Educational Psychology and Research Scholars' Program

Purpose: To prepare future scholars in educational psychology and research to enter the professoriate through extensive mentorship and collaboration with faculty.

Experiences: Faculty mentors engage students directly in all aspects of scholarship:

• Research: Scholars participate in every step of the research process, from study design and proposal writing through data collection and publication. Training in these skills culminates in an internship with the Office of Program Evaluation, which conducts evaluations at national, state, and local levels.
• Teaching: Scholars will assist faculty in the teaching of undergraduate classes as the scholars themselves prepare to teach. By the end of their program, scholars will be teaching courses in the College independently.
• Service: Scholars will be actively engaged in various faculty committees that address issues of governance and curriculum.

Experience Track for Scholars

Faculty: Faculty members in Educational Research and Educational Psychology will serve as mentors in the Scholars' program. Research interests of Educational Psychology faculty include

• applications of learning theory to the classroom,
• cognitive foundations of expertise and their implications for assessment and developing effective instruction,
• motivational processes in classrooms,
• misconceptions of Vygotsky's cognitive-developmental theory,
• learning processes in teacher education,
• technology-based instructional strategies, and
• Professional Development Schools (PDSs).

The research interests of Educational Research faculty include:

• nonparametric statistics,
• effect size analysis,
• statistical power analysis,
• hierarchical linear models,
• structural equation modeling,
• item response theory,
• survey/test construction,
• the development and scoring of performance assessments,
• policy issues in large-scale assessment,
• social and cultural processes of education,
• and the intersection of inquiry and literacy classroom practices.

To learn more about faculty, click here.

Financial Support: Scholars will receive a stipend of approximately $18,000 per year and a full tuition supplement (approximately $5,600). The financial support is for 20 hours of service per week for the academic year. The department also provides additional support for travel to professional meetings for presentations and $2,000 support for expenses related to the dissertation.

Academic Expectations: Students who enter the Scholars' Program must commit to 4 years of full time study and collaboration. Scholars in Educational Research must complete the core requirements (see Student Handbook) and Classroom Assessment Methods (723), Design and Analysis of Experiments (810), Correlational and Multivariate Methods (816), Structural Equation Modeling (789), Item Response Theory (828), and Hierarchal Linear Modeling (878). In addition, scholars in the Educational Research program must complete 6 hours in Educational Psychology beyond EDPY 705.

Scholars in the Educational Psychology program must complete the core requirements (see Student Handbook), including Motivation and School Learning (709), Basic Processes: Cognition (741), Psychological Analysis of Instruction I (751), Psychological Analysis of Instruction II (752) Educational Psychology scholars also must complete Classroom Assessment Methods (723) and 6 hours in Educational Research courses above the 800 level.

Scholars will be expected to sustain high levels of professionalism as evidenced by their collaboration in the research and publication process.

Qualifications: Rigorous scholarship requires diversity of ideas that stem from a diversity of perspectives. For this reason, applications are sought from students of all backgrounds. In terms of academic preparation, candidates for the Scholars' Program must have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. Candidates who have completed 12 hours in a graduate program must have a 3.5 or higher. In addition, to be accepted in the program, a student must submit a detailed letter of intent aligned with the goals of the program that presents specific research interests and 3 strong letters of recommendation from professors.

Students' experiences in the Scholars' Program will include collaboration in research and writing and teaching undergraduate course, thus candidates must have both strong quantitative and verbal skills. For the Scholars' Program, preference will be given to candidates with a combined score of 1200 or higher on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). In addition, to be considered for the program, a student's analytical writing score on the GRE must be at least 4.5. The program also requires international students to have TOEFL scores of at least 230 (computer-based) or 570 (paper-based). Finalists for acceptance into the Scholars' Program will be interviewed by a faculty member.

Application: The first step in applying to the Educational Psychology and Research Scholars' Program is to apply to the Educational Psychology and Research programs by completing the Graduate School Application Form. After the form is completed, a letter that expresses interest in the Scholars' Program should be sent to Dr. Robert Johnson. Letters should address the reason for application to the Scholars' Program , the qualities of the applicant that will contribute to his or her success in the program, and the career goals of the applicant. Applications for fall enrollment are reviewed in February and for spring are reviewed in October.

Notification: Candidates for the Scholars' Program will be notified about acceptance within two weeks after admission decisions are made for the Educational Psychology and Research programs.