in Montessori Education take additional coursework (42 to 47 units). They take research classes and then instead of writing a thesis or thesis project, they do MONT 599 Montessori Seminar during which they conduct a classroom or school-wide action research project in which they identify a problem and develop a solution or plan of action based on relevant research, Montessori principles, and best practices as approved by an advisor. The project may take various forms: a curriculum unit, videotape, handbook, etc., and illustrates an original contribution developed by the candidate. Final assessment and evaluation of the candidate’s integration of concepts culminates in a written paper summarizing an understanding of the problem, question or area of focus and the candidate’s plan of action to improve practice.
I have not been the one responsible for submissions so I can not say if the attached procedure has been followed.
From Ann Marie Foley, Program Manager, MA in Leadership
To your first question -- the M.A. in Leadership culminates in a synthesis completion project. I don't think this issue relates to the B.A. in Leadership and Organizational Studies program, since it's not a graduate program. Correct me if I'm wrong in that assumption.
Secondly, I have some comments/questions about the Draft ProQuest Process.
1. Manuscript Review - Is this proposed "faculty-approved reviewer" meant to be someone other than the Project Advisor, who we already have working with the student? I'm curious how that will work -- does the student hire from an approved list of reviewers? Who hires and pays the reviewers? Who creates the list? (Leadership Studies currently has two writing tutors we use from time to time, who may be resources.) How will that reviewer interact with our Project Advisors, or does the reviewer only get the paper after the Project Advisor has approved it? I realize these may be questions outside the scope of what you're looking for now, but thought I'd inquire about the process here.
2.Graduation and Financial Check - I suggest the wording be broadened to include Program Manager, as I am, or someone other than the Program Director or Academic Chair. In our department, the Program Manager determines if all degree requirements are met and would do the same for the financial check. Even if it's a designee from Chris' office, as mentioned as an option, I imagine I'd still do the determining and advise the designee.
3. Similar issue regarding wording of the "final approval and delivery to ProQuest," as in #2 above. Once we're on ProQuest, we'll have to determine who will hit the "approved" button but it is very unlikely to be the Program Director or Academic Chair. With a "go ahead" from me, it could be the designee from Chris' office, I imagine.
Lastly, about being on ProQuest, I haven't worked on this project since early 2011 when I started to get training. I'm encouraged by your email and hope progress has been made so we might be able to use it.
There were several things that prevented us from migrating over, the main one being the fact that the SMC instance of ProQuest didn't allow for students other than those in KSOE. For example, our degree name was not a choice in the online list and the checklist/directions only pertained to KSOE students' process. For example, the checklist required a student to purchase two bound copies, which is now addressed in the Draft Process you sent. Another issue was the fact that the primary administrator overall was Becky Proehl. I understood there was no way to have multiple primary administrators or multiple checklists.
It's my hope that the ProQuest instance and mutually agreed on process are being put in place to allow for all graduate and doctoral program students. And, once in place, I also hope there will be training for all of us who need to use it and to advise students on how to use it.
Let me know if you have questions or need further input.