COURSES AT THE PH.D. PROGRAM IN TEACHING, LEARNING, AND CULTURE
The program consists of three main strands/specialization areas:
The Literacy/Biliteracy Education strand of the TLC Program focuses on issues of educational equity and diversity with an emphasis on the role of language(s), literacies, and culture in schooling in our rich transnational and multicultural region. Doctoral students in this strand will apply sociocultural and critical theoretical frameworks to study diverse topics that influence language and literacy learning across the lifespan including, bilingualism and bilingual/dual language instruction, biliteracy, bilingual teacher preparation, language policy and ideologies, identities, multimodality, and literacy practices in both in and out-of-school contexts.
The STEM Education strand of the TLC Ph.D. is designed to foster the development of innovative and dynamic educational researchers. Doctoral students in the STEM Education strand will learn about and participate in cutting-edge research that explores ways in which STEM education can be more effective, inclusive, and transformative. Our faculty are involved in research across a range of topics, including the development of integrated curriculum among STEM subjects for K-12, how the nature of learning environments affect STEM student access, opportunity, and identity, the preparation and professional development of STEM teachers, and the role of STEM learning in informal spaces.
The Sociocultural Foundations Education strand focuses on how sociocultural perspectives and contexts inform research and practice. Doctoral students who pursue this strand will consider sociocultural perspectives and theoretical approaches to education, including the cognitive and social development of all learners from culturally diverse backgrounds. Additionally, the educational foundations of the curriculum and instruction provide a framework for research methodologies within local, national, and transnational contexts.
The program requires a minimum of 60 credit hours (20 courses) to complete and consists of six main course sections:
- Core (4 courses, 12 credit hours)
- Research Methodology (4 courses, 12 credit hours)
- Specialization (3 or 5 courses, 9 or 15 credit hours)
- Resource Component (2 courses, 6 credit hours)
- Elective Courses (4 or 2 courses, 6 of 12 credit hours)
- Dissertation (3 courses, 9 credit hours)
Elective courses allow students to focus their coursework in an area related to their planned dissertation research. Electives may be courses in the other areas of specialization within the TLC program, in other doctoral programs at UTEP or the UT system, or independent study courses. The program’s courses are listed below and course descriptions are available by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.
Core Courses
TED 6300 - Critical Issues in Curriculum and Instruction
TED 6301 - Multilingualism & Academic Development
TED 6302 - Sociocultural Context of Education
TED 6310 - Learning Sciences
Research Component
TED 6396 - Doctoral Seminar in Education Research
TED 6320 - Quantitative Research I
TED 6322 - Qualitative Research I
TED 6321 Quantitative II
TED 6323 Qualitative II
TED 6325 Mixed Methodology
STEM Focus Area
STEM 6301 - Integration of STEM Education Curriculum
STEM 6302 - Teacher Development in STEM Education
STEM 6303 - Research Trends in STEM Education
STEM 6304 - Instructional Trends in STEM Education
STEM 6305 - Philosophy, History and Nature of Mathematics and Science
STEM 6319 - Special Topics
Literacy/Biliteracy Focus Area
BED 6300 - Borderlands Language Acquisition and Competing Ideologies
BED 6314 - The Ethnography of Language and Literacies
BED/RED 6315 - Discursive Practices in Education
BED 6318 - Language Policy in Education
BED 6331 - Critical Perspectives of Dual Language and Bilingual Education
RED 6318 - Literacies in the 21st Century
RED 6344 - Seminar in Literacy
Sociocultural Foundations Focus Area
SCFE 6300 - Current Topics and Issues in Social Studies Education
SCFE 6313 - Critical Multiculturalism
SCFE 6318 - Comparative and Transnational Education
SCFE 6319 - Special Topics
SCFE 6320 - Sociocultural Foundations
SCFE 6321 - Critical Pedagogy
SCFE 6322 - Economics of U.S. Schooling
SCFE 6323 - Paulo Freire and Social Justice
Elective Component
In consultations with advisors, students may choose and take elective courses, depending on their own scholarly interests, in other TLC specialization areas or in other departments at UTEP.
Resource Component
TED 6305 - Practicum
TED 6394 - Scholarly Portfolio Development
Dissertation Component
TED 6397 - Doctoral Proposal Writing Seminar
TED 6398 - Dissertation
TED 6399 - Dissertation
Find more information at