Swinburne University of Technology

Anybody heard good/bad,(GAAP)accredited/not about them? I am interested in getting an MS in Astronomy from them without finishing BA/BS first. Any ideas?

Dave

KC7WGB

 

Certainly a legitimate "GAAP" school. Though of the lower tier in Australia (in this respect similar to Western Sydney, which also offers a Master's in Astronomy).

Bear in mind that the Swinburne Master's in Astronomy is targeted at amateurs and teachers, so it's not going to do you much good if your intent is to be a professional scientist.

 

Their specialty has been co-operative education, in which students, including those overseas, are take jobs in their field of study, and alternate between academic and 'real world' work.

I'd be especially interested in knowing, Mr. Wilson, if the "no Bachelor's" policy is a general one for this program, or is based on your own background and situation? (There are very few GAAP Master's programs that have an official "no Bachelor's needed" policy, although others do it on a case by case basis.)

 

Their web site is www.astronomy.swin.edu.au and from what I read, I would take one class at a time, scoring 65% or better, and then be approved to be in the MA program( it's more involved than this but you get the jist of it. My situation involves full time work plus 2 hours of travel time a day. I was at Regents/Excelsior and have about 2 years finished.

 

I can't see that there would be any utility to this degree -- i.e. it's not going to get anyone into graduate school or a job.

I guess I should believe Swinburne's ads (every month in Sky & Telescope) and accept that it's simply for people "with a love of astronomy."

 

I would think that an MS in Astronomy from Swinburne would likely qualify one to teach at the Community College level. I'd be curious to know if any of Swinburne's graduates have taken this route.

Other possible career's with this degree: Planetarium astonomer/director/presenter, science teacher in k-12, science journalist. Plus, there are a number of company's in the private sector related to space commercialization and, depending on one's undergraduate degree, this degree could help them land a position in sales/marketing, PR work, product management, etc.

Plus, this degree will likely give one the "ooohhh" factor as in - "You have a master's degree in Astronomy? oooohhhhh."

Bob

 

The University of Western Sydney also has an online Master of AStronomy. The last two courses have been geared towards doing professional astronomy. SOme of the final projects have bee quite good. There is also discussion about a professional doctorate sometime in the future. You may want to check UWS out at:
http://www.uws.edu.au/astronomy/index.html

I just finished the program this December. I have already been asked to teach astronomy at a 4-year USA college and will be sending my transcripts in soon.

John

 

Yes. In my first message in this thread I mentioned that the program is targeted at teachers (in addition to amateur astronomers). I wasn't clear in my last post. What I meant was that I couldn't see the practical utility of this Master's by itself -- without also having a Bachelor's.

 

John,

I believe you are correct and that it is done on a case by case basis. A few things:

At the University of Western Sydney they allow non-bachelor degree holders to enter the program to earn a "Graduate Certificate" in Astronomy. At Swinburne they restrict the Certificate to Australian residents.

If one looks at the entry point into the program Swinburn states that there must be a tertiary qualfication or relevant credits or experience in the area.

Possible someone without the bachelors degree could earn the UWN Graduate Certificate and see if this qualification would get them into the Swinburne masters program.

Something of interest is that for the online program UWS offers the Master of Astronomy whereas the Master of Science degree in astronomy is geared towards on-campus work. At Swinburne they are offer the Master of Science.

John

 

I recently saw a list of adjunct openings at U Phoenix Online, and they are looking for Astronomy instructors. Here are some of the questions in the application:

• 
  Do you have a master’s or doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution related to the field of Astronomy or a related physical or life science?
  
  Do you have at least 18 graduate semester hours in Astronomy or an Astronomy-related field?