Master of Education Program Routes

Our Master of Education (MEd) program includes diverse routes that help you to personalize your learning based on your goals, interests, and circumstances. Each route allows you to focus your studies on areas that are important to you while giving you the flexibility, through our full-time or flex-time options, to complete your degree in a way that works best for you. You are able to earn your MEd degree through the course route, portfolio route, or thesis route:

MEd Course Route

Our course route gives you the opportunity to earn your MEd by completing coursework. Courses help you to gain a breadth of knowledge of the wider education field, help you to be a critical consumer of research, and help you to apply research in various educational settings. To complete our course route option, you must complete 10 courses (called half-courses) which equals five full course equivalents (5 FCEs).

MEd Portfolio Route

Our portfolio route allows you to earn your MEd by completing coursework as well as a portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of creative, scholarly, and technical products for professional use. A portfolio allows you to develop resources, which connect theory to practice in order to contribute to a classroom or other place of work. Completing a portfolio is usually more intensive than our coursework route and requires you to complete eight courses (called half-courses) which equals four full credit equivalents (4 FCEs) as well as your portfolio (1 FCE). With the help of your supervisor and committee member, your finished portfolio should include an introduction, a literature review, and a resource that works to benefit education such as:

  • a policy manual that solves an administrative or other school matter; for example, a policy manual on school safety
  • a play that teaches something
  • a curriculum unit that teaches a new subject area or a topic that is of current importance
MEd Thesis Route

Our thesis route allows you to earn your MEd by completing coursework as well as a thesis. A thesis works to answer an Education based question through rigorous research and analysis. Your thesis will examine your field of study’s literature and then use research to answer your research question as it relates to the existing literature.

Completing a thesis is usually more complex and demanding than our course or portfolio routes and requires you to complete six courses (called half-courses) which equals to three full credit equivalents (3 FCEs) as well as your thesis (2 FCEs). To complete your thesis you must find a supervisor and committee member; both of whom will help to guide your research and ensure that your thesis is on the right track.

Note: If you may wish to pursue doctoral studies in the future, you should strongly consider our thesis route.

Requirements and Regulations

Each MEd route includes specific requirements and regulations that guide your studies. For each route's specific requirements and regulations, please use the following resources:

Full-Time and Flex-Time Options

Because your situation and goals are unique, we give you the option to complete your MEd degree as a full-time (two years) or flex-time (four years) student. See full-time versus flex-time options for more information.

For regulations concerning our completion options, please see our Master's Regulations in the University Course Calendar.