Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors MS, PhD Degree Programs

A Multidisciplinary Endeavor, A User-Friendly End

Influence the next generation of consumer products, technological systems, or other user environments.

The Department of Psychology and Human Factors at Michigan Tech offers MS and PhD degrees in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors. This research-intensive program unites the expertise of multiple disciplines toward optimizing performance, health, and safety at the interface of humans and technology. Participating scholars include both human experts and built-systems experts, including psychologists, engineers, computer scientists, and usability specialists.

Current Research

Departmental research pursues practical solutions to real-world problems. The human factors component of the program is concerned with the design and evaluation of technological systems, products, and work processes from the perspective of human characteristics, needs, abilities, and limitations; and applied cognitive science focuses on understanding and enhancing information processing within both human cognition and machines.

Research is underway in the domains of driving, education, finance, health care, military, law enforcement, medicine, sports, surgery, and other complex sociotechnical areas.

• Auditory Displays
• Cognitive-Task Analysis
• Decision-Support Technologies
• Emotional Design
• Expertise
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Human-Performance Modeling
• Knowledge Elicitation
• Next-Generation Technologies
• Occupational Safety
• Risky Decision Making and Risk Literacy
• Stress and Performance
• Situation Awareness
• Simulation
• Training
• Usability
• Virtual Reality
• Workload and Fatigue

Curriculum

The program’s curriculum is designed to develop scholars and practitioners capable of improving sociotechnical systems through instructional and technological design, providing a strong scientific and technological basis in cognitive science and human factors. Master’s and doctoral students enrolled in this program gain core competency in understanding human behavior, conducting human-subject research, and employing the concepts, tools, and applications of human-factors psychology.

The Master’s program in ACSHF requires a minimum of 32 credit hours, including core courses and a Master’s-level thesis or report. Depending upon the background of individual students, some courses may be waived. For more information, see the Graduate Program Director. Students wishing to enter the program to receive a terminal Master’s will be considered on a case-by-case basis (see Admission Requirements). The minimum of 32 hours of core graduate credit required for the Master’s degree is made up as follows:

Statistics and Methods Core

PSY 5210 (4 hrs) or pre-approved graduate statistics course from another Michigan Tech department (≥3 hrs). PSY 5220 (3 hrs) or pre-approved graduate statistics course from another Michigan Tech department (≥3 hrs). 7 credits recommended (6 credits min):

Research Core

A thesis or report is required for all terminal Master’s students. Ph.D. students wishing to obtain a Master’s degree en route must complete a thesis (see Master’s Thesis and Report section). To be eligible to remain in the program, students must be enrolled in at least 1 credit of 5910, 5999, or 6999 every Fall and Spring semester, unless pre-approved by the graduate director and the student’s advisor. 6 credits (min):

ACSHF Core Courses

6 credits:

Specialization Core

Specialization courses provide students with a more comprehensive understanding of a research domain and prepare the student to engage in research and apply those findings. Students are required to take 6 credits selected from courses specified as specialization courses. Courses from the electives list that reflect the student’s area of specialization may be substituted for those specialization core credits with approval from the primary advisor and the graduate director. Although the specialization courses offered change each year, courses designated as such in past have included:

Tools Core

Tools courses focus on specific methodologies that may apply across research domains and have broad applications beyond the core statistical competency requirements. Tools course expose students to advanced methodological skills that should apply both within their chosen specialization and others. Tools classes provide training in topics such as advanced cognitive modeling, cognitive task analysis, usability analysis, advanced statistics, survey methods, performance assessment, physiological measurement, or other methods used in ACSHF. Courses from the electives list that reflect the student’s area of specialization and equip students with additional tools, methods and/or practical skills may be substituted with approval from the primary advisor and graduate director.

Students are required to take 6 credits selected from courses specified as “tools” courses. Although the courses offered change each year, courses designated as such in the past have included:

Advanced Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

1 credit required. Students are required to take an advanced RCR course within the first year of their enrollment. The university and department offer several courses that may satisfy the RCR requirements. A complete listing can be found at the Graduate School.

As part of required RCR training, students are required to complete human subjects training using the full social/behavioral research course offered by the CITI program.

Job Market

There is a growing need for experts trained in human factors. Opportunities are expanding in all employment sectors, including industry, government, and academia. Nonprofits and consulting firms also employ human factors specialists. Common job titles in the area of human factors include:

• Cognitive engineer
• Customer-experience specialist
• Ergonomist
• Human-factors psychologist or engineer
• Knowledge engineer
• Usability specialist
• Usability engineer
• User-experience specialist
• User-interface designer

MS and PhD Options

In addition to the Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors Program Graduate Handbook, see also the Graduate School's Master of Science requirements and Doctor of Philosophy requirements page.

Degree Options

Degree Requirements

Refer to the Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors Program Graduate Handbook for a detailed explanation of departmental-specific MS and PhD degree requirements. The department’s independently established degree requirements include the following:

• Terminal master's students must do a thesis or report.
• Students in the PhD program without a master's degree must do a thesis. The report and thesis options require students to first write and orally present a proposal for their report or thesis. After successfully defending their proposal, they must then produce a written thesis or report and orally present their thesis or report to their committee for evaluation.
• Students in the PhD program who already hold a master's degree and who wish to earn an MS in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors en route to the PhD must do a thesis. Per (i) and (ii), the thesis option requires students to first write and orally present a thesis proposal. After successfully defending the proposal, students must then produce a written thesis and orally present the thesis to their committee for evaluation.
• Students in the PhD program who already hold a master's degree in human factors, cognitive science, or a highly relevant area and who do not wish to obtain an MS in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors en route to the PhD must complete a graduate research project, unless they have petitioned ACSHF Graduate Program Committee to be exempted from this requirement and have received approval. As per the thesis, the graduate research project must be first proposed, and then the final version of the project must be orally presented to and evaluated by the ACSHF Graduate Program Committee.

Accelerated Masters ACSHF

If you don't have time to pursue a separate two-year MS degree, enhance an undergraduate psychology major or minor instead. Choose an Accelerated MS in ACSHF to earn your bachelor’s and master's degrees together, with an applied cognitive science and human factors focus. Enhance your learning, deepen your understanding, and graduate with a competitive advantage in the job market or a leg up on your path to a PhD.