Evaluating a Model to Increase Doctorate Program Completion Rates: A Focus on Social Connectedness and Structure (original) (raw)
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Internet and Higher Education, 2009
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The Development and Validation of the Distance Doctoral Program Integration Scale
2020
Research indicates academic integration and social integration are predictors of doctoral student persistence at any program stage. However, researchers have not defined, operationalized, and measured academic or social integration consistently. Further, no instruments exist that specifically measure both academic and social integration of doctoral students in distance programs. The purpose of this research was to define distance doctoral program integration, and in turn, develop and analyze the structure, validity, and reliability of the Distance Doctoral Program Integration Scale. Instrument development followed a multi-step process including expert review, pilot test, and exploratory factor analysis. Instrument reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest. The results indicated a three-factor structure (i.e., faculty integration, student integration, and curriculum integration) . The 32-item instrument is valid and reliable, measuring program integration of doc...
Predictors of Online Doctoral Student Success: A Quantitative Study
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Online doctoral education is expanding; however, there is a paucity of research on the predictors of student success in these programs. Institutional leaders struggle to provide the academic environment and interventions to help online doctoral students make continual progress and complete their doctoral research, especially in open enrollment environments. In this study, a primarily online doctoral-granting institution undertook significant financial and philosophical investments, in the form of modified processes and interventions, to support student success in completing their doctoral research. To better understand the impact of these investments, this study used student intervention and progress data to analyze which interventions were predictors of online doctoral student success as measured by accelerated progression. Specifically, both the shift from a dissertation to an applied research study and student participation in an intensive, research focused workshop supported student success. Future research should be conducted to determine if these results are generalizable to other programs and also to determine if an in-person or a virtual intensive workshop is more conducive to student success. Predictors of Online Doctoral Student Success: A Quantitative Study In primarily doctoral-granting institutions, it is critical to have provisions to ensure high rates of student success to promote institutional viability (Shaw, Burrus, & Ferguson, 2016; Shaw, Thorne, Duffy, Fore, & Clowes, 2015). Non-traditional doctoral candidates present unique challenges including life constraints that hinder program completion (Yasmin, 2013), but also bring motivational characteristics that can increase program completion (Gonzales-Moreno, 2012). Non-traditional programs also present an opportunity to emphasize a key predictor in student completion; faculty-student engagement (Berry, 2018; Gonzales-Moreno, 2012). Researchers have explored reasons why students leave online education, including those enrolled in doctoral programs (Zepke & Leach, 2010; Shaw, Burrus, & Ferguson, 2016). Researchers have also presented solutions that encourage student retention and bolster academic quality through faculty engagement in online contexts (Zepke & Leach, 2010). More research is needed, however, on predictors of online doctoral student success so a multifold strategy can be adopted by institutions to better promote online doctoral student progress and completion.
Improving Social Belonging to Increase Success in an Online Doctorate Program
Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice
Institutions of higher education have long been plagued with difficulty in overcoming the high rates of incompletion of candidates who enroll in doctoral programs. As we continue to move through the post-pandemic era, online course delivery in doctoral programs continues to rise which brings an added layer of difficulty for EdD students to persist beyond their required coursework in the online environment (Rockinson-Szapkiw et al., 2019). As a result, it is incumbent upon online EdD program directors and faculty to not only identify barriers to online doctoral student success, but to also find solutions. In summer of 2020, a regional state university in the southeast accepted its inaugural class of doctoral students into a new higher education concentration of their existing on-ground K-12 EdD program. During the past few years between the program’s original design and inception, faculty have been examining factors related to doctoral student belongingness, from initial coursework t...
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Quality Considerations in the Design and Implementation of Online Doctoral Programs.
Kumar, S. (2014). Quality Considerations in the Design and Implementation of Online Doctoral Programs. Inaugural Issue of Journal of Online Doctoral Education, 1(1), 6-22.
This article presents one approach to the design and implementation of a quality online doctoral program in which students engage in a community of inquiry to connect theory, research, and practice. Based on research in an online professional doctorate in education, faculty presence, social presence, cognitive presence, and learning presence (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001), online doctoral environments are discussed along with other considerations such as the provision of support for information literacy support, research preparation, and faculty mentoring. The discussion of online doctoral program quality and design is applicable to online doctoral programs and professional doctorates in all disciplines.
The Doctoral Quest: Managing Variables that Impact Degree Completion
2018
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact thinkir@louisville.edu. Original Publication Information Gittings, Glenn, Mathew J. Bergman and Kobena Osam. "The Doctoral Quest: Managing Variables That Impact Degree Completion." 2018 Journal of Higher Education Management 33(2): 28-37. http://shura.shu.ac.uk/23673/1/JHEM\_2018\_33-2.pdf#page=35
Reflections on Best Practices for a Successful Online Doctoral Program
Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design
The popularity, convenience, and professional acceptance of attaining online degrees account for an increase in enrollment in online courses from undergraduate through doctoral levels. This chapter includes discussion of how the option of choosing a digital doctoral degree experience may enhance or diminish the progress of completing a terminal degree. Additionally, this chapter contains a brief description of the structure and organization of the Educational Technology Leadership doctoral program at New Jersey City University (NJCU), focusing on the challenges and best practices related to the classes and the coursework and how the professors interact with the students. The main thrust of the chapter will be a discussion of the best practices within this program as well as suggestions for improvement. Finally, the authors, members of this program's first cohort, provide recommendations for a successful online doctoral program that meets the needs of all students.
Higher Learning Research Communications
Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively describe and justify the case design of an approach for the integration of synchronous virtual meetings to support nontraditional online doctoral candidates. As more nontraditional doctoral students are completing their degree programs virtually through online universities, the nature of their degree progression and the development of critical knowledge and skills differ from traditional on-campus programs. Method: The case design of an approach to integrating synchronous online interactive meetings to support these learners is identified and justified through references to research in the learning sciences including sociocultural learning, heutagogy, and constructivist instructional design methods. The instructional design process resulted in a scaled schedule of interactions linked to the development of specific cognitive processes, academic skills, and expert knowledge required by doctoral candidates for successful compl...