Job Prospects

Graduates of UIC's Learning Science programs will be qualified for positions in institutions of higher education as faculty, research staff, or program evaluators and may find positions in a range of different departments, including educational psychology, cognitive studies, organizational leadership, mathematics and science education. Most such positions are postsecondary teaching and research positions. In addition, Ph.D.s in Learning Sciences from UIC will have the knowledge and skills to assume positions in nonprofit foundations (e.g., program officers) and for-profit businesses, especially those that offer online courses or develop and market educational materials. For example, employment of software publishers and multimedia designers is expected to increase 68% between 2002 and 2012.

Evidence of employment opportunities for graduates of Learning Sciences Ph.D. programs and their high degree of employability in the higher education environment is readily found in the employment history of graduates from extant programs. Of the two extant Learning Sciences Ph.D. programs (section 8.3), only one has been in operation long enough to provide data on employment of their graduates. Northwestern University’s program, initiated in 1992, graduated its first Ph.D. in 1995. As of 2004, 28 Ph.Ds had graduated from the program. Of these, employment information is available for 24.  More than one third of these graduates currently hold tenure-track positions at major universities, including the University of Michigan (Associate Professor); Pennsylvania State (Associate Professor); University of Pennsylvania (Assistant Professor); University of Wisconsin, Madison (Assistant Professor); University of California at Berkeley (Assistant Professor), UC at Davis (Assistant Professor), and UC at Irvine (Assistant Professor); Ben Gurion University (Assistant Professor); Rutgers University (Assistant Professor); and Simon Fraser University (Assistant Professor). Two more are research professors at major universities; three are working in the private sector for a technology and design innovation company; and the remainder are either Research Scientists or Research Associates at centers dedicated to innovative research on learning, instruction, assessment, and organizational change. Furthermore, several of the Northwestern graduates play major leadership roles in the International Society for the Learning Sciences, inaugurated in 2003.

In addition to these opportunities with higher education, Learning Sciences Ph.D. recipients will be very well qualified for positions in other sectors of the knowledge economy. The following examples are illustrative of how the Learning Sciences program contributes to meeting regional and State needs:

• Improved instructional design in K-12 schools and the private sector.  Student learning is heavily dependent on how instruction is designed. A key element in this is an understanding of how people learn well, and how to deliver good instruction efficiently. This is easily recognized in the context of traditional classrooms. But it is also the case that the private sector must make enormous efforts to maintain and update the skills of its employees. Efficient learning in the workplace is therefore vital to business and labor. Graduates of the Learning Sciences Graduate Program will have expertise in instructional design, learned in an environment where they see how those principles are applied to specific content problems.

• Integration of technology in instructional design and practice.  A subset of instructional design focuses on the problem of integrating available technologies into instructional practices in schools, colleges, and the private sector. This is a key component of both increasing the effectiveness and lowering the cost of instruction. In addition, technology itself has become an important element of education, especially to prepare the workforce for a highly technological economy. Graduates of the Learning Sciences Graduate Program will develop considerable expertise in the use of technologies both as learning tools and research tools. They will be able to assist in the proper integration of technology into a wide variety of educational settings.

• Student and program assessment in K-12 schools and higher education.  One of the reasons that low-performing schools and districts persist is because methods and technologies of assessment are rarely used productively for the improvement of existing educational delivery systems. Graduates of the Learning Sciences Graduate Program will be trained in how to develop and use innovative, responsive, and compelling approaches to assessment of learning and of educational programs.            

• Education of diverse learners. Illinois has a particular strength in the diversity of its population and this is particularly true for the Chicago area. This will directly impact participants in the Learning Sciences’ Ph.D. program. Graduates of the Learning Sciences Program will be trained in the latest research about how diverse learners can be accommodated in instruction, and how to address particular learning initiatives to the challenge of inclusion.

• Teacher and administrator preparation for K-12 settings.  The nation continues to have pressing needs for high-quality teachers and school administrators. The most effective way to meet these needs is through expanded and improved preparation programs that impact courses in education and in the arts and sciences content areas that teachers and administrators must also master. Graduates of the Learning Sciences Graduate Program will be able to impact these students as a result of coursework in the disciplines that will model leading edge instructional and assessment methods for practicing teachers and administrators in K-12 programs.

• Improved patient and community health education efforts. Learning about health is critical both for the sake of prevention and treatment. This requires effective dissemination of current information to those most affected, whether this occurs in a health practitioner’s office, a clinic, or in a community information event. Graduates of the Learning Sciences Graduate Program will be valuable in support of the health practitioners who need to use innovative education methods and technology in providing detailed information to their patients and the community.