The Penn Chief Learning Officer program has been designed by University of Pennsylvania faculty and leaders from business, government, NGO, and not-for-profit sectors. The program draws from senior faculty across many of Penn’s world-class graduate schools, including the Wharton School, as well as leading experts from outside the university.

The program includes five academic course blocks that run sequentially over the course of one and one-half years. Three academic blocks are offered per calendar year, and no academic blocks can be waived. The sixth block is taken when students complete their academic requirements and become Ed.D. candidates. It is during this block that students embark on their dissertation research.

Leadership Block:

The Leadership Block advocates that learning leaders play a key role in strategy development and implementation by working closely with CEOs and C-level teams to design growth opportunities for employees. This course is designed to help learning leaders gain a deeper understanding of strategy, build leadership skills, and better communicate the importance of learning to other leaders.

Developing Emotional Intelligence

Diversity and Leadership in the Workplace

Leading, Managing, and Coaching People at Work

Leading and Managing Organizational Change

Building and Utilizing Influence and Credibility

Ethicial Leadership

Communicating the Value of Learning and Performance

Aligning and Integrating Learning and Performance with Organizational Goals

Influencing Senior Leadership to Foster a Learning Environmnet

Learning Block:

The Learning Block explores what it means to be an effective learning and performance leader with a compelling vision for the learning function. This course uses a scientific approach to help learning leaders create informed, purposeful, and dynamic work-based learning environments that can lead to enhanced performance for all employees.

The Relationship between Leadership and Learning

Pedagogy and Curriculum in Adult, Work-Based Learning

Philosophical Underpinnings of Work-Based Learning and Performance

Implications of Diversity for Work-Based Learning

Informal Learning

Work-Based Learning and Learners

Introduction to Organizational Learning

Corporate/Higher Education Partnerships and the Structure of Higher Education

Evaluating Work-Based Performance and Learning

Developing Performance-Based Assessments for Adults

Business Block:

The Business Block helps students understand the link between learning and organizational outcomes by providing core business knowledge about finance, marketing, leadership, and strategy based on current research and best practices. This knowledge prepares learning leaders to create an environment in which strategy, culture, and human potential are fully intertwined and mutually supportive.

Leading and Managing the Learning Function

Knowledge Management

Managerial Accounting

Corporate Finance

Outsourcing and Off-Shoring: The Global Context of Managing Learning

Strategic Marketing of Work-Based Learning (double module)

Project Management and Work-Based Learning

Managing Distributed Learning

Evidence Block:

The Evidence Block provides students with the basic frameworks, skills, and practices needed to critically evaluate research studies and design and conduct their own research. This course prepares students for dissertation research and helps them apply research techniques to their profession.

Research Ethics

The Role of Positionality and Subjectivity in Research

Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Research Design

Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks

Designing Researchable Questions

Research Validity

Data Collection and Analysis Techniques

Transforming Themes into Findings

Technology Block:

The Technology Block exposes students to cutting edge technology and learning practices that are increasingly required in today’s global economy. This course advocates that learning leaders need to develop and implement technology strategies for learning in the context of the overall business as well know how to evaluate the effectiveness of the tools and techniques used for learning.

History of and New Directions in Learning Technologies

Designing Technology-Enabled Learning Environments

Managing Learning Technologies

Using Simulations and Games

Choosing E-Tools: What is the Correct Tool from the Technology Tool Bag?

Emerging Technologies

Security and Privacy in a High-Tech World

Dissertation Block:

The Dissertation Block uses in-person and virtual sessions to prepare students to conduct doctoral-level research and write a dissertation. Students write papers related to researcher positionality, conceptual and theoretical frameworks, major bodies of literature, and research methods. Students complete the block and earn their degree by planning and conducting a research project and successfully reporting and defending their findings and conclusions.

For more information on courses and requirements, visit the Penn Chief Learning Officer Ed.D. program in the University Catalog.