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Class Type
Next Start Date
About Start Dates
Additional future start dates include:
Fall 2024
Aug 19, 2024Sep 9, 2024
Start dates for individual programs may vary and are subject to change. Please request free information & speak with an admission advisor for the latest program start dates.
Years To Complete
Elevate learning experiences with a doctorate in instructional design
Learning and development is a $165 billion annual industry, giving instructional design professionals much more prominence as both leaders and educators. Consistent, focused, professional development under the watchful eye of learning executives and consultants is leading to the creation of advanced cultures of inspiration and deeper senior leadership competencies. In the classroom, learning and development instructors are helping advance the way learning professionals research, understand and apply concepts and theories to the real world.
Program Availability
Program Overview
Innovate professional development. Transform learning and performance.
As an industry, learning and development is burgeoning. In fact, with more than $165 billion (not to mention thousands upon thousands of work hours) spent annually, learning and development is taking its rightful place within organizational hierarchies.
As a result, instructional design professionals are becoming more in demand at both leadership and educational levels.
Learning executives and consultants, for example, are being asked to bring more focus and cohesiveness to organizational development needs; to facilitate and exponentially expand knowledge transfer; to further develop senior leadership competencies; and to create advanced cultures of inspiration.
Learning, design and technology educators, too, are being asked to do more, including advancing research, understanding and application of discovery, learning and engagement.
Hone your expertise at a renowned intersection of theory and practice
When it comes to curriculum design and development we practice what we teach. Through the scholarship and leadership of our faculty, Franklin’s International Institution for Innovative Instruction has built a reputation for solving real-world learning challenges in both academic and professional settings. From government entities and K-12 schools to higher education and industry-leading organizations, our partners around the world reap the benefits of the applied knowledge of our faculty – and you will too.
The Institute also houses our School of Education in which our faculty of teaching and learning experts collaborate with cooperating teachers at nearly 200 partner schools mentor aspiring K-12 teachers.
Learn from the best
As a student in the DPS program, you’ll benefit from our faculty members who are scholars, leaders and distinguished researchers in their fields. With knowledge that spans traditional and corporate learning, you will find them to be invaluable partners and mentors on your doctoral journey.
- Dr. Yi Yang, DPS program chair, is a Fulbright scholar with research interests that include quality of online education; effectiveness of online teaching and learning and game-based learning.
- Dr. Matt Barclay is the recipient of several research grants. His research interests include instructional design, elearning, authentic learning, and human performance improvement.
- Dr. Joel Gardner, assistant dean of instructional design, is a Fulbright Specialist. His research interests include instructional theory and first principles of instruction.
- Dr. Natalya Koehler is an instructional design faculty with expertise in mixed methods research. Her research interests include online STEM education and interactive multimedia.
Become a learning leader who leads
Because people are inherently an organization’s most valuable asset, employers are continuing to demand more from their human capital investment. Forces such as global competition, developments in technology, greater job specialization, and a rise in knowledge-based industries have driven the need for a more educated workforce.
From verbal and written competencies, to technical and technological abilities, to advanced interpersonal aptitude, employers need leaders who can envision, direct and provide the kind of human capital development that aligns with company goals, transforms corporate culture and moves an organization forward.
Such leadership doesn’t come readily or routinely – instead, it requires proficiencies of the highest level. That’s why Franklin University is the first and only nonprofit institute of higher education to offer a professionally oriented doctoral degree in instructional design and leadership. Our terminal degree can prepare you to make smart, relevant connections between classroom learnings and real-world development effectiveness.
A practitioner-oriented education like Franklin’s differs from a research-based degree. Whereas a Doctor of Philosophy or Ph.D. in instructional design focuses on substantive advancement of theoretical research within a discipline, an applied doctorate degree like Franklin University’s transfer-friendly Doctor of Professional Studies in Instructional Design Leadership (DPS-Instructional Design Leadership), focuses on knowledge expansion within the discipline combined with knowledge application in the real-world setting.
Make a difference
Our instructional design doctorate program reinforces the core technical aspects of quality research, yet also equips you with such sought-after skills as leadership, communication, instructional design and training. Franklin’s applied doctorate is a practical degree that enables both subject mastery and field application. That means you’ll be prepared to apply doctoral-level research and problem solving to complex, real-world challenges.
Franklin’s applied Doctor of Professional Studies in Instructional Design Leadership is a program designed to help you:
- Apply research in order to impact business performance
- Design and develop advanced curricula and instructional products
- Assess and refine your own leadership competencies
- Differentiate yourself as a top performer or educator
Create innovative learning environments
Through our DPS program, you’ll focus on progressive and advanced approaches for designing effective, transformative learning and instruction. You’ll also examine applicable frameworks and implementation strategies for such learning environments as e-learning, blended and hybrid learning, mobile learning, game-based learning, and informal and social learning. Then, in light of the training needs of an organization, you’ll determine if, why, how and when to employ one or more of these frameworks and strategies.
Lead and manage at a strategic level
It’s been said that knowledge is power. Assuming that’s true, then organizational success can be attributed to the collective knowledge within that organization. How and where organizational knowledge is found, used and stored, however, can make or break the organization’s ability to advance, perform, thrive or transform. For this reason, Franklin’s DPS program equips you with the skills necessary to lead and manage learning at a very strategic level. You’ll not only learn how to identify and meet ever-evolving learning needs, you’ll do so within the context of the organization’s strategic goals.
Understand and assess trends & technology
Theories come and go, and technology seems to change every nanosecond. The challenge, then, isn’t just in keeping up, but also in how to determine which (if any) emerging principles, perspectives and products are worthy of adopting. With Franklin’s DPS in instructional design leadership, you’ll learn how to evaluate theories, models and frameworks, as well as strategically and tactically incorporate designs, processes and technologies for instruction and learning throughout an organization.
Get 360-degree support
We’ve taken a comprehensive and systematic approach to our online doctoral program, which includes team-based curriculum development, doctorally qualified faculty, and student-centered activities designed for the working adult. You’ll receive robust academic support from a variety of resources, including a graduate advisor, faculty advisor, personal librarian and peers, as well as the Student Learning Center staff and your Dissertation Committee members. You’ll also enjoy a cohesive and robust graduate culture and cohort. Together, our practice-minded faculty and your fellow students will support, mentor, encourage and keep you accountable to the program – and to yourself. At Franklin, you’re never alone on your doctoral journey.
Transfer up to 24 credit hours
Want to complete your terminal degree in less than three years? Franklin grants up to 24 hours of prior-learning credit for previous doctoral work. We honor your prior learning and make it easier to get credit for what you already know. Transfer credit can help you earn your applied doctorate degree faster, as well as reduce your overall tuition expenses.
Succeed with our unique dissertation structure
If there’s such a thing as a no-fear dissertation process, Franklin’s has it. We’ve intentionally designed a dissertation structure to help you complete your dissertation step-by-step, beginning with your enrollment in the program. We’ve also built-in faculty mentoring and guidance, and peer-to-peer support so you’re never left to “figure it out” on your own.
Throughout the DPS program, you’ll develop important research skills and the necessary writing prowess to publish a dissertation or dissertation in practice as a capstone project to your studies. Your dissertation will showcase your ability to identify a topic of interest within the workplace, develop a proposed solution to a problem, and test your hypotheses in the real world.
Future Start Dates
Curriculum & Course Descriptions
Microcredentials Align with Job Essentials
In today's dynamic work environments, adaptive professionals thrive. A microcredential - either as a stand-alone course or integrated into your degree program - is a short, skill-specific recognition that enables you to demonstrate your competency in a distinct area. Like Franklin's degree programs, microcredentials are aligned with market and industry demand to ensure what you learn can be put to use right away. Microcredentials are easily shared via digital badges and can be stacked to create a unique portfolio of in-demand skills.
Doctor of Professional Studies - Instructional Design Leadership Program Details
Career Opportunities
Professor
Professors primarily plan curriculum, conduct original research, and teach and test students, helping expand their knowledge within a particular subject matter or discipline.
Adjunct Faculty
Adjunct Faculty are contingent or contractual instructors who plan lectures, teach specific courses within a field of study, assess learning outcomes and advise students.
Consultant
Consultants are paid experts who assess a particular problem, challenge or opportunity and provide strategic recommendations for action.
Chief Learning Officer
Chief Learning Officers create, implement and oversee learning management strategies and initiatives and align them with human capital development.
Chief Academic Officer
Chief Academic Officers are responsible for providing leadership, vision and strategic direction for educational curriculum, instruction and assessment.
Director of Training and Development
Directors of Training and Development lead, implement, manage and oversee learning and development programs.
Training Manager
Training Managers assess training needs, define training requirements, devise programs and oversee implementation.
Lead or Senior Instructional Designer
Lead or Senior Instructional Designers assess training needs, establish learning objectives and collaborate with subject matter experts in the creation of training materials and products.
Director of Learning & Performance
Directors of Learning & Performance assess training needs and gaps, drive development strategies and manage training initiatives.
Direction of Talent Management
Directors of Talent Management assess learning paths and develop training materials, tools and resources to support transformative performance management.