The School of Arts, Education and Sciences
Course Descriptions
The following is a partial listing of courses for the Doctor of Education programs. For the most up-to-date and complete information on courses and requirements, contact your advisor or program staff. Click on course titles to view the descriptions.
Course List
Common Core Requirements (18 credits)
- Ethics in Educational Practice
- Inclusive Leadership
- Social and Cultural Influences in Education
- Adult Development and Transformation
- Individual and Institutional Change
- Reflective Practice, Mentoring, and Professional Self-Renewal
Common Core Research Requirements (15 credits)
- Educational Research Methods
- Action Research for Educators
- Individualized Research Design
- Dissertation Research (6 credits)*
Teaching and Learning Requirements (15 credits)
- Teaching in a Diverse Society
- Interaction of Classroom Management and Instruction
- Educational Implications of Learning and Developmental Theories
- Thinking About Teaching
- Advanced Curriculum Practices and Models (also in elective list)
Educational Leadership and Supervision Requirements (15 credits)
- Advanced School Finance
- Advanced Educational Leadership
- Advanced Instructional Supervision
- School Law
- Human Resources in Educational Settings (also in elective list)
Sample Electives (choose 9 credits)
- Resiliency Theory in Educational Settings
- Teacher as Leader*
- Collaborative Models of School-Parent Interaction
- Brain-Based Ways of Thinking and Learning
- Positive Organizational Scholarship
- Global Education
- Educational Technology
- Human Resources in Educational Settings
- Advanced Curriculum Practices and Models
- Teaching Diverse Learners
*No description available at this time.
Course Descriptions
Ethics in Educational Practice
This course focuses on an examination of the ethical considerations of educational practice in contemporary society.
Inclusive Leadership
This course focuses on the premise that all educators, regardless of formal title, role or position, need to assume responsibility for leadership in service of improving their institution and its members. Further, all educators must be responsible for developing the leadership capacity of those in their care. The course content addresses various theories of leadership, finding one's own leadership style, and thinking about leadership in such populations as teachers, staff, and students.
Social and Cultural Influences in Education
This course examines the various ways in which social and cultural factors influence education. It will review sociological research findings on such topics as learning and social class, teacher and parental expectations, learning and gender, ethnicity, and the relation between learning and family rearing practices. In considering the cultural influences on contemporary education, students will study a variety of multicultural education models, the transmission of culture in a pluralistic society, and the role of education in the acculturation and assimilation process.
Adult Development and Transformation
This course focuses on developing one's understanding of adult development throughout the life span and its implications for educational practice. Regardless of role and formal job description, all educators must interact with adults, and an appreciation for the developmental tasks of personal and career cycles is essential. Course content is designed to stimulate thinking about how to promote growth and transformation in one's own life and with others.
Individual and Institutional Change
This course focuses on examining the use of reflective practice to improve instruction and leadership techniques and to engender professional dialogue among colleagues. Facilitating one's own critical reflection, as well as encouraging that in others, is a key component of teaching, learning and leading. The course content also explores the concept of self-renewal and resilience as indicators of health and wellness in individuals and educational institutions.
Reflective Practice, Mentoring, and Professional Self-Renewal
This course focuses on examining the use of reflective practice to improve instruction and leadership techniques and to engender professional dialogue among colleagues. Facilitating one's own critical reflection, as well as encouraging that in others, is a key component of teaching, learning and leading. The course content also explores the concept of self-renewal and resilience as indicators of health and wellness in individuals and educational institutions. The key role that mentoring can play in initiating novice educators into the profession, supporting individual growth and sustaining the enthusiasm of veteran educators also is addressed.
Educational Research Methods
This course focuses on an introduction to the selection and construction of a research design and choice of appropriate research methods for the educational inquiry to be undertaken. A variety of research methods will be reviewed. The design and collection of data, data analysis, and ethical issues related to research with human subjects will be explored.
Action Research for Educators
This course provides an overview of action research theory and methods and describes how action research can be used in school improvement. The steps for conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and analyzing an action research project are explicated and examples of school-based projects are provided.
Individualized Research Design
This course focuses on developing an appropriate research design for each student's dissertation proposal. It includes articulating the research questions, choosing the design and being able to articulate its appropriateness to the inquiry at hand, discussing the assets and limitations of the design, human subjects and other ethical concerns, and proposed methods of data collection and analysis.
Teaching in a Diverse Society
This course focuses on developing one's understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary to increase effectiveness in meeting the needs of diverse learners through appropriate instructional, curricular, and behavioral strategies. It also aims to assist students in exploring the topics of race/ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class, and language as they related to teaching to diversity.
Interaction of Classroom Management and Instruction
This course focuses on theory and research about developing teacher competencies for motivating and increasing student learning through the advanced understanding of the interaction of classroom management and instructional planning. Topics include the creation of successful learning communities, approaches to discipline, and creative problem solving.
Educational Implications of Learning and Developmental Theories
This course is designed to help students develop an advanced understanding of how learning and developmental theories define the teacher's role as an instructional leader, how students learn, what motivates learners, and the design and delivery of the curriculum is influenced by these factors.
Thinking about Teaching
This course allow for re-examination of one's own motivation for entering the profession, what values guide current practice, and what inspires that practice. The notion of teaching as both an "art" and a "science" will be explored, along with research on effective teaching. The course also allows for consideration of what teaching models and philosophies are most meaningful at this point in one's career.
Advanced Curriculum Practices and Models
This course in curriculum will provide an introduction to the foundational areas that affect the design and development of curriculum. The course will include the history, social forces, philosophy and psychology behind many of the curriculum practices and issues that exist in schools today as well as the nature of the curriculum development process. The focus of this course will be on the process of using knowledge about curriculum and evaluation in an imaginative, creative way. Ultimately, the educator will then be able to anticipate and plan for change in an active way rather than falling prey to every bandwagon or societal pressure that affects the school curriculum.
Advanced School Finance
The School Finance course is essential for the school administrator. Responsible for the ethical and strategic use of resources, the administrator cannot completely delegate financial responsibility to another office. Thus this course will cover a broad range of topics designed to acquaint the students with the knowledge of: funding formulas, accounting procedures, procurement regulations, taxation principles, fiduciary oversights, audits and general management of state and local funding formulas. Emphasis will be placed on developing skills necessary to manage the financial program of a district and, in turn, a school.
Advanced Educational Leadership
Leadership describes an individual's ability to influence. This course is a survey of selected research that addresses the development of leadership skills, the academic field of leadership studies, the roles of leadership in education, including transactional, transformational, and post-modern theory. Leadership is examined, not only from the perspective of personal development, but also in the contexts of organizational and systems theories. Moreover, since the literature relating to leadership is varied, with approaches ranging from popular, "self-help" to serious academic scholarship, this course provides the opportunity to compare and contrast this wide range of leadership analysis.
Advanced Instructional Supervision
Methods, theories, and research applying to the supervision and evaluation of classroom instruction; includes analysis and application of research in effective teaching practices, formative and summative evaluation, staff development, data collection techniques, and alternative feedback methods. This course will focus on the role of the district administrator in the supervisory process from the legal aspects to the coaching of principals.
School Law
Administrators must know the laws that govern the operation and conduct of their organizations as they face a highly litigious society. This course will study the relevant legal principles that affect the operation, organization, and administration of schools. Students will gain knowledge about legal issues that will help them in effectively performing their professional duties within the boundaries of constitutional, statutory, and case law.
Human Resources in Educational Settings
Managing human capital in the new economy is a challenge all educational professionals face. This course addresses that challenge by retaining its unique orientation to overall practicality and real-world applications. Practical tips and suggestions provide effective ways of dealing with problems in communication, leadership, discipline, performance appraisal, labor relations, and compensation administration.
Resiliency Theory in Educational Settings
This course provides advanced exploration of theory and research in human and institutional resiliency with an eye towards how such theory and research can be translated into educational practice. Factors that create risk and promote resiliency in students will be examined, as well as interventions to mitigate situations that put students at risk.
Collaborative Models of School-Parent Interaction
The course focuses on the creation and maintenance of collaborative models of parent-school interaction that supports student achievement. Particular attention is paid to such issues as building effective partnerships with hard to reach parents, those who traditionally have been marginalized from schools, and non traditional families. It also explores issues such as parent-teacher conferences, parents as volunteers in schools, and maintaining parental involvement as students move into secondary schools.
Brain-Based Ways of Thinking and Learning
This course focuses on an analysis of how the brain integrates, stores, and communicates information. It includes a review of research on how the brain functions and the link to effective teaching practices. The application of brain research to teaching strategies, lesson plans, and problem-solving activities will be stressed.
Positive Organizational Scholarship
Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) focuses on the organic whole of leadership practices from a perspective of positive thinking. This course will challenge students to engage in the core topics and foundational theories of POS and positive psychology, and to investigate their interface. Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) investigates collective and emergent processes of optimal functioning, at the levels of individual in organization, groups in organizations and organizations as a whole. POS focuses on the generative dynamics in organizing that enable individuals and collective resilience, thriving, creativity compassion and other indicators of human function. POS is not one particular theory; it does draw from the full spectrum of organizational theories. Positive psychology is a movement that challenges the field of psychology. It does not draw from the old model of deficient but instead encourages research on strengths, on building the best things in leadership practices as well as repairing the worst
Global Education
This course will encompass skill building strategies and exercises in critical thinking, listening and identity based communication. We will explore how to negotiate, facilitate and mediate global education. Our goal is to begin the process of understanding the theory, concepts and skills necessary for developing the cultural mobility among participants required to successfully embrace globally diverse school populations that will yield effective value added relationships and outcomes.
Educational Technology
This course focuses on current trends and issues in the use of technology in K-12 schools. Among the topics covered are the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning, making technologically-assisted learning meaningful, creating active learning through the use of technology, and the "digital divide" and its implications for schooling.
Teaching Diverse Learners
This course focuses on developing one's understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary to increase effectiveness in meeting the needs of diverse learners through appropriate instructional, curricular, and behavioral strategies. It also aims to assist students in exploring the topics of race/ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class, and language as they related to teaching to diversity.