Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - EDUC 931 G001

Doctoral Seminar Iin Educational Technology and Learning Design (4)

Class Number: 4022

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 4:30–8:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A doctoral-level survey of major scholars, theories and technological contributions shaping the field of educational technology and learning design. This offering focuses on understanding and differentiating several traditions of research development that have shaped and continue to shape the field.

COURSE DETAILS:

Offers a doctoral-level introduction to questions, problems and literature in the field of Educational Technology. We will consider what the role of an educational technology scholar is or ought to be, and how conceptions of this role have altered over time; the nature of educational media and mediation; and issues surrounding the diffusion of educational technologies in educational organizations, including colleges and universities as well as K-12 schools. In this connection we will explore histories of educational media and associated education reform efforts, and critically examine the published results of technology-based innovations in teaching and learning. A final theme explored in the course will be the ongoing debate over appropriate methods for empirically evaluating and refining educational technology innovations.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Students will be expected to develop:

  • a scholarly perspective on the historical development of the field of Educational Technology
  • an appreciation of how learning technology innovation forms part of a larger historical process of education reform or change
  • an understanding of how different learning technology innovations have fared in practice, and why this may have been
  • a critical view of the literature and traditions of Educational Technology
  • a stance on where their own scholarly work is located within the larger field

Grading

  • A quiz on the course syllabus 2%
  • A systematic review of literature related to a potential thesis topic 35%
  • Progress milestones toward the literature review 6%
  • A peer review of a fellow student's draft paper 17%
  • A short presentation on a proposed research agenda 20%
  • Weekly online discussions (evaluated by portfolio) 20%

NOTES:

There will be no final exam.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology since 1920. New York: Teachers College Press.

[Complete text available electronically through the SFU Library]


All other required readings will be distributed by the instructor through Canvas.


RECOMMENDED READING:

Anderson, J. R. (1993). Rules of the mind. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. (Chap 1)

Anderson, J. R., Corbett, A. T., Koedinger, K. R., & Pelletier, R. (1995). Cognitive tutors: Lessons learned. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4(2), 167-207.

Design-Based Research Collective. (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5-8.

Cargile, L. A., & Harkness, S. S. (2014). Flip or Flop: Are Math Teachers Using Khan Academy as Envisioned by Sal Khan? TechTrends, 59(6), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-015-0900-8

Castañeda, L., & Selwyn, N. (2018). More than tools? Making sense of the ongoing digitizations of higher education. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 15(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0109-y

Christen, K. (2012). Does information really want to be free? Indigenous knowledge systems and the question of openness. International Journal of Communication, 2870–2893.

Düerkop, K. & Bakker, A. (2018). Literary education with narrative digital games: From formulating research questions to capturing the design rationale. In Bakker, A. (2018). Design research in education : a practical guide for early career researchers. London: Routledge.

Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational Thinking in K–12: A Review of the State of the Field. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38–43. doi:10.3102/0013189X12463051

Koedinger, K., Anderson, J. R., Hadley, W. H., & Mark, M. A. (1997). Intelligent tutoring goes to school in the big city. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 8, 30-43.

Koedinger, K., & Aleven, V. (2016). An Interview Reflection on "Intelligent Tutoring Goes to School in the Big City". International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 26, 13-24. doi:DOI 10.1007/s40593-015-0082-8

Nathan, M. J., & Sawyer, R. K. (2014). Foundations of the Learning Sciences. In The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 21–43). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519526.004

O'Neill, D. K. (2016). When form follows fantasy: Lessons for learning scientists from modernist architecture and urban planning. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 25(1), 133-152. doi:10.1080/10508406.2015.1094736

O'Neill. D.K. (2019). Getting beyond functional rationality in the kid coding movement: An agenda for the Learning Sciences. In Sengupta, P., Shanahan, M-C, & Kim, B (Eds.) (2019). Critical, Transdisciplinary and Embodied Approaches in STEM Education. Urdorf, Switzerland: Springer.

O'Neill, K., Lopes, N., Nesbit, J., Reinhardt, S., & Jayasundera, K. (2021). Modeling undergraduates' selection of course modality: A large sample, multi-discipline study. The Internet and Higher Education, 48, 100776–100776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2020.100776

O'Neill, D.K. (2023, Spring). Audrey Watters, Teaching Machines. Historical Studies in Education.

Pane, J., Griffin, B., Mccaffrey, D., & Karam, R. (2014). Effectiveness of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I at Scale. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(2), 127-144.

Ritter, S., Yudelson, M., Fancsali, S. E., & Berman, S. R. (2016, April). How mastery learning works at scale Download How mastery learning works at scale. In Proceedings of the Third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale (pp. 71-79).

Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x

Singer, Natasha (2017, June 27). How Silicon Valley Pushed Coding into American Classrooms. The New York Times.

Tzou, C., Suárez, E., Bell, P., LaBonte, D., Starks, E., & Bang, M. (2019). Storywork in STEM-Art: Making, Materiality and Robotics within Everyday Acts of Indigenous Presence and Resurgence. Cognition and Instruction, 37(3), 306–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2019.1624547


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.