College of Education
School of Teaching and Learning
STL Core Areas of Knowledge
There are four cores area of knowledge essential for students earning a Ph.D. in Curriculum and
Instruction. These areas provide doctoral students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to
create and promote new knowledge and understandings about teaching and learning and to use
innovative, evidence-based practice and theory to work with diverse learners across varied
contexts.
The STL Core Areas also promote a broad understanding of scholarship and prepare doctoral
students to contribute to their respective disciplines in a variety of ways. More specifically STL
prepares doctoral candidates to understand and potentially contribute to each of the four
domains of scholarship explained by Ernest Boyer (Austin & McDaniels, 2006). These domains
include:
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Scholarship of Application (Outreach Scholarship), which “addresses important
individual, institutional and societal problems” (Austin, 2006, p. 52)
Scholarship of Discovery, which is focused around the “creation or dissemination of new
knowledge” (Austin, 2006, p. 52)
Scholarship of Integration, in which scholars develop and explain “new connections
within and among disciplines” (Austin, 2006, p. 53)
Scholarship of Teaching, which involves “making teaching processes, assessments and
outcomes public” (Austin, 2006, p. 53)
In addition to the STL Core Areas, each program within the Instruction and Curriculum degree
provides unique opportunities for student to study deeply within their selected discipline,
enculturate into a discipline-specific community of practice, and make scholarly contributions to
the field.
This document serves two purposes. First, it defines the four core areas of knowledge. Second, it
lists courses within each of the four core areas. While the core areas of knowledge are not
mutually exclusive, these lists support students and mentors in thinking about experiences
within doctoral studies. The courses listed are applicable for all doctoral students in Curriculum
and Instruction. (Faculty advisors also provide information about program-specific courses
during the mentoring process.)
Theoretical and Historical Foundations of Curriculum & Instruction
A degree in Instruction and Curriculum requires that students understand the origins and
development of enduring issues related to curriculum and instruction across a broad range of
areas related to the content and process of education. Each domain of scholarship (application,
discovery, integration, teaching) requires that students become familiar with foundational
concepts and research that enable them to situate their current scholarship within past
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scholarship and to justify the historical and theoretical significance of their research and
conclusions.
Core Learning Theories
There are many theories about how humans learn and make sense of the world around them.
These theories differ in their views of the learning process, locus of learning, purpose in
education, and educator’s role. For a graduate student seeking a doctoral degree in Curriculum
and Instruction an understanding of learning is critical for engaging students and fully
developing their potential. It is also essential to developing knowledge about learning contexts
and dynamics, to applying this knowledge to solve educational problems in schools and
workplaces, to integrating new ideas about learning across the curriculum and academic
disciplines and to advancing teaching and teacher education that support learners at all levels.
Research Methodologies and Methods
Different research paradigms can be productively used to answer significant questions in
education. These paradigms differ in terms of their philosophy of inquiry, research design,
methods of data collection and analysis, and view of causality. Facility in critically analyzing both
quantitative and qualitative research and making judgments about the appropriate
methodology for specific research questions is essential for educational scholars. Doctoral
students will gain familiarity with different sets of assumptions and theories about human
behavior (particularly in educational settings); what constitutes knowledge and how it can be
generated, critiqued, and renovated; and how that knowledge can be used by education
scholars and practitioners to improve schools and society.
Principles of Pedagogy
A practical understanding of the teaching and learning process is essential for educational
scholars. STL doctoral students are supported as they learn and implement, best practices for
face-to-face and online teaching. Students delve deeply, yet safely, into pedagogical principles
that cross diverse contexts and learners. STL doctoral students also explore ways to open the
doors to their teaching through publications, observations, and collaboration with colleagues to
solve various instructional and content related educational issues.
References
Austin, A. & McDaniels (2006). Using doctoral education to prepare faculty to work within
Boyer’s four domains of scholarship. New Directions for Institutional Research, 129, 51-65.
Boyer, E. L. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton, N.J.: Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1990.