Curriculum

The Therapeutic Science doctoral program includes a core curriculum for all students and at the same time provides each student with the opportunity to create a course of study to meet his or her professional objectives. Students receive a foundation of basic knowledge as well as multidisciplinary perspectives on the issues and problems related to individuals with disabilities.

The Therapeutic Science Program is composed of the following components:

1. A core curriculum that includes foundation theory knowledge and a series of core courses
2. Iinterdisciplinary content coursework and advanced study courses
3. Design and methods and analysis coursework
4. Competency attainment
5. Dissertation work
   

Please note that the course requirements listed below assume that the student already has at least 24 graduate credit hours in content courses and 6 hours in research methods and analysis courses that have been accumulated toward a master's degree.The curriculum outlined below is in addition to existing credits the student may have.

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Core Courses

All students are expected to complete the Therapeutic Science core
courses in the first three years of their program.

• TS 805 Advanced Theory for Therapeutic Science (3 credits)
• TS 850 From Beliefs to Evidence in Scientific Inquiry: An interdisciplinary journey (2 credits)
• TS 900 Evolving Interdisciplinary Views of Disablement (2 credits)
• TS 950 Designing Effective Knowledge Transfer (2 credits)

These courses are designed to give students the skills to integrate and apply the knowledge they gain from other courses to the specific problems and issues faced by professionals and systems that serve persons with disabilities. In addition, students will learn about theories and frames of reference as they relate to issues of disability, and to use them to inform their own topic of study.

Interdisciplinary Content Coursework

• Interdisciplinary content courses (five 3-credit courses)
  
  In consultation with the advisor, the student will choose a content emphasis and select a set of five interdisciplinary courses around that emphasis. The selection of courses for each student will be motivated by a significant scientific or professional problem identified by that student, and the associated research area of interest.
  
  
• Advanced Study Coursework (2 semesters, 3 credits each semester)
  
  Students will be required to select a focused two-course series to explore their own content emphasis and participate with interdisciplinary peers to be exposed to other content and perspectives.

Competency Attainment

The Therapeutic Science doctoral program requires competency attainment in research skills.

Research Design, Methods, Analysis, and Dissertation

The Program requires a minimum of 6 hours of research design and methods, 6 hours of analysis, and typically requires 18 dissertation hours.

Research Skills Requirement

The graduate school requires doctoral students to demonstrate competency in a research skill "distinct from, but strongly supportive of, the dissertation". In order to fulfill this requirement in Therapeutic Science, students must demonstrate eight specific skills or competencies, listed below. The purpose of this extensive research skills requirement is to ensure that the student can implement design and analysis procedures and engage in scholarly work appropriate to the chosen content emphasis. Students will propose their own plan for fulfilling these requirements, which must be approved by the student's mentors.

The eight specific competencies are:

1. Mastery of theoretical and conceptual background knowledge concerning human service problems, social science disciplines, and research methodologies.
   
   
2. Ability to identify, define and conceptualize major social and behavioral problems, treatment methods and unresolved issues for intervention modalities.
   
   
3. Ability to identify relevant sources of knowledge and information for problem solution (e.g., empirical research, related practice and technology, social innovation), and to retrieve, assess, order and synthesize their contributions for application purposes.
   
   
4. Ability to design innovative intervention strategies and techniques derived from the diverse sources of knowledge and information. This requires familiarity with social science and related data, with treatment and related technology, and a capacity to relate one to the other in new and potentially productive ways. It necessitates knowledge of the methodology of intervention design.
   
   
5. Ability to engage in developmental processes, that is, to operationalize appropriate intervention procedures, to submit them to pilot and developmental testing, to revise and proceduralize them as appropriate and to come up with innovative, field tested interventions.
   
   
6. Ability to employ multiple methodologies in development and evaluation-needs assessment, quantitative and qualitative approaches, basic research methods, single-case experimental designs, group- and quasi-experimental designs, measurement instruments and practice related recording procedures, developmental practice and methods of proceduralization, diverse techniques such as those of human service practice, task analysis and flowcharting, and selected aspects of program evaluation now employed for assessing, modifying, and developing interventions in a phased design and development sequence.
   
   
7. Ability to work cooperatively in practice settings, to gain the support of practitioners and other agency actors, and to handle the politics of field research generally and of outcome evaluation in particular.
   
   
8. Ability to communicate research results differentially both to the scientific community and to the community of professional practitioners and administrators.

 

Written Preliminary Examination

Once a major portion of the program coursework and the Research Skills competency requirement is completed, each student will write three literature reviews on topic areas related to their research interests. The three papers will be evaluated by the student's mentor and other appropriate program faculty. The written preliminary examination must be successfully completed before the student can defend their dissertation proposal.

Comprehensive Oral Examination

When a doctoral student has completed all the requirements for residency, research skills, and the Written Preliminary Examination, the Comprehensive Oral Examination may take place. The format for this examination is an oral defense of a written dissertation proposal. The examining committee for the Comprehensive Oral Examination will consist of at least five members representing at least three disciplines, all of whom will be members of the Graduate Faculty.

Dissertation Preparation and Final Oral Examination

A student will become a candidate for the doctorate following successful defense of the dissertation proposal in the Comprehensive Oral Examination. The Graduate School will appoint a dissertation committee consisting of at least three members, based on the recommendation of the program. The dissertation will typically require 18 credit hours, and must include a component of knowledge transfer. Once the dissertation is completed, the candidate will have a Final Oral Examination which is the defense of the dissertation project.