This program has temporarily suspended admission effective Fall 2020.
The Elementary Education track in the Education PhD program is designed to provide further education for those aspiring to work in the area of education at the post-secondary level (four-year colleges and/or research universities).
The program permits students to concentrate their doctoral study in either a field of emphasis, such as science, mathematics, literacy and social studies, or to create an interdisciplinary focus, such as mathematics-science or reading-social studies. The program of study is most appropriate for educators who can create, analyze and synthesize educational studies and for educators seeking employment in settings requiring a strong research base. In contrast to the EdD, the doctoral program relies on students who progress through their program of study in cohorts and who are full members of the learning community of the College of Community Innovation and Education. The program includes a strong philosophical base, research seminars requiring one-on-one work with faculty members, cluster seminars requiring work with several faculty members in interdisciplinary research projects, and long-term mentoring via supervised internships.
The Elementary Education track in the Education PhD program requires a minimum of 60 credit hours beyond the master's degree. Students must complete 24 credit hours of core courses, 6 credit hours of specialization courses, 12 credit hours of electives, 3-6 credit hours of internship, and 15 credit hours of dissertation. All students must also complete the candidacy examination.
Total Credit Hours Required: 60 Credit Hours Minimum beyond the Master's Degree
Track Prerequisites
A master's degree in a related field of study, including one Graduate Curriculum course, and master's level competency in educational research and statistics.
Degree Requirements
Required Courses
30 Total Credits
Core
24 Total Credits
- Complete all of the following
- Earn at least 6 credits from the following:
- IDS7500 - Seminar in Educational Research (1 - 99)
- Complete the following:
- IDS7501 - Issues and Research in Education (3)
- EDF7475 - Qualitative Research in Education (3)
- EDF7403 - Quantitative Foundations of Educational Research (3)
- EDF7463 - Analysis of Survey, Record, and Other Qualitative Data (3)
- IDS7502 - Case Studies in Research Design (3)
- EDF7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education (3)
- IDS 7502 - Case Studies in Research Design may be substituted with one of the approved research electives in Group A listed under Program Details EDF 7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education may be substituted with one of the approved research electives in Group B listed under Program Details
Specialization
6 Total Credits
- Earn at least 6 credits from the following types of courses: Philosophical Foundations for Studies in Education 3 Credit Hours Writing for Professional Publication in Education 3 Credit Hours
Elective Courses
12 Total Credits
- Earn at least 12 credits from the following types of courses: Areas of emphasis: four additional courses in one or more areas including Science Education, Literacy Education, Technology Education, or Arts Education with one course from outside the college in a related field of study (12 credit hours minimum).
Dissertation
15 Total Credits
- Earn at least 15 credits from the following types of courses: EDE 7980 - Dissertation Research Doctoral students must present a prospectus for the dissertation to the doctoral adviser, prepare a proposal and present it to the dissertation committee, and defend the final research submission with the dissertation committee.
Required Internship
3 Total Credits
- Earn at least 3 credits from the following types of courses: EDE 6946 Elementary Education Internship Depending on the student's experiential background, the program of study requires three to six variable credit hours of supervised internships. Often elementary teachers seeking the PhD have served as successful supervising teachers to undergraduate interns. If this is not the case, the adviser may seek to have the doctoral student take three credit hours to serve as a supervised internship coordinator at the university level. Additionally, students interested in long-term goals related to research may want to use the variable credit hours to accumulate a minimum of 250 hours as a supervised intern working for an educational researcher. Most likely, since our doctoral students' career goals will align with the professoriate, students will be required to teach one university course with supervision and feedback from an established professor. The adviser/program coordinator will determine the kind of internship and the number of semester hours needed. These internship experiences are highly valued and set the candidate apart from other applicants as they seek employment at the college and university level.
Candidacy
0 Total Credits
- To enter candidacy for the PhD, students must have an overall 3.0 GPA on all graduate work included in the planned program and pass all required examinations. Examinations will be scheduled by the student and major adviser. The associate dean for graduate studies and research must be notified of the date and location of the exam 30 days in advance. Students must be enrolled in the university during the semester an examination is taken. The following are required to be admitted to candidacy and enroll in dissertation hours: - Completion of all course work, except for dissertation hours. - Successful completion of the candidacy examination. - Successful defense of the written dissertation proposal. - The dissertation advisory committee is formed, consisting of approved graduate faculty and graduate faculty scholars. - Submission of an approved program of study.
Candidacy Examinations
0 Total Credits
- All PhD candidates will be required to complete two examinations. Please note that there may be variations in length of exam time and content based on the respective requirements of each track. - Research in the Specialization—8-hour written examination. - Specialization—3-hour oral examination.
Grand Total Credits: 60
Application Requirements
Financial Information
Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see the College of Graduate Studies Funding website, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.
Fellowship Information
Fellowships are awarded based on academic merit to highly qualified students. They are paid to students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance, based on instructions provided by the College of Graduate Studies. Fellowships are given to support a student's graduate study and do not have a work obligation. For more information, see UCF Graduate Fellowships, which includes descriptions of university fellowships and what you should do to be considered for a fellowship.
Group A (Course below may be taken in place of IDS 7502 - Case Studies in Research Design in fulfilling CORE requirement above)
- EDF 7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7405 - Quantitative Methods II 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7410 - Application of Nonparametric and Categorical Data Analysis in Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7415 - Latent Variable Modeling In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7473 - Ethnography in Educational Settings 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7474 - Multilevel Data Analysis In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7488 - Monte Carlo Simulation Research in Education 3 Credit Hours
- SPA 7495 - Doctoral Seminar II: Spoken and Written Language Disorders 3 Credit Hours (Communication Sciences Track students only)
- IDS 7938 - Research Cluster Seminar 3 Credit Hours
Group B (Course below may be taken in place of EDF 7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education in fulfilling CORE requirement above)
- IDS 7938 - Research Cluster Seminar 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7405 - Quantitative Methods II 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7410 - Application of Nonparametric and Categorical Data Analysis in Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7415 - Latent Variable Modeling In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7473 - Ethnography in Educational Settings 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7474 - Multilevel Data Analysis In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7488 - Monte Carlo Simulation Research in Education 3 Credit Hours
- SPA 7495 - Doctoral Seminar II: Spoken and Written Language Disorders 3 Credit Hours (Communication Sciences Track students only)
