Mar 28, 2024  
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Education Major, PhD, Dept. of Educational Psychology & Counseling


Concentrations (Required)

Learning, Design, and Technology Concentration
Learning Environments and Educational Studies Concentration

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Admissions Standards/Procedures

Admission requires a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology or a Master’s degree in another field with the completion of prerequisites prescribed by the admissions committee.

Academic Standards

Students meet regularly with their advisor to determine courses, follow Graduate School and LDT program requirements, and set personal scholarly goals.

Learning, Design, and Technology Concentration

The Learning, Design, and Technology (LDT) concentration in the Education Major is an instructional design and technology program designed for students with a wide-range of interests. Students in this program engage in research, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of learning environments. The name of the concentration, LDT, reflects the changing nature of the field to become more inclusive of informal and formal learning environments. The program supports graduate study of learning environments from an instructional design and technology perspective as well as an educational technology perspective, in various formal and informal settings such as K-12 education, higher education, non-profit agencies, military, and corporate settings. The program supports both part-time and full-time students.

Once admitted, students are required to complete the basic core courses to gain a foundational understanding of both theory and practice related to the design and development of learning environments. In the advanced core and the research apprenticeship courses, students will work closely with faculty to explore potential research projects as a member of an interdisciplinary research team or on their own. Students are required to engage in additional coursework in research methods, electives, and cognates. These additional courses may lead to obtaining a graduate certificate in areas such as Cultural Studies in Education; Online Teaching and Learning; Qualitative Research Methods in Education; and Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics.

Credit Hours Required

76 graduate credit hours

Required Courses

  • Basic Core (10 credit hours)
  • Advanced Core (6 credit hours from the choices below)
  • Research Apprenticeship (6 credit hours)
  • Research Methods (15 credit hours)
  • Electives (9 credit hours)
    • 9-credit hours of graduate level courses recommended by advisor that can include courses in Instructional Technology, Educational Technology, Adult Learning, Qualitative Research, Evaluation, and Quantitative Research.

  • Cognate (6 credit hours)
    • 6-credit hours of graduate level courses recommended by advisor in areas such as Educational Technology, Cultural Studies, and Information Science.
  • Dissertation (24 credit hours)

Additional Course Requirements

  • Basic Core
    • Corequisites that do not count towards the doctoral degree include IT 521 , IT 570 , and IT 573 . If students have equivalent experiences or coursework from a Master’s degree they can be exempt from part or all of the corequisite requirement.
  • Advanced Core
    • Corequisites in the Basic Core are Prerequisites for the Advanced Core

Non-Course Requirements

  • Students meet regularly with their advisor to determine courses, follow Graduate School and LDT program requirements, and set personal scholarly goals. In addition to required coursework.
  • Once students are close to program course completion, with the advisor’s approval the student will take the comprehensive exam. The comprehensive exam involves a written and oral examination. Upon passing the exam, the student will become a doctoral candidate.
  • After passing the comprehensive exam, doctoral candidates work closely with their advisor to complete a dissertation proposal. A candidate will present the proposal to the dissertation committee, and once approved by all committee members, will begin work on the dissertation research. With the advisor’s approval, the candidate will schedule an oral defense for the dissertation. During the dissertation defense, the candidate will present the work completed for the dissertation, which will be reviewed by the dissertation committee.

 

Learning Environments and Educational Studies Concentration

The Learning Environments and Educational Studies (LEEDS) doctoral concentration explicitly links the fields of cultural studies, human learning and development from an applied educational psychology perspective, and instructional technology to prepare graduates to work in high level professional careers in a wide range of settings such as higher education, K-12 education, community-based agencies and community-based participatory research, research institutions and other applied educational, social and political settings. The mission of the doctoral concentration in Learning Environments and Educational Studies (LEEDS) in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling is to ground students in theoretical, philosophical and research foundations of human learning and development, cultural and social contexts of educational environments (both formal and informal), the design process of technology-supported learning environments, and skills for inquiring into and critiquing these environments.

  • The program features
    • Emphasis on participatory theories of learning, social justice, and innovative uses of technology
    • Interdisciplinary research team involvement in design, analysis, presentations at regional and national conferences, and publication of studies
    • Focus on learning in community
    • International and intercultural atmosphere
    • Opportunity to gain higher education teaching experience

Credit Hours Required

73 graduate credit hours

Required Courses

  • Concentration Core (7 credit hours)
  • Core Electives (6 credit hours), chosen in consultation with the advisor
    • 6-credit hours of graduate level courses recommended by advisor in areas such as Learning Environments and Educational Studies and Cultural Studies.
  • Research Methods (15 credit hours)
  • Research Apprenticeship (6 credit hours)
  • Cognate (6 credit hours), chose in consultation with the advisor
    • 6-credit hours of graduate level courses recommended by advisor in areas such as Educational Technology, Cultural Studies, Educational Leadership, and Information Science.
  • Electives (9 credit hours), chosen in consultation with the advisor
    • 9-credit hours of graduate level courses recommended by advisor that can include courses in Instructional Technology, Educational Technology, Adult Learning, Qualitative Research, Evaluation, and Quantitative Research.
  • Dissertation (24 credit hours)

Additional Course Requirements

  • Many students take additional credit hours to
    • meet prerequisites for some required courses,
    • earn one or more credentials in areas such as qualitative research or measurement and evaluation, and
    • to further personal scholarly interests.

Non-Course Requirements

  • Students meet regularly with their advisor to determine courses, follow Graduate School and LDT program requirements, and set personal scholarly goals. In addition to required coursework.
  • Once students are close to program course completion, with the advisor’s approval the student will take the comprehensive exam. The comprehensive exam involves a written and oral examination. Upon passing the exam, the student will become a doctoral candidate.
  • After passing the comprehensive exam, doctoral candidates work closely with their advisor to complete a dissertation proposal. A candidate will present the proposal to the dissertation committee, and once approved by all committee members, will begin work on the dissertation research. With the advisor’s approval, the candidate will schedule an oral defense for the dissertation. During the dissertation defense, the candidate will present the work completed for the dissertation, which will be reviewed by the dissertation committee.