Curriculum & Courses

Current Program of Study

The program of studies, i.e., the courses and curriculum for the Ph.D. in Education, Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies (LSPS), is a minimum of 58 credit hours, made up of 4 parts:

• 15 credit hours of Required Core Courses for the Ph.D. in Education;
• 22-24 credit hours of Required Core Courses for the LSPS Research Strand;
• 15-18 credit hours in your Research Specialization;
• 6-9 Dissertation credits.

Ph.D. Core Courses

The following 15 credit hours are required for all Ph.D. candidates. As these are intended to be foundational courses for the rest of the program, you should plan to take them in your first, or at the latest second, year of coursework.

• EDUC 710: Introductory Statistical Methods, 3 hrs
• EDUC 825: Development and Learning, 3 hrs
• EDUC 830: Field Techniques in Educational Research, 3 hrs
• EDUC 867: Issues in Educational Policy and Research, 3 hrs
• EDUC 876: Histories of School and Schooling, 3 hrs

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LSPS Core Courses

You are required to complete the following 22-24 credit hours for the LSPS strand:

• EDUC 784: Intermediate Statistical Methods, 3 hrs
• EDUC 824: Fundamentals of Educational Research, 3 hrs
• EDUC 829: Applied Measurement Theory for Education, 3 hrs
• EDUC 915: Introduction to Learning Sciences, 3 hrs
• EDUC 923: Design-Based Research, 3 hrs
• EDUC 919: Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments, 3 hrs
• EDUC 990: Supervised Research, 4-6 hrs
  (1 credit each, must take a minimum of 4 credits, up to 6 credits allowed if approved by advisor/POS committee)

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Research Specialization Courses

Research Specialization courses are designed to deepen your knowledge in your chosen area. You can take up to two of the five to six courses outside of the School of Education. 

Areas of specialization within the LSPS program include, but are not limited to:

• Science Learning and Instruction;
• Mathematics Learning and Instruction;
• Learning Out of School;
• Quantitative/Evaluative Methods;
• Cognitive and Learning Sciences;
• Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments
• Learning Analytics

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Dissertation Courses

• EDUC 994: Doctoral Research and Dissertation, 6 hrs

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