Courses
Candidates for the Ph.D. degree with an emphasis in Engineering Education and Transformative Practice are expected to acquire the skills, knowledge, and orientations that enable them to make creative and original contributions to their discipline at the national or international level. The philosophy of the area of emphasis is grounded in a diversity of possible pathways that rely on students’ agency and initiative in seeking out relevant coursework and interdisciplinary faculty expertise to support their chosen research trajectory.
Requirements for the area of emphasis include a minimum of 73 credit hours in the student’s program of study beyond the B.S. degree as follows:
• Focus area courses (6 per area)*
• Elective course work*
• Graduate seminar
• Doctoral research (9000 or 9010)
• Doctoral dissertation (9300)
* Across selected courses a minimum of 16 hours of 8000 or 9000 level courses and an additional 4 hours of courses open to only graduate students is required.
A thesis master’s degree from an accredited university may be accepted for up to 30 credit hours, in which case a minimum of 42 credit hours of approved course work, research and dissertation beyond the M.S. degree is required as follows:
• Focus area courses (3 per area)*
• Elective course work*
• Graduate seminar
• Doctoral research (9000 or 9010)
• Doctoral dissertation (9300)
* Across selected courses a minimum of 15 hours of 8000 or 9000 level courses is required.
Coursework
The recommended course offering is organized in three focus areas. Individual programs of study will be developed collaboratively between the student and their major professor (see Course List with examples of courses in each focus area).
Engineering Education Core
The core engineering education courses provide an understanding of the landscape of this globally connected discipline. Individual course offerings focus on theories of learning and human development in engineering; contemporary issues in engineering formation; and research and evaluation methods in engineering education and practice contexts.
Social and Educational Inquiry Methods
The research methods courses draw on the broad offering of courses across the University of Georgia, including the College of Education. In line with the student’s research project, these courses can comprise offerings in the qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods areas.
Application and Context
Course selection in the Application and Context area draws on the full breadth of graduate course offering in technical and non-technical fields that provide specific content, theory, or methods to support and ground the students’ chosen research trajectory. Milestones assessment