Master’s Program in Behavioral Science - Specialisation in Innovation and Implementation Programme description

For utfyllende informasjon om progresjonskrav se i programplan for bachelorstudium i barnehagelærerutdanning, arbeidsplassbasert.

Praksisstudiet er knyttet til læringsutbyttebeskrivelsene i kunnskapsområdene og relateres til studentenes erfaringsbakgrunn og kompetanse. Se omtale av praksis i programplanen.

Emnet er 100% faglig overlapp med emne ZDT3 Drama og teaterkommunikasjon -dramaturgi.

A graduate of this program has acquired the following learning outcomes defined as knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The graduate can

• demonstrate thorough familiarity with basic and advanced principles of experimental, conceptual and applied behavior analysis
• discuss the relationship between theoretical knowledge, experiments, and applied science
• analyze and state the difference between description and explanation
• generalize knowledge over settings and phenomena
• demonstrate theoretical and working knowledge of the ethical principles that govern scientific research

Skills

The graduate can

• analyze practical problems in terms of applied behavior analysis; Organizational Behavior Management; complexity, and systems dynamics, and argue for the analysis with reference to relevant scientific literature
• conduct experiments and demonstrate working knowledge of the natural scientific method
• demonstrate appropriate strategies for measuring effects of interventions by using different designs and inferential statistics
• critically assess various sources of information

Competence

The graduate can

• contribute to the development of evidence-based methods for intervention and change
• manage complexity in projects and processes of change, and promote the development of learning in complex systems
• share knowledge and skills with public and peers according to the standards of professional scientific communication, including the current APA standards
• justify his/her professional behavior with reference to relevant professional and ethical guidelines, general ethical considerations, and assessment of the situation
• enhance processes of individual and organizational change by optimizing human, technological and economic resources

Additional learning outcomes for specialisation in Innovation and Implementation (BSII)

The following additional learning outcomes apply to candidates taking the specialisation in Innovation and Implementation:

Skills

The graduate can

• conduct and report a supervised innovation project with a behavioral perspective in accordance with research ethical guidelines and regulations
• implement new knowledge in social systems, or implement established competence in new settings

Program Structure

The program constitutes a scientifically and pedagogically integrated whole; with compulsory and elective components (all comprising 10 ECTS), in addition to master’s theses of 30 ECTS (BSCA) and 60 ECTS (BSII).

Content of common compulsory courses

These courses provide basic insight and some practical skills in behavior analysis. The philosophy of science that is fundamental to behavior analysis is introduced and placed in a wider context of philosophy of science. The status of various scientific approaches in modern society is discussed. The courses place the study of human behavior in a natural scientific tradition and emphasize a selectionist understanding of change processes. Basic ontological and epistemological questions are discussed: unity of knowledge; the relationship between natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities; determining and defining analytical units in research; and methodological approaches suitable for promoting effective action based on functional analyses. Behavior analysis – experimental, conceptual and applied – is introduced as a cumulative science of behavior.

Compulsory courses

These courses are compulsory for all students:

• MALK4000-401 Complexity, Science and Society
• MALK4000-403 Behavior Analysis and Radical Behaviorism
• MALKA211 Introduction to Behavior Analysis
• MALKA214 Experimental Design and Functional Analysis

For students in the Concepts and applications specialisation, these courses are also compulsory:

• MALK4000-402 Relational Skills
• MALKA212 Refinement of Behavior Analytic Terms
• MALKA213 Laboratory Exercises – Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Content of elective courses

In the elective courses, various behaviorally based approaches to initiating, facilitating and managing change processes in individual behavior repertoire, organizations and systems are studied. Behavioral technology comprises everything from basic self-control techniques to sophisticated tools for initiating and managing complex processes in large organizations. Important features in this methodology are operational measures of change and continuous data collection.

Elective courses (a total of 20 ECTS)

Each student chooses two (2) of the following courses:

• MALKA212 Refinement of Behavior Analytic Terms*
• MALKA215 Complex Human Behavior*
• MALKA217 Early Intervention for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders
• MALKA218 Ethical Considerations in Applied Behavior Analysis
• MALKA219 Organizational Behavior Management (OBM)
• MALKA220 Behavioral Economics
• MALKA221 Complex Systems and Risk Management (Not offered 2024)
• MALKA222 Clinical Behavior Analysis

* Students at the BSII-specialisation who choose MALKA215 as one of the two elective courses, has to choose MALKA212 as the second elective course. MALKA212 should then be carried out in the spring semester the first year of study. This will cause a higher workload during this semester for students at the BSII-specialisation who choose MALKA215 and MALKA212 as elective courses.

Elective courses are normally offered every Fall term. Students enrol for courses by deadlines each semester, and the department reserves the right to cancel courses with insufficient enrolment. Depending on the number of students enrolled, changes may be made in the way the courses are conducted.

Master’s theses – 30 and 60 ECTS credits

Students admitted to specialisation in Concepts and Applications write an individual master’s thesis worth 30 ECTS (MALK5000). The thesis is usually a work in progress during the elective courses, when students participate in research projects with faculty.

By the end of the final course at the latest, the student submits a thesis outline, including a research question, a plan for progress, and a plan for dissemination (see guidelines, Thesis outline). When faculty approves the thesis outline, the student is assigned a supervisor for his thesis work. See the course descriptions for MALK5000 for a more detailed description of the master’s thesis worth 30 ECTS.

Students admitted to specialisation in Innovation and Implementation write an individual master’s thesis worth 60 ECTS (MALK5900). Students’ theses will be written with a basis in innovation projects designed and implemented by the candidates in the program. The program appoints a thesis advisor, and the candidate works with a dedicated field supervisor trained by the Department of Behavioral Science. The thesis reports the planning, design and implementation of the innovation project, and includes an executive summary that will be made publicly available through a Project Bank. See the course descriptions for MALK5900 for a more detailed description of the master’s thesis worth 60 ECTS.

The 2 compulsory seminars in research ethics cover academic honesty; the work of Regional Ethics Committees; the guidelines of OsloMet on research ethics and research fraud; current publication manuals and APA style manuscript preparation, and the use of electronic reference management tools. The seminars are taken place digitally and are open for students from all stages of the program. One seminar is held every semester, and both seminars must be completed before the proposal for the thesis is submitted.

The master’s thesis can be written in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

The program complies with the quality assurance systems required by the university.

Progression Requirements

All coursework requirements must be approved to sit for the final course exam. Coursework requirements must be approved to participate and submit coursework requirements according to the following:

• MALK4000-403: MALK4000-401, or equivalent
• MALKA211: MALK4000-401, MALK4000-403, or equivalent
• MALKA212: MALK4000-401, MALK4000-403, MALKA211, or equivalent
• MALKA213: MALK4000-401, MALK4000-403, MALKA211, MALKA212, or equivalent
• MALKA214: MALK4000-401, MALK4000-403, MALKA211, or equivalent
• MALKA215: MALK4000-401, MALK4000-403, MALKA211, MALKA212, MALKA214, or equivalent
• MALK5000: All courses in the specialisation must be completed with pass grades and the coursework requirements, including seminars in research ethics, must be approved before the candidate may submit the master’s thesis.
• MALK5900: All courses in the specialisation must be completed with pass grades and the coursework requirements, including seminars in research ethics, and thesis seminars must be approved before the candidate may submit the master’s thesis.

Courses in the BSII-specialisation are digitalised and to some degree self-paced. They are designed according to the principles of dr. Fred Keller’s Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), which require that students master the content of a specific learning unit before they are allowed to proceed with the next unit in the course sequence.

Exemption from the provisions of progression requirements may in special cases and upon application by the student, be granted.

Antall dager veiledet og vurdert praksis, se praksiskalenderen:https://student.oslomet.no/praksis-barnehagelerer

15 dager i ekstern barnehage.

Ny praksisperiode

Studenter som blir vurdert til" Ikke bestått" i en veiledet praksisperiode kan fullføre det påbegynte studieåret, men får deretter ett års opphold i ordinært studieløp. Ny praksisperiode gjennomføres neste gang ordinær praksis organiseres, normalt neste studieår. Hvis praksis blir vurdert til bestått ved andre gangs forsøk, kan studenten gjenoppta studiet.

Hvis praksisperioden blir vurdert til" Ikke bestått" ved andre gangs forsøk, må studiet normalt avbrytes.

Praksisstudiet vurderes til bestått / ikke bestått.

Praksislærer i barnehagen.

I dokumentet "Praksisoppgaver" vil innhold, fokus og oppgaver i de enkelte praksisperiodene bli beskrevet nærmere. Dokumentet publiseres på universitetets digitale læringsplattform før oppstart av praksisperioden.

Approved by NOKUT on April 15th, 2004

Approved by the Board of Akershus University College on September 7th, 2004

Last amendments approved by the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences on February 9th 2022