NIU offers a M.S.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with a Specialization in Outdoor Education. Additionally, students may earn a Certificate of Graduate Study in Environmental Education. This specialization is designed to prepare teachers and other educators to develop curriculum materials and instructional strategies that enhance the use of outdoor instructional environments, and to integrate environmental education across the curriculum. Programs of study must include a minimum of 33 semester hours, of which a minimum of 18 semester hours must be within the major.
Students elect either the non-thesis or thesis option.
I. One three-credit graduate level course in research, approved by the student's adviser. One three-credit graduate level course in educational foundations, approved by the student's adviser. A minimum of 9 semester hours in the student's specialization as approved by a student's adviser. The successful completion of a comprehensive examination. Same as the non-thesis option except that a minimum of six semester hours of program course work must be devoted to the Master's Thesis.