Program Objectives & Features
Program Objectives
The primary objective is to prepare students who have both breadth and depth of knowledge in education and who will (a) conduct original research and (b) contribute to the knowledge in the discipline. Doctoral candidates who achieve these objectives will be well prepared to serve as members of the academic communities of peer institutions of higher education. The educational objectives of the proposed program are clearly connected to the mission of West Virginia University. West Virginia University’s mission includes conducting focused research and providing professional service to the state and nation based on that research. The competencies to be achieved by students include the following (taken from the Structure for the Ph.D. in Education displayed below):
- Students will become conversant with the Theoretical Foundations of Education in the areas of Educational Leadership, Policy, Learning, Instructional Design, Technology, Curriculum, Literacy, and Cultural Studies plus the Nature of Inquiry.
- Students will demonstrate research competencies sufficient to design, conduct, analyze, and report qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research on topics of relevance to their major area.
- Students will demonstrate teaching competencies sufficient to design, deliver, monitor, and revise instruction at the undergraduate and/or graduate level on content of relevance to their major area.
- Students will demonstrate intellectual competencies sufficient to deliver instruction, conduct research, and provide service at the level of a university faculty member in specializations of relevance to their major area.
- Students will propose, conduct, analyze, and write a dissertation composed of original research that makes a contribution to the literature in their major area.
Program Features
The Doctor of Philosophy degree program provides a rigorous course of study along with mentored research and teaching experiences to enable students to achieve core educational objectives as scholars in three specialization areas. Several thematic contexts, critical to our state and region, will provide the platform for the study of education and achieving the competencies in each area. These unique themes include: the rural nature of our state context, the poverty many children and families live in throughout the region, and the cultural context of Appalachia, all as they impact education. The research interests of faculty members participating in the program address aspects of these themes.