The Department of Educational Psychology offers challenging coursework that examines research design, human development, measurement, family studies, policy, evaluation and statistics, gifted and talented individuals, sport pedagogy, and sports and exercise psychology.
Graduate opportunities
At the University of North Texas, the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology focuses on generating sophisticated data for key decision-makers. The data can be used:
- By faculty members to advance other fields using critical research methods and develop new approaches
- To demonstrate the value of programs serving children and families or social policy
- To help corporations remain competitive
With this degree, you can pursue concentrations in research, measurement and statistics; human development and family studies; gifted and talented; and sport pedagogy or psychosocial aspects of sport and exercise.
Gain new perspectives
Our faculty members obtain grants, write books and publish scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles. They've been recognized by or serve as officers and leaders for many national, international and regional academic professional organizations, including:
- American College of Sports Medicine
- American Educational Research Association
- Association for Applied Sport Psychology
- Council for Exceptional Children
- National Association for Gifted Children
- National Council on Family Relations
- Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America)
- Society for Research in Child Development
The College of Education is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (1140 19th Street, Suite 400; Washington, D.C. 20036; telephone 202-223-0077). This means we meet or exceed strict academic standards for excellence in education. The college is also one of Texas' top producers of teachers, administrators, counselors and other school professionals.
Outstanding support and services
We provide you opportunities to present research at national and regional conferences, publish journal articles, apply for grants and participate in professional activities with faculty mentors. You can also collaborate with scholars in the department's other graduate programs, such as the special education program.
UNT offers a wide variety of services exclusively to graduate students. The Graduate Student Writing Support office can help you with writing, and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research offers assistance with statistical research.
The Toulouse Graduate School® offers several professional development workshops, including a Dissertation Boot Camp. Many of the workshops are available online for your convenience.
Research centers and opportunities
The Office of Research Consulting offers opportunities for practical involvement with program evaluation and methodological/statistical consultation. The staff assists with the conception, design, methods, analysis and interpretation of research projects, proposal writing, evaluations, dissertations and theses.
Additional research opportunities exist at our up-to-date observational laboratory, a testing and computerized data analysis laboratory.
Attending UNT
Admission requirements
You must meet the admission requirements for the graduate school, including a minimum 3.4 GPA on master's degree work, and provide the department with the following:
- Official GRE scores that are fewer than five years old
- Personal résumé or curriculum vitae
- Three letters of recommendation from academic or professionally applicable sources
- Personal statement of career objectives explaining how this doctorate advances those objectives
Program acceptance is based on a holistic review of these materials, and first priority is given to applicants who are strong in all areas.
Degree requirements
A master's degree in a related field is preferred but not required. You must complete a minimum of 63 credit hours beyond a master's degree (90 credit hours beyond a bachelor's degree) to be a candidate for the Ph.D. degree. This includes:
- 9 credit hours of educational psychology departmental core courses
- 21 credit hours of educational psychology core courses
- 21 credit hours of concentration area courses
- 3 credit hours of supervised research practice
- 9 credit hours of dissertation
Financial assistance
A number of competitive teaching fellowships and assistantships are available to help you pursue your degree. These opportunities include working with professors on research grants and projects or as a teaching assistant, teaching undergraduate classes and supervising student teaching.
You can apply for these positions by submitting an application to the department. We also offer several scholarships.
Information about other financial assistance programs is available at the financial aid website or the grad school website.
Faculty
Mei Chang, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Ball State University. Neurocognitive functioning; neurodevelopmental disorders; neuropsychological assessment; academic achievement of racial/ethnic minority concentration; research, measurement and evaluation/statistics.
Qi Chen, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Growth mixture modeling; structural equation modeling; hierarchical linear modeling; longitudinal data analysis; mediation analysis.
Cynthia Frosch, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Early childhood mental health; parenting children from birth to 5 years; parent-child relational health; early childhood workforce development.
Rebecca J. Glover, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Texas Tech University. Moral development and reasoning; cognitive development; lifespan development.
Robin K. Henson, Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Applied general linear model analyses; measurement and assessment; reliability generalization; self-efficacy and motivational theory.
Darrell Hull, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Baylor University. Educational measurement; psychometrics.
Scott B. Martin, Professor; Ph.D., University of Tennessee. Psychological aspects of sports and exercise.
Wendy Middlemiss, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Syracuse University. Educational psychology; child, adolescent and family development; infant sleep; parenting and child care.
Yolanda Mitchell, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Kansas State University. Family life education; family science; parenting; life skills for success.
Whitney Moore, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Kansas. Psychology of sport and physical activity; maximizing youth and adolescent motivation for being physically active; achievement motivation theory.
Rachel Mun, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Washington. Gifted education; mixed methods; immigrant education.
Prathiba Natesan, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Analysis of large scale datasets; factor, discriminant and other multivariate analyses; item response theory; differential item functioning.
Anne Rinn, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Indiana University. Gifted and talented individuals.
Abbas Tashakkori, Professor; Ph.D., University of North Carolina. Research and evaluation methodology.
Tao Zhang, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Louisiana State University. Psychological aspects of sports and exercise.
Report content errors on this page to programinfo@unt.edu.