Doctor of Education

Course Description

Core Courses

Educational Management and Leadership (3 credits)

This course aims to prepare students to learn to be an educational leader with a school-wide perspective. It emphasizes the knowledge and skills that are needed to lead schools. Students will learn about how schools are organized and how to manage people in terms of hiring, evaluating, and monitoring performance. There is also an emphasis on developing a vision, cultivating a positive school culture, professional development and strategic planning. Concepts in educational administration theory, education policy, leadership, and change will be covered, which provides a platform that offers a critical examination of a wide range of topics central to administration, and their application to the field of education. Students will explore major historical developments in the field, as well as differing theoretical stances.

Advanced Research Method (3 credits)

This course provides an examination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and issues associated with their use in educational research. This course provides an overview of research intent design (e.g., time series, hierarchical modeling, structural equation modeling, factor analysis and so on), methodology and technique (parametric and non-parametric methods), format and presentation, and data management and analysis informed by commonly used statistical methods (linear regression, maximum likelihood, Monte Carlo simulations etc.). Students will select a research topic of their choice and construct a research proposal that contains a literature review and research methods section. The literature review must justify the significance and unique contribution of the proposed research. The methods section must describe the methods and how the methods will forward the goals of the study.

Educational Psychology (3 credits)

This course serves an integrating function, organizing what one has learned in previous educational psychology courses into a better conceptual understanding, as well as increasing awareness of contemporary psychology. Focusing on the development history of psychology, this course offers the best foundation for understanding the present. Further, the educational psychology course can teach us many lessons such as the continuity of ideas, the role of the Zeitgeist in history, and the existence of psychology in the broader contexts of social science and education. In addition to an appreciation of our past and an understanding of the resent, you should learn some humility for your own views and greater tolerance for the views of the others.

Advanced Educational Evaluation and Assessment (3 credits)

This course examines research theory and practice relevant to assessments. Focuses on assessment strategies for students including developing the skills to select, score, and interpret educational assessments, and how these strategies can be applied within practical settings.

Curriculum and Learning Science (3 credits)

This course investigates curricular models and their features, with a focus on how curricular design promotes learning in school settings. Emphasis is also placed on technology-enable curricula, designing for learning environments, and curriculum’s role in innovation. How theories of human learning and motivation can be applied to the instructional process will also be introduced to explore theoretical principles that have contributed to the field of Instructional Design (ID), and how those principles can be applied within practical settings.

Advanced Educational Technology (3 credits)

This course blends the advanced interdisciplinary studies in educational theory and information technology to facilitate and improve students' technology-driven research solution. Emphasis is placed on eLearning through surveying and identifying the leading learning management systems, reviews the major trends and issues related to using eLearning to improve educational results, and explores ways to assess efficiency in using eLearning as a learning opportunity, effectiveness of eLearning as a platform, and learning outcomes that eLearning accomplishes in student learning.

Elective Courses

School Finance (3 credits)

This course introduces the tools and techniques education leaders will need to be able to budget, administrate, and manage school funding. Students will develop an understanding of the fundamental issues of education finance by examining sources of revenue on different levels. Students will also learn about approaches and procedures for budgeting, forecasting budgets, managing business operations, the reporting and auditing of funds, and issues specific to funding special education.

Student Affairs and Development (3 credits)

The purpose of this course is to provide a survey and overview of student affairs theory and practice. It introduces students to the foundational philosophies of the profession, examines the integration of student affairs functions and administrators in higher education, explores the variety of roles student affairs professionals play on college campuses, and seeks to develop an understanding of institutional cultures and the professional's role within those cultures. The course also introduces students to the function of a scholar in the practice of student affairs.

Special Research Topic 1 (3 credits)

The course offers viewpoints from perspectives to the understanding of practical issues often confronted in higher education, including an overview history of higher education, philosophy of education, and/or how education is contoured with social justice, globalization, multiculturalism, and policy. In this course, the students are expected to contribute from their previous work and/or teaching experiences to the discussions conducted, and to understand underpinning theories and approaches in use.

Special Research Topic 2 (3 credits)

The course focuses on the core research topics in education and gives an overview of these interconnected issues through engaging with studies of educational technology and curriculum and pedagogy. The key courses include educational innovation and reform, learning sciences, teacher education, teaching, curriculum organization, special topics, and advanced seminar in curriculum and instruction.

Dissertation（18 credits）

Students must write and submit an original research dissertation that meets the requirements of the University. The dissertation is between 60,000 and 80,000 words in length. It can be written in English or Chinese. The duration of dissertation writing is 24 months. Topics of dissertation include Higher Education, Educational Management and Leadership, Educational Psychology, Educational Linguistics, Educational Technology, Educational Assessment, Curriculum and Instructional Design, and Pedagogical Innovation.