Bachelor of Science, Major in Biological Science with Concentration in Microbiology

at San Jose State University USA

The master’s program in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Physiology, offered by the Department of Biological Sciences, offers students training in the pursuit of rigorous scientific investigation with an emphasis on the integrative nature of physiology across levels of organization from molecule to organism. During their research experience, students acquire the skills necessary to successfully address a variety of research questions under the guidance of faculty.

In addition, students with our degree will have gained experience in critical thinking, problem-solving, research methodology (e.g., experimental design, sampling techniques, and analysis), and both written and oral communication. Our alumni are successful applicants for doctoral degree programs and generally attain high level academic and non-academic positions in both the private and public sectors.

The MA in Science Education is a flexible program designed for prospective and practicing science teachers in K-12 instruction, science teaching assistants, community college instructors, as well as for people with interests in informal and outdoor education. The curriculum is designed to augment and broaden the candidate's knowledge of current advances in science education research and to examine best practices.

Qualified students who have earned a multiple or single subject credential at San José State University may apply up to 12 units of credential coursework, which included SCED 273 (3 units), toward the MA. Students who completed a California single subject credential somewhere besides SJSU may transfer 9 units of coursework from their credential to their Master's program. Students who transfer units into the program can complete the degree in two to four semesters. 

The MS program is designed to provide students with theoretical and practical training to prepare them to work in a variety of clinical, counseling, and mental health settings. The training in San Jose State University’s MS in Clinical program emphasizes a scientific understanding and case formulation of psychopathology, known as an evidence based practice approach to psychotherapy.

The goal of the MS Clinical Program is to ensure that all graduates have minimal competences to become practicing psychotherapists who are eligible for internships and licensure. The program strongly encourages and attempts to develop the academic, professional, and clinical skills for all students. The MS Clinical Program faculty evaluates student professional and interpersonal maturity throughout the program with both formal and informal reviews. Only students who have demonstrated a high level of professional and personal integrity consistent with the role of a psychotherapist continue in the program and graduate.

The San Jose State University Human Factors and Ergonomics Master's Degree Program is an interdisciplinary degree program that prepares students for practice in their emerging profession through a course sequence that emphasizes theory,
practical applications, and research.

Human Factors/ Ergonomics students take a group of five core courses from several different San Jose State University departments and elective courses in topics of their choosing. The program culminates in a major project or thesis.

Program Outcomes
The program’s outcomes are expected to provide a firm foundation that enables graduates to achieve the above program objectives. The Human Factors/Ergonomics Program is designed to produce industrial and systems engineering graduates who:

• Have an ability to apply knowledge of the sciences of human factors and workplace ergonomics.
• Have an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data.
• Have an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet accepted human factors and workplace ergonomics standards within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety,manufacturability, and sustainability.
• Have an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams.
• Have an ability to identify, formulate and solve human factors and workplace ergonomics problems.
• Have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
• Have an ability to communicate effectively.
• Have the broad education necessary to understand the impact of human factors and workplace ergonomics solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
• Have a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, life-long learning.
• Have the knowledge of contemporary issues.
• Have an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern human factors and workplace ergonomics tools necessary for industrial and systems engineering practice.

The Department of Justice Studies at San José State University offers an online Master of Science in Criminology with a Concentration in Global Criminology designed to adapt to the ever-changing environment of the justice and legal systems, and the discipline of criminology. It uniquely combines advanced study of contemporary international crime and the various responses to crime around the globe with analytic and research techniques used by advanced scholars. It provides an international comparative curriculum that develops analytical skills, understanding of legal concepts, theoretical competency, and abilities to apply criminology in practical ways. It aims to equip graduates with a truly global outlook on crime and criminal justice, a commitment to international justice, and professional competencies to apply practices from around the globe to meet the particular needs of their communities.

Program Learning Outcomes
At the end of a Master of Science degree in Criminology, students will be able to:

• Describe ways to create social change through a critical understanding of the local and global dimensions of crime.  
• Articulate and evaluate scholarly-grounded perspectives on issues of crime and justice, including ways that criminology explains crime and reactions to crime, through academic, professional and social media.
• Explain theories, assumptions, foundational knowledge, analytical and interpretive protocols, tools, and technologies within the field of criminology at a level demonstrating preparation for advanced professional responsibilities, or pursuing a PhD in criminology-related areas.
• Demonstrate skills in each step of an investigative, creative, or practical project (e.g., brainstorming, planning, formulating hypotheses or complex questions, designing, creating, completing, and communicating) that helps advance understanding of a criminological or related issue.   
• Employ global perspectives on criminology and concepts of justice to support research-informed solutions to contemporary social problems.

Our Counseling and Guidance MA degree program prepares individuals to apply the theory and principles of guidance and counseling to the provision of support for the personal, social, educational, and vocational development of students, and the organizing of guidance services within elementary, middle, and secondary educational institutions. It includes instruction in legal and professional requirements, therapeutic counselor intervention, vocational counseling, and related sociological and psychological foundations.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe and explain how peoples and societies evolve across time and space demonstrating the importance of context (social, political, economic, cultural, environmental, ideological, and technological).
• Illustrate the complexity of historical causality and describe past events from multiple perspectives.
• Analyze the credibility of historical sources and arguments, revising interpretations as new evidence warrants.
• Conceive and carry out historical research, constructing persuasive evidence-based arguments using primary and secondary sources according to recognized standards of the historical discipline.

The master’s program in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution, offered by the Department of Biological Sciences, offers students training in the pursuit of rigorous scientific investigation with an emphasis on ecological and evolutionary processes. Students in this degree program emphasize botany, entomology, zoology, or conservation biology through the choice of advisor, committee, course work, and thesis or project. Our graduates have an excellent grasp of the theory and application of ecological and evolutionary principles.

In addition, students with our degree will have gained experience in critical thinking, problem-solving, research methodology (e.g., experimental design, sampling techniques, and analysis), and both written and oral communication. Our alumni are successful applicants for doctoral degree programs and generally attain high-level academic and non-academic positions in both the private and public sectors.

The field of packaging includes disciplines of engineering, graphic design, project management, advertising, and material science. Every product manufactured from health care and beauty products to washing machines and drugs require packages to protect and sell the product.

Almost every firm that makes a physical product has a packaging department with 20-40 individuals engaged specifically in packaging technology and applied engineering. A huge multinational like Johnson and Johnson can employ hundreds of individuals involved with some area of packaging their products.

SJSU's Packaging Program is one of a handful of programs in the USA providing technical expertise in the multidisciplinary field. The number of potential jobs for graduates and careers available with a background in packaging is driven by not only the uniqueness of the skills learned by the students but also by the fact that there are very few places to learn the skills necessary to design and develop package systems.

The number of positions available combined with the fact that there are only a handful of schools in the USA teaching Packaging creates a situation where Packaging has a 100% placement rate. In fact there are more jobs available than candidates available to fill them. This has been the fact for the last 60+ years since Michigan State University began the first Packaging program at the request of an Industry looking for people with package design skill sets.

Career development is another key advantage of an individual involved with packaging. Packaging professionals engage with almost every group in an organization, marketing, production purchasing, legal, product development, and graphics. A firm values individuals that have a broad picture of the operations and packaging interacts with these groups as part of their daily tasks. This makes individuals with packaging backgrounds valuable to a company as they understand how all of the operations combine and work together to accomplish corporate goals.

Program Learning Objectives

• Assess a package’s functional properties
• Demonstrate knowledge of package material properties to meet particular physical needs.
• Describe a package production system in order to present design and develop cost comparisons between various package configurations.
• Assess a distribution channel to identify particular stresses incurred.
• Design a package system (primary, secondary and tertiary) to contain, protect and transport products from manufacturer to consumer.
• Develop reproducible test methodologies for evaluating particular properties in a package/material.
• Organize and assemble presentations describing package systems, operations, designs, and cost comparisons.

The written word grounds the Master of Arts in English and Comparative Literature. Its students learn to analyze literature and to write on literary topics at an advanced level. Students complete a rigorous program of courses that introduce them to cutting-edge research while training them to understand a range of theoretical and literary-historical frameworks for understanding literature. Before students earn a Master of Arts in English, they pass a two-part comprehensive exam. They also may choose to write a thesis. Students have the option to engage in graduate study in rhetoric and to train as college-level writing teachers. The program also offers students pathways to prepare for doctoral work.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate an appropriate level of expertise in literary history, literary theory, and rhetoric.
• Students will demonstrate high-level proficiency in literary research and in the synthesis of research.
• Students will demonstrate critical and analytical skills in the interpretation and evaluation of literary texts.
• Students will demonstrate a command of written academic English, including the abilities to a) organize and present material in a cogent fashion, b) formulate and defend original arguments, c) employ effectively the language of their discipline and d) write under time constraints.
• Students will demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language.