CILS: Ph.D. Programs

CILS graduate programs examine learning in general, and science learning in particular, with an emphasis on social and cultural contexts, scientific discourse and argumentation, and designs for learning in out-of-school settings. Programs of study include both core departmental coursework and courses designed for specifically for the CILS program. In addition to working with their primary advisors all CILS students work with and learn from faculty and colleagues at CILS’ partner institutions through the annual Bay Area Institute, monthly video-seminars, and bi-annual summer institutes as well as individually planned opportunities.

CILS graduate programs help build synergy between formal and informal learning through the use of informal learning settings as learning laboratories, the development of understanding and articulation of what makes successful informal learning situations work, and the extension of this knowledge to a variety of learning environments. Through both their current studies and future career plans, CILS graduate students are a valuable contribution to CILS’ unique body of work on informal learning and schools.

PhD Program
King’s College London

The CILS PhD program at King’s (CILS-KCL) focuses on science education and science learning and extends knowledge about the nature of learning, teaching, and discourse to examine informal science learning contexts, particularly in informal science institutions. Many current CILS-KCL students come from positions of leadership in US informal science institutions, and are (or will be) conducting research at local informal science institutions, including the London Science Museum and the London Natural History Museum. Some are also collecting data at US informal science institutions, while others are focusing their research on out-of-school programs in the UK, and will also make comparisons with US-based programs.
Doctoral programs in the UK are different in structure to those in the US. Among other things, most enrolling students will have already achieved a Master’s Degree in a natural sciences or other relevant discipline. During the application process, students indicate their research area of interest, and during the first year of study at King’s they refine and focus their question and research plan. Each student then works with his or her research supervisors to tailor a particular program of study according to specific and evolving research interests. All CILS students participate in CILS Seminars, the CILS Research Group, Reading Groups, and other activities, as well as taking courses from the Departmental Research Training Board. If students feel they need additional training in a given topic they may elect to take supplementary courses from the modular Masters in Education course. Additional cross-center CILS activities such as the CILS Video-seminars, Reading Groups, and the Bay Area Institute are essential components of the CILS at KCL graduate program.

KCL Science Education Program Details

PhD Programs
University of California Santa Cruz

CILS at UC Santa Cruz (CILS-UCSC) programs are designed to provide students with the opportunity to study the role that formal and informal teaching and learning and science education play in a society of increasing diversity. Research collaborations use well-established links between UC Santa Cruz and a number of informal science institutions in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas.
CILS-UCSC applicants can apply for admission in either the psychology or education departments. The Education PhD combines a focus on diversity, sociocultural perspectives on learning and teaching, and an emphasis on science content. The Developmental Psychology PhD looks at issues of diversity in development, including ethnicity, gender, and the interplay between human development and the socials context of family, peers, school and non school learning environments. Typically students enter the CILS-UCSC program with a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, and are considering careers either within academia or informal science institutions.
CILS-UCSC doctoral students participate in core coursework, doctoral seminars reading groups and other joint activities. In addition, CILS-UCSC students do a practicum in informal science institutions and/or schools relevant to the students’ research interests.
CILS-UCSC reflects the university’s strong tradition of interdisciplinary collaborations between the natural and social sciences. The CILS Science Fellows program is available to 2nd year UCSC doctoral students in the natural or sciences who want to deepen their understanding and involvement in science learning in formal and informal environments.

UCSC Education Program Details
UCSC Developmental Psychology Program Details
UCSC Science Fellows Program Details