Curriculum

There’s a lot of freedom in structuring your Master’s in Educational Science & Technology (EST). A large part of the content is customisable, which means you get to actively shape your learning path. This way, you will build your own expertise.

Part-time or full-time

You can follow this Master’s full-time (1 year) or part-time (2 years). If you decide to follow the study part-time, you need to have at least 2, but preferably 3, days per week available for study purposes. You will take fewer courses per quartile, so the study load is stretched over a longer period of time. But there are no part-time adjustments within courses. Classes are usually scheduled on two fixed days as much as possible, enabling you to combine the part-time Master’s with for example your part-time job or other activities and/or responsibilities. 

I believe that a company works best if its employees do. I wanted to learn more about human resource development, especially in the context of restaurant businesses, as I work part-time in this sector next to my Master’s. That’s why I chose the following electives:

• Team Learning at Work
• Regulation and Facilitation of Workplace Learning
• Leadership and Organisational Change
• HRD and Technology in a Live Context
• Extra elective: Global Talent Management

In my job as a primary school teacher, I felt the urge to contribute to the development of education in both a deeper and broader sense. I wanted to gain deeper insights into learning processes and instruction and use my creativity in designing, researching and advising on all sorts of educational matters. Thus, I chose the following electives:

• Learning and Instruction
• Designing Learning & Performance Support
• Assessing and Monitoring Performance in Education
• HRD and Technology in a Live Context
• External elective: Leadership and Organisational Change

I wanted to gain the latest insights in the field of educational science and technology, either in an educational or HRD-context, as I believe that learners are everywhere and learning is a continuous process. I am specifically interested in collaborative learning and technological developments, as this becomes increasingly important in today’s world. It’s a recurring topic in the elective courses I chose:

• Innovative Technology-Based Learning Environments
• HRD & Technology in a Live Context
• Learning and Instruction
• Team Learning at Work

I find it remarkable that, even though people naturally feel a deeper need to learn, learning can sometimes be perceived as boring as well. I am interested in what motivates people to engage in learning and I want to use this knowledge in advising and training organisations. That’s why I chose the following electives:

• Designing Learning & Performance Support
• HRD & Technology in a Live Context
• Regulation of Facilitation of Workplace Learning
• Team Learning at Work

Structure

The Master’s in EST consists of one mandatory course. In addition, you have a great deal of freedom to structure your Master’s with elective courses that interest you. You can choose to focus your study programme on the field of Formal Education or Human Resources Development, or you can choose a more blended approach, by mixing electives of both fields. It is all up to you! In one year, you will collect a total of 60 EC.

Master’s thesis

You will complete the Master’s in EST by writing your master’s thesis. The choice of your Final Project is largely up to you because you can submit your preference after the presentation of possible final projects. Several projects tap into ongoing research at UT.  Sometimes you can conduct your thesis at an external organisation or institute if there is an established collaboration between the EST research section and the particular organisation or institute. Proposing your own final project is not possible because these have proven to be too time-consuming and often cause study delays.

You might conduct a needs and context analysis and yield a research-informed advisory report for an external organisation. Or you could design education- or training-related interventions and evaluate them in the context of a school or workplace environment.

Questions?

Do you want more information about this Master's or the option to pursue this Master's in a part-time mode? Contact the study adviser, or get in touch with a student via Skype or join him or her at UT for a day!