Culminating Activities
Culminating activities are designed to demonstrate the advanced abilities you have developed in relation to your graduate study in English. You must have all the core coursework completed, have maintained a G.P.A. of 3.0, have your candidacy accepted, and have no grades of incomplete.
Master of Arts in English (M.A.)
Master’s Thesis
Students enrolled in the M.A. in English must complete a master’s thesis. The thesis will be a 30-40-page paper that originates in a literature course, in accordance with guidelines determined by the English Department. Students must complete a Thesis Prospectus form for approval before commencing work on their thesis and must enroll in ENG 687: Culminating Activity: Thesis. Students who do not complete the thesis will receive an INC and must enroll in ENG 697: Extension of Graduate Culminating Activity each semester until the thesis is completed. The thesis must be submitted at least two months prior to the date the student expects to receive the degree and my not be submitted before candidacy has been established.
Complete information about proposing, drafting, and binding the master's thesis can be found on the English Department's website.
Master of Arts in Teaching: Adolescence Education (MAT) and Master of Science in Adolescence Education, English 7-12 (MSEd)
Students in the MAT and MSEd programs will produce a professional portfolio as their culminating experience. While the artifacts making up the portfolio will be produced in the various pedagogy courses taken throughout the program, they will be assembled into a coherent whole in AED 578 Master’s Project Teaching Colloquia (MAT students) or AED 678 MSEd Final Project (MSEd students), to be taken the semester in which the student expects to graduate (or in the spring for those who expect to graduate in August). The portfolio will document professional growth and development as well as reflective practices on the part of the student.
The portfolio will also demonstrate how the student has met thirteen learning outcomes listed below and adopted by SUNY - Cortland, as well as the standards established by CAEP (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation), the body which nationally accredits SUNY Cortland’s teacher education programs. The latter are explicitly identified within individual courses required in the program. The portfolio will be submitted via TaskStream (see page 46).
- Learning Outcome 1: Demonstrate a solid foundation in the arts and sciences (met prior to admission to program)
- Learning Outcome 2: Possess in-depth knowledge of the subject area taught
- Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate good moral character
- Learning Outcome 4: Understand how students learn and develop
- Learning Outcome 5: Manage classrooms structured in a variety of ways to promote a safe learning environment.
- Learning Outcome 6: Know and apply various disciplinary models to manage student behavior.
- Learning Outcome 7: Apply a variety of teaching strategies to develop a positive teaching-learning environment where all students are encouraged to achieve their highest potential
- Learning Outcome 8: Integrate curriculum among disciplines, and balance historical and contemporary research, theory and practice.
- Learning Outcome 9: Use multiple and authentic forms of assessment to analyze teaching and student learning and to plan curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of individual students.
- Learning Outcome 10: Promote parental involvement and collaborate effectively with other staff, the community, higher education, other agencies, as well as parents and other care givers, for the benefit of students.
- Learning Outcome 11: Demonstrate sufficient technology skills and the ability to integrate technology into classroom teaching/learning
- Learning Outcome 12: Foster respect for individual’s abilities and disabilities and an understanding and appreciation of variations of ethnicity, culture, language, gender, age, class, and sexual orientation
- Learning Outcome 13: Continue to develop professionally as reflective practitioners who are committed to an on-going scholarly inquiry
Project Due Dates:
April 30th for May or August degree
Nov. 30th for December degree