Mathematics – Mathematics Education

[1] Introduction

The Master of Arts (MA) in mathematics education features mathematics courses developed to increase the mathematical content knowledge of secondary teachers and prepare candidates for teaching in the community college or pursuing further graduate studies. To graduate, candidates must pass three comprehensive exams in their last semester. For those candidates considering more advanced graduate studies, a thesis option is available in lieu of comprehensive exams to expose candidates to research methods in mathematics education.

[2] Program Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the MA degree program in mathematics education one must have

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution;
2. Adequate preparation in mathematics;
3. At least a 2.70 GPA; and
4. Achieve satisfactory scores on the General Test of the Graduate Record Exam.

[3] Degree Requirements

All MA Graduate Students: To obtain the MA degree in mathematics education, a candidate must earn 30 graduate hours (15 hours must be at the 6000 level) in mathematics within six years. Electives must be approved by a candidate’s graduate advisor.

Thesis Option: For the thesis option, a candidate must take at least six thesis hours for research. At the end of the thesis hours, a candidate must produce a written thesis and present results. For the thesis option, a candidate must earn at least 30 hours. The thesis option requires a minimum of 24 hours of course work and a minimum of 6 thesis hours. If a candidate who has selected the thesis option wishes to change to the non-thesis option, no credit will be granted for thesis courses.

Non-Thesis Option: For the non-thesis option, the twenty-one additional elective hours may be selected from graduate courses in mathematics and may include courses at the 5000 level with the approval of the candidate’s advisor. All non-thesis option candidates for the MA degree will be required to pass a comprehensive examination. This examination will include two parts. The first is mathematical content from the three required courses, and the second is from selected topics in mathematics education.

Required courses for all MA graduate students:

Required courses for the thesis option:

Elective courses for MA graduate students:

[4] Financial Aid

Graduate Teaching Assistantships are available for fall/spring. Each assistantship includes a full-tuition scholarship for nine credit hours per semester during the academic year. In addition, there is a stipend of $10,800 for nine months. Summer support for teaching or research is available. Graduate Assistants are expected to enroll in nine credit hours and work 20 hours per week in the department. Applications for the graduate program and assistantships are available at the UCA’s Graduate School website: https://uca.edu/graduateschool/.

[5] Graduate Courses in Mathematics (MATH)

Follow this link for MATH course descriptions: course link.