June 10 Announcements

All Project #2 papers have been reviewed, so please take a moment to examine the feedback provided.

​I really enjoyed reading about the instructional experienced analyzed in Project #2. Most of you chose to analyze a professional development experience you recently designed and/or conducted, though some chose a lesson experience from your good old days of real teaching. 

For some of the analyses, I suggested a slightly deeper dive into specific cognitivist principles associated with Gagne’s instructional strategies, social cognitive theory, or cognitive load. I mentioned these in the feedback for quite a few projects because I was trying to support the continued development of a theoretical approach to what MAY become part of your future research. I did suggest to quite a few students that studying the instructional interventions described would make excellent dissertation topics.

The reason why I mention this specifically is that I will be teaching some of you again next summer in EDET 850: Program Evaluation. This course provides a methodological framework for designing a program evaluation that will help you answer questions about the effects of your interventions on al stakeholders (foremost, your target population of learners). Many methods used in programs are identical to the general research methods you will learn more about in your quantitative and qualitative research courses. In fact, the only difference between program evaluation and research is the purpose of the study. Evaluations help you determine whether or not your interventions are effective AND/OR whether or not they should be continued. This is, no doubt, a very important part of the professional practice of educational leaders.

I also want to communicate that you are free to use the intervention you described for Project #2 in your Project #3 if you do plan to use it as part of your dissertation study. ​