M.A. vs. M.A.T.

All students in the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) and the Global Field Program (GFP) choose to earn either the M.A.T. in the Biological Sciences (a nonlicensure degree for teachers) or the M.A. in Biology. The M.A. in Biology is designed for anyone with a Bachelor’s degree with a professional or life interest in ecological and social change, professional leadership, global understanding, conservation, community engagement, and related fields.

Like the M.A.T., the M.A. is offered part-time, enabling working professionals to continue working while earning their master’s degree. M.A. students can complete their degree while residing anywhere in the U.S. (for the GFP) or residing near an AIP Institution (for the AIP).  Professionals working abroad are also encouraged to apply, with enrollment contingent on the admission policies of Miami University’s Graduate School for international students. The Master of Arts in Biology is a fully accredited graduate degree from Miami University.

Whether enrolled in the more locally focused AIP or the more globally focused GFP, the M.A. in Biology provides a wide range of working professionals with the knowledge, skills, professional networks, and inspiration to open new frontiers of community-engaged learning and shared action for a better planet. To expand learning beyond the classroom, M.A. students take courses alongside diverse leaders across nonprofit, business, education, informal science, government, and other sectors. This cross-cutting feature of Project Dragonfly’s graduate programs enables students to share ideas and co-create change as they develop invaluable learning partnerships and create exciting new approaches to inquiry-driven learning and shared action across diverse communities.

The M.A. requires 35 credit hours that can be completed in two-and-a-half years while working full-time. M.A. students typically take three to six credit hours per semester in the summer, fall, and spring terms. The degree does not require a master’s thesis. Instead, all M.A. students, with faculty and professional guidance, develop an individualized Master Plan to advance their personal, academic, and professional goals. M.A. students also complete a professional Portfolio that showcases their individualized degree and achievements. The M.A. degree itself additionally benefits many professionals through promotions and salary increases from their workplace.

Whether developing a public campaign to restore a threatened habitat, greening your workplace, forming a partnership with one of Project Dragonfly’s global conservation partners, drafting a national campaign strategy for a non-profit organization, M.A. students lead collaborative change and blaze new paths to a better future. All M.A. students complete an authorship challenge as part of their degree, with many publishing research in professional journals and presenting at professional conferences.

All students in the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) and the Global Field Program (GFP) choose to earn either the M.A.T. in the Biological Sciences or the M.A. in Biology.  The M.A.T. is for teachers across all career stages who are already certified (or those who soon will be). Project Dragonfly’s M.A.T. is not a licensure program and does not confer a teaching license.  Like the M.A., the M.A.T. is offered part-time, enabling teachers to continue teaching while earning their master’s degree.

Teachers can complete the degree while residing anywhere in the U.S. (for the GFP) or residing near an AIP Institution (for the AIP).  Teachers working abroad are also encouraged to apply, with enrollment contingent on the admission policies of Miami University’s Graduate School for international students. The Master of Arts in Teaching in the Biological Sciences is a fully accredited graduate degree from Miami University. 

The M.A.T. requires 35 credit hours that can be completed in two-and-a-half years while working full-time. M.A.T. students typically take three to six credit hours per semester in the summer, fall, and spring terms. The degree does not require a master’s thesis. Instead, all M.A.T. students, with faculty and professional guidance, develop an individualized Master Plan to advance their personal, academic, and professional goals. In a final capstone course dedicated to teachers, M.A.T. students also complete a degree Portfolio that showcases their individualized degree and achievements. The Portfolio can be adapted to National Board Standards or serve other professional purposes. The M.A.T. degree itself additionally benefits many teachers through promotions and salary increases from their schools or districts. 

Whether writing a new lesson plan that involves students in saving a local species, co-designing a project with science and art students to support pollinator diversity, forming a partnership with one of Project Dragonfly’s global conservation partners, or leading a state-wide curricular proposal focused on environmental justice, teachers in the M.A.T. lead collaborative change and blaze new paths to a better future. All M.A.T. students complete an authorship challenge as part of their degree, with many publishing research in professional journals and presenting at professional conferences.