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SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY 
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION: 

Master of Arts in Design 
SAQA QUAL ID QUALIFICATION TITLE
91919  Master of Arts in Design 
ORIGINATOR
University of Johannesburg 
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education  HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework 
QUALIFICATION TYPE FIELD SUBFIELD
Master's Degree  Field 02 - Culture and Arts  Design Studies 
ABET BAND MINIMUM CREDITS PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL NQF LEVEL QUAL CLASS
Undefined  180  Not Applicable  NQF Level 09  Regular-Provider-ELOAC 
REGISTRATION STATUS SAQA DECISION NUMBER REGISTRATION START DATE REGISTRATION END DATE
Registered-data under construction  EXCO 0324/24  2024-07-01  2027-06-30 
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2028-06-30   2031-06-30  

Registered-data under construction

The qualification content is currently being updated for the qualifications with the status “Registered-data under construction” or showing “DETAILS UNDER CONSTRUCTION” to ensure compliance with SAQA’S Policy and Criteria for the registration of qualifications and part-qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) (As amended, 2022). These qualifications are re-registered until 30 June 2027 and can legitimately be offered by the institutions to which they are registered.

 

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.  

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION 
Purpose:
The Master of Arts in Design educates and trains researchers who can contribute to the development of knowledge at an advanced level. This Master's Degree has a research component which is earned by completing a single advanced research project that culminates in the production and acceptance of a dissertation. The research project may take the form of textual or artefactual research but, regardless of the preferred form of research, a written dissertation is delivered as the final output of the qualification.

Rationale:
The Master's Degree will offer a further study opportunity for students who graduated from the Bachelor of Arts Honours in Design. This will be of particular benefit to students who foresee careers as lecturers or researchers. It will also offer the opportunity for students to further develop advanced conceptual thinking skills with which to solve complex problems innovatively within an area of design, thereby enhancing their employability in the design industry. Students from various private and public Higher Education institutions which offer four-year Degrees in the design disciplines may elect to complete their Master's with this Institution. These public institutions include the Universities of Pretoria, Witwatersrand, North-West, Stellenbosch and Cape Town and a number of Universities of Technology, including those of the Cape Peninsula, Tshwane and Durban. 

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING 
Any relevant Bachelor Honours Degree, "professional" Bachelor's Degree, or Postgraduate Diploma, with sufficient preparation to conduct research and with a recommended minimum of 60% for all final-year modules.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL):
The Faculty accepts RPL as an integral part of education and academic practice. It is acknowledged that all learning has value, and the Institution accepts the challenge to assess prior learning and award credits, as aligned to Institutional qualifications to promote lifelong learning.

Recognition of Prior Learning may:
  • Grant access to students who do not meet the minimum requirements for admission.
  • Grant students credits towards the achievement of the qualification.

    The learner must be in possession of:
  • A relevant Bachelor's Honours Degree with a minimum of 60% average at NQF Level 8.
  • An appropriate Postgraduate Diploma (with a research component).
  • Any appropriate Honours Degree for which Recognition of Prior Learning may be applied. 
    		•

    RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? 
    Y 

    QUALIFICATION RULES 
    The qualification comprises a Research Dissertation at NQF Level 9, worth 180 credits. 

    EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES 
    1. Apply specialist knowledge of design.
    2. Demonstrate a command of design and research methods and procedures to address complex problems.
    3. Access, process and manage information effectively.
    4. Produce information for, and communicate it to a range of audiences.

    Critical Cross-Field Outcomes:
    All the Critical Cross-Field Outcomes are addressed in the qualification. 

    ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 
    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
    1.1 Specialist knowledge is applied to engage with and critique current and historical design research.
    1.2 Advanced scholarship and research in design are demonstrated.
    1.3 Current processes of knowledge production are evaluated and appropriate processes of enquiry for design are selected.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:
    2.1 Appropriate and creative methods, techniques, processes or technologies are designed, selected and applied to complex practical and theoretical problems.
    2.2 A wide range of specialised skills are used to identify, conceptualise, design and implement methods of enquiry to address complex and challenging problems within design.
    2.3 Understanding of the consequences of any solutions or insights generated within a design context is demonstrated.
    2.4 Ethical decisions which affect knowledge production are made autonomously.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:
    3.1 A strategy for the processing and management of information is designed.
    3.2 The strategy is used to conduct a comprehensive review of leading and current research in design in order to produce significant insights.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:
    4.1 Substantial ideas are conceptualised through research in an area of design specialisation.
    4.2 Academic discourses are used to communicate and defend substantial ideas.
    4.3 A range of advanced and specialised skills and discourses are included in the communication.

    Integrated Assessment:
    An external examiner is appointed to ensure the quality of the qualification dissertation and also ensure procedures are externally verified.

    External examiners are expected to complete a standardised form to assist the institution in compiling an examination report. 

    INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY 
    The development of the Master of Arts in Design was informed by research into a number of international Master's qualifications, including the:
  • Master of Fine Arts in Communications Design, offered at the Pratt School of Art and Design, New York.
  • Master of Arts Communication Design, offered at the Central Saint Martin's College of Arts and Design in London.
  • Master of Design in Graphic Design, offered at the University of Canberra, Australia.
  • Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, offered at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

    In terms of the required research component and accompanying theoretical knowledge, this Master of Arts in Design complies with international practice requirements for a Master's Degree. 
    		•

    ARTICULATION OPTIONS 
    Horizontal Articulation:
    This qualification articulates horizontally with any relevant Master of Arts Degree at NQF Level 9.

    Vertical Articulation:
    This qualification articulates vertically with any relevant Doctoral Degree at NQF Level 10. 

    MODERATION OPTIONS 
    The research dissertation is assessed by two external assessors who are appointed on the following basis:
  • Two assessors are appointed for a Master's dissertation.
  • Any person who may reasonably be expected to lack sufficient objectivity in the assessment of a dissertation is excluded from acting as an assessor; this includes, for example, relatives or dependents of degree candidates, persons over whom any of the supervisors could exert undue influence, even by default.
  • External assessors must be external to the University, and must not have had prior involvement with the project that might compromise their objectivity when assessing the dissertation. In exceptional circumstances only, consideration may be given to the appointment of an assessor from within the Institution, but this person may not be the supervisor or co-supervisor of the dissertation.
  • The appointment of all assessors at Master's level is made on the basis of comprehensive CVs.
  • Assessors' details may be revealed to students only after a final outcome has been approved for the dissertation by the Faculty Board, and then only subject to the approval of the assessors, the supervisor(s) and the Executive Head. Under no circumstances may supervisors or students contact assessors before finalisation of the assessment outcome. 
    		•

    CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS 
  • Supervisors and co-supervisors may not be appointed as assessors.
  • For full research dissertations at Master's level, at least two assessors must be appointed, one of whom must have a Doctoral qualification, while the other may have as highest academic qualification a Master's Degree.
  • The institution requires that Examiners should be experienced assessors with knowledge of the field, in whom other assessors have confidence and who are experienced examiners or have undergone training in examinations of dissertations/theses. 
    		•

    REREGISTRATION HISTORY 
    As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2015. 

    NOTES 
    N/A 

    LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: 
     
    NONE 


    PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION: 
    This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.
     
    1. University of Johannesburg 


    All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.