The IFS is unique to the IOE EdD programme. The study is presented as a 20,000 word report and its intention is to show that you can complete a piece of research within a professional setting. Although not compulsory, most students complete the IFS within their employing institution, and as such it provides excellent experience of being an ‘insider researcher’.
I chose to do my research on the retention of students within the College of Estate Management and the reasons why some drop out. I had already looked at this in respect of first year degree students for the MOE2 assignment. I titled my study ‘Towards Quality Improvement: Mapping Student Drop Out Against The Student Value Chain’ as I was interested to know at what point in their journey through the College they dropped out. My aim was to follow this up with identifying the reasons and thereby the actions that the College could take to remedy these where possible. I started by analysing the data that the College holds on students and used submission of assessed work (assignments and exams) to identify the point at which students dropped out of study.
Originally I had intended to send a questionnaire out to all drop out students to discover their reasons but this was blocked within the College. Negativity in the question phrasing and lack of resources were the reasons cited. This was an unexpected move and demonstrated one of the problems facing the insider researcher. The impact was to introduce a 6 month delay while an alternative approach could be arranged. Eventually a short emailed questionnaire was sent to drop out students but the response was minimal (actually zero). The reason was that the time interval was so great between when the students had ceased study and the questionnaire arriving that it had little relevance to them. Again there was a delay until the next set of degree courses finished when the same questionnaire was sent to students who had more recently dropped out. This produced a decent set of responses which were followed up with a sample of interviews.
The main conclusions from the IFS showed that College students behave in the same way as other students and drop out mainly for time reasons. What was interesting was that time became an issue due to different combinations of factors involving the course, workplace and home. It appeared that there were a limited range of factors that act to either increase or decrease the time available for study. It also appeared that there was a minimum time below which the cost of continuing with study was too high in spite of the potential benefits of completing the course. I have always been interested in time and its influence on work processes and planning, and as a result of these findings I decided to make time the focus for my thesis.
Despite the IFS being wholly relevant to the aims of a professional doctorate many of us found it more time consuming than anticipated and in many respects on a par with the thesis. That said it was worthwhile in hindsight and many of the problems and issues encountered were valuable lessons in advance of the thesis. Having sent in the IFS proposal in Summer 2005, by rights I should have completed the report by Autumn 2006. However, due to the unintended delays and a bout of ill-health I didn't actually submit my IFS until Summer 2007.
Sunday 25 November 2007
The EdD Taught Courses
The EdD at the Institute of Education starts with four taught courses, each taken over one term, which then form a portfolio around which a reflective statement is prepared.
1. Foundations of Professionalism in Education (Autumn Term 2003)
This course looked at the various models of professionalism found in education. As well as getting you to think about the meaning of professionalism the course was also very useful practice in reviewing literature as a key stage in the research process. I found this a fascinating module and wrote my assignment on ‘Vocational Professionalism: A Crisis Of Identity?’ in which I explored the conflicting expertise required of professionals in higher / distance education.
2. Methods of Enquiry 1 (Spring Term 2004)
Not the most original of titles, this course explored different approaches to designing and conducting social research and evaluation. It addressed the big picture issues of strategy and methodology as well as ethical issues. It was a very useful means of practicing the design of research. My assignment was titled ‘Martini - With Or Without The Olive?’ in which I examined the issue of disability and study impairment in the context of distance learning students and how research into this might be designed.
3. Methods of Enquiry 2 (Summer Term 2004)
This course extended on from the previous enquiry course and focused much more on the nitty gritty issues of data collection and analysis. In this sense it was more applied than MOE 1 and the assessment required a piece of collection and analysis to be undertaken. My assignment was titled ‘Is The World Equal?’ in which I investigated the differences in assessment performance of international distance learners studying for degrees.
4. Specialist Course in International Education (Autumn Term 2004)
This course looked at the different conceptions of ‘international’ education to be critically examined. It was not quite what I had expected but through it I did come to view the issues facing my overseas students in a different way. My assignment was titled ‘Educating In A Post Colonial Era’ in which I reflected on the problems associated with delivering professional level legal studies to overseas students through distance learning.
Portfolio (Spring Term 2005)
The culmination of the taught element was the submission of the four 5,000 word assignments as a portfolio accompanied by a reflective statement in which I gave an honest assessment of my own learning and preparedness for further research. Technically the portfolio was an approval stage within the degree to ensure I was suitable for continuing to the Institution Focused Study, but I found writing the statement very helpful and almost cathartic for me.
1. Foundations of Professionalism in Education (Autumn Term 2003)
This course looked at the various models of professionalism found in education. As well as getting you to think about the meaning of professionalism the course was also very useful practice in reviewing literature as a key stage in the research process. I found this a fascinating module and wrote my assignment on ‘Vocational Professionalism: A Crisis Of Identity?’ in which I explored the conflicting expertise required of professionals in higher / distance education.
2. Methods of Enquiry 1 (Spring Term 2004)
Not the most original of titles, this course explored different approaches to designing and conducting social research and evaluation. It addressed the big picture issues of strategy and methodology as well as ethical issues. It was a very useful means of practicing the design of research. My assignment was titled ‘Martini - With Or Without The Olive?’ in which I examined the issue of disability and study impairment in the context of distance learning students and how research into this might be designed.
3. Methods of Enquiry 2 (Summer Term 2004)
This course extended on from the previous enquiry course and focused much more on the nitty gritty issues of data collection and analysis. In this sense it was more applied than MOE 1 and the assessment required a piece of collection and analysis to be undertaken. My assignment was titled ‘Is The World Equal?’ in which I investigated the differences in assessment performance of international distance learners studying for degrees.
4. Specialist Course in International Education (Autumn Term 2004)
This course looked at the different conceptions of ‘international’ education to be critically examined. It was not quite what I had expected but through it I did come to view the issues facing my overseas students in a different way. My assignment was titled ‘Educating In A Post Colonial Era’ in which I reflected on the problems associated with delivering professional level legal studies to overseas students through distance learning.
Portfolio (Spring Term 2005)
The culmination of the taught element was the submission of the four 5,000 word assignments as a portfolio accompanied by a reflective statement in which I gave an honest assessment of my own learning and preparedness for further research. Technically the portfolio was an approval stage within the degree to ensure I was suitable for continuing to the Institution Focused Study, but I found writing the statement very helpful and almost cathartic for me.
Friday 23 November 2007
What is an EdD?
For those of you who may be reading this but do not know what an EdD is, it is commonly known as a 'professional doctorate' ie one that is studied for from within a workplace. This makes it distinct from a PhD which tends to be completed within an academic research environment. The main difference is that an EdD has taught components whereas a PhD is entirely research based (often following on from an MPhil).
Academically the EdD is equivalent to the PhD and requires the submission of a similar number of words. The PhD thesis is usually around 80,000 words in length. Due to the submission of work for the taught elements the EdD thesis is about half of this at 40,000 words. Different universities arrange the taught components in different ways but collectively the word counts amount to approximately 40,000 words.
The EdD has suited me as it has provided a good grounding in research through the taught modules and has fitted in well with my work in distance education. I would have found studying for a PhD on a part-time basis to be too open offering too many opportunities for procrastination!
Purists may say that an EdD is a second class doctorate. I don't agree as the intellectual, academic and research skills are just as demanding but more focused on practice. Either way I will (hopefully) still end up with the title of Doctor.
Academically the EdD is equivalent to the PhD and requires the submission of a similar number of words. The PhD thesis is usually around 80,000 words in length. Due to the submission of work for the taught elements the EdD thesis is about half of this at 40,000 words. Different universities arrange the taught components in different ways but collectively the word counts amount to approximately 40,000 words.
The EdD has suited me as it has provided a good grounding in research through the taught modules and has fitted in well with my work in distance education. I would have found studying for a PhD on a part-time basis to be too open offering too many opportunities for procrastination!
Purists may say that an EdD is a second class doctorate. I don't agree as the intellectual, academic and research skills are just as demanding but more focused on practice. Either way I will (hopefully) still end up with the title of Doctor.
Tuesday 20 November 2007
How I've got to this point!!
The first degree I took was in Civil Engineering, which I studied at the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST) back in the 1970s. Sadly UWIST no longer exists having merged with the University of Cardiff. I spent happy years there in the days when the docks were still a no go area and the clubs and pubs were pretty rough and ready but generally very friendly. I still try to support the Welsh at rugby but they make it hard sometimes to be enthusiastic!
After university I worked as a highway engineer on projects in the midlands and the north of England. Again these were happy years during which I got married and started a family. When the recession of the early 1980s came along I had a career rethink as the government was cutting back on major capital projects which meant less road and bridge construction. My then brother-in-law was lecturing and, as I was interested in the theory side of practice, I decided to follow him and applied for jobs in further education. The first interview I got was for an LII post at Reading College of Technology which I was offered and accepted.
I spent 6 years teaching on professional courses at the 'tech'. Although I had been recruited to teach engineering I quickly took on the management teaching which I found more interesting. Most of my students were studying for professional membership of one of the property or construction institutions, mainly the RICS and CIOB.
In 1989 I moved up the hill to work on the campus at the University of Reading for the College of Estate Management. The College is independent of the University but since 1971 had provided the University with full time staff and students when it moved from London to occupy the new urban and regional studies building that it funded. When I joined the College it only provided distance learning courses for the professional bodies - again mainly the RICS and CIOB. Its courses were designed following the Open University practice of supported study.
After 5 years tutoring students I took on the role of project manager to lead the specification, contract negotiation and implementation of an integrated information system covering all the College's activities. Through this two things became apparent to me. First that I had not fully understood the principles behind distance education, and second, that the rapid expansion of information and communications technology was set to change things still further.
So in 1997 I enrolled for the MA in Open and Distance Education at the Open University. I was in the first cohort of students to take what the OU claimed as its first online course, and had the benefit of excellent tutoring from staff in the Institute of Educational Technology. It was very salutatory to experience what I subjected my students to in combining work with study and a domestic / social life. I completed the degree in 1999.
As with most distance learning students I took a break on completion of the MA and got on with implementing many of the ideas I had learned in the day job and decorating and other maintenance in the free time! By 2003 I had taken on the role of Leader in Educational Development at the College and felt ready for a new challenge. The OU did not at that time offer part-time doctoral study, but a friend had recently started the EdD at the Institute of Education at the University of London. IOE had just introduced an international version of the course which I thought fitted in with the global nature of distance learning and my students. I applied and was accepted so commenced my doctoral journey.
Since starting I have completed the taught modules and the Institution Focused Study - and I have become the College's Director of Teaching and Learning. More on the course so far later in this blog.
After university I worked as a highway engineer on projects in the midlands and the north of England. Again these were happy years during which I got married and started a family. When the recession of the early 1980s came along I had a career rethink as the government was cutting back on major capital projects which meant less road and bridge construction. My then brother-in-law was lecturing and, as I was interested in the theory side of practice, I decided to follow him and applied for jobs in further education. The first interview I got was for an LII post at Reading College of Technology which I was offered and accepted.
I spent 6 years teaching on professional courses at the 'tech'. Although I had been recruited to teach engineering I quickly took on the management teaching which I found more interesting. Most of my students were studying for professional membership of one of the property or construction institutions, mainly the RICS and CIOB.
In 1989 I moved up the hill to work on the campus at the University of Reading for the College of Estate Management. The College is independent of the University but since 1971 had provided the University with full time staff and students when it moved from London to occupy the new urban and regional studies building that it funded. When I joined the College it only provided distance learning courses for the professional bodies - again mainly the RICS and CIOB. Its courses were designed following the Open University practice of supported study.
After 5 years tutoring students I took on the role of project manager to lead the specification, contract negotiation and implementation of an integrated information system covering all the College's activities. Through this two things became apparent to me. First that I had not fully understood the principles behind distance education, and second, that the rapid expansion of information and communications technology was set to change things still further.
So in 1997 I enrolled for the MA in Open and Distance Education at the Open University. I was in the first cohort of students to take what the OU claimed as its first online course, and had the benefit of excellent tutoring from staff in the Institute of Educational Technology. It was very salutatory to experience what I subjected my students to in combining work with study and a domestic / social life. I completed the degree in 1999.
As with most distance learning students I took a break on completion of the MA and got on with implementing many of the ideas I had learned in the day job and decorating and other maintenance in the free time! By 2003 I had taken on the role of Leader in Educational Development at the College and felt ready for a new challenge. The OU did not at that time offer part-time doctoral study, but a friend had recently started the EdD at the Institute of Education at the University of London. IOE had just introduced an international version of the course which I thought fitted in with the global nature of distance learning and my students. I applied and was accepted so commenced my doctoral journey.
Since starting I have completed the taught modules and the Institution Focused Study - and I have become the College's Director of Teaching and Learning. More on the course so far later in this blog.
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