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Highest scoring
research master in Educational sciences
'Keuzegids Masters 2021'
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32%
International students
'Keuzegids Masters 2021'
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2 year
Master's programme

Do you want to disentangle and understand the complex interaction of development, education, and learning? Are you curious about how processes in educational contexts relate to the cognitive and social development of children, youth, and adults? The Master’s programme in Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction invites you to tackle these topics and more.

Explore the complexity of cognitive and social learning processes

Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction is a two-year programme, designed to prepare you for a career in research (for example as a PhD candidate), or for work in education policy and consultancy. Education can sometimes be dull and ineffective. We can change that through recognising and developing the concept that we never learn alone. We always learn by interacting with someone or something, such as:

  • People who are more knowledgeable than us (teachers or more advanced fellow students)
  • People who are equally knowledgeable as us (peers or in teams)
  • Artefacts (the environment around us, books, computers, etc.)

If you’re interested in learning about and carrying out high-quality research into these interactions, you can make a real difference in learning, teaching, and instruction.

Multidisciplinary

This multidisciplinary Master's programme allows you to synthesize insights from education, psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics. Our lecturers represent different disciplinary backgrounds, such as developmental psychology, educational sciences, experimental psychology, human movement science, linguistics, pedagogy, natural sciences, and sociology. This broad range of perspectives will help you develop a comprehensive outlook on education.

Programme objective

As a graduate of this Master's programme, you’ll be a well-qualified practitioner in educational and learning sciences. You’ll have thorough knowledge of current developmental, learning, and teaching theories as well as the neurobiological basis of education and learning. In addition, you’ll have the tools and expertise to understand and conduct high-quality research in education. The programme prepares you equally well for a career as a PhD candidate or as an applied researcher outside academia.

Research-focused

Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction is offered by the Department of Education and Pedagogy, which in turn is part of Utrecht University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. The programme is based in the faculty-wide research theme of Education and Learning, which is embedded in local, national, and international research networks. 

How does this Master’s programme differentiate itself from similar programmes at other universities?

  • Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction received the highest score of all researchmaster's in the field of Educational Sciences (Keuzegids Masters, 2021)
  • Internationally oriented: collaborate with students from multiple countries, meet researchers and scholars from abroad, participate in international research seminars and/or complete an internship abroad
  • The possibility to obtain a clinical qualification (Basisaantekening Diagnostiek)
  • Extensive training in advanced measurement technology (e.g. eye-tracking, ERP/EEG) and statistical modelling

There are more and more opportunities to use multimedia in the classroom, but is it always effective? It is crucial that the source of learning connects with the way our memory operates. Only then can children find their way through the material.

Kennisnet

World-class university in a lively student city

Choosing Utrecht University means choosing one of the best universities in the country with several renowned international rankings  and twelve Nobel Prize laureates

Located in the middle of the Netherlands, Utrecht is a medieval city with a centre small enough to explore on foot, yet large enough to host world-class festivals, fashionable shops, modern architecture and fascinating museums. Find more about what student life is like in Utrecht! 

Key facts

Degree: 
Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction (Research) (MSc)
Language of instruction: 
English
Mode of study: 
Full-time
Study duration: 
2 years
Deadline: 

Check the deadline that applies to you

Tuition fees: 
Dutch and other EU/EEA students (statutory fee, full-time) 2024-2025: € 2,530

Non-EU/EEA students (institutional fee) 2024-2025: € 20,043

More information about fees
Croho code: 
60749
Accreditation: 
Accredited by the NVAO
Faculty: 
Social and Behavioural Sciences
Graduate school: 
Social and Behavioural Sciences