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

The Master's Program in Behavioral Science comprises 120 ECTS credits in accordance with § 3 of the National Regulations Relating to Requirements for a Master’s Degree, appointed by the Ministry of Education and Research on December 1st, 2005. A successfully completed program leads to the degree Master of Behavioral Science /master i atferdsvitenskap.

The study program is established in accordance with the Act Relating to Universities and University Colleges of 1 April 2005 and Regulations Relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University 26 June 2012.

A specialisation in one of the two specialisations; in Concepts and Applications and in Innovation and Implementation forms part of the master’s degree program. The name of the specialisation will appear on the diploma alongside the name of the degree: Master of Behavioral Science. The specialisation in Concepts and Applications is taken full-time over two years, while the specialisation in Innovation and Implementation is taken part-time over a maximum four years.

The program teaches modern behavioral science. The term behavioral science has no agreed-upon definition and may refer to different things in different settings. When used as part of the current program, the term should be understood in the context of the idea that a natural science approach to human behavior is both interesting and important to explore. Aspects of natural science relevant for this master´s program in behavioral science include a focus on empirical investigation, the use of experimental methods, and resulting empirically defined units of analysis. Behavioral science aims to explore and develop a natural science approach in several domains, including in conceptual development and philosophy, in experimental analysis and other parts of basic science, and in the application of scientific principles to generate desirable change. A type of behavioral science called behavior analysis is central to the program. Behavior analysis is concerned with investigating systematic relationships between the environment and behavior and considers both public and private events. Behavior analysis may be viewed as a selectionist science taking into consideration both phylogenetic, ontogenetic, and cultural phenomena.

The knowledge, skills and competence from the program are useful when designing, implementing, managing and documenting processes of change for individuals and in systems. Interventions taught in the program are empirically based and well suited for measuring and assessment of outcomes.

The program comprises compulsory common courses, compulsory specialisation courses and elective courses, in addition to the master’s thesis. While the specialisations share the overarching learning outcomes, the specialisation in Concepts and Applications contains more compulsory theoretical courses, and the specialisation in Innovation and Implementation emphasizes practical implementation and reporting skills to a greater degree. A more detailed overview of the program’s structure for each specialisation is given under the section Content and structure.

Students and faculty share the goals of OsloMet for sustainability and environmental friendliness.

Master’s Program in Behavioral Science - Specialisation in Innovation and Implementation (BSII)

The specialisation in Innovation and Implementation aims to provide students with an overview of basic concepts in behavior analysis, and to prepare them for implementing an innovative practical project in a workplace, organization or institution, which will serve as the basis for the master’s thesis. The objective of this project is to introduce what are the best practices in the chosen field. This specialisation has a 40 ECTS compulsory course package, with 20 ECTS elective courses (two courses each worth 10 ECTS) and a master’s thesis worth 60 ECTS.

With a lighter load of compulsory courses, students must seek out and study the scientific literature that will be most relevant for their project work. The thesis will be a project report of the work they have done, describing in details the whole process including evaluation, and written in such a way that the project can inspire and guide others with similar challenges in their work. Projects reports, including an executive summary, will be available to the public in a project bank.

Career opportunities and post-graduate studies

Graduates of the program will usually have a set of professional skills from their undergraduate studies, and the program enhances and adds value to those skills. Graduates have found rewarding work in a variety of settings both in the private and public sector. Former students are working in the fields of:

• general, special, and higher education
• health and social services
• leadership an human resource management
• scientific research

(The list is not exhaustive)

The program prepares the graduates for Ph.D. studies.

The master program is accredited by Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).https://www.abainternational.org/accreditation.aspx

Students will be able to:

• give a general description of methods relevant to the collection and interpretation of data in research in behavior analysis and learning in complex systems
• discuss specific methods of data collection and their appropriateness for answering different kinds of research questions
• describe and discuss various statistical methods appropriate to the collection and interpretation of data in research in learning in complex systems
• describe and discuss criteria for validity and reliability, and of methods of assessing them
• describe and discuss criteria for ESTs
• describe and discuss the rationale for single-case research designs
• describe and discuss the interpretation and application of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques required for an understanding of data presentations in psychological research
• describe, discuss and apply the necessary operations for extracting measures of central tendency, variability and frequency distributions from a data set
• produce graphical presentations of data
• describe and discuss the normal curve
• describe and discuss basics of probability theory, and show how it applies to their own research and that of others
• describe and apply general principles for hypothesis formulation and testing
• describe and discuss the application of the t-test; analysis of variance (ANOVA); multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA); multiple regression; and correlation
• apply the relevant statistical tools and concepts to their own research

The course consists of 1 introductory meeting, and 6 - 12 seminars of 4 x 45 minutes, and time for discussion and a final seminar (4 x 45 minutes). The introductory meeting takes place 2 weeks ahead of the main part of the course. At this meeting, the structure, content and purpose of the course are presented. The students are asked to give short presentations of their Ph.D. projects, and describe how the course is relevant to it. The main purpose of this early session is to help the students to start systematic work with the course readings.

The seminars target central themes from the course readings for discussion and reflection. A high level of student participation is expected. During this time, students will produce several reaction papers (3 - 4 pages double spaced), and a final presentation of one central theme from the course. Themes are assigned by the lecturers.

The final seminar consists of a discussion of the presentations, which are distributed in advance as papers not to exceed 10 pages double spaced, and introduced by each candidate in a short (3 minute) session. Course teachers mediate the discussions.

• All papers approved,
• attendance in at least 80 % of the seminars, and
• approved paper presentation in final seminar.

All

The increasing globalization of the labour market makes international experience and knowledge of languages and cultures increasingly important. Internationalization contributes to raising the quality of education and strengthens the academic community relating to the master’s program, at the same time as it strengthens the students as global citizens.

The Program for Behavioral Science has teaching and research collaboration projects and agreements with several foreign institutions of higher education. We encourage students to take a part of their master`s degree at one of our collaborating institutions, subject to the approval of the Head of Studies. A prerequisite for approval of the exchange is that the coursework is interchangeable with courses in our master’s program.

The recommended options for international exchange are the 3rd semester for students at the BSCA-specialisation and 4th semester for students at the BSII-specialisation.

Courses open to exchange students

The following courses are open to exchange students:

• MALKA211 Introduction to Behavior Analysis, 10 ECTS
• MALKA212 Refinement of Behavior Analytic Terms, 10 ECTS
• MALKA213 Laboratory Exercises – Experimental Analysis of Behavior,10 ECTS
• MALKA215 Complex Human Behavior, 10 ECTS
• MALKA217 Early Intervention for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, 10 ECTS
• MALKA218 Ethical Considerations in Applied Behavior Analysis, 10 ECTS
• MALKA219 Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), 10 ECTS
• MALKA220 Behavioral Economics, 10 ECTS
• MALKA221 Complex Systems and Risk Management,10 ECTS

Exchange students should have basic competence or a strong interest in behavior analysis.

Of these courses, MALKA213 is always taught in English. The others are taught in English when international students attend the course, otherwise they are mainly taught in Norwegian.

Required reading is primarily in English.

All courses except MALKA213 and MALKA218 have one or more coursework requirements. Each assignment is graded Approved/Not approved. All assignments must be approved before the student can sit for the exam in each course.

Written assignments

The assignments are submitted digitally, and written feedback is delivered in the same electronic platform. When the coursework requirement is delivered according to deadlines in the course schedule the student has the right to receive feedback on the assignment. Assignments not submitted within the set deadline will be considered failed.

A student may submit the same obligatory assignment a maximum of three times. Failed assignments must be reworked before resubmission. If the second submission fails, the student is not eligible for the regular examination. The student is entitled to a third attempt before new/deferred exam.

If one or more assignments are not approved after three attempts, the student must attend the course the next time it is arranged, usually the subsequent year. Application for a fourth and final attempt to complete the assignment to sit for the exam are decided on an individual basis by the study administration in cooperation with the person responsible for the course.

All coursework in writing, including master’s theses, undergoes automatic plagiarism control on submission.

Attendance requirements

While there is no attendance required for lectures, this is a demanding program, and steady work is required throughout the courses.

Two research ethics seminars are 100 % attendance required before the thesis outline can be submitted. The seminars are taken place digitally and held annually, one each semester. It is recommended to complete the seminars during the first year of studies.

Students in the Innovation and Implementation specialisation must attend thesis seminars, for a total of six over the whole program. The seminars are wholly digital over two days each, and will include time to work on required submissions and student presentations of various aspects of thesis projects.

Internal

Scientific method; statistical concepts and tools - theory and application; functional analysis; internal and external validity; single-case experimental designs; Empirically Supported Treatments