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Ph.D. Learning Models

Walden’s Ph.D. programs allow you to focus on your interests. With the guidance of a faculty mentor, you’ll gain the research and scholarly skills you need to make an original contribution as an expert in your field.

Some Ph.D. programs are course-based, which allow you to master critical concepts in a structured online classroom. Other programs use a mixed-model combination of courses and Knowledge Area Modules (KAMs) or focus primarily on KAMs, emphasizing faculty-guided independent research.

All Ph.D. programs incorporate face-to-face residencies and culminate in a dissertation, with faculty supporting you along the way.

Knowledge Area Modules
Many of Walden’s Ph.D. programs are based on a unique learning model called the Knowledge Area Module (KAM). KAMs are scholarly papers that demonstrate your academic mastery of a subject you choose and research with the guidance of a faculty mentor.

These scholarly papers are broken into three segments:

• Breadth:
  • Build a foundation of theoretical knowledge and explore how the concepts, constructs, and principles are interrelated in a field of study relevant to the social sciences
  • Develop your scholarly skills in researching and writing
  • Practice the skills of making an original scholarly contribution
    
    
• Depth: 
  • Become familiar with significant resources (journals, databases, reports, texts, and Web-based sources) in your chosen field
  • Bring yourself up-to-date with current research findings on the topic
  • Discover the methodologies and instruments adopted by other researchers in this field
  • Find ways you might improve the practice of your profession
  • Locate a place in the research literature where you might contribute a study of your own
    
    
• Application:
  • Assess an aspect of your professional world in terms of the theory and research you have examined in this KAM
  • Use the information garnered in the Breadth and Depth to initiate some element of social change in your professional work
  • Test the theories and research findings examined in this KAM in a real-life situation

Many students use KAMs as the foundation for papers they publish in peer-reviewed journals or present at professional conferences. KAMs can also give you a head start on your dissertation.

By completing KAMs instead of traditional classroom coursework, you can

• Immediately focus your studies on your area of interest
• Design your own program with the support of a faculty mentor
• Work at your own pace within basic progress expectations
• Enhance your research, writing, and critical-thinking skills
• Demonstrate scholarly skills in preparation for your dissertation
• Put your new knowledge to work on an issue that you are passionate about

KAMs also enhance your research skills through a research methodology course sequence. The sequence includes online courses with weekly Web-based seminar discussions with faculty and peers.

In addition, you take part in online activities and attend a face-to-face residency with faculty and others in your field of study. The goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the range and complexity of the body of knowledge in your area of study and the link between professional practice and social change.

For more information about the flexibility and academic freedom offered by KAMs, call 1-866-492-5336.

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