The professional Masters of Educational Technology and Applied Learning Science (METALS) program at Carnegie Mellon University is currently accepting applications. To learn more about this program, tune into the METALS webinar on Tuesday, October 15 at 11:00 AM EDT.

METALS is a one-year, interdisciplinary masters program that trains graduate students to apply science of learning principles, evidence-based research, and large-scale data analysis to design, create, and improve educational resources and technologies that enable students and instructors to succeed. The professional program culminates with a seven-month capstone project for an external client. Guided by industry and faculty mentors in this team-based research and development project, students experience the end-to-end process of a product cycle from idea through prototyping. Students learn to create effective solutions for formal and informal settings such as schools, workplaces, and museums.

METALS is jointly taught by leading experts at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon.

About METALS

METALS seeks talented students who share a desire to improve education. METALS is highly interdisciplinary and values diverse backgrounds, skills, and interests. The program strongly believes that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and that students can all learn from each other. METALS not only intersects Psychology and Human Computer Interaction but it is at the crossroads of cognitive science, statistics, computer science, education, and design. Thus, the program seeks applicants with experience in a wide variety of areas such as:

• Design
• Computer Science
• Education
• Business
• Psychology
• Information Technology

The Student Experience

To understand how people learn, students are trained in applying cognitive science methods to map learning objectives to sub-objectives and finally to well-designed instructional activities. To continuously improve instruction, students learn how to use statistics to analyze extremely large datasets (data analytics). These analyses drive continuous improvement.

To create effective online educational courseware, students need to understand at least the basics of tutor creation. The program teaches students to use software engineering techniques to create these tutors. The program also teaches students how to design an appropriate curriculum using the latest theories.

The first and second semesters in the METALS program focus on mastering core knowledge and skills through courses in learning principles, technology design, and implementation, and a range of engaging electives. The second semester also introduces the student capstone project. The 32-week capstone project remains the primary focus in the third and final semester.

Graduates

Students in the METALS program graduate ready to take key positions in corporations, private and public universities, government organizations, and schools. Graduates are prepared to design, develop, and evaluate educational technologies as well as become learning engineers, instructional designers and evaluators, curriculum developers, user experience researchers, project managers, learning technology policy-makers, consultants, and entrepreneurs. See where some graduates are now: http://metals.hcii.cmu.edu/people/alumni.

Qualified individuals are invited to apply for consideration for the Fall 2020 class. Applications are being accepted until December 12. Learn more about this exciting program at Carnegie Mellon University by visiting http://metals.hcii.cmu.edu.