Doctoral Program

Doctoral programs for all students are developed individually by the student working together with a faculty adviser and doctoral committee. Beyond meeting the requirements of The Graduate School, a program is expected to reflect a student's background and career interests. The major steps in a doctoral program include

1. a candidacy examination after about one year of course work
2. appointment of the doctoral committee
3. program planning meeting with the doctoral committee
4. comprehensive examinations after course work has been completed
5. a dissertation proposal meeting
6. the final oral defense of the dissertation

Students who enter the doctoral program with a master's degree can begin the doctoral program directly if the master's degree was in Educational Psychology or a closely related area and included a thesis. If the master's degree was not in Educational Psychology or a closely related area, the student may be required to take basic course work at the master's level and/or complete a thesis. Any student who has not completed a thesis in Educational Psychology or a closely related area will be required to complete the equivalent of a predissertation research exercise.

The orientation of the doctoral program in Educational Psychology at Penn State is toward the preparation of college or university teachers, researchers in educational research units, program evaluators or specialists in educational development settings such as state boards of education. Students interested in working as a clinician in a public school or other educational setting should apply to the School Psychology program, 125C CEDAR Building. Those students who are interested in becoming school counselors or student personnel specialists should apply to the program in Counselor Education, 327 CEDAR Building. Students interested in working with exceptional children should apply to the Special Education, 227 CEDAR Building.

Students at the doctoral level can specialize in the following areas:

Applied Cognitive Studies in Instruction and School Learning

This area of study encompasses applications of cognitive psychology to education, instruction, and school learning. Preparation is for teaching and research in colleges and universities, public schools, state departments of education and industrial, military, and other educational and training settings. Courses of study are oriented toward developing a foundation in psychological theories and principles related to cognition, thinking and higher mental processes. Depending on the student's interest, preparation will include related courses on developmental processes, social processes or other areas of studies, including instructional systems. Although the primary emphasis is on cognitive studies, there are opportunities for including a behavioral emphasis by planning a program around specific courses in other departments of the University. In planning an individual program the student enjoys an excellent working relationship with other departments of Penn State, in which course work, research experience, and teaching experience related to his/her planned program of study may be pursued.

The student's program of study will typically include foundation course work in Educational Psychology linked with additional study in the Departments of Psychology, Human Development and Family Studies, and/or Curriculum and Instruction. Participation in activities and symposia sponsored by various centers on campus is advised for all students in the program. A minor in a related area of specialization is typically a part of the student's planning with his/her adviser and committee. Past graduates, for example, have planned programs around such areas as

1. instructional design
2. educational technology and communications (e.g., computer assisted instruction, individualized program of instruction)
3. cognitive skills in thinking and learning
4. the psychology of school subjects including the psychology of reading and writing (the psychological and linguistic understanding underlying school learning and instruction)
5. developmental, social, and/or personality (the study of developmental psychology as it relates to assessing and adapting to individual differences, and to management of the classroom)

Graduates have taken positions in universities, colleges, schools of medicine, state boards of education, industrial training settings, public school research units, and regional educational research laboratories.

Educational and Psychological Measurement

The faculty in Educational Psychology also offers a specialization in research methodology with an emphasis in educational and psychological measurement focusing on test design, instrument construction, scale analysis, and measurement theory. Persons working in this area typically have strong interests in supporting areas of statistics, research design, and mathematics to succeed in this field but students need to use math without fearing its applications.

Postgraduate employment for measurement specialists has been in testing organizations (e.g., Educational Testing Service, American College Testing program, and Psychological Corporation); certification testing agencies (e.g., National Board of Medical Examiners, American Nurses Association); state education agency testing program units (constructing, administering, and interpreting data); and, more traditionally, as professors in institutions of higher education offering courses and researching in measurement and methodology applications.

Degree Requirements

1. Core Courses - 12 credits

EDPSY 406 - Applied Statistical Inference for the Behavioral Sciences (3)
EDPSY 421 - Learning Processes in Relation to Educational Practices (3)
EDPSY 450 - (PSY) Principles of Measurements (3)
EDPSY 475 - Introduction to Educational Research (3)

2. Foundational Requirements - 9 Credits

Three courses spread across the following foundational areas, with at least one course per area: (a) historical and/or philosophical foundations, and (b) individual differences.

3. Candidacy Examination

The Candidacy Examination is taken during the third semester (not including summer). It may be taken earlier, but no later. The Candidacy Exam assesses student's mastery of the content from the Core courses and the development of expertise in an area of their own interest.

4. Complete Master's Thesis

5. Form Doctoral Committee

6. Doctoral Program Planning Meeting

7. Empirical Statistics Requirement - 3 Credits (minimum)

EDPSY 506 or EDPSY 507 or equivalent

8. Advanced Courses in Learning and Measurement ... 6 Credits

Each student is required to take at least one advanced course in learning (500-level) and one advanced course in measurement (500 level).

9. Areas of Concentration - # Credits Unspecified

These credits are typically at the 500-level and are determined in consultation with the student's doctoral committee and under the guidance of the student's adviser.

10. Comprehensive Examination

The student will complete a written examination of their areas of expertise and supporting fields. This will be comprised of four questions, no more of two of which may be literature reviews done prior to the examination date. Two to three weeks following the written examination the student will complete an oral comprehensive examination on these four questions/areas with his/her doctoral committee.

11. Dissertation

The doctoral dissertation is considered an in depth empirical study that (usually) tests out deductions from some psychologically based theory. The expectation is that results from this investigation would add important information to the educational psychology literature. The process must include: writing a preliminary proposal, defending the proposal, conducting the study, writing a final dissertation, and defending the dissertation.

Final Note

The Graduate School has their own set of graduate degree requirements for earning master's and doctoral degrees at Penn State.

For more information about applying to our program, please see the application materials pages.