Clayton and Peninsula campuses
Course code: 0078
Contact: Dr Ilana Snyder (Clayton), Dr Tony Taylor (student adviser, Gippsland) and Dr Ros Smith (course adviser, Peninsula)
The Master of Educational Studies (MEdSt) is a coursework degree designed primarily to meet the requirements of teachers, educators and educational administrators who wish to gain higher professional qualifications and expertise in education.
The objectives of the MEdSt course are to provide students with knowledge and understanding to be able to:
Whilst the specific regulations governing the degree are set out elsewhere, in general terms to be eligible for admission applicants must hold either an approved three-year bachelor degree and an approved fourth year of study or an approved four-year bachelor degree. The course may be taken either full-time or part-time and it is expected that full-time candidates will complete all requirements within two years whilst part-time candidates will complete within four years.
Subjects available for the degree of MEdSt are set out below. Details of all subjects follow the course information in this handbook.
By resolution of the faculty board, each subject of the degree is offered conditionally upon there being a sufficient demand for it from enrolling students in any given year and conditionally on appropriate staff being available.
A number of EdD subjects will be available to approved masters level students. A list of these subjects can be obtained from the inquiry office of the School of Graduate Studies, Clayton campus.
Students may undertake the degree by flexible learning modes. These include subjects taught over January in summer school, subjects available on different campuses, and subjects taken by distance education mode. Details of subjects offered are available from the inquiry office for the School of Graduate Studies, Clayton campus (telephone 9905 2819) or the administrative officer, Peninsula School of Education (telephone 9904 4291).
Subjects are available in the two areas of research methods and statistics. In research methods, the subject GED0801 (Educational research methodology) is designed to introduce students to a range of research methods and to help students undertaking research projects to make informed choices about research strategies. The subjects GED0803 (Naturalistic research methods), GED0805 (Survey research methods) and GED0806 (Research methods in the humanities) are designed to provide specialised guidance for project and thesis candidates who are focusing on a research topic that will involve the relevant research method. While prior completion of GED0801 will provide valuable background for students in these subjects, it is not a prerequisite. Each subject is designed to be accessible to students without prior studies in research methods.
The subject GED0807 (Statistical analysis) is also available. It is suitable for students without prior studies in statistics and is designed to provide sufficient statistical expertise to enable students to conduct and report most of the statistical analyses common in empirical research studies.
A program is a related set of subjects and students should, in conjunction with a course adviser, choose subjects to fit their needs and interests. Students who choose the project option should bear in mind that the subjects and project together must form a coherent program of study. In order to help students in their choices, the particular programs of study in the areas described below have been approved. Students interested in pursuing a program of study within any of these areas should consult with the contact person named, who will provide them with further details, including an outline of the subjects available within the program, and advise them about the sequence in which these subjects can be taken.
Contact: Associate Professor Glenn Rowley
This program allows students to undertake specialised training in research methodology and to supplement their studies if they wish with subjects in related areas or in the area of education in which they wish to undertake research. Students will commence with the subject GED0801 (Educational research methodology), which provides an introduction to issues and practice in a variety of research strategies, and then move on to subjects in one or more of the four specialised methods offered. In later years, students may specialise in quantitative methods, or in related areas such as measurement or evaluation in education.
Contact: Professor Alan Bishop and Associate Professor Glenn Rowley
This program is designed to develop students' abilities to assess, quantitatively, the outcomes of learning. The following subjects are particularly relevant: GED0807 (Statistical analysis); GED4810 (Assessment of student learning) and GED4811 (The measurement of attitudes).
Contact: Dr Alan Rice and Dr Margaret Woodward
This program is available to students interested in Asian studies and languages. It will be of value to social science, humanities and language teachers (including TESOL); nurse educators working in community health and development health; administrators and policy analysts; and students interested in naturalistic research methods. In general the program will comprise subjects providing a foundation to the teaching of Asian studies, relevant social science and humanities subjects and subjects focusing on particular fields such as curriculum development and development studies.
Contact: Associate Professor Gerald Burke
Students wishing to undertake a program in policy studies can enrol in the Master of Educational Policy and Administration degree. Alternatively they can construct a program within the MEdSt degree. A range of masters subjects relating to policy studies are available. Please discuss with Associate Professor Gerald Burke, Associate Professor Lawrie Angus or Associate Professor Terri Seddon.
Contact: Associate Professor Lawrie Angus and Associate Professor Peter Gronn
Students interested in a program in educational administration should consider enrolling in the Master of Educational Policy and Administration degree. Alternatively, they may construct a program within the MEdSt degree. While the program is well suited to the needs of those seeking administrative positions and those already holding administrative positions in educational organisations, it also caters more generally to those with broad interests in various aspects of educational governance. The program fosters a reflective appraisal of various perspectives on educational administration and organisation as well as providing assistance in the development of knowledge and skills relevant to administrative practice.
Contact: Associate Professor Peter Gronn
Students wishing to undertake a program in this area should consider enrolling in the Master of Educational Policy and Administration degree. Alternatively, they may construct a program of subjects within the MEdSt degree. This program is intended for educators who are concerned with the planning and management of delivery systems for educational services. It focuses on the application of research-based knowledge to the improvement of education at central and local levels. Its aim is enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of school-based, regional and macro level delivery systems. Anticipated outcomes for participating students will be heightened awareness of conceptual and theoretical issues in policy and practice, along with improved levels of skills in applied research, management and planning. Electives include human resource management; planning; economics and finance; curriculum management; and educational research.
Contact: Dr Alan Rice
This program is designed for educators from third world countries and for others interested in the delivery of educational services in an international context. Its focus is on the application of research-based knowledge to the improvement of education for national development, viewed against a cultural and anthropological background. Supervision, planning, technological systems and human resource management are seen as vital in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of educational organisations. Derived from appropriate bodies of theory, skills and competencies are developed in the diagnosis of existing structures and procedures as well as in the implementation and monitoring of reform programs at central and local levels. Students will normally take two core subjects and four electives, the latter drawn primarily from one elective stream. The elective streams include planning, management and computers; human resource development; development issues; curriculum and instruction; and educational research.
Contact: Associate Professor Colin Evers
What happens in education depends on our ideas and values. A philosophical approach to educational issues is one that sets out to uncover and examine these themes. In this program of study, some subjects look at curriculum issues, such as the teaching of moral values, or the way views of knowledge influence curriculum planning. Others deal with ethical issues in administration, or more generally, with the aims of a school as a whole. The program is intended to provide professional educators with a background from which they can make informed assessment of theories, policies, and structures in education. It emphasises the analysis of arguments and the uncovering of principles which are often hidden from view in public discussion of education.
Contact: Dr Andy Spaull
This program focuses mostly on twentieth-century historical issues, though some attention is paid to nineteenth-century developments. The focus is principally on Australia though at least one of the subjects suggested has an international perspective. Considerable attention will be devoted to providing an historical background for problems which at present are affecting Australian education.
Contact: Dr Andy Spaull
This program covers a wide range of subjects, each of which raises important issues about the nature of Australian society. Sometimes these issues fall directly in a disciplinary area (eg sociology, history, politics); at other times they arise from a particular social and educational problem, the discussion of which necessitates a study of developments in Australian society. The program should provide a useful background for teachers wishing to prepare VCE courses in this area.
Contact: Dr Lesley Farrell
This program offers a range of subjects which are designed for students who wish to specialise in studies relating to English language and literacy. The program would be useful for those teaching English, working in the field of literacy, either in school or out of school contexts, or designing curricula or policies in literacy-related areas. The program provides an introduction to a range of practical and relevant research approaches, and students are encouraged to build on their classroom or professional experiences as a base for specialised work in this area.
Contact: Professor Dick Gunstone
This program is concerned with learning, teaching and curriculum in school science. It aims to provide perspectives on developments in research and practice in science education, and to develop a range of skills from classroom practice to conceptions of purpose. The program is intended to be of value to all those concerned with the designing and implementing of school science education.
Contact: Professor Alan Bishop
Students wishing to follow a strong mathematics education theme within their MEdSt course should find the following subjects of particular interest: GED4802 (Modern developments in mathematics education), GED4814 (Research in mathematics education); GED4819 (Catering for individual differences in mathematics education), GED4829 (Social and cultural perspectives on mathematics education).
Contact: Mr Lawrence Ingvarson
There are a number of subjects which are designed to relate closely to classroom practice and which could form the basis of an integrated program in professional development. These subjects cover such fields as psychology, assessment, teaching, curriculum and educational change, as well as recent developments in subject teaching.
Contact: Dr Tony Townsend
This program allows senior teachers or principals in the primary sector to expand their knowledge and professional skills by completing such subjects as EDN8034 (The effective primary school), EDN8036 (Issues in primary education), EDN8038 (Improving professional practice) and GED4806 (Educational change and teacher development).
Contact: Dr Ros Smith
Students wishing to pursue a music education focus in their MEdSt course may follow individual programs with subjects such as the following as their basis: EDN8013 (Teaching world musics); EDN8032 (Creative music in the classroom); EDN8035 (Issues in arts education); GED3838 (Historical development of school music in Australia); and GED3828 (Education, aesthetics and the arts).
Contact: Associate Professor Anne McDougall
Within the MEdSt course students are able to undertake programs specialising in educational computing. A selection of at least four subjects should be made from GED3809 (Writing and computers), GED4816 (Evaluation and development of educational software), GED4822 (Computers, artificial intelligence and theories of learning), GED4823 (The impact of computer technology on education and society), GED4824 (Computer programming for education), GED4834 (Computer communications in education) and GED4835 (Issues in educational multimedia). These can be supplemented with subjects from areas such as curriculum, educational technology, psychology, special education or educational administration. An individual project on an educational computing topic is also required.
Group adviser: Dr Gil Best
The MEdSt subjects offered by group one are designed to relate recent developments and findings in research to the practice of classroom teaching, school counselling and the education of exceptional children. Most subjects are open to students without a background in psychology, but generally some experience in teaching or other applied settings is desirable and is especially relevant in many of the special education subjects, which include a practicum as a central element.
Group adviser: Associate Professor Peter Gronn/Dr Alan Rice
In the MEdSt program, group two offers advanced subjects in areas related to contemporary issues in education and society. Areas of study include economics, politics and sociology of education, educational administration and management, educational planning and policy analysis, comparative and international education, gender and social change, vocational education and training, social education in schools, and industrial relations in education. They are designed to help students extend their professional development and competence in their work as teachers or lecturers, coordinators, consultants or counsellors, administrators or managers, planners, policy analysts, researchers, curriculum or other specialists in both education and other helping professions such as nursing and social welfare.
Group two also sponsors or co-sponsors faculty programs in education and the human condition, educational administration, social education, planning and management of education, international and development education, education of girls, policy studies, Australian studies, and research methodology.
A wide range of projects, involving studies or applications, can be undertaken in relation to group two areas of interest and associated subjects, or the more specialised research and other professional interests of individual staff members.
Students planning to undertake such projects should consult the group advisers or the lecturer whose specialisation is most relevant to their interests.
Group advisers: Associate Professor Colin Evers and Dr Ilana Snyder
Group adviser: Dr Sue McNamara
There are six areas of educational studies with which the subjects offered by group four are associated, namely curriculum, teaching and professional development; evaluation in education; science and environmental education; mathematics education; technology education; educational computing and educational technology.
Contact: Dr Ros Smith
The following subjects may be offered on the Peninsula or Clayton campuses subject to demand.
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