Program Assessment

The resources and support from the department and each faculty member make my experience so far of being a first-year PhD student exceed my expectations. I have a few expectations. I hope that I will have solid foundational knowledge, and I will be an expert focusing on at least one specific area in this field. I hope that I will be able to conduct research independently leading to productive publications. I hope that I will have many opportunities to do collaborative research with my peers and the faculty members. I hope that I will be provided with various research and teaching assistantship opportunities throughout the program. As I’m finishing my first-year’s study in the program, I’m confident that all my expectations will be fulfilled gradually. 

I had little prior experience in instructional design and educational technology when I entered this program. However, with a background in psychology and higher education, I chose this program because I know that I’m passionate about technology and education, especially at the time when the pandemic began. After I decided to enter this program, I asked myself a few questions. Is it going to be challenging for not having an instructional design/educational technology background? Will I have time to catch up with different educational theories and apply some of them to my research interest? The questions were answered well when I took the course EDIT 8100E Foundations of LDT and the course EDIT 6170E Intro to Instructional Design. Other courses that I took helped me narrow down my research interest. I think the required courses for the first year helped me start the journey smoothly.

With the support and opportunities from my major professor and other faculty members, combined with what I learned from the EDIT 8900E Research Methods course, I’m gradually preparing myself for conducting research either independently or collaboratively. After this first year, I was able to narrow down my research interest, understand the process of conducting a research project, and locate the resources that I need through this process. I also initiated a collaborative research project with two other first-year peers. In addition, I’m satisfied with the two assistantships that I’m working on currently. I also applied for the Teaching Assistantship for the next year. I’m grateful that there are many opportunities for my professional development in this field. I look forward to continuing my growth in this program. 

I don’t have many recommendations because most of my expectations are met. From my first-year’s experience, one small recommendation is that it would be great if the first-year student could have more opportunities to meet and talk to the third-year and fourth-year students who started this program much earlier. I noticed that the first-years and second-years have a chance to take the EDIT 8900 Seminar together, which is very beneficial to all students. However, it would be great if there could be more opportunities and activities for all students in the program to gather together to share thoughts and ideas. It is always good to hear and learn anything from the people who have more experience in research and teaching.