Friday, 8 February 2019

Is it possible to earn a PhD in mathematics with emphasis in teaching?


I am currently a final year undergraduate, majoring in Pure Mathematics. My aim is to become a Maths lecturer in a university. With this in mind, I need to apply Phd in mathematics in the coming year. However, I'm not the person who likes to do research (not to the extend of hate, but I would not dwell myself for the whole day just to do research) while Phd is mainly research-based.


Question: Is there any university which offers Phd in mathematics with emphasis in teaching? Also, what are the alternatives to become a lecturer in university besides applying Phd in mathematics?


UPDATE: Anonymous Mathematicians mentions 'Doctor of Arts' (DA) in his answer below. Here is the list of graduates from DA program offered by Idaho State University. Don't the data give a sense of difficulties, in such a way that it is difficult to enroll in the DA program? Also, I see most graduates end up working at university.



Answer




The "doctor of arts" degree was created in the 1960's to solve this problem. It's like a PhD, but it doesn't require original research for the dissertation. The goal is to prepare students for teaching careers that do not involve research.


Several universities in the U.S. offer DA degrees in mathematics, but they have never become popular. Many people aren't even aware that such a degree exists, and those who know about it generally consider it inferior to a PhD. Even institutions that do not expect their faculty to conduct any research at all often prefer to hire candidates who have some research experience in the past, in which case they would prefer a PhD to a DA. (And many institutions require at least a little research to get tenure.)


For most people, getting a DA would be a bad idea: the time and effort required are comparable to a PhD, with worse career prospects. However, there are some narrow circumstances in which it could make sense. For example, some institutions (particularly high schools and some community colleges) don't require a doctorate at all but pay a higher salary to faculty with a terminal degree. In that case, a DA might work just as well as a PhD.


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