Science Education

Doctoral Programs

General Information about the Doctoral Programs

Doctoral programs in Science Education are very much individualized, because our doctoral students have a great variety of academic and professional backgrounds and career goals. Students in any doctoral class are a unique and stimulating mixture of local science teachers (often studying part-time), full-time students from across the U.S. (usually with extensive secondary science teaching experience), and international students from several different countries and a variety of backgrounds (often with extensive scientific research experience). In consultation with a Major Professor and three or four other faculty who form a doctoral committee, the student selects courses and plans a program of other experiences suitable for her or his needs. Previous academic preparation, teaching and research experience, and the program Admission Screening Committee's recommendations are considered in the design of each student's program requirements.

A broadly based core of proficiencies is gained through the Science Education program's graduate courses as well as courses in other departments and programs (e.g., Educational Research, Qualitative Research, Educational Psychology, Social Foundations of Education, Instructional Technology, and the various Arts and Sciences). Many proficiencies in the candidate's area of concentration are gained through formal internships (both in teaching and research), special courses, independent research projects, and, often, paid assistantship duties. These are guided by the candidate's Major Professor or other faculty and are often carried out in conjunction with existing research, development and instructional activites of program faculty.

The program culminates in a doctoral dissertation study that is of unique interest to the individual student in their own intellectual and professional context and may employ any of a wide variety of research methods.

Career Choices of Graduates

Graduates of Science Education doctoral programs are regularly employed in teacher education and educational research positions by major universities, governments, and foundations worldwide. Others establish long-term careers as college science teachers or enhance their professional standing and leadership skills in K-12 school settings.

Graduates of our doctoral programs are highly prominent, and regularly are elected to leadership positions, in every national and international professional organization of major importance to science education, such as the National Science Teachers Association, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Association for Science Teacher Education, and American Educational Research Association, and regularly attend and contribute to the annual conferences of these organizations.

Please see our Alumni web page for examples and contact information.

Degree Options

Science Education doctoral degrees include an Ed.D. and a Ph.D. The Ed.D. is considered a practitioner's degree with most graduates taking jobs teaching school, in school leadership or state-level policy positions, or teaching science at non-research-oriented colleges. Ph.D graduates most often take jobs in higher education, teaching education courses and possibly some introductory science courses, and usually maintaining an ongoing program of research in science education. There is a reasonable amount of "crossover" in terms of job selection, however, with some Ph.D.s continuing a K-12 teaching career and some Ed.D.s becoming college professors. Within the U.S., the qualifications provided by the two degrees are comparable, while internationally

Course requirements and guidelines for the two degrees differ only in slight detail. A major difference, however, is that the Graduate School's Residency Requirement is considerably more stringent for the Ph.D., and therefore students who wish to complete an entire doctoral degree on a part-time basis, while maintaining a full-time teaching job, are usually limited to the Ed.D. Graduate School admissions standards for Ed.D. are also somewhat less stringent.