The doctoral minor and graduate/professional certificate have three special features:
- Training emphasizes programmatic efforts that seek to prevent the development of problematic outcomes and to promote optimal functioning in individuals or groups across the life course.
- Preventive interventions are implemented and evaluated in family, school, and community contexts — their outcome is investigated in interaction within these contexts.
- Training emphasizes methodological and statistical training and their applications in prevention research. Particular attention is given to the concentrations of interventions in social services, health, and education; family and community studies; social policy; and methodology.
This multidisciplinary program addresses contemporary health and social issues facing at-risk and vulnerable groups across the life course. Training leads to a graduate/professional certificate in prevention and intervention science.
Admissions
Application information for the doctoral minor and graduate/professional certificate are available by contacting the Program Director (edpsych-gss@education.wisc.edu).
Completed applications must be signed by faculty advisors and submitted to Department of Educational Psychology Graduate Program Manager at edpsych-gss@education.wisc.edu.
In addition to the steps outlined above, all Graduate School students must utilize the Graduate Student Portal in MyUW to add, change, or discontinue any graduate/professional certificate. For the final step required to apply to this certificate, log in to MyUW, click on Graduate Student Portal, and then click on Add/Change Programs. Select the information for the graduate/professional certificate for which you are applying. Professional students in the careers of Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary cannot add the certificate in the Graduate Student Portal, and should contact the program for more information.
Requirements
Students may earn a graduate/professional certificate or a doctoral minor in Prevention and Intervention Science.
Students must complete 16 credits of approved coursework, including a methodology course. Students may apply 3 credits of research practicum toward requirements.
Areas of Concentration
Students must select a major area of concentration.
Interventions in Social Services, Health, and Education
The design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of a variety of programs in education, health, and social welfare are of high societal priority and are reflected in training. School-based programs are increasingly viewed as key strategies of educational reform. Social service and health delivery to children, families, and adults continue to undergo substantial innovation. The promotion of health and development of individuals and groups with and without special healthcare needs also is a focal point of interventions.
Social Policy
This area concerns how social policies and issues affect human and family behavior across the life course. Substantive areas include, among others, childcare, poverty, welfare reform, school reform, and health-care reform. An emphasis is given to large-scale policies and programs as well as dissemination and use.
Family and Community Studies
How family and community contexts and processes affect individuals is a key issue for the development and analysis of preventive interventions, and for basic research on families and communities. Family and community-based programs are central to addressing myriad social problems and issues. The relationship between family development and other major social contexts such as neighborhoods, communities, and service systems also are important.
Methodology
An ever-expanding number of quantitative and qualitative methods are available for conducting prevention research. Basic and advanced statistical and methodological training are essential to high-quality graduate training. Gaining understanding and experience in conducting research in field settings is key to developing methodological skills. Some topics to be covered in training include structural equation modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, growth curve modeling, and ethnography.
Required Courses
It is recommended that two courses in prevention science be taken in the second year of a student's graduate program after introductory courses in theory and a substantive area are complete in the student's home department.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Students must complete the following courses. | ||
| ED PSYCH/HDFS/NURSING/SOC WORK 880 | Prevention Science 1 | 3 |
| ED PSYCH/HDFS/NURSING/SOC WORK 881 | Capstone Seminar in Prevention Science 2 | 1 |
| Electives 3 | 12 | |
| Students should select two to four additional courses in one of the areas of concentration. Examples of courses that meet the requirements of the minor and certificate program are listed below. | ||
| Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Diverse Communities | ||
| Child Welfare | ||
| PhD Proseminar | ||
| Bridging the Gap Between Research and Action | ||
| Family Policy: How It Affects Families & What Professionals Can Do | ||
| Current Topics in Human Development and Family Studies | ||
| Advanced Seminar in Family Stress and Coping | ||
| Seminar-Qualitative Methodology | ||
| Qualitative Methods of Studying Children and Contexts | ||
| Benefit-Cost Analysis | ||
| Current Topics in Human Development and Family Studies | ||
| Prevention-Related Product 4 | ||
| Total Credits | 16 | |
- 1
This course is typically offered during the fall semester.
- 2
This course, typically offered each spring, should be taken after completing SOC WORK/ED PSYCH/HDFS/NURSING 880SOC WORK/ED PSYCH/HDFS/NURSING 880SOC WORK/ED PSYCH/HDFS/NURSING 880 and at or near the end of the certificate program.
- 3
Courses required for a student's major area of study may satisfy certificate program requirements but not the doctoral minor. Other courses can be recommended by students or faculty and are subject to approval of the program faculty.
- 4
A prevention-related product needs to be submitted and approved before graduation.
Prevention Product
Students must complete a prevention-related research or dissemination project with university faculty/staff that results in a prevention-related product (e.g., evaluation or intervention report, conference presentation, professional publication, program or training manual) associated with one of the four concentration areas. This project provides opportunities to apply prevention concepts, methods, and approaches to important educational, health, or social issues and problems.
Examples of on-campus institutes that are likely to provide training experiences leading to a prevention product include the Institute on Aging, Waisman Center, Institute for Research on Poverty, and Wisconsin Center for Educational Research. Students are also able to complete this requirement through work with their advisor, other faculty/staff, or their own research (under the supervision of a faculty/staff member).
Learning Outcomes
- Identify, explain, and demonstrate the core foundational concepts within prevention science and compare and contrast with other closely related professional domains.
- Define, explain, and demonstrate how the concepts of risk, promotive, and protective factors are associated with different positive and negative outcomes and how theories related to human behavior and development describe the processes and mechanisms through which risk, promotive, and protective factors are related to positive and negative outcomes.
- Explain and demonstrate prevention/intervention development principles and how to engage relevant stakeholders in the development, adaptation, and implementation of prevention/intervention programs.
- Identify appropriate research design principles and various statistical methods associated with prevention science research.