Master's Degree

The Art Education Master's Program is designed to help experienced teachers improve their competencies, to enable practicing artists become art teachers, to prepare students to work in museum and community settings, and in general for preparation for art teaching at all levels.

This program offers courses in curriculum theory and development, computer graphics and other educational applications, art education history and literature, art instruction for atypical populations, art education research, community and museum settings, and other aspects of art education. The Master's degree program is open-ended and focuses on individual student needs. Courses are offered in the late afternoon and in the summers to accommodate inservice art teacher schedules. The graduate program in art education was rated 6th in the US and Canada in a 1999 national survey.

In addition to meeting the standard School of Education admission requirements, students interested in pursuing a master's degree in art education must have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0. Applicants who do not meet this requirement may be admitted if they show evidence of successful professional activity, such as curriculum development or scholarship, or if they can demonstrate competence on the GRE exam.

Requirements

Students must complete 36 credit hours, including the following:

• Major (18 cr.)
  • J500 Instruction in the Context of Curriculum (3 credits)
  • Z500 Advanced Art Education (3 credits), and
  • 12 additional credit hours in art education (Z prefixed courses)
• Foundations (3 cr.) Choose one course:
  • H504 History of American Education (3 credits)
  • H530 Philosophy of Education (3 credits)
  • P510 Psychology in Teaching (3 credits)
  • P515 Child Development (3 credits)
  • P516 Adolescent Development (3 credits)
  • P540 Learning and Cognition in Education (3 credits)
  • P545 Educational Motivation (3 credits)
  • W551 Educational Psychology of the Gifted (3 credits)
• Thesis (X599), Practicum (J538), or other courses selected with the approval of program advisor (6 cr.)
• Electives (9 cr.)
  • Nine credit hours must be taken outside the Art Education Program. These courses must complement the student's program.
  • Two courses may be taken at the undergraduate level in the master's program.
  • Fifteen credit hours may be transferred from other institutions with the approval of an advisor.