MA Education: Learning, Pedagogy and Assessment (Part Time)

Key details

MA EDUCATION: LEARNING, PEDAGOGY AND ASSESSMENT (PART TIME)

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Part Time

Award

Degree of Master of Arts

Duration (years)

Study the way people learn, the importance of the interactions between teaching and learning, and how we can assess a person’s educational progress.

This part-time Master’s course is ideally suited to anyone with some experience in education, who wants to delve deeper into the processes, theories and practices at play in this fascinating field. Placing equal emphasis on theory and practice, it builds on your existing knowledge, interests and expertise and helps you apply theory into practice.

This course will give you an in-depth understanding of key educational issues, debates, trends and policies, both nationally and internationally. It will develop your knowledge of educational research and help you in conducting your own research project.

As part of UEA’s renowned School of Education and Lifelong Learning, you will gain skills and knowledge that will prove invaluable in your career in education or one of the many associated fields.

About

The MA Education: Learning, Pedagogy and Assessment is a two-year, part-time course for anyone with an interest in education. Throughout your time with us, we will help you achieve a critical, reflective and practical understanding of the current issues and debates surrounding teaching and learning and you’ll familiarise yourself with some key educational trends and policies in the UK and internationally.

The course has a strong international dimension, which builds on its staff and students’ diverse interests, experiences and backgrounds.

It draws on a long-standing tradition within the School of Education and Lifelong Learning in innovative research and on our excellence in professional education. You will benefit from research-led teaching as our team members bring with them skills and expertise at the cutting-edge of research, pedagogy and theory-informed practice.

You will be taught by leaders in their field, who are active scholars and contribute to national and international debates.

What’s more, our academic environment and the resources available to you will help nurture your knowledge of and aptitude for educational research.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

We utilise a range of assessment and feedback methods throughout the course, including assignments, student-led projects and small-scale research projects. In addition, you’ll need to complete and submit a 15,000-word Master’s dissertation.

Structure

During your first year, you will be required to complete four modules (80 credits). Of these, three are core taught and one is optional taught (each is worth 20 credits).

You’ll take two specialist core modules in the areas of learning, pedagogy and assessment, as follows:

Autumn semester: An Introduction to Key Concepts and Ideas in Educational Practices

Spring semester: Assessment: Principles, Issues and Practice

You’ll also take a generalist compulsory module:

Autumn semester: Critical reading

Your generalist modules are designed to provide you with sufficient grounding in critical inquiry and the methodology of educational research. ‘Critical Reading’ concentrates on the development of your critical skills, particularly by allowing you to focus on educational policies.

Finally, you’ll select and complete one optional module (20 credits worth). Examples of the type of modules on offer include:

Key Concepts and Approaches to Education Leadership, Management and Policy
Leading Teaching, Improving Learning and Global Education Reform
Public Policy, Strategic Management and Complexity
Principles and Practice in Second Language Education
Language Learning in Context
Introducing Innovation and Change
Literacy, Development and Adult Learning: An Introduction to the Concepts
Educational Policy and Practice for Development
Introduction to Education for Development
Intercultural Communication in Practice

Teaching and Learning

You’ll experience a wide range of teaching and learning methods throughout the course. These include lectures, seminars, tutorials, group discussions, practical workshops, group visits to key educational settings, student-led presentations, team-working and writing exercises.

You’ll be given guided reading before and during each module. You will be expected to undertake preparatory reading ahead of classroom sessions, as well as in relation to your coursework. While some coursework will be completed individually, some might involve close collaboration and co-operation with members of your peer group.

Independent study

Guided, self-directed independent study is essential and will be supported by a range of resources, including a dedicated online portal. You’ll need to read extensively between taught sessions and contribute your thoughts and ideas to the group discussion boards and blogs associated with many of the modules.

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Assessment for Year 2

Structure

During your second year, you’ll be required to complete three modules (100 credits).

You’ll take a specialist core module in the areas of learning, pedagogy and assessment:

Autumn semester: Pedagogies in Global Educational Contexts

You’ll also take a generalist compulsory module, covering educational research methods:

Autumn semester: Educational Research Methods

‘Educational Research Methods’ will equip you with skills and knowledge to design and conduct your own research. It will also offer you an introduction to key research techniques and cover crucial aspects of qualitative inquiry.

Your final module is your dissertation, which you will commence at the beginning of the Spring semester and submit at the end of the academic year. Either desk-based or research-led, you will choose a dissertation topic based on your interests and professional background, with guidance from our team. You will then work with an individual supervisor to design, research and write up your project.

Teaching and Learning

Independent study

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Assessment for Year 1

Compulsory Modules

CRITICAL READING

Code EDUE7035A

Credits 20

What does it mean to be a ‘critical’ reader? Why is critical reading important? How can you develop your criticality, both as a reader and a writer? What is the single question that reminds us to take a critical stance when reading a range of published ‘texts’?

CONCEPTUALISING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES

Code EDUE7028A

Credits 20

You may wonder why this module encourages you to explore some ‘obvious’ concepts and ideas such as ‘learning’. Isn’t it obvious what ‘learning’ is? Not if we take into account the fact that a google search yields millions of different answers to the question: ‘What is learning?’ Or that it is rather difficult to answer the question: ‘How do we know that someone has learned something?’ The meaning of ‘learning’ may not be as ‘obvious’ as we think. This module provides an introduction to key concepts and ideas about learning and teaching in compulsory, post-compulsory and lifelong learning that are often taken for granted as ‘obvious’. You will explore how different theoretical perspectives on learning illuminate different aspects of learning and teaching interactions. You will examine these within the broader context of educational organisations and systems. The key concepts and ideas studied in this module include: ‘learning’; ‘cognition’ and ‘emotion’; learning and teaching as ‘social interaction’; ‘agency’, ‘structure’ and ‘culture’; ‘education leadership’ and ‘education policy’. You will also explore how diverse approaches to learning and teaching offered by psychologists, sociologists, educational researchers and policy-makers influence everyday educational practice. The core approach to our module discussions will be based on challenging concepts and ideas that appear ‘obvious’ but, on closer examination, turn out to be problematic. In writing an assignment on a topic of your own choice, you will have an opportunity to challenge some of the ‘obvious’ ideas about your topic.

ASSESSMENT: PRINCIPLES, ISSUES AND PRACTICE

Code EDUE7029B

Credits 20

This module aims to introduce students to key ideas and concepts that underpin assessment philosophies, purposes and design in schools and universities. We will look at the history and functions of assessment and explore the different roles and types of assessment and problems and challenges. Against this backdrop we will then consider assessment design in relation to curricula and/or pedagogy.

Optional A Modules

(20 credits)

EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PRACTICE FOR DEVELOPMENT

Code DEV-7011B

Credits 20

The aim of this module is to help you understand and critically examine, policy-making processes and specific policies for educational development. You will discover the relationships between policy and practice in a range of international, national and local development contexts. Through this module you will explore different approaches to policy development and familiarise yourself with dominant global policy agendas in education - asking who makes or influences policy, and considering policies as socially situated documents, practices and processes. The module introduces you to educational policy-making to address a range of development challenges and how related strategies are enacted in practice; drawing on policy theory and ethnographic and school-based research, as well as practical sessions to critique policy-related writing, examine models of educational quality and curricula, and explore issues of school-related gender based violence.

KEY THEORIES IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Code EDUE7024A

Credits 20

Following a brief exploration of the foundations of mathematics education as a research discipline, this module covers key theories deployed in research into the teaching and learning of mathematics. Starting out from theorists with a huge influence on mathematics education research such as Piaget and Vygotsky, we introduce key theoretical constructs employed in research into the learning and teaching of mathematics. We cover developmental / cognitive, sociocultural, discursive and anthropological approaches.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS IN EDUCATION

Code EDUE7025B

Credits 20

The content of this module complements and elaborates the 20-credit Research Methods in Education compulsory module of the full-time MA programme in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning. It aims to you to elementary concepts and methods in statistical analysis and to help them make well-informed choices in their uses of appropriate methodological techniques and tools in their own research. The module is of relevance if you want to understand the way quantitative evidence is generated, analysed and interpreted and if you choose to collect quantitative data (e.g. through questionnaires) or use mixed methods (i.e. both qualitative and quantitative).

FINDINGS AND APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION RESEARCH

Code EDUE7026A

Credits 20

This module demonstrates the use of the theories introduced in the module Key theories in research into the teaching and learning of mathematics through a series of seminal studies into the teaching and learning of mathematics at primary, secondary and university levels.

DIGITAL RESOURCES IN MATHEMATICS TEACHING AND LEARNING

Code EDUE7027B

Credits 20

This module introduces seminal studies in the use of technology in the teaching and learning of a range of mathematical topics such as: • Number and Arithmetic, mainly at primary level; • Algebra and Geometry, mainly at secondary level; • Calculus and Linear Algebra, mainly at university level; • Mathematical Reasoning and Proof across educational levels; and, • Mathematical Notation, Language and Representations across educational levels. Issues of teacher knowledge, beliefs and teacher education in relation to the use of technology are addressed across levels.

ADULT LITERACY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND LIFELONG LEARNING

Code EDUE7041B

Credits 20

Starting with the concept of literacy as a social practice, we draw on ethnographic research to unpack the relationship between literacy and international development. We will discuss current theories in adult learning and their relevance for policy, planning and practice in lifelong learning, as well as including an introduction to key debates and approaches in development theory.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN PRACTICE

Code PPLC7007B

Credits 20

Do you wish to pursue a career in international management and relations, multilingual business, or international development? Are you interested in becoming a more effective communicator in other professions such as translation, interpreting, education, and cultural mediation? In this module we will explore the issues fundamental to intercultural communication (IC) in practical contexts. You will examine the different ways of thinking about effective communication in a variety of work/organisation-based environments. During the seminars/lecture series, invited practitioners will introduce you to how IC operates in specific organisations, including government agencies or in multilingual business management. On completion of this module, you will have developed the linguistic skills, cultural competence, and critical thinking required for the production of an extended research project in intercultural communication. You will also have acquired a sense of how cultural assumptions may influence communication with others from different backgrounds, and developed a greater willingness to enter into dialogue with the values prevalent in cultures other than your own.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Assessment for Year 2

Compulsory Modules

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH METHODS

Code EDUE7038A

Credits 20

This module provides students with a grounding in the methodology of educational inquiry as well as with some preparation before they apply their own research skills. The module offers an introduction to some key research methodologies and covers crucial aspects of qualitative inquiry. A range of methodological approaches are explored, such as ethnography and case study, and various methods of collecting qualitative data are discussed (e.g. interviewing, doing observations). Students are equipped with some key skills that can help them design and conduct research in their own specialist areas of educational interest.

PEDAGOGIES IN GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS

Code EDUE7030A

Credits 20

This module aims to give students the opportunity to explore and critically consider key issues about pedagogy. It discusses a wide array of ideas and theories that have influenced pedagogic thinking and practice, in various settings, formats and contexts. In particular, it engages with classical and contemporary accounts that have been put forward by as a diverse body thinkers as Plato, Confucius, Freire, Illich and contemporary social movements. Some of the topics we explore include the effect of information technology on leaning and thinking, the meaning and significance of critical pedagogy, the idea of deschooling society, the pedagogy of social movements as well as alternative ways of learning and teaching and enhancing pedagogic relations and interactions.

DISSERTATION

Code EDUE7037X

Credits 60

Working with an individual supervisor, the student is required to design, research and write up an inquiry-based project for a dissertation. With guidance from the course team, the student chooses a dissertation topic according to his/her individual interests and/or professional needs.

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Important Information

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

Bachelor degree - 2.1 or equivalent

Degree subject

Social Science (E.g. Education, Sociology, International Development, Philosophy, Psychology, Modern Languages, Classics). Any subject for applicants with a track record of relevant experience.

Additional entry requirements

Teaching experience is welcome but not essential.

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.5 (minimum 6.0 in all components)
PTE (Pearson): 67 (minimum 64 in all components)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk