Master of Education

The degree provides advanced training in the field of study including techniques of research, data analysis and Scholarly presentation appropriate to the discipline. The degree will equip the candidate with the knowledge and the skills necessary either for employment in a related field (including teaching and research positions) or for further independent research toward the degree of Ph D.

Minimum Entrance Requirements

A degree of Honours bachelor or its equivalent, in the discipline or a cognate discipline recognised by the Faculty.

Assumptions.

People who have shown by examination or publication or a record of appropriate training that they have reached a level in the subject or a cognate subject equivalent to an honours degree may be permitted to register for the degree.

1. Senior certificate with Matriculation Exemption or Equivalent university admission qualification
2. First degree, BA
3. Honours degree, BA (Honours)

Recognition of prior learning (e.g. Work or field experience (if applicable)

Non-Honours graduates who have shown by examination or publication or a record of appropriate training that they have reached a level in the subject or a cognate subject equivalent to a bachelors degree may be permitted to register for the degree.

(a) Critical cross-field outcomes (generic to all teaching and learning)

(i) The Masters graduate is able to demonstrate mastery to depth of a theoretically sophisticated subject matter

(ii) The Masters graduate is equipped with the proficiency in research methodology sufficient to proceed to a PhD. Graduates have mastered the skills of critical thinking, problem solving, collection and analysis of data, and effective written communication.

(b) General outcomes (contextually demonstrated general knowledge, skills and values of the programme)

Depending on the discipline, the research masters graduate is able to

(i) Conduct independent research in a discipline (or inter-disciplinary field);

(ii) Apply in-depth and specialised disciplinary knowledge and research skills to specific empirical cases and topics;

(iii) Demonstrate an awareness of the limitations of research and an ability to make claims with appropriate conditions;

(iv) Draw on discipline based knowledge to identify appropriate cases to devise hypothesis creating and answering comparisons;

(v) Analyse and critique communications of an academic and popular nature;

(vi) Prepare research reports and literature studies to established academic standards required for publication in professional journal and effectively present research in readable form to lay audiences;

(vii) Appreciate the ethical issues associated with research and knowledge production in the discipline;

(viii) Understand the processes whereby knowledge in the specific field of Humanities is constructed.

(c) Specific Outcomes, including professional outcomes, contextually demonstrated)

Depending on the discipline the research masters graduate is able to

(i) Identify and understand at an advanced level the main trends, themes and debates within the field;

(ii) Identify, debate and apply at an advanced level the main theoretical approaches developed in related knowledge areas;

(iii) Apply relevant methodological approaches and key research techniques;

(iv) Conduct advanced literature searches to inform reviews of specialised literature in the field;

(v) Prepare professional papers for peer review

(vi) Where relevant, apply cross-disciplinary knowledge to respond to practical problems facing society in transition in Africa generally and South Africa in particular;

(vii) Prepare and present research proposals and to act as a research and policy consultants in relevant fields.

(a) The achievement of these outcomes is assessed in the integrated assessment of the programme.

(b) The achievement of these outcomes is assessed by means of the dissertation itself.

The outcomes are assessed as follows

• Completion of written assignments, oral presentations, projects and term papers in relevant competence areas;
• The completion of a research dissertation that includes components.

Integrated assessment

The integration of skills learnt in the Masters degree is assessed by means of a supervised dissertation not exceeding 50,000 words. The dissertation must demonstrate competence in the following areas, all of which are assessed in the examination of the dissertation:

• Adequate research problem formulation and development;
• Familiarity with and integration of the relevant and specialised literature that informs the research question; I
• Application of relevant theoretical approaches and key research techniques at an advanced level;
• Systematic and sustained discussion and argumentation and integration of findings;
• Ability to address the normative issues that might attend the study;
• Appreciation of the methodological limitations of the study;
• Use of the publication and style conventions of the discipline.

The dissertation is subject to external examination.

It is not essential that the dissertation submitted by the candidate constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the subject nor that the research projects(s) undertaken necessarily be original.