The college’s ground-breaking hybrid doctoral program in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (epet) started with 14 students during an intensive two-week session on campus last summer. Their in-person introduction has been followed by online coursework continuing throughout this academic year.
The ?rst cohort includes educators from ?ve different states—and one from the United Arab Emirates—with a diverse range of research goals and a common interest: earn a Ph.D. while working full time.
Before coming to MSU, Chris Sloan, a high school teacher in Salt Lake City, said he “searched planet Earth” for a program that would allow him to study Web-based teaching strategies without being removed from the classroom—his research base.
“I asked, does it have to be that doctoral education is tied to bricks and mortar, and the answer was yes,” he said. “None of the other places I looked honor the practitioner; they don’t say your experience is worthwhile.”
Through the epet hybrid, a rigorous and almost entirely online program, Sloan joins a community of learners where he can develop skills for scholarly discourse and begin to answer questions emerging directly from his practice. He will only need to leave Utah to attend classes at MSU for a short time each summer and during one semester later in the program, which will span four to ?ve years total.
Fellow students include college instructors, instructional designers, a technology director, an intermediate school district administrator and director of an executive development program. Designed and taught by expert faculty, the program is expected to expand into a second cohort this summer.
For more information, contact coordinator Robin Dickson at epetphd@msu.edu or (517) 884-2094
or visit: edtechphd.com.