Master's Project Sequence

The Master’s Project is an opportunity to pursue resolution of a question about which you have genuine concern. The question may grow out of an interest that you have had for some time or one that has arisen recently through course work or personal experience.

Master’s Project Description and Chronology

During this process you will acquire tools for inquiry and self-reflection that will be useful throughout your career. The master’s project is taught in the context of a three-course sequence.

The Master’s Project is an opportunity to pursue resolution of a question about which you have genuine concern. The question may grow out of an interest that you have had for some time or one that has arisen recently through course work or personal experience. As you identify and pursue resolution of your question, you will learn a great deal about your topic and about yourself. During this process you will acquire tools for inquiry and self-reflection that will be useful throughout your career. The Master’s Project is a major undertaking and is usually completed across the span of a year. It involves three courses: MSHE 406: Research and Analysis I, MSHE 407: Research and Analysis II, and MSHE 408: Research and Analysis III.

List of all Master’s Projects

Check out the Master’s Project Database for a list of all master’s projects from previous years.

Before the Master’s Project

It is a good idea to begin thinking about what the topic of your research will be. One good way to get started is to read articles and books on topic areas that you are considering. Be sure to keep any sources that you think may be helpful for your master’s project organized so that you can reference them when you begin to write your literature review in the first course of the Master’s Project sequence.

We also suggest that you begin keeping track of questions you have and things that you observe in your internship or workplace, in class or in conversations. We suggest keeping a small notebook with you so that you can easily jot down ideas.

You can also look at Master’s Projects that have been completed by students in the past. In addition to giving you some background on the format of the written project you can also use the cited references as a starting place for sources for your own literature review.

Three Course Sequence

MSHE 406 Research and Analysis I: Question Development and Literature Review

In the first course of the Master’s Project sequence, students identify the question that will guide their research. Most often the Master’s Project Question grows out of a student’s own experiences in higher education. Students then complete a literature review to connect their own research to research that has already been done on the topic.

MSHE 407 Research and Analysis II: Research Methodology and Data Collection

In the second course of the three-course Master’s Project sequence, students will learn skills and techniques for collecting original data. Data collection methods include surveys, interviews, observation, and artifact/archival analysis. Students will then create a data collection plan and begin to gather data.

MSHE 408 Research and Analysis III: Analysis, Interpretation, and Dissemination

In the third course of the Master’s Project sequence, students learn to systematically analyze and interpret collected data, including skills for reducing and displaying data in figures, charts and tables. They complete the written research report and make a formal presentation of findings.