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• Program Overview
• Students/Advisor Lists
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• ​PhD Course Schedule
• Course Requirements 
• Program Milestones
• MA en route to PhD
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Course Requirements

Over the course of five years in training, students are expected to take twelve 4-unit courses prior to advancement to candidacy, which typically is achieved by the fall quarter of one’s fourth year in the program. These 12 courses are:

• Five required research methods courses
  1. EDUC 222: Research Epistemologies & Methodologies
  2. EDUC 288A: Educational, Social, & Behavioral Statistics
  3. EDUC 265: Applied Regression (prerequisite: EDUC 228A)
  4. EDUC 283A: Qualitative Research Methods in Education I 
  5. EDUC 283B: Qualitative Research Methods in Education II 
• Five area courses 
• One core course from each of the other two areas

The checklists linked below can be used to track your course-taking progress.
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Program of Study - Course Requirements 2019 and beyond*

• ​Educational Policy & Social Context (EPSC)
• Human Development in Context (HDiC)
• Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI)​

*Students admitted Fall 2019 and beyond follow these plans

Program of Study - Course Requirements 2018*

• ​Educational Policy & Social Context (EPSC)
• Human Development in Context (HDiC)
• Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI)

*Students admitted Fall 2018 follow these plans

 Program of Study - Course Requirements 2017

• Learning, Teaching, Cognition, & Development (LTCD)
• Educational Policy & Social Context (EPSC)
• Language, Literacy, & Technology (LLT)

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EDUC 295 / 298

EDUC 295 and EDUC 298 Syllabi 

SYLLABUS EXAMPLES
Per UCI Graduate Council academic policy, faculty are required to provide written expectations for all graduate research units. Any Ph.D. in Education student enrolled in EDUC 295 and/or EDUC 298 will need to obtain a syllabus or outline of work expected to be completed by the student. This is to ensure that both the faculty member and graduate student have a clear understanding of the goals and expectations of work to be completed within the quarter in which the student is enrolled. Students are required to submit their faculty approved syllabus for EDUC 295 and/or EDUC 298 to the Ph.D. program staff by week 2 of the quarter enrolled. All syllabi submitted will be placed in the student’s file. ​

EDUC 295: Pre-dissertation Research

Students who wish to engage in pre-dissertation research may enroll in EDUC 295 for 1-12 units for a S/U grade. EDUC 295 is designed to support the dissertation proposal and is not recommended for students who have yet to submit a second-year research paper. All activities during the quarter should be focused on the dissertation with clear goals towards advancement to candidacy. Students may only take EDUC 295 until they defend their dissertation proposal. EDUC 295 counts towards the university’s requirement, which states that students must be enrolled full-time (i.e. minimum of 12-units per quarter); however, it cannot be used to fulfill our program’s course requirements. EDUC 295 can be taken unlimited times under the direction of a faculty member who guides the student's research. This may include guidance on data collection, methodology, human subjects’ protocols, conference presentations, and scholarly publication. This course requires authorization from the faculty instructor in order to enroll, please contact the faculty member for the course code. Once enrolled, a course syllabus must be submitted to the Ph.D. program staff

EDUC 298: Independent StudY

Students may wish to study directly with a School faculty member, perhaps in a course not currently offered or to make progress on research. Students can take 2-8 units. EDUC 298 counts toward the 12-unit requirement and will impact GPA. This course may be repeated for credited unlimited times. This course requires authorization from the faculty instructor in order to enroll, please contact the faculty member for the course code. Once enrolled, a course syllabus must be submitted to the Ph.D. program staff. When taken for a letter grade, as determined by instructor based on content, EDUC 298 can be petitioned to meet a course elective. When using an independent study course to waive out of a regular course, please provide a syllabus or a detailed outline of the course along with documented topics covered and assignments completed. Each course request must be approved in writing by the student’s advisor and the Associate Dean of Graduate Program

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Course Exceptions

Exceptions to any of the requirements are allowed with the signed approval of the student’s advisor and Associate Dean of Graduate Program and confirmation by the Graduate Dean.  Refer to the UC Irvine General Petition policy.
 
Exceptions are usually for one of two reasons:
1. Students may wish to substitute or waive a course requirement due to having taken an equivalent or highly similar graduate course previously.  If such an exception is granted, the specific course requirement will be substituted or waived, but the total number of courses required will not be reduced.
 
2. An exception request may be submitted to redesign a program of study to better match a student’s research interests.  For example, a student might have research interests that cross two specializations, and thus wishes to decrease the specialization courses in one area and add to the number taken in a second area.  Requests along these lines will also be considered.  Once again, the total number of courses required will not be reduced.
  
All requests should be submitted in writing via email to the Associate Dean of Graduate Program with a CC to the student’s advisor and student services coordinator.  Students who are requesting a waiver of a particular course requirement (i.e., reason number one above) should attach to the email or otherwise provide a copy of the syllabus of the course taken previously and complete the General Petition form (sent via DocuSign) for Course Substitution and Course Waivers.