The Coordinator of the ECT doctoral program is Professor Jan L. Plass (212 998 5658, jan.plass@nyu.edu).

The ECT doctoral program is interested in the design of rich, technology-based multimedia learning environments and in conducting research on factors that influence learning, as individuals engage with these environments, and as groups interact with them and each other. ECT doctoral courses and research focus on those representational features and structural characteristics of technology-based learning environments that may, in a particular set of circumstances, have cognitive, affective, motivational and socio-cultural significance for learners who interact with them. From the perspectives of both designers and design researchers, faculty and students work to identify, and explain why, not only design elements but also cognitive, social, cultural and emotional factors either motivate and scaffold learning or inhibit and interfere with it.

ECT faculty and doctoral students, together with researchers associated with CREATE projects and institutes, represent widely differing areas of inquiry in the field of educational technology, from the design of narrative features in games that support problem solving to the effects of narrative structure in linear video dramas on the exercise of critical thinking; from the role of prior knowledge on learning from different forms of representation in simulations of science principles to the design of technology-based environments that support the social construction of knowledge to strengthen collaborative and negotiation skills; from the design of electronic portfolio environments that scaffolds metacognition to the comparative effects of fictional reality and testimonial reality on attitude change.

ECT students and faculty draw implications for design and develop frameworks for research from a robust interdisciplinary understanding of human learning, comprised of perspectives from the cognitive sciences, the learning sciences, developmental models of learning, constructivist and constructionist philosophies of learning, and social learning theory. Other fields that inform ECT doctoral study include communication design, information design, multimedia learning theory, human-computer interaction, human symbolization and aesthetics.

• Doctoral Requirements

  The Handbook for Doctoral Study details course and research requirements, policies, and procedures for students in all Steinhardt doctoral degree programs.

  Within the School-wide framework, ECT's requirements for the doctoral degree follow.

  The Ph.D. in ECT is a 57 credit program, comprised of two major categories of course work: ECT coursework (21 credits); and "School-wide doctoral requirements" (36 credits), research- and dissertation-related coursework required of all doctoral students in The Steinhardt School. The Coordinator of the doctoral program and faculty academic advisors assist students in making course selections and planning course sequences both appropriate to general doctoral guidelines and relevant to students' individuals goals and interests (all ECT faculty serve as academic advisors to doctoral students). All courses taken must be at the graduate level which, at NYU, are numbered at the 2000- and 3000-levels (and at equivalent graduate levels in other schools at NYU, should doctoral students take their electives in NYU schools other than Steinhardt).

• Course Requirements

  ECT Specialization Courses  (21 credits required)

  Requirements

  ECT Foundations
  E19.2174   Cognitive Science and Educational Technology I  (3)
  E19.2175   Cognitive Science and Educational Technology II  (3)

  Doctoral Seminars
  E19.3076   Advanced Seminar in Research & Practice in Instructional Technology (3)

  Electives, selected remaining 12 credits from courses in these categories:

  ECT Foundations
  Design Foundations
  Design Electives
  Research Courses

  Steinhardt Doctoral Requirements (36 credits required)

  See Steinhardt Handbook for Doctoral Study for definitions of these courses or course categories:

  1. Educational Foundations (6)
  2. Content Seminar, in ECT (3)
     E19.3311   Content Seminar: Research in Instructional Technology
  3. Research Electives  (15)
  4. Specialized Research Method (3)
  5. Dissertation Proposal Seminar (3)
  6. Cognates, professional electives related to specialization (6)
• Research Requirements and Benchmarks

  As doctoral students advance through their course work and develop expertise in a particular area of inquiry, they begin to formulate the questions that will define their doctoral research process.  This process is comprised of a series of benchmarks, the first of which is meeting the requirements for admission to degree candidacy.

  1. The candidacy paper
  2. Candidacy approval
     Admission to degree candidacy
  3. Appointment of dissertation committee
  4. The dissertation proposal
     Application to University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects
     The dissertation proposal review
  5. Dissertation research and writing
     Final oral examination
     Final dissertation approval

  For ECT students this step involves writing the candidacy paper, a scholarly examination of a critical issue or problem at the intersection of learning, media and technology, with the guidance and support of an ECT faculty advisor. In the candidacy paper, students review relevant theory and studies previously conducted concerning this issue or problem, with a view toward establishing important directions to pursue in their own dissertation research.

  After admission to candidacy, doctoral students' next benchmarks include developing the dissertation proposal and the appointment of a dissertation committee; these steps typically interact, as students make progress on the proposal while identifying appropriate committee members who, in turn, as selected, contribute to students' progress. During this period, students have the benefit of additional support in the Dissertation Proposal Seminar required of all doctoral students. Depending on the types of studies students plan, this phase might also involve applying for approval to conduct their studies from the University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects.

  The dissertation proposal, once approved by the students' committee, is formally reviewed by an advisory panel of faculty with relevant expertise. When approved, students begin the longer process of conducting their studies with the continued guidance and support of committee members. The last benchmark is the final oral examination of the completed dissertation, conducted by the dissertation committee and two outside readers.

  See Steinhardt Handbook for Doctoral Study for descriptions, procedures, deadlines and additional details concerning all research requirements.