First-Year Project
First-year projects are presented in the form of a poster as part of the 709 course in the fall of the second year.
Major Area Paper (MAP)
The MAP is a paper that represents substantive scholarly work and demonstrates the student is able to complete a research project in the field of learning sciences. It must be approved by a three-member committee including two full-time faculty from the department.
Preliminary Exam Paper (PEP)
The PEP, or prelim, represents original scholarly work by the student and must be written during a period of six weeks when the student does not have substantive discussions of the paper with other students or faculty. It must be approved by a three-member committee including two full-time faculty from the department during an oral exam.
Coursework Requirements
- 36 credits of coursework
- All Graduate School minor requirements
- 18 credits of coursework completed AFTER admission to the PhD program
Dissertation Proposal
The proposal is a written document describing the proposed dissertation. It must be approved by at least a four-member committee including three full-time faculty from the department during an oral defense.
PhD Dissertation
The PhD Dissertation must conform to all of the requirements of the Graduate School for dissertations and to format as outlined in the dissertation proposal, and will be evaluated by the dissertation committee. The student defends the PhD dissertation in an oral exam conducted by the dissertation committee.
Details
To complete a PhD in the Learning Sciences area of the Department of Educational Psychology, students must complete a total of 56 credits of coursework. 36 credits are needed to qualify for an MS in Educational Psychology Research and admission to the PhD program. Consult the LS Area Requirements for a list of courses that are required for admission to the PhD program. The remaining 18 credits of advanced coursework must be completed after admission to the PhD program. These 18 credits are typically elective courses that may be completed as part of your PhD minor. Below is a list of elective courses that students in the Learning Sciences area have taken in the past.
- Ed Psych 711 – Grants and Grant Writing
- Ed Psych 711 – Applied Regression Analysis
- Ed Psych 711 – Embodied Cognition
- Ed Psych 711 – Quantitative Ethnography
- Ed Psych 771 – Test Construction
- Ed Psych 792 – Tools for Thought
- C&I 975 – Computational Research Methods
- C&I 975 – Interactive Exhibit Design
- C&I 975 – Computational Literacy
- C&I 975 – Discourse Analysis & Education
- ELPA 703 – Evaluation & Support of Quality Teaching
- ELPA 844 – Technology & Leadership
- CS 770 – Human-Computer Interaction
- Philos 503 – Theory of Knowledge