Courses
Course Schedule
The Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership (OCL online) program is updating its curriculum. Revised courses will be offered beginning in Fall 2025.
The course schedule below should be used as an example. Contact your admission representative to discuss your specific course schedule.
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43 units Students who hold a master’s degree or terminal degree (e.g., Ph.D. or professional doctorate) may be admitted with advanced standing and required to take only 43 units. |
60 units Students without master’s degrees who have substantial work and leadership experience will be required to complete 60 units. |
43-Unit Curriculum
Advanced Standing Track
Year 1
Term 1
Immersion 1
Framing Organizational Change and Leadership
This course will help students develop the critical analysis and academic literacy skills to identify, research and present issues in various organizational contexts.
Fundamentals of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Students will learn practical strategies and creative thinking methods to produce innovative results through hands-on experiments, practice and review.
Term 2
Equity and Inclusion in Organizational Contexts
Students will tackle issues of diversity, including access and equity, as it relates to culture, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and ability. Students will also learn how to identify and utilize diversity as an asset in the professional setting.
Challenges in Urban Education: Leadership
Students will examine leadership principles, concepts and theories that will allow them to reflect on their own leadership styles and apply what they learn to real-life situations and organizational challenges.
Term 3
Education Performance Problems: The Role of Learning
Students will learn to analyze organizational learning and motivation, and make evidence-based recommendations for interventions to promote positive development in organizational contexts.
Analyzing Organizational Change and its Effectiveness
This course examines how organizational change and reform take place. Students will learn about different organizational systems and structures.
Year 2
Term 4
Inquiry Methods
This course focuses on providing students with foundational knowledge about the nature of research and preparing students to conduct “inquiry,” which is the systematic collection and analysis of data for answering research questions and solving identified problems of practice.
Accountability for Organizational Change
This course will help leaders understand, analyze and cope with the challenges and demands of accountability.
Term 5
Immersion 2
Inquiry Methods II
As the second in a series of three research methods courses, this course’s main objective is to help students build skills they will need to conduct research for their dissertations. This course will prepare students to develop data collection protocols and instruments as well as to learn how to gather data for their dissertations.
Using Communication to Facilitate Change
Students will apply their written and verbal skills to real-life leadership situations.
Research
This course is designed for you to practice research and academic writing skills.
Term 6
Inquiry Methods III
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.
Year 3
Term 7
Economics of Organizational Change and Learning Environments
This course focuses on budget planning, research and assessing fiscal viability of a project.
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.
Term 8
Building Capacity for Organizational Change
Students will learn how to build organizational capacity by fostering personnel growth, and promoting transparency, learning and inclusion in the workplace.
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.
60-Unit Curriculum
Traditional Track
Year 1
Term 1
Creating Communities of Interest
Students will establish a professional foundation as well as their philosophy and approach as educators.
Learning and Motivation
This course focuses on design and advancement of learning and motivation outcomes through the examination and application of current research.
Term 2
Students can choose either 591 or 570
Human Lifespan Development
Students will learn the fundamentals of physical, motor, mental, social and emotional development, spanning the prenatal period through late adulthood.
Diversity: Power, Equity and Inclusion
Students will learn and develop strategies to empower individuals and marginalized groups by intervening to achieve equitable outcomes in education and communities.
Research Design and Data Analysis
This course covers various research designs and basic statistical methods for professionals, addressing questions and challenges in research.
Term 3
Students can choose any of the following combinations: 582+579, 582+790 or 579+790. The LDT Graduate Certificate is awarded at the end of term 3, upon completion of the 17 units required to advance into doctoral degree courses.
Instructional Design
Students will learn how to design and develop effective instruction for a variety of content areas and audiences.
Media Selection and Evaluation
Students will study current research and practical methods for selecting and evaluating media and their role in modern learning environments.
Assessment and Evaluation
Students will learn the different ways in which learning, motivation and performance can be assessed, including formative and summative, qualitative and quantitative methods.
Research
Students complete directed research and produce a literature review that presents solutions to a professionally relevant problem of practice.
Year 2
Term 4
Immersion 1
Framing Organizational Change and Leadership
This course will help students develop the critical analysis and academic literacy skills to identify, research and present issues in various organizational contexts.
Fundamentals of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Students will learn practical strategies and creative thinking methods to produce innovative results through hands-on experiments, practice and review.
Term 5
Challenges in Urban Education: Leadership
Students will examine leadership principles, concepts and theories that will allow them to reflect on their own leadership styles and apply what they learn to real-life situations and organizational challenges.
Equity and Inclusion in Organizational Contexts
Students will tackle issues of diversity, including access and equity, as it relates to culture, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and ability. Students will also learn how to identify and utilize diversity as an asset in the professional setting.
Term 6
Education Performance Problems: The Role of Learning
Students will learn to analyze organizational learning and motivation, and make evidence-based recommendations for interventions to promote positive development in organizational contexts.
Analyzing Organizational Change and its Effectiveness
This course examines how organizational change and reform take place. Students will learn about different organizational systems and structures.
Year 3
Term 7
Inquiry Methods I
This course focuses on providing students with foundational knowledge about the nature of research and preparing students to conduct “inquiry,” which is the systematic collection and analysis of data for answering research questions and solving identified problems of practice.
Accountability for Organizational Change
This course will help leaders understand, analyze and cope with the challenges and demands of accountability.
Term 8
Immersion 2
Inquiry Methods II
As the second in a series of three research methods courses, this course’s main objective is to help students build skills they will need to conduct research for their dissertations. This course will prepare students to develop data collection protocols and instruments as well as to learn how to gather data for their dissertations.
Communication and Organizational Change
Students will apply their written and verbal skills to real-life leadership situations.
Research
This course is designed for you to practice research and academic writing skills.
Term 9
Qualifying Exam / Proposal Defense
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.
Inquiry Methods III
Year 4
Term 10
Economics of Organizational Change and Learning Environments
This course focuses on budget planning, research and assessing fiscal viability of a project.
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.
Term 11
Final Defense
Building Capacity for Organizational Change
Students will learn how to build organizational capacity by fostering personnel growth, and promoting transparency, learning and inclusion in the workplace.
Dissertation in Practice
Research course that focuses on the development of your dissertation in practice.