Master of Arts in Physics (STEM)

at Kent State University USA

The Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in accounting theory and practice necessary for entry-level accounting positions and career advancement. It encompasses a common body of concepts, conventions, principles and theories essential to the professional competency of the certified public accountant, controller, industrial accountant, institutional accountant and governmental accountant.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Given a defined financial accounting transaction, identify and analyze the issue, record the transaction in the books of original entry, and prepare the financial statement disclosure.
• Demonstrate an understanding of managerial and cost accounting with the ability to identify and analyze information useful in decision making.
• Gain a functional understanding of taxation of individuals.
• Understand financial statement auditing.
• Assemble, cleanse and analyze the information provided by information systems, and prepare summary reports useful for business decision-making.

Graduates of all Bachelor of Business Administration programs will be able to:

• Recall strategic frameworks that are used to make business decisions.
• Perform basic calculations using quantitative tools that are used to support business decisions.
• Articulate and deliberate their ideas in writing.
• Articulate and deliberate their ideas orally.
• Identify ethical dilemmas and stakeholders.
• Recommend alternatives and consequences and choose a reasoned conclusion from the alternatives given.
• Identify global factors in making a business decision.
• Analyze global factors in making a business decision.

The Master of Music degree in Conducting is designed for current teachers of middle, junior and senior high school music ensemble programs; for professional church musicians; and for pre-professionals, including students continuing after completing undergraduate degrees. The program prepares post-undergraduate students for such paths as high school or college teaching, conducting positions and doctorates in conducting.

The M.M. degree in Conducting emphasizes development of skills, knowledge and background in the following areas: literature and repertoire; conducting technique; rehearsal technique; score study; choral and/or instrumental performance pedagogy; historical performance practices; interpretation and expression.

Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Recognize, identify, interpret and conduct representative literature from different historical periods, countries and composers.
• Demonstrate and apply advanced conducting techniques, including baton technique, use of hands/arms, facial expressions and body language.
• Plan and execute an efficient and productive rehearsal, including managing time, setting achievable goals, detecting and correcting errors and providing motivation and inspiration for expressive performance and focused work ethic.
• Utilize and discuss score study techniques such as keyboard score reading, transposition of instruments, instrumental/vocal score order, compositional structure, analysis of chord and melodic structures and audiation skills.
• Identify, explain and utilize performance pedagogy appropriate to the specific vocal or instrumental area of study.
• Identify, associate, differentiate and utilize performance practices appropriate to the literature of the various stylistic periods.
• Display interpretation and expression in music through discussion in conducting lessons, explanation in rehearsals and demonstration in rehearsal and performance settings through conducting gestures and the resulting musical product.

The Master of Arts degree in Media and Journalism is designed to give students a solid background in preparation for a professional career. Students are able to take a mix of online and face-to-face courses that allow them to craft a graduate degree that reflects their career interest. Courses are dynamic, challenging and professionally relevant. With small class sizes, students are able to learn from their professors and from the experiences of their fellow classmates, many of whom are working media professionals or nationally recognized journalism educators.

The Media and Journalism major offers the following optional concentration:

• The Journalism Education concentration is intended for those seeking to teach or advise student journalists. The program is affiliated with Kent State's Center for Scholastic Journalism, and faculty include some of the most-recognized high school journalism educators in the country. The coursework focuses on concepts and lessons that can be used in a teacher's classroom right away, with a professional project as the culminating requirement.

Students not selecting the concentration work with their advisor to plan a course of study that meets their professional needs, with the culminating requirement of either a thesis or professional project.

The School of Media and Journalism provides its students with a strong foundation to achieve their goals in the rapidly changing media industry. All students take a series of core courses that provide the foundation for a career in media and journalism and develop a specialization through the selection of elective courses that can be within or outside of the school. One student may choose to hone skills as a multimedia journalist focusing on public affairs, while another may seek to develop expertise as a public relations professional for not-for-profit organizations.

Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Communicate effectively across multiple platforms.
• Demonstrate an understanding of relevant ethical and legal frameworks in their disciplines.
• Ground their professional work in relevant theories.
• Represent high levels of professionalism.

The Master of Arts degree in Biology is for students wishing to gain additional knowledge in any area of the biological sciences. This is a non-thesis master's degree designed for secondary school science teachers, individuals looking for additional background or preparation for professional school (e.g. medicine, dentistry or Ph.D. programs) and those seeking employment in life science industries in a non-research capacity.

The Biology major includes the following concentration:

• The Medical Biology concentration provides students with a deep understanding of physiological systems and the mechanisms that underlie various disorders and disease pathologies.

Students who declare the Biology major with no concentration will select their area of specialization in consultation with an academic faculty advisor.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Understand advanced biological concepts beyond the scope of the typical undergraduate degree and to increase the depth of their knowledge through coursework and hands-on experiences.
• Apply scientific principles and appreciate work outside of their particular field.
• Effectively communicate about science with colleagues as well as those outside of the student's area of expertise.
• Develop the necessary laboratory skills that will allow testing of hypotheses.

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics is a flexible program, grounded in the liberal arts and suited for students' individual interests and needs. The program combines well with a second major and/or minors.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics emphasizes the tools most useful in science, engineering and technology applications: mathematical modeling, scientific computing and probability and statistics.

The Applied Mathematics major comprises the following concentrations:

• The Financial Mathematics concentration prepares students for graduate programs in mathematical or computational finance or financial engineering.

The Bachelor of Arts degree in American Sign Language presents American sign language as a culture- and community-based language that interacts with other world languages. Through techniques—including immersion and bilingual-bicultural comparison classes, community interaction, research, lab activities and use of digital video technology—students gain documented proficiency in American sign language, validity within the deaf community and networking within the professional community.

The Master of Education degree in Reading Specialization develops practical and professional knowledge that is essential for educators concerned with the improvement of literacy at all instructional levels. Students study the nature of the reading and writing processes; the interrelationships between language, literature and literacy; literacy learning and teaching; the nature and needs of students who find reading and writing difficult; reading and writing as vehicles for learning and enjoyment; and the role of research in literacy instruction.

Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Demonstrate outstanding or satisfactory knowledge of the foundations of reading and writing processes and instruction.
• Use a wide range of instructional practices, approaches, methods and curriculum materials to support reading and writing instruction.
• Use of a variety of assessment tools and practices to plan and evaluate effective reading instruction.
• Create and engage their students in literacy practices that develop awareness, understanding, respect and valuing of differences in society.
• Create a literate environment that fosters reading and writing by integrating foundational knowledge, use of instructional practices, approaches and methods, curriculum materials and the appropriate use of assessments.
• View professional development as a career long effort and responsibility.

The Master of Arts degree in Art History emphasizes obtaining a comprehensive view of world art and specializing in one area for the thesis. Specializations may include contemporary African, medieval, Renaissance, early modern, modern, American or contemporary art and critical theory.

Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the diverse character of visual and performative art traditions from a diversity of historic and cultural traditions.
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge in a particular period of art or a particular non-Western culture.
• Engage with and develop a variety of arguments relevant to particular art historical projects.
• Demonstrate skills in written and oral discourse.
• Observe, describe and interpret art objects, events and concepts within a cultural context.
• Access and utilize relevant primary and secondary source material in diverse formats, including digital technology.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Emerging Media and Technology offers students the space to play, imagine and solve problems. The degree program draws on a number of disciplines, including emerging media, design, information sciences, human-computer interaction and communication. The technology curriculum is grounded in social science and the humanities, introducing students to theories of how technology shapes and changes people and societies. Students learn technical applications and skills in problem solving, design, user experience, creative applications and programming. Students synthesize technical and organizational skills in a series of experiential, hands-on and project-based courses in which they work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Demonstrate competency in the technical skills needed to pursue jobs in emerging media and technology, which includes web development, coding, data, human-computer interaction, creative applications, programming and problem-solving.
• Utilize emerging media technologies to design better experiences, improve existing systems and analyze digital social structures.
• Recognize the rapidly changing nature of emerging media and technology and learn the skills needed to adapt.
• Apply interdisciplinary solutions to solving technical, social and human problems related to emerging media and technology.
• Employ teamwork and project management as a problem solving technique.
• Critically analyze the effectiveness of their own work and the work of others.