Critical and Creative Thinking (MA) - Science in a Changing World Track

Program Requirements

Complete 33 credits from eleven courses including four foundation courses, four electives, and three research and writing courses.

It is recommended that the combination of foundation and elective courses be spread across the three areas of science, interpretation of science in context, and pedagogy and civic engagement. Students should aim for at least four courses in each area and, if science is not the student’s undergraduate major or subsequent training, at least six in science.

Mid-program check-in: A brief interview with the Graduate Program Director and another faculty member is held at the mid-point of one’s progress through the MA program.
Capstone: Completion of a synthesis of one’s insight, learning, and preparedness for change and ongoing development as a result of the program. Abstracts and selected full text syntheses are published on Scholarworks.
Exit self-assessment: Completion of a written self-assessment documenting the broad impact of the program on their personal, professional, and educational development by identifying areas of achievement and challenges in relation to two sets of goals: 1) completion of the synthesis project itself, and 2) developing as a “reflective practitioner”. Students may wish to review these goals periodically throughout the program as a prompt in thinking about how to approach upcoming courses as well as reflect upon recent ones. The exit self-assessment goals also provide some framework for thinking about how to write the narrative parts of the Reflective Practice Portfolio.
Reflective practice portfolio: Completion of an electronic portfolio of academic work completed over the course of the program. The two main components of the portfolio are the exhibits and the narrative. The exhibits are representative assignments of parts of assignments from all courses taken in the program, and the narrative is a written work that conveys a reflection of one’s development of the exhibits over the long term of the program.

Residency: With the approval of the Graduate Program Director, the university allows graduate students to transfer up to 6 credits of graduate work from outside UMass Boston and up to 6 credits of UMass Boston courses taken before matriculating into the program. Grades must be a B or higher, and an official transcript is needed for courses taken outside UMass Boston. Students starting their coursework in the summer do not matriculate until the fall but may submit a pre-matriculation waiver so that all credits taken in the summer count.
Statute of limitations: Five years.

Course Requirements