Discussion Forum: Scheduling Classes
This discussion forum is intended to provide useful suggestions to help schedule classes at the point in the program in the best interests of the doctoral student. This is not a forum to discuss professors or specific class content.
For example, Curriculum and Instruction students greatly benefit from taking Residency I as early as possible in the program.
I would also recommend taking Residency II as your last possible course. I took it prior to having a real solid dissertation idea (and while that is okay to do, I now see how useful it would have been to use Residency II as a time to really get a huge head start on my dissertation proposal…particularly the literature review).
I think Residency I and Fundamentals of Curriculum “flow” really well, and would recommend taking those both together as well (both cover similar readings at times and really compliment each other).
Finally, when you do schedule classes, talk to other doctoral students first and see which courses are best to take in which order (in your specialty area, for example, there might be a sequence that can help set you up to do one huge study in both courses…try to use your course assignments to your advantage and address your research interest areas within the assignments). Most professors at KSU are extremely flexible in their assignments and will help you work your interests into the assignment if you ask:)
I would like to add to make connections in every class you take by finding out if you can take what the course is offering and use it to focus on your own research interest. And then save everything that you write for your courses because you never know if it will lead to a piece of you dissertation study or a publication. Another hint is to take courses of interest to you, even if the course isn’t part of the program requirements. You never know if a particular course might inspire you in a direction that you didn’t think about earlier, or might give you another question to research. I agree with Maria that taking Residency I and Fundamentals of Curriculum together as being a good combination as they compliment each other. Whether you decide to do a Qualitative or Quantitative study, take both the first class and the advanced. By taking both, you are allowing yourself to understand methodology and open yourself to exploring other methods.
For C&I students, take Forms of Inquiry towards the end of your studies. It is the study of the philosophy of social research, and the readings can get quite deep.