Study Skills for Master's Level Students, revised edition. Sally Hayes Tyler

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СКАЧАТЬ Graduates typically have subject-specific attributes and an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the discipline informed by current scholarship and research, including a critical awareness of current issues and developments in the subject as well as a range of generic abilities and skills.

      3. Professional/practice Master’s – for example, the MBA and MEd

•		The characteristics of the programmes in this category are that learning tends to be very structured and this programme structure may be developed in collaboration with the relevant professional, statutory or regulatory body and may include practical elements, such as fieldwork, placements or other opportunities for work-based learning. They are typically of 9 to 24 months’ duration based on a full-time mode of study and may be a prerequisite for registration or entry to a profession in accordance with the requirements of the professional, statutory or regulatory body that recognises or accredits the award. In addition, other awards, such as postgraduate certificate and postgraduate diploma, will often be offered alongside professional Master’s programmes to facilitate continuing professional development at different stages of a professional career.
•		The purpose of the programme is to enable graduates to qualify for entry into a profession, subject to any further conditions required by the professional, statutory or regulatory body and/or provide continuing professional development opportunities related to particular professions or employment settings.
•		The type of entrant (or admission requirement) is defined by the institution, taking into account the relevant professional, statutory or regulatory body’s requirements, and programmes often attract entrants with a Bachelor’s degree with honours (or equivalent) or experience, which may or may not be directly relevant to the particular profession.
•		In terms of further study or employment, graduates will normally be equipped to enter a variety of types of employment and, in particular, will possess the skills and experience necessary for the specific profession.They will also normally be equipped to continue academic study at a higher level, for example for a PhD.
•		Graduates of professional/practice Master’s degrees typically have subject-specific attributes including an in-depth knowledge and understanding of their profession and the ability to apply research to professional situations, both practical and theoretical.

      Finally, it must be acknowledged that there are many opportunities for continuing professional development (CPD) at Master’s level in addition to full Master’s programmes. Individual Master’s level modules are also available as part of CPD programmes. However, whatever form the programme takes, it should be distinct from undergraduate study in that it is not ‘more of the same’ but takes the student ‘beyond’ undergraduate learning.

ACTIVITY

      Access your local university’s postgraduate prospectus and find out which Master’s courses they offer. How do these relate to the three types of Master’s courses described above?

      BEING A MASTER’S STUDENT

      There are also a number of themes that have been identified about Master’s study that it is important to consider. In an ethnographic study of postgraduate students by Tobbell et al. (2008), themes that were identified included the following.

      Policy

      There is a clear difference in approach to undergraduate and postgraduate study within the UK, with a governmental finance framework to support undergraduate students (student loans, fee framework, grants for less-advantaged students, etc.). Universities benefit financially from meeting agreed targets for undergraduate student recruitment while, in contrast, postgraduate students are responsible for identifying their own sources of funding, with a limited number of sources of financial support being available through specific institutions, professional bodies or employers.

      Academic status

      The postgraduate students in Tobbell et al.’s (2008) study reported feeling an enhanced sense of their academic status within the university in contrast to their undergraduate experience, and relationships with staff were more collegiate and more informal.

      University systems

      Perhaps because the majority of funding is for undergraduates, who represent the majority of the student body, postgraduate students reported that university facilities reflect full-time undergraduate patterns of study. Postgraduate patterns of study differ. Programmes do not necessarily run in normal working hours, with evening and weekend classes being used and, indeed, some postgraduate programmes are taught exclusively in the evening and weekends to accommodate the fact that postgraduate students are often working full-time alongside their studies to finance them.

ACTIVITY

      Consider your Master’s course or the course you are considering taking. How have you funded/will you fund the course? What hours does the course run over and how does this fit with your personal or work commitments?

      What impact did or will the funding and the taught hours have on your decision to enrol?

      Life outside the course

      Most Master’s students face a range of issues that need to be negotiated and problems that need to be addressed in order to enable them to participate fully in their studies. There is no escaping the interaction of normal life and the course, and it could be argued that engagement in university practice can depend on the negotiations that take place in order to deal with the complex demands of students’ lives. Data research (Tobbell et al., 2008) shows that, to a greater or lesser extent, Master’s students from the first term of study struggle with the demands of ‘real’ life and study life. This can be dependent on being in employment or, for mature students, having family commitments. Many postgraduate students are giving up time and money, which indicates a commitment and involvement with the process, but this exists in parallel with the tensions of family demands and self-denial (Tobbell et al., 2008).

ACTIVITY

      Many universities have significant resources to help students who are experiencing difficulties. Think about your university or place of work. Who would you approach if you were experiencing a personal or financial issue that was impacting on your ability to attend the course?

      Pedagogic practice and participation

      Participation in postgraduate study requires active desire and considerable motivation. The postgraduate students in Tobbell’s research reported greater levels of motivation and active participation in their studies than they had experienced as undergraduates, facilitated by smaller class sizes where there is opportunity for interaction and activity. More emphasis is placed upon autonomous learning, learning through discussion and activity, collaborative learning and independence from ideas and approaches of tutors. The pedagogic practices used on Master’s courses, particularly to develop critical thinking skills, will be further discussed in Chapter 2.

      WHAT IS ‘MASTERLY’?

      The whole crux of Master’s level work is that the student shows a degree of ‘mastery’ in an area under investigation. Denby et al. (2008) give a clear framework for what this actually means:

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