Master of Arts (M.A.) in Learning Engineering
Master of Arts (M.A.) in Learning Engineering
The Master of Arts (M.A.) in Learning Engineering will not be accepting applications in the 2024 application cycle.
Design innovative learning experiences
Today’s evolving world calls for learning engineers who can help schools, nonprofits, companies, and governments design engaging, accessible learning experiences that draw on the most current learning technologies and pedagogies. The M.A. in Learning Engineering is designed to equip you with the hands-on design experience, interdisciplinary knowledge, and technical savvy you’ll need to respond to that call.
Designing from Day One
As a student here, you will be designing from the moment you step on campus. Under the guidance of faculty who are at the forefront of the field, you will develop a toolkit for creating learning experiences that incorporate cutting-edge technologies.
Build Your Design Portfolio
Through collaborations and internships with our partner organizations, you’ll build a design portfolio that will prepare you to pursue a career as a learning engineer, learning experience designer, instructional designer, curriculum developer, or educational technology consultant.
Learning engineering is the systematic application of principles and methods from the learning sciences to support and improve our understanding of learners and learning processes. The discipline leverages human-centered design principles to iteratively develop and improve products and services that empower learners—often using technology.
Learning engineers design learning experiences and environments informed by the learning sciences. They combine knowledge, tools, and techniques from a variety of technical, pedagogical, empirical, and design-based disciplines while collaborating with subject-matter experts, software engineers, and others.
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At a Glance
Equity & Access
“We believe that designers have a responsibility to think about inclusion, equity, and access. These values are built into our program’s approach—we care about creating a better, more equal public and designing engaging learning experiences for that public.”
Curriculum
Throughout the program, you’ll develop the expertise and imagination you’ll need to design learning experiences that dynamically engage learners’ interests, passions, and prior knowledge.
The program is built around the experiential, hands-on core of BC’s Design Studio. Throughout your program at Boston College, you’ll work to find innovative solutions to a series of increasingly complex real-world learning design challenges, building your professional portfolio as you go. You will gain key knowledge and technical skills to develop your design and leadership capabilities and improve your understanding of learning.
You will be an active member of a knowledge-building community with faculty, mentors, and peers. Rather than a traditional, top-down learning environment, our program is designed as a kind of cognitive apprenticeship, with the following components:
Hands-on learning: You will hone your practical design skills in the Design Studio, shadow professionals who are engaged in designing for learners, and have an opportunity to intern with a partner organization.
Classes and modules: In the classroom, you’ll gain a background in the learning sciences and a set of technical skills that will inform the decisions you make in the Design Studio. The combination of foundational three-credit courses and skill-specific one-credit modules is designed to provide you with the grounding you’ll need to thrive as a learning engineer.
Reflection: As you gain understanding and skills and face design challenges in the Design Studio and in your internship, you’ll use the Reflective Seminar to develop new insights. This seminar, taken every semester, is designed to help you track your thinking, record and justify your decisions, identify what you’ve learned, and synthesize across your experiences.
Throughout the program, you’ll develop the expertise and imagination you’ll need to design learning experiences that dynamically engage learners’ interests, passions, and prior knowledge. You will also acquire interpersonal and leadership skills that will prepare you to thrive as a leader and collaborator in a wide range of professional environments. You’ll learn:
How people learn and what influences their engagement: You’ll be introduced to the theoretical foundations of learning, pedagogies and practices for fostering learning, and the latest thinking on how to design and use technology to engage learners.
Learner-centered design: You’ll master design thinking, decision-making practices, and the art of using what you’ve learned about learning to create engaging and effective designs that address learners in all of their complexity.
How to design for social justice, diversity, and equity: At Boston College and the Lynch School, you will join a university community founded around the pillar of social justice. Through coursework, Design Studio experiences, and the Reflective Seminar, you will consider how social, cultural, emotional, and cognitive differences influence access and learning, and discover how to design experiences that work for all learners.
- Leadership skills: Whether you are a team member or a team leader in your first position after graduate school, you’ll know how to use your skills and knowledge to influence your team, organization, and clients.
Throughout the program, you’ll engage in activities that will help you imagine your career as a learning engineer. You’ll identify the kinds of learning experiences you enjoy designing and take concrete steps to achieve your personal and professional goals.
We welcome students from all educational backgrounds who are passionate about designing educational opportunities in formal or informal settings. There’s no need for you to have expertise in education, design, engineering, computer science, or any other particular discipline or major.
At the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, you will join a tight-knit community that prizes collaboration and social justice. You will live in Boston, an international hub for learning, science, and technology.
Requirements
- Courses: 20
- Credits: 30
- Comprehensive Exam
Core Courses
| Course | Course Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| LREN7111 | Design Studio 1 The Design Studio is the venue for learning how to practice Learning Engineering. Students will learn practices of design thinking and design decision making in the context of two design projects, each focused on designing learning experiences for a targeted population of learners that foster learning of targeted learning objectives. The Design Studio will be richly-facilitated and orchestrated as a Cognitive Apprenticeship. Students will work in pairs and also spend time as a Knowledge Building Community sharing what they are designing and the complexities they are facing, providing advice to each other, and reflecting on and articulating what they are learning about designing for learners. | 2 |
| LREN7121 | Reflective Seminar 1 This one-credit seminar is designed to help students make sense of and synthesize across the new concepts, skills, and practices they are learning as participants in the M.A. in Learning Engineering Program. Focus will be on how to be designers of engaging and effective learning experiences. Students will also reflect on their experiences to identify their strengths and what brings them joy, to imagine the special expertise they'd like to develop, and to identify the kinds of responsibilities they'd enjoy taking on in the workplace. | 1 |
| LREN7101 | Introduction to Learning Engineering This course introduces the content and skills needed to thrive as systematic designers of learning experiences, environments, and technologies. It focuses on three themes: (i) how people learn--cognitive processes involved in learning and social, cultural, physical, affective, and other influences on those processes; (ii) how to fostering or promote learning--what we know about the help learners need to engage and participate at their best and ultimately to become more knowledgeable and capable; and (iii) designing for learners and analyzing those designs--how to apply what you are learning to the design and analysis of learning experiences, environments, and technologies. | 3 |
| LREN7301 | Principles of Fostering Learning This course will introduce students to what the field of psychology has to say about how humans learn. This includes examining the basic cognitive processes involved in learning, and considering how these processes interact with task demands and organization. The course is organized around key principles about learning and cognition which have emerged from empirical work in the fields of cognitive and developmental psychology. Its focus will be to identify practices that can be used to foster learning in different settings and interactions, including approaches such as spaced practice and group discussions. | 2 |
| LREN7201 | Games for Learning What can we learn from games about engaging learners and fostering learning? How can games be developed specifically to promote learning? What kinds of things can be learned from games? What does it take to foster learning from games? Some educational games that have been designed in research labs can inform about the answers to these questions. As well, there are many computer games around that can teach us about sustaining engagement, particularly important for understanding deeply and mastering capabilities. In this module, students will engage with and read about a variety of games for learning and, hopefully, develop imagination about what different kinds of games and ways of interacting with games afford with respect to learning and come to recognize aspects of game design that are relevant to designing learning experiences. Your project will be the conceptual design of a game to achieve a set of learning goals of your choice. | 1 |
| EDUC7231 | Accessible and Inclusive Design This survey course focuses on practical considerations regarding inclusive and accessible design. The focus is around guiding principles and key content that learners and designers can apply to their particular area of design. Particular focus is paid to understanding the functional barriers that individuals with disabilities might encounter, how these barriers can be addressed proactively, and why retrofitting designs can be costly and ineffective. After a general introduction to some of the guiding ideas behind inclusion and accessibility, both Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessibility are discussed to provide practical paths towards design that is ultimately more effective for all learners. | 1 |
| Course | Course Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| LREN7112 | Design Studio 2 The Design Studio is the venue for learning how to practice Learning Engineering. Students will learn practices of design thinking and design decision making in the context of two design projects, each focused on designing learning experiences for a targeted population of learners that foster learning of targeted learning objectives. The Design Studio will be richly-facilitated and orchestrated as a Cognitive Apprenticeship. Students will work in pairs and also spend time as a Knowledge Building Community sharing what they are designing and the complexities they are facing, providing advice to each other, and reflecting on and articulating what they are learning about designing for learners. | 2 |
| LREN7122 | Reflective Seminar 2 This one-credit seminar is designed to help students make sense of and synthesize across the new concepts, skills, and practices they are learning as participants in the M.A. in Learning Engineering Program. Focus will be on how to be designers of engaging and effective learning experiences. Students will also reflect on their experiences to identify their strengths and what brings them joy, to imagine the special expertise they'd like to develop, and to identify the kinds of responsibilities they'd enjoy taking on in the workplace. | 1 |
| LREN7102 | Foundations of Learning Technologies This course explores issues of designing and using technology to support learning. Students will become familiar with the affordances of various technologies and how activities can be structured around those for learners. Course meetings and projects are structured to help students think imaginatively about how technology can contribute to engaging and equitable learning experiences. | 3 |
| LREN7302 | Cognitive Task Analysis This one-credit module will introduce students to the key conceptual and methodological elements of Cognitive Task Analysis, which can be used to identify the knowledge and skills required for the performance of a complex task. The focus will be on the specification of covert cognitive processes and the integration of those with overt behaviors into a model of task performance. Students will learn knowledge elicitation techniques, such as verbal think aloud protocol, used to uncover the cognitive structures and processes involved in expert performance of a task. Students also will practice generating cognitive models/knowledge representations of tasks relevant to their design area. | 1 |
| LREN7303 | Motivation in Educational Contexts In this module, we will explore what it means to be motivated and what it is that we want at a fundamental level (i.e., our basic human needs). We will also learn about important theories of achievement motivation from the fields of educational, developmental, and social psychology, as well as empirical research that supports these theories. The contextual focus of the module will be on what motivates students to learn and what kinds of instructional practices and interventions can be employed in order to foster student motivation and engagement. | 1 |
| LREN7401 | Theory of Change This one-credit course provides introductory training in developing, representing, empirically testing, and presenting a theory of change (ToC). Students will be supported in applying this training thru several case examples and a class project to craft a ToC for a real-world design, intervention, &/or evaluation project. | 1 |
| LREN7114 | Designing Hybrid and Online Learning Experiences Face-to-face instruction is often considered the gold standard for learning, the most effective and efficient way to gain new knowledge and skills. But various models of distance education exist, including those powered by networked computing. One challenge for online and hybrid learning environments is designing ways that engage learners as well or better than in-person formats. This module will provide an overview of strategies that learning designers and engineers can use to develop effective and engaging online and hybrid learning experiences. Students will be encouraged to actively consider equity and inclusive practices in learning design. | 1 |
| EDUC7230 | Observing Designs in Use In this course, students will learn theory and method relevant to examining learning and instruction as it occurs in educational contexts (broadly considered). Students will be supported in collecting and analyzing data related to learning and instruction that is relevant to their interests, with the goal of understanding the interactional implications of various learning designs and how designs might be refined. | 1 |
| Course | Course Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| LREN7113 | Design Studio 3 The Design Studio is the venue for learning how to practice Learning Engineering. Students will learn practices of design thinking and design decision making in the context of two design projects, each focused on designing learning experiences for a targeted population of learners that foster learning of targeted learning objectives. The Design Studio will be richly-facilitated and orchestrated as a Cognitive Apprenticeship. Students will work in pairs and also spend time as a Knowledge Building Community sharing what they are designing and the complexities they are facing, providing advice to each other, and reflecting on and articulating what they are learning about designing for learners. | 2 |
| LREN7123 | Reflective Seminar 3 This one-credit seminar is designed to help students make sense of and synthesize across the new concepts, skills, and practices they are learning as participants in the M.A. in Learning Engineering Program. Focus will be on how to be designers of engaging and effective learning experiences. Students will also reflect on their experiences to identify their strengths and what brings them joy, to imagine the special expertise they'd like to develop, and to identify the kinds of responsibilities they'd enjoy taking on in the workplace. | 1 |
| LREN7404 | Assessment of and for Learning This course introduces students to the design of valid, reliable, meaningful, and useful assessments that serve both summative (assessment of learning) and formative (assessment for learning) purposes. Students will learn how to evaluate and improve the quality of assessments, both in the context of evaluating the effectiveness of a designed learning experience and supporting the learning that takes place within that context | 1 |
| LREN7203 | Immersive and Augmented Environments for Learning In this module, students will engage with a variety of immersive and augmented environments for learning, reading relevant papers, exploring exemplary projects, and applying ideas to the functional design, adaptation, personalization, and use of learning technology. The module includes a "Design Concept" assignment, where students work in small teams to apply what they are learning to some learning design. Students will work to curate a "knowledge base" of exemplary projects, including examples both from current practice and from the research literature. | 1 |
| ELHE7720 | Leadership and Design In this course, students will learn about politics, building allies, and collaborative decision-making, as well as case study discussion about implementing change. Students will also learn about conflict management and engage in concrete conversational strategies and role-playing opportunities to practice negotiating conflict. | 1 |
| LREN8100 | Master’s Comprehensive Examination In order to ensure that all students graduating from the master's program have a fundamental understanding of the field which they are about to enter, they are required to complete a comprehensive examination covering the broad areas of the core courses. |
Students will select 1 elective (3 credits each) with the help of their advisor.
A Population of Learners Courses
| Course | Course Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| APSY7418 | Applied Child Development This course will help teachers understand principles of learning and cognitive, linguistic, social, and affective development as they apply to classroom practices. Students will focus on the acquisition of strategies that enable them to assess and understand how they and the children they work with are constructors of meaning. This course is designed for individuals beginning their professional development in education who plan to work with children. | 3 |
| APSY7611 | Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education Focuses on learning (including behavioral, cognitive, and information processing approaches), motivation, and social development, while incorporating the role of play in the learning and development of the young child. Examines individual differences and the effects of special needs on learning and development, as well as program implications. | 3 |
| APSY7419 | Applied Adolescent Development This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the theoretical and empirical knowledge base concerning adolescent development. In particular, four broad areas will be considered: (1) psychological, biological, and cognitive transitions; (2) central developmental tasks of adolescence; (3) primary contextual influences; and (4) prevalent types of problematic functioning that emerge during adolescence. The overarching goals of the course are to provide a solid and broad understanding of how and why adolescents develop in the manner they do, and to extend this developmental understanding into research, application, and practice. | 3 |
| APSY6420 | Positive Youth Development Applied Developmental Science (ADS) uses research about human development to inform programs and policies pertinent to topics of social importance. Students will integrate readings about and class discussions of ADS theory and research with information about community-based programs. The focus of this class will be a discussion and analysis of the role of developmental research and, in particular from longitudinal research (for example, the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development), in framing applications (programs and policies) for promoting positive development among youth. In addition to an overview of the theoretical models that are the bases of the PYD perspective, the course will present the work of researchers who have conducted applied developmental studies of adolescents and their ecological settings in order to advance understanding of how individuals and context are involved across the adolescent years in providing a basis for both healthy and problematic development. | 3 |
| APSY7518 | Issues / Life Span Development This course addresses the major psychological and socio-cultural issues in development from childhood through adulthood. The theory, research, and practice in the field of life span development are examined and evaluated. | 3 |
| APSY7448 | Career Development Provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical and practice aspects of career development and the psychology of working. Students learn existing theories and related research pertaining to the vocational behavior of individuals across the life span. Through readings, case discussions, and lectures, students learn how to construct effective, ethical, and humane means of helping people to develop their work lives to their fullest potential. | 3 |
| EDUC6495 | Human Development & Disabilities This course addresses the reciprocal relationship between human development and disability. Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal causes of disability will be presented. Students will learn about theoretical perspectives, research, and current disagreements related to causes, identification, and treatment of disabilities. Prevention and intervention strategies will be presented for each disability. The application of assistive technology will be covered across disabilities. | 3 |
| EDUC6686 | Augmentative Communication / Persons with Disabilities This course focuses upon the communication problems of persons who are developmentally disabled, physically challenged, hearing impaired, and deaf-blind. Students learn strategies for enhancing communication and learn how to develop and implement a variety of augmentative communication systems. | 3 |
| APSY7666 | Developmental Disabilities: Values, Policy & Change This course focuses on issues facing professionals who work with people with developmental disabilities, their families, and the system whereby services are offered. It is designed for graduate and post-graduate students interested in learning about interdisciplinary evaluation and teams, in understanding disabilities from the person's and family's perspective, and in acquiring knowledge about the services available in the community. This course will be held at Children's Hospital. | 3 |
| APSY7528 | Multicultural Issues Assists students to become more effective in their work with ethnic minority and LGBT clients. Increases students' awareness of their own and others' life experiences, and how these impact the way in which we approach interactions with individuals who are different from us. Examines the sociopolitical conditions that impact individuals from ethnic and non-ethnic minority groups in the U.S., and presents an overview of relevant research. | 3 |
| APSY7622 | Bilingualism / Literacy Development Explores first and second language and literacy development of children raised bilingually as well as students acquiring a second language during pre-school, elementary, or secondary school years. Also addresses theories of first and second language acquisition, literacy development in the second language, and factors affecting second language and literacy learning. Participants will assess the development of one aspect of language or language skill of a bilingual individual and draw implications for instruction, parent involvement, and policy. | 3 |
Assessment, Research, & Evaluation Courses
| Course | Course Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| APSY7462 | Assessment and Test Construction This course addresses the major issues of educational assessment, with emphasis on the characteristics, administration, scoring, and interpretation of both formal and informal assessments, including but not limited to tests of achievement. All forms of assessment are examined including observation, portfolios, performance tasks, and paper-and-pencil tests, including standardized tests. Basic techniques of test construction, item writing, and analysis are included. Standardized norm-referenced tests and statewide testing programs are also examined. | 3 |
| APSY6460 | Interpretation and Evaluation of Research This course will improve a students' understanding of the empirical research literature in education and psychology. It concentrates on developing the conceptual foundations of empirical research and the practical analytic skills needed by a competent reader and user of research articles. Topics address purpose statements, hypotheses, sampling techniques, sample sizes and power, instrument development, internal and external validity, and typical quantitative research designs. Exercises emphasize the critical evaluation of published research. | 3 |
| MESA6466 | Evaluation Practice & Methods This course introduces the process of conducting evaluations from beginning to end. Evaluation is a form of applied social science research focused on systematically assessing the value--merit, worth, or significance--of interventions. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to evaluation, this course draws on scholarly articles and examples from multiple fields including education, public health, social services, and international development and addressing evaluation at various scales including program, organizational, and systems-level evaluations. By the end of the course, students will gain knowledge of how to carry out evaluations; apply this knowledge to develop evaluation plans for real-world interventions; and gain skills to critique existing evaluations supporting their development as informed, critical consumers of evaluations. | 3 |
Management & Marketing Courses
| Course | Course Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| MFIN7704 | Financial Management This course deals primarily with a firm's investment and financing decisions. Topics treated intensively include valuation and risk, capital budgeting, financial leverage, capital structure, and working capital management. Also discussed are financial statistical analysis and tools of planning and control. Some attention is given to financial institutions and their role in supplying funds to businesses and non-profit organizations. | 3 |
| MGMT7701 | Introduction to Strategic Management The course is designed to provide you with a general understanding of how firms formulate and implement strategies to create competitive advantage. Relying exclusively on the case method, it will expose you to some basic strategy concepts, which will lay the foundation for the strategic management core course that you will take later on. The cases chosen for this course will place you in a diversity of managerial situations--large multinational firms and small startups, manufacturing and service industries, growing and mature organizations, U.S. and non-U.S. settings. | 2 |
| MGMT7709 | Managing People and Organizations This course focuses on the analysis and diagnosis of organizational problems. It attempts to enable students to apply these concepts to real organizational and managerial problems. It also provides opportunities for participation in ongoing work teams while learning about team effectiveness. Finally, students can examine their own behavior and beliefs about organizations to compare, contrast, and integrate them with the theories and observations of others. | 3 |
| MGMT8104 | Nonprofit Management This course provides an opportunity to explore essential management issues in a nonprofit context alongside topics that are somewhat unique to the nonprofit sector, including distinctive funding methods, governance, and staffing structures. Topical areas include Social Entrepreneurship, Venture Philanthropy, Leadership, Strategic Planning, Performance Measurement, Cause Marketing, and Microfinance. In addition to case and article discussion, the course features local, national, and international nonprofit leaders as guest speakers. The course aims to provide future nonprofit managers, volunteers, board members, donors, or supporters with a more nuanced understanding of critical issues and important trends in the nonprofit sector. | 3 |
| MGTG7720 | Marketing This course focuses on the managerial skills, tools, and concepts required to produce a mutually satisfying exchange between consumers and providers of goods, services, and ideas. The material is presented in a three-part sequence. Part one deals with understanding the marketplace. Part two deals with the individual parts of the marketing program such as pricing, promotion, product decisions, and distribution. Part three of the course deals with overall strategy formulation and control of the marketing function. Students in this course will come to understand the critical links between marketing and the other functional areas of management. | 2 |
Tuition & Aid
Education should level the playing field. We feel the same way about financial aid.
The Lynch School of Education and Human Development provides more than $11.4 million in financial aid to students each year. As a result, the quality of BC’s instruction, the benefit of our alumni network, and the impact a BC degree will have on your employment options is both affordable and invaluable.
Careers
Employers
- Schools, districts, colleges, and universities
- Museums, zoos, aquariums, and national parks
- Businesses ranging from startups to large corporations
- Nonprofits and foundations
- Social service and community agencies
Job Responsibilities
- Designing the next generation of educational technology
- Developing online, hybrid, makerspace, and active-learning environments
- Constructing technology-enhanced curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment
- Creating employee training and consumer education programs
Positions
- Learning Engineers
- Learning Experience (LX) and User Experience (UX) Designers
- Instructional Designers and Evaluators
- Curriculum Developers
- Educational Technology Consultants
Application & Deadlines
The Master of Arts (M.A.) in Learning Engineering will not be accepting applications in the 2023-2024 application cycle.
Resume
To be uploaded to your online application.
In addition to your academic history and relevant volunteer and/or work experience, please include any licenses currently held, any social justice-related experience, any language skills other than English, and any research experience or publications.
Personal Statement
To be uploaded to your online application.
In 1,000-1,500 words, describe your academic and professional goals, any experience relevant to this program, and your future plans, expectations, and aspirations.
Letters of Recommendation
Two letters of recommendation are required, with at least one preferably coming from an academic source. Applicants may submit one additional recommendation of their choice.
Transcripts
Transcripts from all college/university study are required.
Applicants who have received degrees from institutions outside the United States should view the ""International Students"" section for additional credential evaluation requirements.
Please begin your online application before submitting your transcripts. Details on how to submit transcripts and international credential evaluations can be found within the application. In order to ensure your transcript reaches our office, it is important to review and follow the instructions.
Standardized Tests
Submitting GRE test scores is optional for this program for the 2023 entry term(s). If you wish to send GRE scores, the Lynch School GRE code is 3218.
Please view the "International Students" section for information on English Proficiency test requirements.
Writing Sample
Not required.
International Students
Applicants who have completed a degree outside of the United States must have a course-by-course evaluation of their transcript(s) completed by an evaluation company approved by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). Submission of falsified documents is grounds for denial of admission or dismissal from the University.
Applicants who are not native speakers of English and who have not received a degree from an institution where English is the primary language of instruction must also submit a TOEFL or IELTS test result that meets the minimum score requirement.
Please click the link below for full details on these requirements.
{"Requirements for International Students" button, link to https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/lynch-school/admission/deadlines-requirements.html#tab-international_applicants}
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Contact Us
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