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.
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. 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, all students must complete a minimum of 24 dissertation credit hours.
Requirements
Basic Core (10-credit hours required)*
*Co-Requisites 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 co-requisite requirement.
Advanced Core (6 credit hours from the choices below)*
*Co-Requisites in the Basic Core are Pre-Requisites for the Advanced Core
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)
Total program hours = 76 credit hours
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