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STEM Education Ph.D.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Upon completion of the degree, students should be familiar with all the major areas of science education research and their historical development. Students should be able to locate and access relevant resources (dissertations, databases, journal articles, etc.) utilizing appropriate search techniques; organize and structure presentations on topics in the field; and prepare a publication quality written paper, with appropriate academic citations.

2. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to recognize the values and assumptions inherent in the development, understanding and interpretation of scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is empirically based, culturally embedded, tentative and incorporates subjectivity and creativity. Students should be able to distinguish science from other ways of knowing and explain the standards of evidence and scientific explanations, processes, and conventions that are used in science.

3. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to identify and critique the basic approaches to STEM teacher education; examine ways in which STEM teacher effectiveness may be empirically assessed; compile an introductory literature review that is grounded in the academic research literature of the field; and, conduct research on a STEM Education topic and present findings in a conference poster format.

4. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to produce policy briefs for scientific topics; be able to recognize the strengths and limitations of various research methods (quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods). Locate appropriate and adequate academic research on their thesis area, extracting main findings and synthesizing them into a review of current literature that is coherent, well supported and original, and which demonstrates the student’s understanding of the theoretical framework and context in which the problem statement is situated. Demonstrate proficient knowledge of the protection of human subjects in social science research. Develop a sound, rigorous research design based upon a compelling policy rationale and previous research in the field of STEM education.

5. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to conduct STEM education research using qualitative methods; demonstrate proficiency in choosing appropriate methods for studying a particular person or people group under a given set of conditions; locate and access relevant resources related to qualitative research; demonstrate proficiency in developing research questions aligned to the philosophical and methodological assumptions and choices in the study design; identify and express appropriate theoretical and methodological frameworks for qualitative studies.

SUCCESS RATES

N/A

8-year graduation rate

5.54

Avg. years to degree

MEDIAN EARNINGS

N/A

10 years after graduation

N/A

5 years after graduation

N/A

1 year after graduation

PLACEMENT2 years after graduation

N/A

Working in New York

18.5%

Continuing Education

Notes

Graduation rates: the percent of students entering the doctoral program any time during the academic year and graduating by May 31 eight years later. Methodology adheres to guidelines from the AAU Data Exchange doctoral completion rates and means that spring entrants have less time to complete. Average of three most recent reporting years (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24) Years to degree: the average number of years it takes a student to complete the selected program. Average of the three most recent completion years (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23). No Asterisk-Earnings: the median annual earnings of graduates in the selected program at the master’s degree level based on the 2-digit CIP code at 1, 5 and 10 years after graduation. U.S. Census, Postsecondary Enrollment Outcomes Explorer. Degree completers from 2001-2018 in 2020 dollars. Asterisk- Earnings: the median annual earnings of graduates in the selected program at the master’s degree level at 1, 5 and 10 years after graduation. SUNY Graduates Post Completions Interactive Dashboard. Degree completers from 2005-2019 in 2020 dollars. Working in NY State: the percent of graduates working in New York State two years after graduation. SUNY Wages Dashboard, includes graduates from 2015-18. Most recent available data from SUNY as of January 31, 2024