Academics
Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
29 February 2016
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Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
The Minerva Master of Science in Applied Analyses and Decision Making
is designed to lead bright, highly motivated post-bachelor-degree students to
acquire competencies that allow them to analyze complex real-world problems
from multiple perspectives, to present options for addressing these problems, to
exercise sound judgment in choosing among the options, and to establish criteria
for monitoring and evaluating the efficacy of the decisions that are implemented.
Students who complete the program will be able to analyze and use data effectively
in a variety of fields, be able to compare options available in any given decisionmaking scenario, and be able to establish metrics and systems to evaluate and make
intelligent decisions. These skills are useful in many professions, ranging from law
to medicine to business, and are also central to academic pursuits. The ability to
analyze and make intelligent decisions touches virtually all human endeavors.
Curriculum
The course requirements for the Master of Science in Applied
Analyses and Decision Making are as follows.
1. Advanced Formal Analyses, Empirical Analyses, and Complex Systems (24 units)
These year-long courses parallel cornerstone courses offered in the undergraduate
program, but have been re-envisioned and re-designed for the graduate level.
Specifically, the material has been recast to focus on the sorts of analyses that can
support making complex decisions, and the considerations that should underlie such
decisions. In addition, student learning outcomes are set at the master’s level, in
keeping with the Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile, and standards of performance
reflecting expectations at the graduate level have been integrated into rubrics.
Assignments are more sophisticated and require an advanced level of knowledge and
intellectual skills. These courses typically will be taken during a single year, but we will
consider allowing students to extend them over two years, if necessary. Finally, only
master’s students will take these courses; no undergraduates will be enrolled in them.
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Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
2. Research Methods (4 units)
In this course, held only in the second semester, students will sharpen their skills in
gathering, understanding, and critiquing primary research articles. In the latter half of
the semester, each student will present initial plans for his or her proposed project, and
assign accessible readings for the rest of the class, so that other students may follow and
critique the presentation. To ensure that other students do in fact complete the reading,
each class will begin with a short quiz based on the assigned readings.
3. Master’s Thesis (4 units)
All master’s students are expected to continue and complete their work during the
four months of summer following their completion of the three year-long courses. The
Master’s Thesis requires students to conduct an original research project, with the
advice and guidance of a Thesis Advisor. The project requires them to identify an issue,
analyze it, and justify making a specific decision or decisions that bear on the issue. The
thesis must address an aspect of Applied Analyses and Decision Making; it can focus on
material covered in any of the year-long courses. This thesis will be graded at graduatelevel standards by the advisor and another faculty member who was not involved in the
project. The project must include:
• A statement of what issue will be addressed. The issue should be posed in the context
of a detailed literature review. The review should not simply summarize previous
relevant studies or literature, but should critically analyze it and conclude with a
clear statement of the implications of the review.
• A clear statement of why the issue to be addressed in the project is important.
• A summary of the methodology to be used in the study.
• A detailed description of what was actually done.
• A clear and rigorous report of the results, using appropriate descriptive and
inferential statistics, which in turn justify making a specific decision.
• A discussion of the applied implications of the results of the study.
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Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
Advanced Courses
The program is built on the foundation of three intensive, year-long core courses. These
courses differ from standard graduate courses in several ways. First, each course is
designed for students to learn and utilize practical knowledge, as the primary goal
— as opposed to a subordinate goal taught through a focus on specific subject matter.
Second, courses will illustrate this practical knowledge with a wide range of content,
which will help students learn to analyze situations and alternatives that underlie
making intelligent decisions. Third, each core course will be in seminar format. As
such, it will focus on active learning, not passive reception of information. Fourth,
these courses will take place over a full year. The three core courses focus on:
• Advanced Formal Analyses, which teaches students how to use advanced concepts
in mathematics, computer science, statistics, and logic to analyze situations and
make decisions. The subject matter used to illustrate this material typically will be
drawn from a wide range of problems (see the use of “Big Questions” below).
• Advanced Empirical Analyses, which teaches students how to use the scientific
method to analyze situations and make decisions by framing problems, formulating
hypotheses, testing hypotheses, and engaging in informed conjecture. The subject
matter used to illustrate this material typically will be drawn from the natural
sciences.
• Advanced Complex Systems, which teaches students how to analyze complex
systems such as economic and social systems. Such systems have multiple
inputs, which produce complex interactions (and often given rise to emergent
properties) and typically involve feedback and nonlinear effects. Such analyses are a
prerequisite for making decisions in the context of complex systems (which affect all
human social interactions). As such, analysis of complex systems is important for the
decision-making that underlies effective leadership, formal debate and negotiation.
The subject matter used to illustrate this material typically will be drawn from the
social sciences.
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Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
The content used in each course is guided by a set of Big Questions. We
adopted questions that were globally relevant, were very difficult to answer,
requiring deep analysis and consideration before making decisions regarding
them, and which touched on issues that affect students’ lives. In the four
courses, students often consider how to analyze these same questions from
different perspectives. These Big Questions serve to integrate the material
and give students experience using concepts in real-world contexts.
Master’s Thesis
The Master’s Thesis is expected to represent a substantial body of work, of
publishable quality. Students typically will begin work on this project during the
latter part of the second semester, and will focus on it during the four months
of summer following completion of the advanced courses described above.
The Master’s Thesis has two components. First, students must identify and
characterize an issue that they can analyze. Part of this process requires a literature
review of relevant materials. Second, they must use the tools they acquired in the
three year-long courses to identify key decisions that must be made to address the
issue. They must use material learned in the courses to justify making specific
decisions. Typically, students will obtain data sets that they can analyze, but in
some cases purely qualitative analyses will be acceptable. In all cases, however,
students must use appropriate analyses to justify proposed decisions in detail.
Each student will have a Minerva faculty advisor and an outside reader,
who is another faculty member and expert in the relevant domain.
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Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
Course Format and Design
All courses in the master’s program will be seminars of 15 to 18 students, or supervised
independent study; there are no lectures and no courses aimed solely at information
transmission. Rather, all courses are defined in terms of particular learning objectives;
all aspects of the curriculum are designed in service of ensuring that students attain
those learning objectives.
Key features of course design include the following:
• Advanced graduate-level education
All seminars have 19 or fewer students. Because master’s students have completed
an undergraduate education, we expect them to already know the fundamentals of
analysis, research, and communications. To allow them to refresh their memories, we
will guide them to relevant educational materials. Students will know well in advance
what material they must master in order to follow and contribute to each class session.
Organized online study groups will help students to review the background material,
encourage them to engage with fellow students about the material, and provide an
opportunity to post questions about it; the answers to these questions will be posted
and available to all students. Records of these discussions will be available for future
classes as well, and thus will accumulate over time. Students are expected to spend,
on average, about 45 hours each week in preparing for the advanced courses, doing
assigned reading, completing assignments and engaging with one another to explore
the ideas introduced in coursework.
• Global perspectives
Like our undergraduates, we will invite graduate students from all over the world and
with a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds. Thanks to the global
diversity of the student body, students will learn first-hand about different norms
and practices, cultural sensitivity, and interacting effectively with people of different
national, religious, and cultural backgrounds.
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Program Details:
Master of Science
in Applied Analyses
and Decision Making
Academic Calendar
The academic year comprises two 15-week semesters, separated by a four-week winter
recess. The summer period, when the master’s thesis typically will be completed,
consists of four months. All courses in the master’s program, except the master’s thesis,
are seminars, taking place for 90 minutes twice a week.
Student Support Services
All Minerva students have access to multiple sources of academic and professional
development support.
Ongoing academic advising and academic support
Before courses start, students are referred to general and specific online resources to
prepare for the seminar classes. Once classes begin, the Active Learning Forum provides
rapid updates, so both the teacher and the student know when extra support is needed.
As they progress, students will continue to receive feedback and will be provided with
additional resources, guidance, and self-study programs. Students also have access to
virtual office hours with professors and peer study groups. As noted above, each student
is assigned a faculty advisor, who schedules regular meetings throughout the program.
Career planning and professional services following graduation
The Professional Development Agency provides services that surpass those available
at typical career services offices found in other top universities. Going well beyond
resume and interview preparation, the Professional Development Agency will serve as a
talent agency, doing outreach on behalf of each student, lining up relevant employment
opportunities, supporting entrepreneurial ventures by helping to identify resources,
promoting significant student/alumni accomplishments, and providing coaching and
support for professional development. The agency will help students think strategically
about their careers and approach companies and organizations around the world that
align with their plans. The agency also works directly with potential host companies to
organize high-level networking events and mentor programs.
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