DPE Doctor of Philosophy Course Requirements

Program Chair:  Michal Perlman
michal.perlman@utoronto.ca

Program Secretary and Liaison: Marisa Freire
marisa.freire@utoronto.ca

Doctor of Philosophy Course Requirements
This program comprises six half-courses, a comprehensive examination, and a thesis. All students are required to take HDP3200 and a research methods course. In addition, at least two courses must be selected from "Departmental Electives" list in Section 1.3 of the AP&HD Program Guidelines. The remaining two courses should be chosen in consultation with the student’s faculty advisor. As an apprenticeship approach is favoured, students are expected to become closely involved in the research of their faculty advisor/supervisor.

Recommended Program Timetables
Year One: Completion of at least four courses, planning for thesis and comprehensive
Year Two: Completion of comprehensive, thesis committee formation, continue thesis planning, begin formal thesis proposal
Year Three: Thesis proposal approval, ethics approval, data collection, analysis and begin write-up for thesis
Year Four: Completion of thesis and oral defence.

Required Course (to be taken in the first year of program)
APD3200H Research Proseminar on Human Development and Applied Psychology

Required Menu: Statistics and Research Methods
(In consultation with your advisor, choose at least one course from this menu. Substitutions must be approved by the DPE chair)
APD1289H Multivariate Analysis with Applications
APD1292H Instrument Design and Analysis
APD1293H Applied Research Design and Data Analysis [RM]
APD3201H Qualitative Research Methods in Applied Psychology and Human Development [RM]
APD3202H A foundation of Program Evaluation in Social Sciences
APD3227H Multi-Level Modeling in Social Scientific and Educational Research
APD3228H Mixed Methods Research Designs in Social Sciences
CHL5222H Longitudinal Data Analysis (offered through the Dept. of Public Health Sciences)
SOC6708H Advanced Data Analysis (offered through the Dept. of Sociology)

Required Menu: Focus Courses
(In consultation with your advisor, choose two courses)
APD1211H Psychological Foundations of Early Development and Education
APD1236H Developmental Psychopathology
APD1237H Development and Learning 
APD1256H Child Abuse: Intervention and Prevention
APD1259H Child and Family Relationships – Implications for Education
APD1265H Social and Personality Development
APD1279H Preventative Interventions for Children at Risk
APD1285H Psychology and Education of Children and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities
APD3203H Children’s Theory of Mind
APD2211H Theory and Curriculum I: Language and Literacy
APD3232H Developmental Trajectories and High Risk Environments
APD1249H Social-Emotional Development and Education
APD3286H Developmental Neurobiology
CTL1923H Technology Supported Environments for Situated Learning
JHC1251H Reading in a Second Language
JPX1001H Parenting: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Note: Most of the courses listed above are offered once every two years.

Additional Requirements
Students who have not taken a human development course in their undergraduate program must take APD1201 as an extra course (above the 6 half-course requirement). This requirement is waived for students who take both JDS1233 and JDS1249. Students who have not taken APD1288 (Intermediate Statistics and Research Design) or an equivalent course must take APD1288 in addition to their six half-courses.

PH.D. Comprehensive Examination
The purpose of the comprehensive examination is threefold: (a) to demonstrate the student’s ability to work independently within an area of concern in the field of human development; (b) to ensure an adequate level of knowledge in a specified area in the field of human development; and (c) to demonstrate the ability to integrate information at the accepted standard for a PhD student.

A. Option 1
The comprehensive requirement may be met by an empirical research paper. To meet the requirements of comprehensiveness, the research should be undertaken in an area significantly different from the student’s thesis research. This process will normally commence during the first year of the PhD residency and will normally be completed in the second year.

The standard for passing is the quality of accepted research papers presented at conventions of major professional organizations (e.g. American Educational Research Association, Canadian Psychological Association, Cognitive Science Society, etc.) Essentially this means that the paper should meet the quality standards for journals of these organizations.

B. Option 2
Students may choose to do a 200-300 hour internship (approximately six weeks full-time) in a field-based setting relevant to human development. The internship should be undertaken in an area and setting in which the student has not previously worked. Appropriate settings include school boards in administration, research or classrooms, government departments, child focused agencies dealing with social policy, community organizations operating prevention or intervention projects, settings with technological innovation geared to human development. Other settings will be acceptable as long as the student can demonstrate the relevance of the setting to a theoretical or empirical problem in human development.

PH.D. Thesis
Normally, there are eight major steps to completing a thesis:

1. Review of OISE/UT Guidelines for Theses and Orals
2. Establishment of a thesis topic
3. Selection of a thesis supervisor (normally the student’s Faculty Advisor)
4. Formation of a thesis committee
5. Ethical review, if required
6. Thesis proposal approval
7. Thesis work
8. Final thesis approval and submission

When preparing a thesis, a student works in consultation with his/her thesis supervisor until a committee is formed and, after that, with his/her thesis committee. A thesis in a PhD program is examined by the student’s thesis committee through the oral examination process. The thesis committee normally comprises three faculty members, with the thesis supervisor holding a Full appointment to the School of Graduate Studies and at least one member from AP&HD.

PH.D. Oral Examination
Once a student’s thesis is in its final form and has been approved by the thesis committee, the final oral examination is scheduled. A student defends his/her thesis at an examination conducted by a Final Oral Examination Committee. It is this exam that will determine whether or not a student may be recommended for his/her degree.