Online Doctorate (EdD) in Instructional & Performance Technology

Program Details

Next Start Date: Fall 2025

Credit Hours: 54

Course Length: 15 weeks

Estimated Program Length: 36 months

University of West Florida’s online Instructional and Performance Technology, Ed.D. is for professionals who want to effectively apply research and theory to achieve educational goals and improve performance in a variety of settings.

Why Study Instructional and Performance Technology at UWF?

With curriculum that aligns with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, ensuring rigor and educational best practices, UWF's Instructional and Performance Technology Ed.D. program prepares graduates to fulfill leadership roles related to organizational development, technology integration and workplace learning across sectors.

This is an applied doctoral degree, preparing students to serve as practitioner-scholars, providing leadership, conducting applied research, and guiding change management efforts based on research and best practices related to instructional design, instructional technology, performance technology, and technology integration. Students will learn to apply the principles of systems theories, learning theories, communication theories, instructional theories, and applied research to solve organizational problems. Built-in residencies allow you to foster personal relationships with faculty, fellow students and others in the industry. Despite the fully online nature of this program, you will feel fully engaged in an active learning community.

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What You Will Learn

In addition to careers in K–12 and higher education, graduates from UWF’s online Ed.D. in Instructional Design and Technology program are prepared for roles in healthcare, government, U.S. military, business and corporate positions or any setting where there is a need to improve organizational performance, integrate technology and/or facilitate workplace learning.

By completing this degree, you will be able to:

Apply theoretical and empirical best practices to create solutions that resolve complex organizational and individual performance problems
Generate action research studies utilizing appropriate quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods strategies
Diagnose individual and organizational performance problems
Conceptualize solutions for individual and organizational performance problems
Critically evaluate inferences drawn from empirical research and practice in the field of instructional design and technology
Apply ethical research practices when conducting research studies
Develop logical, well-reasoned arguments to guide future research endeavors and projects in the field
Disseminate research findings and recommendations to culturally diverse stakeholders using appropriate modalities

Courses

The University of West Florida is a member institution of the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED). This selective membership includes colleges and universities committed to undertaking a critical examination on the education doctorate through dialog, experimentation, critical feedback, and evaluation.

Courses & Requirements

The program consists of 36 credit hours of coursework (plus 18 hours of dissertation credit hours). Coursework includes 24 credit hours in the instructional and performance technology core and 12 credit hours of research and analysis coursework. Students will develop, implement, and evaluate an applied research-based dissertation-in-practice in conjunction with their coursework. This fully online program includes three residencies. Each residency will consist of online work before and after the residency, which consists of a few days of intensive face-to-face work.

The expected time to completion is 3-years. Students are expected to complete 6-credit hours per semester, year-round. Students who fail to complete all program requirements by the end of the required coursework must enroll in a one-credit hour dissertation-in-practice continuation course each semester until graduation.

Instructional and Performance Technology Core (24 credit hours)

EME 7067 - Leadership in Performance Improvement
EME 7068 - Advanced Instructional Design and Technology Theory and Research
EME 7357 - Intervention Selection, Design and Development Leadership
EME 7365 - Performance Improvement Theory and Research
EME 7613 - Principles of Instructional Systems Design
EME 7692 - Doctoral Seminar—Leading Performance Improvement Projects
EME 8608 - IPT Foundations, Issues and Trends
EME 7353 - Evaluation of Performance Improvement Interventions

Research and Analysis Core (12 credit hours)

EME 7618 - Fundamentals of Practitioner-based Research
EME 7366 - Data Collection in Performance Improvement
EME 7367 - Data Analysis in Performance Improvement
EME 8693 - Doctoral Seminar—Analysis and Dissemination of IPT Research

Dissertation (18 credit hours)

EME 8981 - Dissertation in Practice-Phase 1
EME 8982 - Dissertation in Practice-Phase 2
EME 8983 - Dissertation in Practice-Phase 3

Three residencies are embedded in the online doctorate in instructional design and technology. Each residency is integrated with a Doctoral Seminar class, and will consist of online work before and after, which consists of a few days of intensive face-to-face work. These residencies help build a professional learning community among faculty and peers by allowing you to interact in a face-to-face environment.

The first residency occurs during the first year of coursework and focuses on professional and scholarly writing and the skills necessary to lead instructional and non-instructional performance improvement projects.
The second residency occurs during the second year of coursework and focuses on the analysis and dissemination of root causes and proposed solutions to identified problems of practice.
The third and final residency takes place at the end of your coursework, and serves as the Capstone Experience for the Ed.D. degree program. During this residency students will present and defend the completed dissertation-in-practice and demonstrate mastery of all program level outcomes.

To be considered for admission to UWF’s online Ed.D. program in instructional design, you must have a graduate degree from an accredited institution. Other criteria for successful admission includes a GPA of 3.5 or higher on the most recent graduate degree from an institution whose accrediting agency is included on the list of UWF approved accrediting agencies.

Students will be admitted to the program in Fall (August start). Spring and Summer admission are not offered.

How to Apply

To apply for this program, you first need to submit an application for graduate admission (plus a $30 application fee) and be accepted for admission to the University of West Florida. In addition, you must:

Submit official transcripts confirming a bachelor’s degree from an institution whose accrediting agency is included on the list of UWF approved accrediting agencies
Submit a professional résumé.
Submit three professional references.
- A minimum of two of the three references must be able to speak to your likelihood for academic success at the doctoral level (for example, past professors).
Participate in an online interview.
Submit a letter of intent addressing professional and academic background, experiences, and goals. There is no minimum or maximum length requirement for the letter; however, students should recognize that it will be used to assess writing abilities and program fit.

If you have questions about this program or the admissions process, contact our graduate admissions team at gradadmissions@uwf.edu.

Full Course Descriptions Registration Requirements

Careers & Outcomes

Upon completion of our online Ed.D. in Instructional and Performance Technology, you can pursue a variety of positions in many industries.

Job Titles

Training and Development Managers
Directors of Instructional Technology
Chief Learning Officers

Career Outlook

Employment of training and development managers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2022 to 2032 (faster than the average)
The median annual wage for training and development managers was $120,000 in May 2022

Source: BLS, 2024

Tuition Rate Per Credit Hour

Instructional and Performance Technology, Ed.D. Online Graduate Tuition
Component	Cost	Total*
In-state Tuition	$384.60 per credit hour	$20,768.40
Full Out-of-state Tuition	$1,044.24 per credit hour	$56,388.96
90% Out-of-state Tuition	$478.83 per credit hour	$25,856.82

Tuition waivers cover up to 90% of the non-resident portion of your tuition and are available to non-Florida residents (including international students) admitted to online campus programs and registered for online courses in active pursuit of that degree or certificate. You must pay all other assessed tuition and fees. The renewal of Online Campus Out-of-State Tuition Waivers is not automatic. Waiver requests must be submitted every semester and are not retroactive for previous semesters. Review Tuition Waiver Information to learn more.

Time to completion varies by student, depending on individual progress and credits transferred, if applicable. Fees are charged per semester unless otherwise noted.

Refer to UWF Cost of Attendance Estimates and Financial Literacy for more information on UWF costs and financial aid.

* Tuition and fees are subject to change.

Alabama, Military & Financial Aid

Alabama Differential Out-of-State Tuition

Residents of Alabama are eligible for Alabama Differential Tuition, a reduced out-of-state tuition rate. To verify residency status for tuition purposes, new undergraduate students should contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and new graduate students should contact the Graduate School. Current enrolled students should contact the Office of the Registrar. See more about Tuition Waivers.

Military & Veterans

The UWF Military & Veterans Resource Center (MVRC) serves as the campus advocate for military, dependents and veteran students. Contact the MVRC to learn more about the various military and veteran education assistance or tuition waiver opportunities and eligibility requirements.

UWF Financial Assistance

The University of West Florida offers various financial aid options for our online students, including loans, scholarships and grants for degree-seeking students. We provide eligible students with an alternative to paying the full amount of tuition at the beginning of each term in the form of an installment payment plan or a short-term loan. See more about Financial Aid and Education Funding Opportunities.