MAEd in Art Education
The School and ECU offer a variety of resources to support your studies and work at ECU as a distance education student in the MAEd program.
Master of Arts in Education Art Education
The Master of Arts in Education with a Concentration in Art Education (MAEd in Art Education) is a professional degree in art education.
The MAEd degree is administratively located in the College of Education. The MAEd programs range from a minimum of 33 to 36 semester hours, depending on the teaching field. All MAEd degree programs require completion of course work in the following competency areas: research, trends, and issues in education; the diverse learner; and effective communication and leadership.
Applying
Admission to the East Carolina University School of Art and Design MAEd degree program is a 2-step process.
- Acceptance by the Graduate School for study at ECU
- Acceptance by the School of Art and Design
Application materials include
- Online application form
- Application fee
- Official Transcripts reflecting a minimum GPA of 3.0. If GPA is lower than 3.0 or degrees are from colleges/universities outside the U.S., the candidate must provide scores on either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), with a desired minimum score of 290, or the Miller Analogies Test (MAT), with a desired minimum score of 376.
- Teaching License
- Three letters of recommendation
- A statement of purpose
- A digital portfolio containing 20 examples of work (see details in Portfolio Submission Process section)
- A list of works with title, medium, size, and date
Begin the process at: https://gradschool.ecu.edu/apply/
Application deadlines
August 1 for Fall, December 1 for Spring, May 1 for 1st Summer Session, and June 1 for 2nd Summer Session each year.
Portfolio Submission Process
- Go to drive.google.com and log in to your account. (instructions)
- Create a folder named GradAppECU_YourName to upload your portfolio.
- Upload portfolio as individual files, NOT PowerPoint presentation. Files should be: PDF for texts, JPEG for still images, for time-based media, use MP4 for moving images, and if sound only, use MP3 format.
- When uploading of your portfolio items is complete, go to Share setting for the folder. You may do this by clicking on the folder from the top menu (My Drive > GradAppECU_YourName) and selecting Share option.
- In Share dialog box, enter eos@ecu.edu in the address field, then choose share option to Can view, and click Send. It will ask you to confirm the invitation, and click Yes. Email invitation will be sent to eos@ecu.edu with this confirmation.
- Your portfolio is now submitted; receipt confirmation will be sent to you within 2 days.
Advising
Art education faculty maintain a Canvas site for accepted MAEd in Art Education majors. This site contains orientation materials, announcements, and other resources to assist you while at ECU
As soon as you accept admission, use your ECU email account to send Dr. Robbie Quinn quinnr@ecu.edu an email asking to be enrolled in the MAEd in Art Education Canvas Site.
Classes may be taken in any sequence with a maximum of three classes per semester. You can skip semesters but will need to reapply at no charge to resume coursework. The time limit for completing the MAEd in Art Education is six years, counting breaks in attendance.
As an MAEd student, you have multiple advising resources. Dr. Cynthia Bickley-Green, bickleygreenc@ecu.edu, is the art education area coordinator and can answer specific questions related to your academic program. You will work with other art education faculty who will advise you during your coursework, as well as with your culminating project or thesis.
In addition, Graduate Programs Director Seo Eo, eos@ecu.edu, is the primary advisor for all graduate students and can answer general questions about graduate studies.
MAEd Thesis Option versus Project
After you complete core coursework you will work with faculty to decide if you wish to pursue the thesis or art project options to complete your degree.
The North Carolina Master of Arts in Education Standards require students to prepare a culminating “product of learning” such as a thesis, project, or portfolio that a panel of university faculty and school professionals can evaluate to determine whether or not you have adequately demonstrated the professional advanced competencies of a master teacher.
This product should reflect advanced teacher content knowledge and skill, and may include classroom impact, on-site visit and report that might include feedback from supervisors, colleagues, students, parents, and other individuals who might provide information about your performance and student performance data and its analysis.
General Aims of the Thesis or Culminating project
- Should build on your current knowledge and competencies
- Show your increased skills in data collection and data use for diagnosis, planning, decision-making, and evaluation
- Apply research to real-world experiences to improve classroom practice through action
- Reflect on instructional and management practices and on your professional development as a master teacher
- Show increased content knowledge in art
- Develop peer leadership and mentoring skill
Thesis Option
The Thesis is a rigorous research and writing activity that conforms to scholarly standards and guidelines established by ECU’s Graduate School. The thesis is a synthesis of your studies and documentation of your contribution to the professional art education body of knowledge.
You select a Thesis Director who will assist you in selecting your thesis committee, writing your preliminary thesis statement, and guiding you through IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval as necessary. Your Thesis Director is designated as the teacher of record for ART 7000. The Manual of Basic Requirements for Theses and Dissertations is available on the Graduate School’s Web site https://libguides.ecu.edu/vireo/etd to guide your work.
The thesis writing process is intense and requires consistent communication with your committee, who will provide guidance and feedback on your ideas and your writing. Preparing a thesis requires continuous revisions of draft documents until you and your committee agree that your thesis document thoroughly presents your research and meets all University writing standards. If you wish to pursue a a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) or a Doctor of Education (EdD) degree, the thesis option is suggested because it would provide practice conducting research and doing scholarly writing.
Examples of MAEd Theses
- The Role of Technology in the 21st Century Art Room – David Diehl
- Relationships Between Art Education and the Workplace – Jamie Lynn Moore
- Art, Pride, and Heritage: Learners Responding to Multicultural Images – Angela Rae Waller
- Art, Music, and Story at Woods Charter School: An Exploration of A/R/Tography Methods – Derrick Brett Durham
- Meeting Eye to Eye: How Trained Designers and Typical Viewers See Design Pieces and Their Implications for Contemporary Design Education – Tyler Dockery
Culminating Project Option
The MAEd in Art Education culminating project does not have a set format. You will work with art education faculty to develop and refine your culminating project to meet your goals. This includes selecting appropriate ART courses to guide the development of your project. You choose a professor as your Project Advisor. This person monitors the development of your project through weekly logs and photo documentation of your work. At mid-semester you prepare a report reflecting on your progress, and write a summary project report and show your product at the conclusion of your project. Final documentation of your Project can range from a portfolio to a website. Your Project Advisor will be designated as the teacher of record for at least one of your ART elective courses.
Previous examples of MAEd culminating projects include an exhibition of artwork, publishing a website, writing a draft of a book, creating an exhibition exploring topic related to instructional content, and pursuing a large school project. One student made a wall-sized ceramic mural for her school with her students. Two MAEd students mounted exhibitions of their work in conjunction with the work of their students.
Examples
- Legacy of the North Carolina Face Jug Exhibit – Jody Stouffer
- ArtHighway.org – Ira Varney
- North Carolina Art Foundations Curriculum – Rachel Vieira
Presentations of MAED Projects
- Mike Winstead – “Learning Remotely, Teaching Digitally”
Tuition & Fees
For up-to-date information, please visit the following websites.
- ECU Financial Services – https://financialservices.ecu.edu/tuition-fees/
- Distance Education – https://online.ecu.edu/tuition-financial-aid/tuition/
Federal Financial Aid and Additional Resources
To apply for grants, loans, and some scholarships you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is used to determine your eligibility for federal, state, and university aid programs. Even if you think you may not be eligible, we encourage you to apply. The FAFSA is available October 1. We encourage you to file your FAFSA online as soon as possible to avoid errors and ensure faster processing. ECU’s priority deadline is March 1.
Graduation
You’ve reached the end of this road, and you’re ready for new adventures! Check out the graduation requirements and process.
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