Ph.D. Specialization in Learning and Development

Welcome! The learning and development program provides students with expertise in the psychological foundations of education. The program emphasizes the perspective of the learner and concentrates on the following psychological content areas: cognition, development, motivation and social. Students in the program get a Ph.D. in Learning and Development. This degree focuses on research skills as they apply to education and training, throughout the lifespan, in a broad range of settings (e.g., public education, informal learning environments like museums, and training in business and industry). Students prepare for research and teaching positions in academic settings as well as other leadership roles that require expertise in development, learning and research skills.


Courses in Learning and Development
631: Cognition: Learning, Problem Solving & Thinking

640: Human Development: Theory & Research

734: Contextual Determinants of Motivation

735: Social Cognition

742: Personality Theories and the Educational Process

743: Human Development: Infancy & Early Childhood

746: Human Development: Adolescence

747: Human Development: Study of the Adult

801: Urban Education: Doctoral Seminar in Educational Psychology

833: Psychology of Race and Ethnicity

834: The Psychology of Achievement Motivation

844: The Multicultural Family

845: Immigrant Children in Developmental Perspective