Pursuing Masters Degree: ABAC, Dhurakij Pundit, or Webster?

[SheungWan]

I know a few people who finished their Masters Degrees from Webster. I helped one with his Master's Thesis. It was a well done program.

He did part of the program in Thailand but finished on-line from the US branch of the program.

One of the key problems with institutions that accept students with low entry qualifications is the delivery of the Master's thesis. It is not uncommon for the student to have poor English writing skills as well as incapability in understanding whatever it is that they are supposed to be delivering. The institutions know this and in particular with 'private' colleges which want to push the students through regardless, there is a dumbing down of the supervision process and a looking away when a student with poor English suddenly delivers their project with excellent grammar and stock development of arguments which were never presented in the meetings with the supervisor. Colleges mixing it up with online modules are candidates for the peek-a-boo quality monitoring of what is going on, but since they are reliant on the camouflage don't expect too much in the way of lifting the stones. All frontal floss and happy students who got something they otherwise wouldn't have. The unhappy ones are the ones who actually wanted an education and it is they who are mostly complaining.

Actually, English was not this student's problem. I did proof-read it for him, but there wasn't a single grammatical error in the entire thesis. His problem was in doing some of the statistical analysis that was required for analyzing the data. Statistics was his weakness and without being on a campus or near a university, it meant having less options for learning to do it himself.

His research was innovative and had never been done before at least not in Thailand and I suspect may be no where else, since he was unable to find a review of previous studies or data.

He earned his Master's Degree, but I do see your point and some of the interaction with other students, discussions and stimulation that just doesn't occur easily on-line, is missing.

With regards to being on campus, student interaction is one thing but access to resources and regular meetings with one's project supervisor is another. If neither of the latter are present then the value of the Master's is questioned if it awarded. Any thesis requiring serious statistical analysis requires an understanding and application using SPSS. Research of prior activity needs access to international academic journals. So the question is whether Webster's provide access to such journals whether the student undertook such research and was it referenced in the thesis ( sorry, I don't buy the 'he wasn't able to find', he could have at least referenced something even vaguely similar) and does Webster's have the package SPSS and even if it doesn't did the student get access to it. Finally, re 'there wasn't a single grammatical error in the entire thesis'.......well this just does not exist in real life. Except. Except where the thesis has been paid for. Always a good giveaway.

[Scott]

I didn't write the thesis, I helped him with the statistical analysis. Did he reference other sources, yes, he did, but his research had not been done before.

I can only answer from what I see and know. I didn't do the thesis and I did not participate in the on-line discussions. They were required, though.

All the courses for the Masters', with the exception of the one for the thesis, were taken in classes in Bangkok. Only this one was taken on-line.

As for the grammar, I am surprised that you think that someone could write without making errors. His regular work involves writing English for high level individuals. This includes letters, speeches, and documents.

Whether or not there were errors, I don't know. I do know that I didn't find any and I would assume that he had proof read it before he asked me to look at it.

[asiaexpat]

ABAC teaches in English? LOL...You had better brush up on your Thai.

Why not study at IIS-RU? You will only be taught in English by westerners.

http://iis.ru.ac.th/English_Program/English_Program.htm

Not sure why you make this assumption. As a westerner that has taught at ABAC and know most of the Masters level instructors and professors I can say that the non-westerners as competent as the westerners in most cases. As is true at any institution, there those that are not as well qualified, but they are few and weeded out quickly. In fact, many of the adjunct instructors teach at RU and other institutions as well. One must always be conscience that when attending school in a foreign country there will be a variety of accents used and the student must deal with them. In Thailand most of the Masters students are Thai and therefore, a lot of communications is in Thai to ensure full comprehension of the subject.

[dav622]

I have attended a couple of workshops and seminars at ABAC. They do teach in English and they have a rule that only English can be spoken in classes. They also have a lot of foreign staff as do some other Universities. I was impressed with ABAC and if it was my option, I would choose ABAC over any other University in Thailand. Incidentally I have no affiliations with any Universities and I am a post graduate myself from a University in UK.

[Rhys]

Are these the only options...where do the westerners go when the want to upgrade the letters behind their names?

[richard10365]

No

[richard10365]

There are lots of universities to study international programs in Thailand. Google what you're looking for and where you want to study and you should find some. Good luck.

[Rhys]

What issues do westerners encounter when studying for their MATEFL in a Thai system?