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

Concentration (Required)

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 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

Required Courses

• Concentration Core (7 credit hours):

• LEES 640 - Doctoral Seminar in Learning Environments and Educational Studies
• LDT 630 - Design Thinking and Theory

• 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):

• ESM 682 - Educational Research Methods
• ESM 559 - Introduction to Qualitative Research in Education
• ESM 577 - Statistics in Applied Fields I
• Two additional Research Methods courses chosen in consultation with advisor

• Research Apprenticeship (6 credit hours):

• LDT 602 - Directed Research
• LEES 693 - Independent Study

• 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):

• LEES 600 - Doctoral Research and Dissertation

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.