Alan Colburn's Home Page

That depends on you! Like all master's programs, our M.S. is 30 units. Any prerequisite courses you need to take are above and beyond the program's 30 units (this also is standard). If you take one course (3 units) per semester, it will take you about ten semesters to complete the program. However, classes will always be available during summer semesters. If you took 12-15 units per semester, as a full time student, you might be able to complete the program in one calendar year. Most students will be somewhere in between those two extremes.

I'm going to refrain from providing an actual dollar figure for that question, because tuition costs change more frequently than I may update this page :-) However, the university charges one fee for graduate students taking 0-6 units in a semester (regardless of the number of units), and a different fee for students taking more than 6 units (regardless of the number of units).

You must meet University and Department admissions requirements. Beyond these, if you are planning on being a student in the Elementary Option, the program has three prerequisite courses: Biology 200, Physical Science 112, and Geology 102/104 (or the equivalents for any of the courses). If you graduated from CSULB with a degree in Liberal Studies within the last several years you probably took these courses.

If you are planning on being a student in the Secondary Option, your program will include 9 units of science coursework at a level high enough to count toward a graduate degree. These courses may have prerequisites.

Generally, no--this was designed to be an on campus program. In theory, you could complete much of your thesis/project from off campus, if you kept in close contact with your advisor (and it was OK with him or her). In addition, some students in the Secondary option may complete some of their science course requirements via online coursework. The majority of the program, however, must be completed on campus.

We limit enrollment to no more than 15 students per year. We want to be sure the student to faculty ratio does not become too large for us to provide you with quality advising, and that the program is small enough that you feel you're a member of a cohort.

We will begin reviewing candidates and making acceptance decisions after May 1. We will accept applications until the end of June, assuming there's space. There is a non-refundable fee for admission to the university. Remember, also, that the departmental application is separate from the university application . You must be accepted by both the university and the Science Education department before being eligible as a Classified Graduate Student.

The major code is a number identifying you as someone applying for the M.S. program for Science Education. Your application should indicate you are applying for the Elementary Option of the M.S. in Science Education (SCEDMS01) or the Secondary Option for the M.S. in Science Education (SCEDMS02).

No, we are not currently requiring students to have taken the GRE. We do require a teaching credential (or something a Science Education department committee deems equivalent), as well as various other requirements discussed on the previous web page. The application includes a writing sample.

SCED 550 is a good place to start. I don't assume students in this class have had any graduate schooling and try to introduce things like how to make use of the library's research databases and how to read a research paper. If SCED 550 is not being offered the semester you begin the program, good alternates include one of your science courses or one of the courses from the College of Education. Almost all students should take EDP 520 as their first College of Ed course.

If you feel like you're really "bad" or afraid of math, then you may want to take the EDP 400 Statistics class before taking other EDP courses, even though we will not count EDP 400 toward your master's degree.

We recommend most students begin with EDP 520. Once you have taken EDP 520, the recommended follow-up course is EDP 519 if you think, at that point, that you are most likely someday to complete a quantitative research based thesis. I know it sounds a little strange, but you take EDP 520 before taking EDP 519.

A second path would be appropriate for those who know they want to do qualitative research--case study, interview, observation, or other anthropological or sociological type or work. If you know that you are much more interested in talking to or watching people than anything even remotely involving numbers, you might fall into this category. You can take EDP 595 (Qualitative Research), which has no prerequisite. Your best bet would be to combine this with EDP 520, if you can.

If you're interested in program evaluation, you could take EDP 520 and EDP 596 (Program Evaluation in Education).

Yes. You need to apply (and be accepted by) both the University and Department. However, you will not need to provide the university with a new set of transcripts. In addition, the university will calculate your GPA in a manner that includes the most recent courses you have taken at the university.

Technically, you can enroll in either option. The options are quite similar. The only difference is that students in the Elementary option will take SCED 500, 501, and 502 (three science courses created specifically for elementary teachers with relatively little science background), whereas students in the Secondary option will take 9 units of science in a discipline of their choice. The 9 units of science, of course, must be at a level high enough to count toward a graduate degree at CSULB. We currently have middle school teachers in both options. It's something we could discuss further, either before or after you have applied. It's easy to switch between options, esp. early in your program.