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PhD Coursework & Plan of Study

Each student will complete at least 39 graduate hours while enrolled in the iSchool doctoral program prior to entering candidacy. A full-time student will ordinarily take two to three years to complete this coursework. To count toward a PhD, all coursework must be no more than six years old when the doctoral student is admitted to candidacy. 

The table below shows the minimum required coursework. Students may take (or be required by their committees to take) additional courses.

Courses

Credit Hours

Doctoral Core (organized classes)

INF 391D.10 - Survey of Information Studies

INF 391D.11 - The Research Enterprise

INF 391D.12 - Disciplinary Foundations for Information Studies

 

3

3

3

Research Methods Courses

Note: Directed Readings and Directed Research independent studies can also be used to meet this requirement (details below.)

9

Electives (at the iSchool or outside of the iSchool)

Note: Directed Readings and Directed Research independent studies can also be used to meet this requirement (details below.)

21

Minimum total prior to entering candidacy

39

Students should review the tentative schedule of iSchool courses and the UT course schedule when planning a course of study.

Doctoral Core - 9 Credit Hours

Each student, whether full- or part-time, must take “Survey of Information Studies” in the fall of the student’s first academic year in the program and “Disciplinary Foundations for Information Studies” in the spring of that first year. Students will take “The Research Enterprise” as soon as practical, usually in the fall of their first year.


Research Methods Courses - 9 Credit Hours

Each student must take a minimum of nine credit hours of graduate-level research methods courses beyond the doctoral core:

  • One graduate-level course in qualitative methods – three (3) credit hours
  • One graduate level course in quantitative methods – three (3) credit hours
  • One further graduate-level course germane to building skills to undertake research – three (3) credit hours

This requirement can be met via independent studies with faculty (e.g., INF 391D.06 - Directed Readings, or INF 391D.07 - Directed Research) or classroom-based courses (e.g., INF 391F - Advanced Topics in Research Methods, Methodologies, and Design). Research methods courses may be offered and taken within or outside of the iSchool.

The third methods course (beyond the qualitative and quantitative methods courses) can include advanced qualitative or quantitative methods, or coursework in skills necessary to undertake the anticipated dissertation research, including foreign languages, computer programming languages, policy analysis, information systems design, or skills in particular areas, such as chemistry or neuroscience.

All course selections should be discussed with the student’s committee chair, consulting other committee members as appropriate. Prior to enrolling in a course, students must obtain approval from their committee chair, who will confirm the appropriateness of such courses for fulfilling the research methods requirement.


Electives - 21 Credit Hours

The remaining 21 hours of coursework may be completed within the School of Information and/or outside the School of Information. All course choices should be discussed with the student’s committee chair, consulting other committee members as appropriate.

Students are particularly encouraged to take the following courses:

  • Advanced Topics in Information Studies (INF 391E), (aka “topical seminar”) which may be repeated when the individual course topics differ.
  • Directed Research (INF 391D.07) in which students work closely with a faculty member, individually or in small groups, to contribute to original research, either in an apprenticeship mode as part of the faculty member’s research agenda or as a student-driven research project.
  • Directed Readings (INF 391D.06), in which students work closely with a faculty member, individually or in small groups, to complete an in-depth examination of the primary research and theory literature of the field in preparation for their qualifying examinations.
  • Supervised Teaching in Information Studies (INF 398T), (aka “the pedagogy course”) and teaching internships in which they work closely with faculty to develop, design, and support implementation of a course plan.
  • Doctoral Writing Seminar (INF 391G) which provides an opportunity for students to improve their academic writing skills through a writing studio environment with instructor and peer critique.

Plan of Study

The doctoral student must produce a formal document identified as the Plan of Study prior to their first annual review. The Plan of Study is to be updated each year, prior to the student’s annual review.

The plan of study consists of the following seven components:

  1. The student’s CV
  2. One to three paragraph summary of degree progress, including participation in research, teaching, and service
  3. One paragraph academic plan, including research, teaching, and service, for the next year
  4. One paragraph description of career goals
  5. Table of coursework (format is provided below)
  6. Bullet point list of requested input from the committee
  7. An appendix with 2-5 recent major outputs (e.g., publications, course papers, etc.)

Coursework Listing

Students should list all the courses they have taken, are currently taking, and those they intend to take to satisfy their requirements for coursework. The format is provided below:

Course Description

Credit Hours

Grade

Doctoral Core?

Research Methods?

Elective?

Appendix Page

Fall 20XX

           

INF 391D.10- Survey of Information Studies

Instructor: Yan Zhang, Information

3

A

 

 

p. 12

INF 391D.11 - The Research Enterprise

Instructor: James Howison, Information

3

A

 

 

p. 20

INF 391D.06 - Directed Readings (Content Analysis)

Instructor: Ken Fleischmann, Information

3

A

 

 

p. 28

Each course listing should identify: The name of the course, the instructor for the course, the semester in which the course was/will be taken and the number of credit hours and the page number of the appendix where the course details can be found.

Coursework Requirements: Three columns should be used to show whether the course is to be counted towards each section of the coursework requirements. Students should ensure that the plan meets the coursework requirements outlined above.