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773
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 213
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 Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:15 am Post subject: Coursework MA acceptable? |
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I am planning on doing an MA Applied Linguistics at an Australian university this year. It is a one-year program that is strictly coursework (i.e., no dissertation).
I am a little bit wary of this, as I am unsure if good employers will accept a coursework-only degree. However, due to financial constraints and the like, a one-year program at the particular uni I plan on attending makes the most sense for me, and I am uncomfortable with doing any degree by distance mode.
Any thoughts / ideas / opinions?
Thanks.... |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:54 am Post subject: |
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What do you mean by coursework only? Do you mean no thesis? At my university, whose degrees are warmly welcomes at all ME university level jobs, you had the choice to do the coursework plus a thesis or the same coursework and do comprehensive exams. I chose to do the thesis.
I never had anyone ever ask anything about what I did or studied in my MA. All they cared was that I had one.
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abufletcher
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 779
Location: Shikoku Japan (for now)
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| Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:16 am Post subject: |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
What do you mean by coursework only? Do you mean no thesis?
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A lot of the "coursework only" MAs from OZ seem to list the majority of the courses as being taught "off campus" while I read as meaning via the internet along the "modules" line. In other words, these would be "distance" degrees. I'm surprised that some programs seem to offer the option of either doing JUST the coursework (online) or JUST the dissertation ("research degree").
I don't want to be knocking any of these degrees as I'm quite certain than any of these options today would be more informative than my campus-based MA done 25 years ago. But the employment world being what it is, my ancient campus-based MA is probably valued more highly than many current "distance" degree.  |
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773
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| The course I mentioned is actually on-campus at Griffith University, not a distance program (although it's possible to complete this degree by distance mode). I will be doing the degree on-campus, but it is strictly coursework. My concern is the lack of a dissertation...will I be discriminated against because of the lack of any thesis/dissertation? |
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Mashreki
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 6
Location: UAE
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| Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:20 am Post subject: |
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I think the presence or absence of a thesis in your Masters is neither here nor there, so to speak.
If you're going for a teaching rather than lecturing job, employers might be interested in whether you did a practical teaching component (if you didn't have another professional teaching qualification), but otherwise most places I've been involved with haven't been very interested in the content of the MA programme as long as the general area was relevant. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:22 am Post subject: |
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None of my Gulf employers ever knew that I did a thesis... apparently irrelevent to them...
I'd say suit yourself. If you think you would enjoy it or might someday want to do a PhD, then definitely do a thesis. Otherwise, don't bother.
VS |
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773
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:08 am Post subject: |
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Thanks to everyone for your helpful responses!  |
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