PhD in Education, Teaching-Learning Processes

Become a scholar in the fields of teaching and learning.

If you’re an educator who wants to take risks and try new innovations, what could be more exciting and fulfilling than researching, developing and improving the methods in which teachers teach and students learn? The Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Emphasis in Teaching-Learning Processes degree program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis helps you explore and gain expertise in a diverse realm of topics that support new and transformational instructional practice.

Students in the PhD in Education, Emphasis in Teaching-Learning Processes program work under the
guidance of a doctoral advisor, as well as with faculty who provide the support necessary to accomplish their goals. The degree program requires a minimum of 60 credit hours beyond a master’s degree, including six hours of dissertation research. For those who have not completed a master’s degree, a minimum of 90 postbaccalaureate hours is required, including six hours of dissertation research.

During the PhD program, students will design and produce rigorous research projects as an independent scholar using qualitative, quantitative and/or mixed methods approaches. They will learn to communicate effectively and engage with others constructively across contexts, languages and media. They will also access, critically examine and use theoretically informed literature in human development, the science of learning and sociocultural factors to explain variations in learning and developmental pathways.

Upon completion of the program, graduates will be able to apply and demonstrate leadership skills to promote community engagement or civic action to benefit the public good related to teaching and learning processes settings. They will be able to use statistics intelligently and make ethical decisions integrating multiple perspectives using reason, evidence, and teaching and learning processes. They will also analyze, categorize, and evaluate qualitative, quantitative, and/or mixed methods approaches within an education context.

The available specializations may include:

• Literacy and Language Arts
• Special Education
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Inclusive Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities
• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
• Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy
• Global Education
• Curriculum 
• Assessment
• Social Studies Education
• Health and Physical Education
• Educational Technology
• Outdoor and Experiential Education
• Social Justice in Learning
• Music Education