Advanced Educator Preparation - Curriculum and Instruction (PHD)

One way to think of doctoral-level work is to consider that this is a transformative process whereby you become a generator of knowledge as well as a consumer of it. Through intense study and mentoring experiences, you develop an expertise and a network of other professionals who collectively define and shape your particular field of study. This is very much a nonlinear, interactive process that is qualitatively different from many pre-doctoral degrees which tend to be highly structured, as exemplified by presenting lists of courses or course options that serve as requirements for those degrees. Rather than experiencing a program that has been designed by others, doctoral students, in essence, create their own programs (within broad guidelines from the university) – a process that makes this experience more challenging than a pre-structured sequence of courses. Of course, you don't do this on your own without help: Rich mentoring experiences from the faculty guide and help you shape your experiences throughout your program. 

A doctoral degree opens many career paths: This is often a stimulus for many to seek this terminal degree. You may envision yourself as a future college of education faculty member, mentoring new and experienced teachers in the field and engaging in research to expand our knowledge of how to enhance education for all students. Or you may be striving for positions in state departments of education, shaping curriculum and policy at a state level. Career options also include governmental agencies, non-profit think tanks or educational research institutes, large multinational corporations with education foundations and training departments, non-governmental organizations (NGO), or any number of other possibilities. One way to structure your thinking about the appropriateness of a Ph.D. is to decide what career goal you have for yourself and investigate the credentials and qualifications that would be necessary to excel in that field. If those credentials include a doctorate, then perhaps this degree is right for you.

The MAT is acceptable as a prerequisite for this Ph.D. program, so it is not necessarily true that you need an M.Ed. if you already have a MAT. However, although the MAT is technically adequate, omitting the M.Ed. may not be the best route for some people. Please contact a faculty member to discuss your particular situation (See "Faculty / Contact" tab). 

NOTE: the M.Ed. program does NOT become part of the Ph.D.. Thus, doing an M.Ed. is NOT a way to "get started on Ph.D." because you aren't – the focus and requirements of the programs are different. Instead, an M.Ed. program is strengthening your knowledge and experience base to better position yourself for future career opportunities and to become a more effective teacher, regardless of whether you ever pursue a Ph.D. or not. 

Unlike most Master's degree programs, the doctoral program is much more individualized, intense, and built on a student being mentored into the profession in a role different from Master's graduates. This requires students who are proactive in developing a program of study (courses) and eventually a research direction, who can work independently as needed, and who will flourish under the mentorship model (faculty-student), which is quite different from most Master's programs in which you complete a suite of coursework and are finished. In contrast to a Master's degree program, a Ph.D. program has a central focus on understanding and advancing the intellectual field by creating new knowledge. 

If the questions you are thinking about tend to be along the line of, "What courses are needed?" then a shift in thinking about a doctoral program would be appropriate. Rather, the question should be, "What experiences will I need to prepare me for my next career goals?" A non-comprehensive list of a few central differences in a doctoral program compared to a non-doctoral degree program are: 

• Coursework options are less structured: You must have active input and, with the help of a faculty committee, play a large role in crafting your own experiences.
• The goal isn't to check off a list of required courses but to craft experiences to enable you to complete a dissertation and prepare for future career goals: In essence, you will become a knowledge generator as well as enhance your ability to consume knowledge.
• Intensive mentoring relationships with faculty are central to the program.
• Within broad parameters, each program is tailored to an individual's strengths, experiences, and career goals. 

The purpose of the coursework is not to merely satisfy requirements but to craft a series of experiences that contribute to the development of the skills and perspectives that will enable the student to successfully complete a quality dissertation and be prepared for a wide variety of career opportunities. This is an interactive process that is unique for each doctoral student. 

Many students do work full-time while taking doctoral coursework part-time. It is possible to take many courses during the evening and in the summer, although that may not be true for every course a person might want to take. Some continue to work full-time while doing the dissertation, but that possibility depends on the nature of the dissertation. In general, we recommend serious consideration of full-time degree status, but we recognize the reality that many students need to pursue their studies part-time. The more full-time effort that can be expended in the program, the richer and more varied the experience tends to be for the student. Even as a part-time student, you will need to complete a residency requirement in which you will need to complete 18 credits over the course of a year. Many part-time students complete this requirement early in their programs by taking two courses during each of the fall, spring, and summer semesters. See https://catalog.louisville.edu/graduate/general-policies-procedures-requirements/degree-requirements/#text. 

Our Ph.D. program in Curriculum & Instruction features extensive individual mentoring of students into their new professional roles. Because of the wide range of experiences and career goals of students entering our Ph.D. program, the program is designed to be flexible to meet the needs of individuals. Coupled with this flexibility is a research core (courses and dissertation) that ensures that all students develop competencies in consuming and producing research. 

Examples of doctoral program experiences that are available as appropriate to the needs of the student include opportunities to co-teach some courses relevant to one's future career direction. Co-taught courses allow the student to take advantage of the experience and guidance of the professor and develop capacity for future teaching at the college level. Students also can engage with all aspects of research projects, including submitting proposals and presenting at national professional conferences, preparing and editing journal articles, and contributing to grant proposals as appropriate. Students are mentored into a professional network and guided to serve as professional conference proposal reviewers and as journal article reviewers. The university offers workshops and seminars to support Ph.D. students. 

A doctoral program is qualitatively different from a Master's degree program (see FAQ about these differences), and your recommendations should be addressing your potential in the doctoral program, which means that new recommendations are needed. When you speak to those who will write these new letters, the following characteristics are helpful ones that could be included in their comments: 

• your potential for independent, sustained work at a significant depth of intensity;
• your potential to be successful in developing and carrying through research projects;
• your potential to be successful in understanding and using research methodology, both quantitative (e.g., statistics) and qualitative. 

This isn't a complete list, of course, but is intended to give you some guidance on the characteristics of successful doctoral students. 

Identification of an advisor is the responsibility of the student: An advisor will need to sign a form as part of the admission packet. Department faculty pages EMSTEd and SECP include information to identify faculty who might have similar research interests and backgrounds and could potentially serve as an advisor. Faculty contacts in each specialization area can be found under the 'Faculty/Contact' tab should you have any questions about identifying faculty members to consider. We recommend that you schedule meetings or phone calls with any faculty you identify who might be a good fit to explore the possibility with them. Having at least a draft of your Statement of Purpose and Writing Sample is likely to be helpful to bring focus to the conversation, and a clear articulation of your intended career path is also helpful. Agreement to serve as your advisor is a process that is reached by mutual agreement between the two parties. The person who serves as your program advisor (the coursework portion of the program) may or may not serve as the dissertation advisor: This decision depends on the particular research direction taken by the student and the fit between the advisor's and the student's interests. 

The rationale for requiring doctoral admissions packets (using the "faculty mentor form") to already have identified an advisor (faculty mentor) is to avoid a situation where a student may be admitted to the doctoral program, but then find out that there is no one on faculty with the expertise to guide them in their program. This situation is not helpful for the student who then becomes stuck, having started a program but unable to finish or progress because of this gap in faculty expertise. Because of the many specializations possible in Curriculum & Instruction, and because of the necessarily limited number of faculty specialties available, it happens regularly that a potential applicant is seeking a program focus which we are not able to accommodate because of a lack of faculty expertise. 

However, it isn't necessary that a faculty member MUST have the same specialty area as the candidate seeking the degree. The requirement is that the faculty member him/herself, in conjunction with the potential doctoral student, must evaluate their own abilities to effectively mentor the doctoral student. 

Financial aid opportunities are available to full-time Ph.D. students. The nature of that aid varies widely. Some examples include: 

• graduate or research assistantships with the department, college, or with grant-funded projects;
• university or other fellowships (very competitive);
• external fellowships;
• targeted dissertation grants from external organizations;
• loans. 

There is no one answer to this, of course. There are two primary components to the Ph.D. program: a coursework phase and a dissertation phase. A few considerations are presented below. Course requirements include a minimum of 60 semester hours beyond a Master's degree (each course is typically 3 credit hours). 12 of those credits are dissertation credits. If you are doing the coursework part-time (including summer), the 48 credit hours of non-dissertation courses might be completed in 3-4 calendar years. If you are doing the coursework full-time (including summer), the 48 credit hours of non-dissertation courses might be completed in 2 calendar years. The time frame for completing a dissertation varies widely, but typically a MINIMUM on a full-time basis is one calendar year. 

Coursework towards a doctoral degree is selected with the endpoint in mind; many courses already taken may or may not fit with that goal. The student and program committee (a group of 3 faculty) collaboratively decide on the courses right for each person using broad guidelines specified by established program sheets. The program committee must ultimately sign off on the approved coursework. At the program committee's discretion, up to 6 credit hours of graduate work taken prior to the program which isn't part of a Master's degree may or may not count towards course requirements in the doctoral program. 

This is actually not the right question to ask (see FAQ "How is the Ph.D. program different from a Master's degree program?"). A doctoral program isn't about checking off a prescribed list of courses, but rather is about designing courses and other experiences (such as conference presentations, reviewing proposals for professional conferences, and conducting and writing research) so that the student acquires the competencies to be successful in the intended future career. There are a few required courses (see the information presented under the Curriculum tab), but doctoral program courses are selected and designed by the program committee in consultation with the student. 

Your doctoral advisor guides you throughout the program. This should be someone with an expertise area that is compatible with the expertise you are developing so that he or she can adequately guide and mentor you, although you will play the dominant role in developing your expertise fully. Your advisor chairs the 3-member faculty program committee who will assist you with course selection and formally approve your coursework. After completing the written comprehensive exams at the end of the coursework phase (a process managed by your advisor), you may choose to continue with the same advisor in the dissertation research phase or may decide that a different faculty member's research is a better fit for you. Your dissertation advisor chairs the 4- to 5-member faculty committee that guides and formally approves your dissertation. Throughout the entire degree program, your advisor is a primary contact for (a) networking with other professionals in the field, (b) mentoring you in preparing and delivering professional presentations at conferences and other events, and (c) providing general guidance throughout. Other faculty members will play similar roles, but typically the advisor tends to be primary in this role, largely due to the similarity of research expertise he or she possesses that is consistent with the expertise you are developing. 

A dissertation is an extended, thorough, systematic investigation into an area of intellectual interest to your field that generates new knowledge. It is much more than a "paper," although you do communicate the acquired knowledge in written form. Although the particulars of any dissertation vary greatly and are determined by the nature of the research, components of the dissertation process generally include: 

• systematic review and synthesis of the state of knowledge relevant to your area of investigation;
• identification and exploration of theoretical framework(s) that guide your research;
• development and refinement of research questions that guide your work;
• development and defense of research methodology to be employed, including issues such as sampling, measurement identification or development, research design and associated components, and analysis process;
• implementation of the research plan, with ongoing modifications or refinements as needed;
• analysis of the data, including meaningful presentation in both graphical and text formats;
• interpretations and articulation of the meaningfulness of the results, frequently including revisiting the knowledge base of the field to situate and contextualize your work within the larger frameworks of the professional community;
• communicating the whole process to others (e.g. your dissertation committee of faculty members and others in your profession) in a clear manner. 

Although the short list above may give the impression that the dissertation process is straightforward, this short description does not capture the complexity and interactive nature of the process. There are a number of books commercially available that offer guidance and suggestions for writing dissertations; you may find some of them helpful to clarify your understanding of this process. The time period to complete dissertations varies widely, but in general between 1-2 years of full-time work is a common time frame for this portion of the doctoral program.