The doctoral concentration in adult learning serves the needs of individuals who work with adult learners in diverse settings, including business, government, higher education, and non-profit organizations. Emphasis of the concentration is on the development of reflective practitioners and engaged scholars who actively participate in leadership and service that promotes lifelong learning in a global community. It focuses on three areas of study and practice: 1) self-directed learning, 2) transformative learning, and 3) reflective practice. In addition to addressing more general areas of adult learning, core faculty offer their expertise in their supervision of student research and in their respective courses. For example, faculty members’ expertise may serve as the focus of proseminars, especially as the seminars focus on evolving research in related disciplines, research methodologies, and exemplars of notable studies in the three areas of adult learning.
A Master’s degree is not required for students who apply for admission to the concentration. For students who are admitted to the concentration, prior graduate work will be examined on a case-by-case basis as it might be used to satisfy the overall course requirements of the concentration. Students may use up to 24 semester credit hours of prior coursework for this purpose.
The program offers students a choice of two ways to meet the university’s residency requirement. One is the traditional residency requirement that calls for two consecutive semesters of full-time study (nine credit hours). The other is an alternative residency requirement that requires students to enroll in six to nine credit hours of coursework each semester for six consecutive semesters.1
The curriculum is structured in terms of a core, an advanced core, research methods requirements, a cognate, electives, and dissertation research. In most cases, students will be expected to successfully complete requisite 500-level courses or their equivalents prior to enrolling in advanced courses at the 600-level. Courses that constitute the several areas of the curriculum are shown below. In some circumstances, a student may substitute other courses upon approval by his or her major advisor.
Basic Core Courses (9 credit hours)2
EDPY 525 - Adult Learning (3)
EDPY 522 - Adult Development (3)
EDPY 513 - Reflective Practice in Education and Psychology (3)
Advanced Core Courses (19 credit hours)
EDPY 601 - Professional Seminar (1)
EDPY 625 - Advanced Seminar in Adult Learning (3)
EDPY 622 - Advanced Seminar in Adult Development (3)
EDPY 613 - Advanced Seminar in Reflective Practice (3)
EDPY 630 - Proseminar in Adult Learning (3 semesters x 3 credit hr. = 9 hours)
Research Methods (15 credit hours)3
Course in Research Methods (3)
Course in Statistics (3)
Course in Qualitative Research (3)
(Selected course based on student’s research interest) (3)
(Selected course based on student’s research interest) (3)
Cognate (6 credit hours)
Electives (12 credit hours)
Dissertation (24 credit hours)
Total Credit Hours (85)
1 The alternative residency was approved as a feature of the doctoral program in Collaborative Learning in 1996 and modified in 2004. The original residency requirements that served as part of the former Ed.D. major in Education called for students to enroll in six to nine credit hours of coursework each semester for six consecutive semesters, including summer terms. When the major changed to a Ph.D. in Education and later to Educational Psychology and Research, this alternative residency was modified to include two consecutive semesters of nine hours of coursework, consistent with the university’s traditional residency requirement. However, a ruling by the Graduate School allows graduate students to use two consecutive semesters of nine credit hours of dissertation research (600) credit to satisfy the traditional residency.
2 Prerequisites EDPY 622 , EDPY 630 , respectively.
3 The first three courses shown are required.
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