FOUNDATION COURSES (9 credit hours)
EPSY 602 Educational Psychology (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 673 Learning Theories (3 credits)
LDTC 654 Instructional Design (3 credit hrs.)

SPECIALIZED COURSES (minimum 15 credit hours)
At least two of the following courses:
LDTC 608 Online Course Design (3 credit hrs.)
LDTC 641 Educational Game Design (3 credit hrs.)
LDTC 642 Designing for Mobile Learning (3 credit hrs.)
LDTC 651 E-Learning Design and Development (3 credit hrs.)
LDTC 655 Instructional Design II (3 credit hrs.)

At least two of the following courses:
EPSY 606 Motivation and Learning (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 634 Educational Neuroscience (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 646 Issues in Child and Adolescent Development (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 647 Life Span Development (3 credit hrs.)

RESEARCH COURSES (minimum 21 credit hours)
EPSY 622 Measurement and Evaluation (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 635 Educational Statistics (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 636 Techniques of Research (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 625 Advanced Psychometric Theory (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 640 Experimental Design in Education I (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 641 Experimental Design in Education II (3 credit hrs.)
EPSY 633 Qualitative Research Design and Data Collection (3 credit hrs.)

DISSERTATION RESEARCH (minimum 12 credit hours)
EPSY 691 Dissertation Research Hours (variable credits)

ADDITIONAL ELECTIVE COURSEWORK (7 or more credit hours)
Courses both within and outside of EPSY (including additional courses in educational psychology or research) may count toward elective coursework. Students should consult with their advisor or program committee to identify appropriate electives.

• The Learning Design and Technology specialization requires. Minimum of 64 credits beyond a Master’s degree to earn a Ph.D. (the minimum is 96 credits without a Master’s degree).
• Course requirements may be waived for students who have successfully completed comparable graduate coursework and/or demonstrate requisite knowledge and skill.

If you are considering applying to our Learning Design and Technology Doctoral degree program, consider gathering information about yourself and about the program.

Gather information about yourself

• Your career goals. This degree program is geared for students who wish to become professors or researchers in the learning and instructional design and technology field. In this program, you will learn more about educational psychology broadly, develop content knowledge expertise in learning design and technology, and conduct research studies to test research questions related to the design of technology-driven learning resources and experiences.
• Your previous academic experiences and current skill set. This program is a good match for you if you have had previous experience as a teacher, instructional designer, or other experience relevant to the design of technology-enabled instruction.  Our program is also a good match if you have developed your own research interests in areas that align with the research focus of program faculty.
• Your expectations. In this program, you will take courses on broad educational psychology topics, learning theory, and more specific program courses on designing learning environments. You will also take courses that will enable you to conduct research, analyze and write up results from research studies, and develop statistical analysis skills.
• The timing of your application. We have one application cycle for this program. The best time for you to apply is when you are ready to make a commitment to pursue doctoral-level training in the field of learning design and technology through coursework and active engagement in the research process.

Gather information about our programs

• Consider potential doctoral advisors. The doctoral advisor is essential for guiding doctoral students through the many milestones that occur throughout the degree program (e.g., thesis, preliminary exam, dissertation). Doctoral advisors usually accept one or two students a year who have overlapping research interests with their own. These advisors serve as mentors throughout students’ doctoral training and provide advice as they develop their content knowledge, research interests, and research methodology skills.We strongly encourage you to take into account your own research interests when you are searching for faculty members in our program to work with. Contact the faculty member with whom you have overlapping research interests to see if they are taking on new doctoral students for the academic year you plan to apply for. You can find our faculty in the “Faculty” section of this website. Faculty members may have listed that they are recruiting students for the next academic year in their profiles.
• Consider the coursework you will take. Take a look at the coursework we offer in the “Program Details” section of this website. A Ph.D. is a research degree, and a large part of the curriculum for this degree is focused on developing research skills.
• Follow us on social media: You can take a look at our ongoing activities and learn more about what we do in the Learning Sciences area on our social media platforms. We have a Learning Sciences Facebook page and a Learning Sciences Twitter account.
• Ask remaining questions. If you have additional questions about the program, you can contact the academic advisor for graduate students. The academic advisor can help answer additional questions you may have about the degree and credit information, admissions deadlines, required application materials, and coursework for the degree program.

APPLICATION MATERIALS

All materials (except for TOEFL/IELTS scores) will be uploaded directly to the Graduate CAS Grad application. Additional information about materials can be found in our Departmental Admissions requirements page for our doctoral degree programs.

• Individually prepared materials
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Resume/CV
• Recommendation letters submitted on your behalf
  • Three letters of recommendation
• Transcripts and standardized test scores
  • Make sure you have enough time to have the official transcripts from prior degrees sent to you before the application deadline. You cannot be considered for acceptance into the program until an official transcript is on file with Texas A&M University.
    • Official transcripts and records from all colleges and universities attended (excluding community colleges; minimum 3.0 GPA recommended)
    • International students from non-English speaking countries only: Official TOEFL scores (or IELTS scores)
    • The GRE is not required for this program.
• Application fee
  • Domestic applicants: $89 non-refundable fee
  • International applicants: $114 non-refundable fee

PREPARING A STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR THIS PROGRAM

Your statement of purpose should include not only your inspiration for pursuing a doctoral degree; it should also highlight your past training, research, and applied experiences in relevant fields. In addition, you should also state your career goals and plans for this doctoral training, such as your areas of research interests, which faculty mentor(s) you are interested in working with, and the expertise and experiences you would like to develop/gain from this program. Finally, if you are applying to multiple programs across universities, each program you apply to will be different. Remember to customize your statement of purpose for each program. This allows you to better illustrate how each specific program will be useful and help you meet your career goals.

• Preparing your personal statement for graduate school applications: https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2016/09/graduate-school-applications

PREPARING A RESUME/CV FOR THIS PROGRAM

In general, your CV should highlight your past academic and professional experiences relevant to the program you are applying to. This could include (but not limited to) your education background, past research training and achievement, past teaching experience and certification, and applied work/volunteer experience (e.g., experience working with youth and families as a counselor, social worker, program developer, etc).

• Build a better CV: https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2015/01/curriculum-vitae

PREPARING REFERENCES TO WRITE LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS PROGRAM

Letters of recommendations should be from professors, course instructors, or research mentors. Letters should not be from family or friends.

• The art of the letter: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/letter-recommendation

GENERAL TIPS

• • • • Preparing and Applying for Graduate School in Psychology: https://www.apa.org/education-career/grad/application-video-series

Click the APPLY button below to get started.