R795: Dissertation Proposal Preparation (Spring
2023)
IST Department, IU School of Education
Section 6143 (Online Version);
Section 10381 (Face-to-Face)
Syllabus: http://curtbonk.com/r795_2023.htm
My
homepage: http://curtbonk.com/
Zoom (Optional Synchronous Sessions): To Be Shared
Course
Files Dropbox
Spring 2023
Course
Link to Canvas: http://canvas.iu.edu/; https://iu.instructure.com/courses/2118946
Instructor:
Professor Curt Bonk, Indiana University, IST Dept, Email: cjbonk@indiana.edu
Instructional
Assistant: Sunmi Seol, IST Doctoral Candidate, sunseol@iu.edu
Course Overview
This
course is designed
for advanced doctoral
students who are close to completing the requirements for the Ph.D.
or Ed.D. in Instructional Systems
Technology (IST). Students
should view this course as an opportunity to develop plans for empirical
research in IST. An operating
assumption is that you will develop a research plan that can be applied
to future dissertation work. Note that Ed.D.
students will also be preparing for your qualifying exams.
Course Description and Purpose
In this course, you will develop the central components of a
viable dissertation study proposal. Ph.D. students might address some big
weighty topic or thorny issue in a particular field or area that has come into
the limelight or attempt to design a new instrument or model. That is called
the “make a difference in the world” dissertation. These dissertations are
rare. More likely, a dissertation might narrow on a specific gap or opening for
their research focus. That is called a “smart dissertation.” Sometimes
dissertations take advantage of convenient data or sample population or both
even though one not fully passionately committed to the study. That is often
called a “get it done” dissertation.
Typically, the dissertations of Ed.D. students apply theory
to practice. They often will not build knowledge to be generalized across
populations or contexts, but it can be used within the context where they carry
out their empirical study. At the same time, the dissertation of an Ed.D.
student will not simply be a large project; it will be a scholarly effort in
which you bring theory to bear on a problem or question situated within a
specific context. Consequently, identification of that problem or context will
occur first, followed by your identification and exploration of the appropriate
constructs, frameworks, and theories applicable to that problem or context.
Then you will consider the design of your proposed study—the research methods
to be used, population, instruments, timing, specific research questions, etc.
This sequence will form the structure of the course.
If you have come into the course with an idea for your study
already in mind, then you will use the course structure to examine and build
out that idea into your full proposal. Each situation is different. There is no
one size that fits all. But this course can help you in general. You will get a
chance to see samples of prospectuses and proposals. And you will hear from a
few recent students how they succeeded; I will invite a few of them in Zoom.
Advice and Observations
Write down the nubs or kernels of research ideas as they
come up. Each article you read will have open issues and some will suggest
future directions. If you find one interesting, write it down and note the author(s),
article title, journal, and page number. Personally, I did this and had 68
dissertation ideas when I was ready to dissertate. I went with idea #46 with
combined two previous ideas; my dissertation was on computer prompts
(generative and evaluative) and the development of middle school children’s
writing; my colleague and I developed a keystroke mapping program to record
student writing sessions. Having some ideas on paper will build your
confidence. Share those ideas with friends, family members, professors, your
advisor(s), and anyone willing to listen, even Uber and Lyft drivers (you’ll be
amazed at what they know).
When you are planning research, you may find that your
interests change or are modified. Researchers change questions all the time;
that is to be expected. You read some new technical reports and journal articles
and it excites your passions. You will also refine your ideas and focus them a
bit. In addition, when you are planning research situated in the context of an
organization and institution, you may find that their projects, processes, or
interests have also changed. Due to these changes you might not get approval
for your original idea but can slightly modify it and it will be approved. You
have to consider the people and their territory or turf and be sensitive to
controversial topics or age groups.
Still other considerations are what your advisor prefers or
has experience with. When working with your advisor, you will often find that
new and relevant ideas and directions come up; these will sometimes necessitate
re-thinking, re-work, and re-writing. However, you do not need to pursue every
area of interest or expertise of your advisor. In fact, he or she will greatly appreciate
it if you can find your own personal quest; handholding students through a
dissertation process is a dreadful feeling. Still, advisors will have many sage
suggestions for changes at timely moments in the process. Listen to them and
decide what ones you want to do. Of course, this rethinking and re-envisioning is
a natural part of the research process, not a problem or mistake that you or
the advisor has made.
Goals and Objectives
A fundamental course goal is for students to refine their
ability to plan and articulate a research project that should yield a dissertation
idea and ultimately a publishable product. It will therefore be ideal for
students to develop a realistic dissertation question and associated
methodological plan. I will arrange for optional synchronous sessions in Zoom
with guest experts and former students so you can learn something about the
process. Students are also responsible for communication with their research
advisors between meetings. Please talk to them and share
your progress.
Students should leave the course with a draft of a
research prospectus that is similar to Chapters 1 and 3 of a dissertation,
assuming a standard five-chapter dissertation model is followed.
·
Chapter 1 –
Is an overview and justification of the research questions
·
Chapter 2 – A
review of the related literature
·
Chapter 3 –
Methodological plan
·
Chapter 4 –
Analyses
·
Chapter 5 –
Conclusions
As noted earlier, as with all research, dissertation plans
are subject to change pending refinement of thinking and alteration of the
context in which a study will be conducted. Indeed, almost all aspects of any
given research project will evolve over time. For this reason, students should
not expect that the course will yield a final draft of a research proposal.
Indeed, active scholars should also be: (1) pondering what is known and unknown
in their field; (2) considering what knowledge or findings should be advanced;
(3) working out how to answer new questions that came up; and (4) pondering about
and preparing for their dissertation outlets. Therefore, although it will be
ideal for students to leave the course with a solid dissertation idea and some
writing accomplished, the more fundamental goal is to gain experience with
research planning.
The second big goal here is for you to practice working on
qualifying exams. Ed.D. students will spend some time on these exercises. I
have several sample questions and preparation ideas but do not list them in the
syllabus.
Individual Consultations in Zoom
I will hold nearly weekly sessions in Zoom (https://IU.zoom.us/j/8123222878) during
the semester to learn from prior students and other experts about doing
dissertation research. The date of those Zoom sessions will change every week;
but most likely they will be early in the week (dates listed in the syllabus
are placeholders, as the dates may change). These promise to be fun and
information. They will help you in forming research questions, doing a
literature review, collecting data, and doing a dissertation defense. Anyone can
show up the Zoom sessions. After each presentation, I will be available for
individual consultations with any students needing help. You are welcome to sit
in on other students’ consultations.
In addition, 1-2 consultations during the semester with your
academic advisor are mandatory. Please keep your advisor updated on your
progress. While this class helps you prepare for the dissertation, your advisor
is a primary stakeholder in your success; he or she may disagree with my
suggestions. I have served on over 100 completed dissertations and no
dissertation suggestions are ever unanimous; you have a “committee” for a
reason. Each member will help you refine, expand, and enhance your ideas.
The best outcome is that you will complete a draft proposal in
this class that is ready to be reviewed when you form your research committee.
Your advisor will not expect frequent requests for consultation, but he or she
should expect that you will contact him/her by phone or Zoom/Skype at least
once during this course and more often after it. Your consultations will be
most productive if you send material to be reviewed in advance, together with
some questions you have about the current or future state of your work toward
the proposal.
Discussion Forum (NA;
instead, fill out the Google Doc by January 13)
There will be no regular discussions in this class. I would
rather you create a personal blog about your reflections. However, there may be
some impromptu discussions depending on student interests and expectations. I
want you all to complete this Google
Doc by January 13 listing your advisor and dissertation committee members, professional/research
interests, proposed dissertation topic and timeline, place where you were born as
well as the place you want to live in the future, and 3-5 of your personal
hobbies.
Student Info:
Fall of 2022 (examples): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pKn1f_YupJZtj_Fkc2d1x2HOPwyFHpaz-wz4QI66vGY/edit#gid=0
Spring of 2023: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pgtudL5s-DjIHk3lNkWLttYdkaUCN6boIrCdvG7kKxc/edit?usp=sharing
Readings and Task Examples: You select your own weekly
readings. Seminal weekly optional readings for this course are in Dropbox
for Spring 2023. You will at least want to download them. I will send you the
link. I hope to put some task examples and the slides from the weekly Zoom
guests in Dropbox
in Spring 2023 as well. Note old Fall of 2022 Dropbox
files.
Course Structure:
This course reflects two sections combined into one: R795 on campus
and R795 online. The bulk what we do will take place online. All assignments are due Tuesday
by 11:59 pm unless otherwise indicated. There is a three-day grace period on all assignments.
1.
Develop a realistic, sole-authored dissertation question and associated methodological plan with guidance
from the faculty
member expected to direct
your dissertation. The R795 instructor will help with general issues
in conceptualizing research
problems and in writing your proposal.
2.
Complete the 7 required deliverables.
3.
PhD students only: participate in your Third Dossier Review within six weeks of the end of the semester
or within six weeks of the beginning
of the next semester (with your program advisory committee).
4.
Articulate next steps (to include
IRB approval).
Submission and
Grading:
For Tasks #1-7,
please submit to Canvas assignments in Word. Make sure it is editable by me so
do NOT post a PDF). These must be in APA format (APA #6 or #7) and have your
name on them and a title matching the assignment.
I tend to use
rubrics for grading. Given this is the only third time that I am teaching this
course. I will put some examples that I have in Dropbox
for Spring 2023. Typically, I look for clarity, flow and logic, completeness,
originality, relevance, etc.
Tasks/Assignments
|
Points
|
Due Dates + 72 hour grace
|
Take plagiarism test and email
Dr. Bonk with interests
|
A couple of bonus points
|
January 13
|
1.
Statement
of Research Goals
|
20 points
|
January 17
|
2.
Research
Questions
|
20 points
|
January 24
|
3.
Research
Design and Sampling Plan
|
30 points
|
February 21
|
4.
Analysis
Plan
|
30 points
|
March 21
|
5.
Draft of
Prospectus
|
60 points
|
April 11 or 18
|
6.
Blog/Journal
Reflection or Reading Reflections
|
50 points
|
April 4
|
7.
Quals
Practice or Former Student Interview
|
30 points
|
April 4
|
Total Points
|
240 points
|
|
GRADING SCALE:
A
|
A-
|
B+
|
B
|
B-
|
C+
|
C
|
C-
|
D…
|
95-100
224 Points
|
90-94
216 Points
|
87-89
208 Points
|
83-86
199 Points
|
80-83
192 Points
|
77-79
185 Points
|
74-77
178 Points
|
70-73
168 Points
|
<70
|
Course Schedule
All topics, readings, due dates, and assignments subject
to change. I will try to host
evening meetings online as well that are optional. Reminder Zoom: https://IU.zoom.us/j/8123222878
Week
|
Primary Topics
|
Readings & Assignments*
|
Week 1: January 10
|
-
Course introductions and orientation
-
Plagiarism
and copyright
Readings
theme: Making Research Matter
|
DUE by January 13– 1. Plagiarism Tutorial or Paper (optional) and 2. Email
to me and 3. Google Doc introductions.
Zoom: Orientation meeting with
IST alums Dr. Cherisse Mahabir-Cletus and Dr. Jennifer Park (Tuesday January 10
at 6 pm EST).
|
Week 2:
January 17
|
-
On your own reading / research
-
How do I know if I’m making
a scholarly contribution?
-
Constructs, research gaps,
research problem statement, etc.
Readings theme: Developing a Research Agenda
|
DUE January 17 - Task #1: Statement of Research Goals
Zoom Mtg on tips on quals exam
and proposal writing with Ed.D. students Sunmi Seol and Zihang Shao (Tuesday January
17 at 6 pm EST)
|
Week 3: January 24
|
-
On your own reading / research
-
Research
questions
Readings theme: Designing and Evaluating Research
|
DUE January 24
- Task #2: Research Questions
Zoom mtg tips on quals, dissertation
proposal, and dissertation defense with former IST alums Dr. Shuya Xu and Yue
Ma and Mengyuan Zhao (Tuesday January 24 at 6 pm EST)
|
Week 4: January 31
|
-
On your own reading / research
Readings theme: Design Based Research (DBR) Educational Design
Research (EBR)
|
Zoom Mtg with Alyssa Friend Wise
from NYU. “Ask Alyssa Anything” about Design Based
Research (DBR), qualitative tools, and learning analytics. Tuesday January 31
at 6 pm EST.
|
Week 5: February 7
|
-
On your own reading / research
Readings theme: Writing and Crafting
|
Zoom Mtg with Ed.D. graduate
Dr. Erin Crisp and Dr. Angie Leuchtmann on turning your quals into a
publication and defending proposal and your dissertation on Tuesday February
7 at 6 pm EST.
|
Week 6: February 14
|
-
On your own reading
/ research
-
Sampling + more
Readings
theme: Case Study Methods
|
Zoom Mtg: Adam Mills, IU IRB,, Ask Adam Anything about
research, Tuesday February 14 at 6 pm.;
7:15
“Ask Me
Anything” about
research.
|
Week 7: February 21
|
-
On your own reading / research
Readings theme: Qualitative Methods
|
DUE February 21 - Task #3: Research Design & Sampling Plan
1:1 Consultation meetings in
Zoom as arranged with Curt Bonk (date and time to be determined).
|
Week 8: February 28
|
-
On your own reading / research
Readings theme: Systematic Reviews of the Research
|
Zoom Mtg Tuesday February 28 at
6 pm with Dr. Vanessa Dennen, Florida State University, Topic: Conducting systematic
reviews.
|
Week 9: March 7
|
-
On your own reading / research
-
Analysis
Readings theme: Data Analysis
|
Zoom Mtg Tuesday
March 7 at 6 pm EST with IST Alum Dr. Merve Basdogan (10 tips on literature
reviews and 10 tips on forming research questions).
|
Week 10: March 21
|
-
On your own reading / research
Readings theme: Mixed Methods
|
DUE March 21 - Task #4: Analysis Plan
Zoom Mtg with Dr. John
Hitchcock. “Ask John Anything” about mixed methods (and other) research. Tuesday March 21 at 6 pm EST.
|
Week 11:
March 28
|
-
On your own reading
/ research
-
Analysis, Alignment (& more)
Readings
theme: Hypothesis Testing
|
Zoom
session: Tuesday March 28 with IST recent graduate, Dr. Chaoran Wang (10 tips
on presenting & defending dissertation and 10 tips on collecting data for
dissert & communicating).
|
Week 12: April 4
|
-
On your own reading
/ research
Readings
theme:
Writing Advice Part 1
|
Due April
4: Task #6: Blog Reflection or Readings Reflection
Due April 4: Task #7:
Practice Quals or Interview
Zoom Mtg on Tuesday April 4 at
6 pm EST for IST alums, Dabae Lee and Yeol Huh, Kennesaw State University, to
present on writing tips.
Curt Bonk and Meina Zhu present
on academic writing Part I
|
Week 13: April 11
|
-
On your own reading / research
Readings
theme:
Writing Advice Part 2: The G3 of
Writing: Gentle Guidelines, Great Stories, & Gigantic Scholarly gains.
|
DUE April 11 or 18- Task #5: Draft
Prospectus
Zoom
Mtg on Tuesday April 11 at 6 pm EST for Curt Bonk and Meina Zhu to present G3
of writing advice
|
Week 14: April 18
|
-
On your own reading / research
-
Reflect on your own reading research
Readings
theme:
Writing Advice Part 3
|
DUE April 11 or 18- Task #5: Draft
Prospectus
1:1 Consultation meetings in
Zoom as arranged with Curt Bonk (date and time to be determined).
|
Week 15: April 25
|
Theme: Putting things
together…
|
Zoom
mtg to meet, share, and discuss drafts of prospectus (with Cherisse Mahabir-Cletus and
Jennifer Park and other special guests) on Tuesday April 25 at 6 pm.
|
Administrative
and Course Polices
Students with Disabilities: The Adaptive Technology
and Accessibility Centers at IUB provide a wide range of services for students
with disabilities, including adaptive hardware and adaptive software, creation
of electronic text from print media, conversion
of print to MP3 format, and more. http://www.indiana.edu/~iuadapts/
Lateness: I have a 72 hour (3 day) lateness policy
with no penalties for any assignment. So if it says it is due Tuesday at
midnight, you actually have until Friday at midnight to turn it in without
penalty. Assignments are to be submitted through Canvas by 11:55 pm Eastern
Time on the designated date, unless otherwise stated.
Incompleteness, Copyright,
Plagiarism, and Original Work: I expect personally created highly unique and
original work on all assignments. Please acquaint yourself with the “IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities,
and Conduct” for the concept of plagiarism. If you are unsure of the
rules and regulations regarding plagiarism, you can take a self-paced course on Understanding
Plagiarism from Dr. Ted Frick from the IST department. This website is devoted
to teaching people about plagiarism and it has tutorials and tests (info). Any assignment containing
plagiarized material will be awarded a grade of F. No incompletes will be
awarded unless there is an emergency or mutually agreed upon reason. See: https://plagiarism.iu.edu/
Professional Responsibilities: The course is structured so that students
develop inter-related products
that will culminate in a draft proposal. You are expected
to continue to refine your ideas, as well as incorporate feedback
from me and your advisor(s)
in your subsequent drafts. In some cases, I may ask for resubmissions prior to moving forward; this is not punitive but, rather, a natural part of the research process.
R795 Course Tasks
Extra
Tasks (on or before January 13):
Part
1. Plagiarism tutorial (https://plagiarism.iu.edu/). In the first
week on the course (January 13) send to me a certificate of completion to
Canvas. I will give you two bonus points. If you have already taken the IU Plagiarism tutorial, you are to write 2-4
paragraphs (maximum of one page single spaced paper) of what you remember about
plagiarism and why it is important. You too will get two bonus points for that
paper.
Part 2: Google Docs
Introductions. Also on or before January 13, I want you all to post to
introduce yourself in Google
Docs. Please include things like your advisor and dissertation committee
members, professional/research interests, proposed dissertation topic and
timeline, place where you were born as well as the place you want to live in
the future, and 3-5 of your personal hobbies. There are no bonus points for
this task. Tell us about your professional interests, your hobbies and other
interests, where you live, and what you do for a living.
Task #1. Statement of Research
Goals (Due: January 17, 20 points)
This should address the kind of knowledge you hope to build over the first several years of your post-doctoral career, and the impact you want that knowledge to have in the world. Your plans to increase
knowledge should be contextualized – for whom will the results of your research be useful, or who will be impacted
by those results? If you anticipate that the results of your research will impact theory itself, what area of theory? What theory in particular? What kind of theory is it? How might you approach several
years of study anticipating the accomplishment of your goals? To Submit: Write one or two
paragraphs addressing the questions above. This is the long-view and broad-brush
structure that communicates how you think about your problem or issue and your
potential contributions.
Task #2. Research Questions
(Due: January 24, 20 points)
You should nominate a research
question or questions that are well rooted in prior research literature. The questions you develop
should make sense given what is known in your specific area of inquiry.
That is, the questions must be well articulated and justified. The questions and your
reasons for asking them should be clear to an expert in your field and a general audience.
You must vet questions with your primary
advisor. To Submit: Provide me with a document
that briefly introduces and justifies your questions. What is the gap in our understanding? What is the problem statement? What is the purpose? Add to that 1-2 paragraphs in
which you define critical terms, give examples where necessary, and
identify the main theories your work is connected to. Add to that 3-5
knowledge claims that you are working on developing right now. This is just a
listing to give me a sense of the logic of your ideas. I'm just looking for
your logic and idea progression. One of your knowledge claims should lead
directly to your research problem in the form of either a tension,
contradictory research findings, unsettled idea, or under-researched area. This
should be no more than two pages single spaced.
Task #3. Research Design and
Sampling Plan (Due: February 21, 30 points)
This purpose of this assignment is to show the
refinement and development of your ideas. One page single spaced for the
refined research questions, research design, context, etc. and one page on your
sampling plan. Below are the basic elements
that will be refined given your questions
and context.
Refined Research Questions: Based on my feedback and your
advisor’s, you should refine your research questions and critically reflect of
what's feasible. No more than a paragraph.
Research Design. This
is no more than a paragraph or two that describes the study design
you are imagining right now - this will likely change as your ideas are
refined. In your paragraph include the following.
Qualitative study: the overall
study design (i.e., Case Study), the assumptions you are making about your
study, and the specific ways in which your study is this type of design.
Quantitative study: the
dependent and independent variables under study, the assumptions you need to
meet, the ways you will maximize power, and the hypothesis you are working
from.
Mixed Methods: any of the
following might apply: variables, ways to address/understand your research
questions, assumptions, or similar. What are you trying to understand and how
does it warrant mixed methods?
Context. Describe
the context under which your study will take place. What type of organization,
group, or institution (and one or many)? How big is it? Link this back to your
research questions - why is it important to conduct the study in this setting?
What are some nuances to know about with regard to this setting?
Sampling Plan: This should
typically be no more than one page single spaced. Describe your sampling plan,
logistics, and sample characteristics.
Describe your population of interest and how you will get a sample.
·
What characteristics should the sample have?
·
For those of you planning a qualitative study, there are a number of related considerations you will need to articulate.
·
Why are you selecting/pursuing a sample with these features? That is, what broader population do you intend
to generalize back to (or reflect)?
·
Consider issues
of external validity,
generalization (probabilistic and logical), and transferability.
How will you measure/understand sample characteristics?
·
Why have you chosen
to measure these specific characteristics?
·
What materials do you need?
·
What will you need to develop?
·
What is an adequate sample size given your research question?
·
How do you know this is adequate?
(From a statistical point of view, this is largely a matter of power. From a more qualitative point of view, this is largely a matter of logic and data saturation, such as consistently getting the same names when obtaining a snowball sample [or chaining].)
Logistics: Generate a realistic sampling
plan.
·
How will you recruit
the sample?
·
What features of your data collection plan can you put in to limit non-response and/or absentees (e.g., plans to revisit an organization or someone’s home if part of your sample wasn’t
around the first day)?
·
What records will you keep to adequately report
and otherwise handle
problems of non-response?
Note: that
you will not collect any actual data in the confines of this course. The reason for this is because
data collection requires
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
approval and we will not have the time for this endeavor.
Depending on your circumstances you may however
wish to begin
the process of seeking IRB approval.
Task #4. An Analysis
Plan (Due: March 21, 30 points)
Once you get the data, how will you analyze it in a way that should answer your questions? Be sure to articulate best practices from related methodological literature (e.g., statistical, qualitative, mixed methods,
etc.) so as to justify
your plan. Cite the
relevant literature. To Submit:
Two pages single spaced with an analysis plan and a reflection on the analysis
plan.
Data Sources:
Discuss each data source separately
along with the purpose of each data source. What does each source inform?
·
If
qualitative: describe the interviews, observations, documents, etc.
·
If
quantitative: describe the dependent/independent variables, criterion measures,
instruments, etc.
·
If mixed
methods, you should have one or more of each. Describe the sequence; which
comes first?
Data Analysis:
·
What is your
unit of analysis? (individual, team, classroom, course, organization, etc.)
·
How the data
informs your research questions.
·
How the data
will be analyzed: coding plan, codes from previous studies, examples of codes
you plan on studying, etc.
Task #5. Draft of Prospectus
(Due: April 11 or 18, 60 points)
This is what you have been waiting for—the grant
finale. Here, you are to pull together the elements in a coherent plan that follows
current APA formatting expectations and is fully referenced. This should be chapters 1 (introduction) and 3 (methods).
Combine Task #2: Intro, Research
Context, and Questions, Task #3: Research Design & Sampling Plan, and Task
#4: Data Sources & Analysis. Then add a projected timeline and any
appendices.
To Submit (in addition to
Prospectus): Then add a 1-2 page personal reflection on the process and
progress of your dissertation. In it, you will speculate on what will you
practically need to pull off this dissertation. How feasible is it in reality?
What will this look like in the world? What assumptions are you making? How
will you recruit? What do you imagine is the knowledge you will contribute (in
other words, what new insights and deeper understandings will we gain)? What is
your plan B if you can’t put the pieces into place for this study?
Task #6 (Pick one of the three options below)
Task #6a. Blog or Wiki Journal Entries (April 4, 50
points)
In this option, you will keep a weekly (or however often you
want to post) log of research thoughts and ideas. Your research log should
include any of the following that are applicable on a given day:
·
Aha moments
and moments of insights.
·
Important
contact and connections and building up of your professional network.
·
Record of
interviews, discussions, document reviews, and other activities aimed at
identifying appropriate problem/context.
·
Internet or
library searches you conduct as you pursue constructs, frameworks and theories
– include the terms you are using for such searches.
·
References
(APA style) for articles and books you have identified and expect to use
in your proposal (not everything you have read, which should be a good deal
more than what you use).
·
New thoughts
and ideas about your dissertation project.
·
Reflections
on how the work is going and fine tunings that need to be made.
·
Thoughts on
strengths and weaknesses of the material you have found addressing the
constructs of your interest.
To Submit: A link to your blog or journal and a two-page
single spaced reflection on what you learned from your blog. This is a
meta-reflection of key themes.
Task #6b: Reading and Exploration Reflections
(April 4, 50 points)
You are reading extensively in a
self-directed manner this semester about a topic or a research method. What did you learn about your topic or
research method? Why is research on it important? What do you still have left
to know? Are you excited? To Submit: This will be a 2-3 page single
spaced paper plus a bibliography related to your research topic with at least
30 references and other appendices.
Task #6c: Student Self-created
Similar (SSS) Option (April 4, 50 points)
You are to design your own task
similar to 6a or 6b.
Task #7 (Pick one of the three options
below)
Task #7. Ed.D. Students Quals Practice (April 4, 30
points)
If you have not yet taken the EdD qualifying exam, you will
have the chance to practice in this course. You will have most of the semester
to do this. There are two questions, one patterned after each of the regular
Department Questions. I will start these at a scheduled time. You have only 3.5
hours to finish and submit your answer to each question. This is the authentic
format for the quals, which is an important element of the practice. You will
be writing a paper for each question. I recommend you open Word or your
favorite word processor before you start, with a blank document open. Open a
browser window for searching, and tabs for any other resources you normally
use. Get your copy of the APA Manual, 6th or 7th edition
and make sure it is close at hand. Find a timer – from the kitchen or on your
phone maybe. You can set a warning timer if you want, or just keep track of the
amount of time you have left after you begin. If you are going to want drinks
or snacks, get them now to have nearby. Silence your phone – and your
family/roommate/pets, if appropriate. This is going to be a sprint. However, if
your house catches fire during the practice, or your appendix bursts, you can
try again. To Submit: Turn in these two papers to Canvas. You can turn
this one in anytime.
Task #7b. Ph.D. Students Interview of a Former Student (April
4, 30 points)
I want you to interview a former (Ed.D. or Ph.D.) about
their prospectus, proposal, and final dissertation. Just ask me for a list of
IST alum names and emails. What lessons did they learn? What advice does he or
she have? What were the problems did they encounter? To Submit: Write
this up as a 2-page single-spaced paper and post it to Canvas. You can turn
this in anytime.
Task #7c: Student Self-created
Similar (SSS) Option (April 4, 30 points)
You are to design your own task
similar to 7a or 7b, but it could also be a visual of some kind.