The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate

This summer Gaetane Jean-Marie asked us to write a chapter for a book she and her colleagues at University of Oklahoma are publishing on graduate education. We framed the chapter around principles we used to design our EdD program and lessons we learned while trying to implement those principles.

Three general principles and two key lessons learned are listed in the section that follows. (Click on "View Full version" to see the list.) These principles and lessons are explained more fully in the pre-publication manuscript attached to this note.

Principle 1: An EdD program is most effective when it (a) uses learners’ experience-based mental models as a foundation for a program of study and (b) helps learners to understand the limits of using these mental models in their thinking, reasoning, and decision-making.

Principle 2: An effective EdD program (a) engages learners in experiences that yield COBS reactions, (b) is structured so that these experiences have the qualities outlined in the research on deliberate practice, and (c) is designed to help learners build the analogical reasoning skills they will need to learn best from these experiences, and (d) help learners become skilled at self-regulating their own learning.

Principle 3: An effective EdD program engages learners in settings that (a) support collaboration among learners; (b) engage individuals in ongoing inquiry into problems of practice, (c) focus efforts on a common performance goal, and (d) provide multiple opportunities for learners to use the skills and knowledge gained in their courses.

Lesson 1: In an effective EdD program instructors work together to link all activities from the first course through the capstone project into an integrated series of learning cycles that enhance students’ ability to conceptualize problems of practice.

Lesson 2: In an effective EdD program instructors help candidates construct concept maps as a tool to help them integrate ideas from the readings, applications of these ideas in a school district, and their prior experience into a complex analysis of their POPs.

We're looking forward to discussing these in more detail at the October convening.

Barry

10/16/09: I added to this post an updated version of the book chapter and an article I wrote on how research on the human brain may be related to some of the principles we are using in our EdD Program.