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As my academic progress progresses and I more definitively define my intended contribution to the body of knowledge, this portion of my documentation directly relates to the what, why, who, where, when, and how of my dissertation topic and its intended execution (that is, the execution of writing my paper, not the execution of anyone involved).
To begin with, please allow me to reflect on my journey to date in regards to academic research overall. First, it is not just due to having initiated my Portfolio 1 review on December 19, 2008; but also due to the most wonderful experiences in EDRS 812 and EDIT 797-5T4 the in the Fall 2008 semester which actually led me to be inspired to put down in print what my thoughts, directions, intentions, and aspirations are in regards to research.
From Whence I Came. Beginning with my Master’s in Adult Education from the University of South Florida in 2004, my research focus at that time, which continued to dominate my first semesters at George Mason, was leadership development. Having been a leader in a variety of capacities from very young adulthood through the present time, I was fascinated by the possibility of “packaging” a new approach to leadership development, developed through sound theory, yet proven in practice. Values development played a particular role in my interests, being, I believe, inextricably intertwined with how leaders lead. My research into leadership and its intersection with values led me to investigate beyond the "typical" skills-based (e.g., communication, delegation, strategic-thinking, etc.) or modeled (e.g., Blanchard's Situational Leadership, etc.) approaches to wanting to understand the motivators which led to leadership. Uncovering manners in which and methods by which character and the values undergirding character became uniquely of interest. The rigor of the USF program exposed me particularly to the art and science of literature reviews and theoretical development. I also had the good fortune to be able to volunteer as a qualitative researcher in support of a Ph.D. candidate’s data collection. This latter experience involved a heavy emphasis on collection analysis whereby we had to find a “standard of normalcy” in ranking participant findings among the group of us who were collecting the data. I found that experience very enlightening and became more impassioned with human subjects and educational research. In addition, some exposure to quantitative research led to (genuinely) an enjoyment of crunching numbers in SPSS.
Research Interests Defined and Redefined. Assuming a decidedly new role professionally (please see Professional Ponderings) in 2005 and returning to my roots in the Metropolitan D.C. area, greater clarity to my academic research focus began to emerge as the application of technology in managing very broad learning and development activity became prominent (it’s what paid the bills). Certainly, my interests in values development and leadership still existed and were key elements in my newest management dynamic in the workplace, which often integrated virtual teams separated by several timezones, however technology inserted a new wrinkle. For two semesters I attempted to integrate my new career with my academic methodology in
pursuing a bona-fide Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. I anticipated great growth in multiple facets of my life - academically, professionally, and spiritually - in attending Regent, but soon found that the level of interaction which I desired at this level of study required more facetime with professors than the Regent program afforded.
So it was in the Fall of 2006 that I entered George Mason University, first as a non-degree seeking student,
shifting my focus decidedly toward a degree which was more aligned with my, relatively newfound, professional passion and academic research interests. The intertwining of leadership in the context of eduction, specifically, technology-enabled education, is what now fueled me. In deciding to major in Instructional Technology, I found that I might support my research interests in equally dividing my secondary concentration between courses within the Educational Psychology and Educational Leadership departments.In reviewing my artifacts leading up to Portfolio 1, it became chiefly evident, however, that little noteworthy influence had been introduced for the majority of my GMU accomplishments where I felt compelled to strike off in new or emerging direction(s). EDUC 802 – Leadership Seminar (Spring 2008) was truly the only notable exception whereby, appropriately, individual and group projects both led to an honest critical reflection regarding my academic research interests as a result of the exposure to new authors who provided provoking input - authors who were both published and also sitting next to me in class.
It happened also to be this same semester, however, that I was to experience a fairly significant research-oriented letdown in not successfully completing my first go-around of EDRS 811 – Quantitative Methods in Educational Research.
The coupling of these experiences, along with having the fire in my belly ignited again by two superior facilitator/professors and the topics under investigation in the Fall semester of 2008, led to a whole new student/ researcher identity being discovered within and a refined direction regarding where I would likely apply my energy towards dissertation development (along with continuing to mature my career direction).
The very tactile exposure obtained within EDRS 812 – Qualitative Methods in Educational Reseach so identified with my personality that I am fairly well-convinced that I will consider, at a minimum, a mixed-methods approach to future research. In spite of my first bout with 811 (I actually do like numbers and I actually do like SPSS), I simply found this design of inquiry method more naturally aligned with my personality and character (and I am quite a character). The other half of this recipe was EDIT 797-5T4 – Design Issues in Educational Gaming and Media. If I could make a living doing work like this, and many do, I would. I am convinced, largely through the work of Marc Prensky, that digital game-based learning is not only the next “wave” of instructional design and methodology, I simply agree that it’s how humans are actually "wired" to learn best.
Epiphany Developing. So, over the course of 2009, ever-increasing academic opportunities to weave my interests in Adult Learning Theory (ALT), leadership, and Instructional Systems Design (ISD) presented themselves and a more developed vision in which bona-fide academic research could be conducted began to emerge. In addition, the exposure to the intersection between qualitative and quantitative research, through EDRS 797 - Mixed Methods in Educational Research, also served as additional inspiration that a dissertation was within the realm of the possible as I further investigated how ALT may or may not be present in the development and delivery of online training to Federal government employees.
In the Fall of 2009, the particularly well-facilitated EDEP 652 - Process of Learning & Development offered me the opportunity to truly begin building a framework around a potential dissertation topic which integrated all of the above and previous.
Epiphany Risen. 2010 brought focused, self-directed research activity directly into the spotlight. The efforts spent in EDIT 752 - Design & Implementation of Multimedia/Hypermedia Learning Environments, EDUC 994 - Internship, and EDUC 897 - Independent Study all culminated in defining a primary and a secondary direction for dissertation research.
First, EDIT 752 offered me the chance to apply ALT in ISD in developing and employing a rudimentary, self-constructed instrument (rubric) to evaluate my peers' prototypes. This "dry run" provided a very low baseline of what might be achievable in a dissertation which would both be theoretically sound and also very practical.
EDUC 994 provided a glimpse into GMU leadership of Distance Education (DE) and helped to provide a very institutionalized view of how DE was managed at a post-secondary level. This insight furthered my understanding of leadership in this environment.
Finally, EDUC 897 allowed for reading numerous recent works on changes in leadership resulting, in large part, due to the advent of the information age and technology adoption. This, largely self-directed, assignment further served to inspire me towards what was now gelling as a possible direction for dissertation research.
Coupled together with a continuing professional career ladder climb, the basis for a few research hypotheses to be tested has emerged. These are presented on the page labeled Analytical Thinking.
To Get Where I Am Going. In regards to research competencies which need to be further developed, I believe that EDRS 797 and EDIT 752 have provided an adequate basis for designing the research method for a dissertation which would provide the value which I intend to produce towards this body of knowledge. The greatest challenge I foresee is the design of a more robust rubric than that which was developed for EDIT 752 for dissertation use. In combination with developing a interview protocol which adds to the study, this is where I believe I may need additional guidance.
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