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Jeremy Edwards
Associate Director of Degree Programs
Learning Design and Technology (LDT)
Program Requirements
Students must complete at least 45 units at Stanford to receive the master's degree in LDT. The following constraints are placed on those 45 units:
- All courses must be at or above the 100 level. Courses numbered below 100 do not count toward the master's degree.
- At least 23 units (half of the total minimum units) must be at or above the 200 level. EDUC 180 and 190 count toward this requirement.
- At least 30 units must be from courses offered by the Graduate School of Education (EDUC units).
- At least 15 units must be taken for a letter grade (as opposed to Credit or Satisfactory).
- A 3.0 GPA must be maintained for all courses applied to the master's degree.
- All students must enroll in a minimum of 8 units during Autumn, Winter and Spring Quarters, and cannot exceed 18 units in any quarter (exception: HCP students take 3-7 units)
- LDT students are required to register for exactly 6 units in the Summer quarter. At least 39 units need to be completed in Autumn, Winter and Spring quarters.
- English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOLLANG) and Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (ATHLETIC) courses cannot be applied towards the master's degree.
- See the “Coterminal Degree” section for unit requirements applying to students admitted through the coterminal degree program.
Required Courses
Note: All course information is subject to change.
Please consult Stanford Navigator and Axess for final course offerings.
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Jessica Yauney, Karin Forssell, Neha Rajagopalan) (2-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Jessica Yauney, Karin Forssell, Neha Rajagopalan) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Jessica Yauney, Karin Forssell, Neha Rajagopalan) (1-3)
Internship
Students must register for a minimum of one unit of Education Internship Workshop (EDUC 215 or equivalent) for at least two quarters during the year. A maximum of 9 internship units are accepted for the master's degree. Learn more about internships at ed.stanford.edu/careers/jobs#exp.
Electives
Recommended electives for LDT include a range of courses related to learners and education. Students may take electives from any department at Stanford, with advisor's approval. Also, students are encouraged to approach professors for Directed Reading (EDUC 180) on a topic of special interest to them.
Learning Portfolio and Master's Project
The online Learning Portfolio consists of substantial work done during the year, together with a reflection on the learning represented by that work. The Master's Project consists of a design project conceived and developed by the student. The project proposal and reports will include a description and analysis of the learning problem, the theoretical approach and research used to address it, the design proposal, prototypes, and learning assessments. The Master's Project must be submitted to the student's advisor for approval by the end of winter quarter and presented to the public late in the summer. Both the Learning Portfolio and the Master's Project Report are due in summer quarter.
2026-2027 List of Pre-Approved Courses
At least one course about evaluation and research methods used in Education. Pre-approved courses are listed below (3 units minimum).
Choose at least one. Both are encouraged.
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Candace Thille, Xi Jia Zhou) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Guillermo Solano-Flores) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Guillermo Solano-Flores) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Denise Pope, Clarissa Gutierrez, Haley Lepp) (4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Ann Jaquith) (4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Ann Jaquith) (4)
LDT students have first enrollment priority in EDUC 200B in Autumn quarter and third enrollment priority in Winter quarter.
At least one course in which students learn and apply a user-centered design process. Pre-approved courses are listed below (3 units minimum).
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Alan Cheng, James Landay) (3-5)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Julie Stanford, Na Young Son) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Michael Bernstein) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Maneesh Agrawala, Jean-Peic Chou, Jiaju Ma, Yujie Tao) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Maneesh Agrawala, Jean-Peic Chou, Jiaju Ma, Yujie Tao) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (John Tang) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Instructor TBD) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Instructor TBD) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Keith Bowen) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Keith Bowen) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Keith Bowen) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (David Jaffe, Tori Hoge) (1-3)
- Any course with the CS 147, 247, 347, or 377 prefix (e.g., CS 377U) may count towards the Design Process requirement.
- Any full d.school course may be used to count towards the Design Process requirement.
- Any "Design of Learning Experiences" course (listed below) can instead be used to count towards the Design Process requirement.
Two courses minimum. At least one course must cover theories of learning. Pre-approved courses are listed below (6 units minimum). Students are highly encouraged to take more than two of these courses.
Learning Theories
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Victor Lee, Maria Romero) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Roy Pea) (3)
Learning Content
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Jennifer Osuna, Renee Scott) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Jennifer Osuna, Renee Scott) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Jennifer Osuna, Renee Scott) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Renee Scott, Bonnie Hallman) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Bruce McCandliss) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Victor Lee, Bernardo Silveira) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Argenta Price, Shima Salehi) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (David Eagleman, Joshua Landy) (3)
- Other courses by petition. Courses in other departments may be appropriate for certain subjects.
At least two courses applying user-centered design to a learning problem. Pre-approved courses are listed below (6 units minimum). Students are highly encouraged to take more than two of these courses.
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Denise Pope, Bonnie Hallman, Julia Poel) (3-4)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Keith Bowen) (3)
At least one course examining technology from a critical, social, historical, or philosophical perspective (3 units minimum).
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Nick Haber) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Guilherme Lichand) (1-2)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Adam Banks) (4-5)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Nick Haber) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Geoffrey Cox) (3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Londa Schiebinger) (4-5)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Jacob Ramirez) (1)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Jacob Ramirez) (1)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Jacob Ramirez) (1)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Adriana Umana-Taylor, Teresa LaFromboise) (3-5)
Offered in 2026-2027 Winter (Christina Krist) (2-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Autumn (Christina Krist) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Bryan Brown) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Bryan Brown) (1-3)
Offered in 2026-2027 Spring (Jennifer Osuna) (2-5)
Contact us
Students in the PhD program should contact:
Students in the POLS MA, MA/MPP, and undergraduate programs should contact:
Students in the EDS MS, IDMA, LDT MS, MA/JD, and PhD minor programs should contact:
Students in the GCE/IEPA MA and MA/MBA programs should contact:
