The interest and demand for online terminal degrees across disciplines by professionals wishing to conduct research and fulfill doctoral degree requirements at a distance is only increasing. But what these programs look like, how they are implemented, and how they might be evaluated are the questions that challenge administrators and pedagogues alike. This book presents a model for a doctoral program that bridges theory, research, and practice and is offered completely or largely online. In their described program model, Kumar and Dawson enable researching professionals to build an online community of inquiry, engage in critical discourse within and across disciplines, learn from and with experts and peers, and generate new knowledge. Their program design is grounded in the theoretical and research foundations of online, adult, and doctoral education, curriculum design and community-building, implementation, and evaluation. The authors, who draw on their experience of implementing a similar program at the University of Florida, not only share data collected from students and faculty members but also reflect on lessons learned working on the program in diverse educational contexts. An important guide for program leaders who wish to develop, implement, and sustain an online professional doctorate, An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals will also be a valuable resource for higher education professionals seeking to include e-learning components in existing on-campus doctoral programs.

The interest in and demand for online terminal degress across disciplines by professionals wishing to conduct research and fulfill doctoral degree requirements at a distance is only increasing. But what these programs look like, how they are implemented, and how they might be evaluated are the questions that challenge administrators and pedagogues alike. This book presents a model for a doctoral program that bridges theory, research, and practice and is offered completely or largely online. In their described program model, Kumar and Dawson enable researching professionals to build an online communtiy of inquiry, engage in critical discourse within and across disciplines, learn from and with experts and peers, and generate new knowledge. Their program design is grounded in the theoretical and research foundations of online, adult, and doctoral education, curriculum design and community-building, implementation and evaluation. The authors, who draw on their experience of implementing a similar program at the University of Florida, not only share data collected from students and faculty members but also reflect on lessons learned working on the program in diverse educational contexts. An important guide for program leaders who wish to develop and sustain an online professional doctorate, An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals will also be a valuable resource for higher education professionals seeking to include e-learning components in existing on-campus doctoral programs.

Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda offers a systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas of priority in online distance education research. In each chapter, an international expert or team of experts provides an overview of one timely issue in online distance education, summarizing major research on the topic, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research, posing questions and directions for future research, and discussing the implications for distance education practice as a whole. Intended as a primary reference and guide for distance educators, researchers, and policymakers, Online Distance Education addresses aspects of distance education practice that have often been marginalized, including issues of cost and economics, concerns surrounding social justice, cultural bias, the need for faculty professional development, and the management and growth of learner communities. At once soundly empirical and thoughtfully reflective, yet also forward-looking and open to new approaches to online and distance teaching, this text is a solid resource for researchers in a rapidly expanding discipline.

Many of today’s learning environments are dominated by technology or procedure-driven approaches that leave learners feeling alone and disconnected. The authors of Centring Human Connections in the Education of Health Professionals argue that educational processes in the health disciplines should model, integrate, and celebrate human connections because it is these connections that will foster the development of competent and caring health professionals. Centring Human Connections in the Education of Health Professionals equips educators working in clinical, classroom, and online settings with a variety of teaching strategies that facilitate essential human connections. Included is an overview of the educational theory that grounds the authors’ thinking, enabling the educators who employ the strategies included in the book to assess their fit within curriculum requirements and personal teaching philosophies and understand how and why they work.

The path for doctoral students is laden with obstacles and challenges that can cause students to stumble if they are not prepared for what their future holds. In order to avoid the uncertainty, anxiety, and stress that can consume doctoral students, a comprehensive guide is needed that provides the best practices and strategies to support them in their professional journeys. The Research Anthology on Doctoral Student Professional Development considers the difficulties associated with being a doctoral student such as mental health issues and provides different avenues for success such as mentorship and group study. The text seeks to provide a thorough investigation into what it means to be a doctoral student in order to best prepare potential and current students for what to expect. Moreover, it discusses best practices for developing dissertations. Covering a range of topics such as anxiety, research methods, and dissertations, this major reference work is ideal for researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Information communication technologies (ICT) have long been important in supporting doctoral study. Though ICTs have been integrated into educational practices at all levels, there is little understanding of how effective these technologies are in supporting resource development for students and researchers in academic institutions. Enhancing the Role of ICT in Doctoral Research Processes is a collection of innovative research that identifies the ways that doctoral supervisors and students perceive the role of ICTs within the doctoral research process and supports the development of guidelines to enhance ICT skills within these programs. While highlighting topics including professional development, online learning, and ICT management, this book is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, and professionals seeking current research on ICT use for doctoral research.

The number of practice-based or practice-led doctorate programs continues to grow across the U.S. Doctoral students who seek a terminal practitioner doctorate typically conduct practice-based research within the dissertation research used as the culmination of the degree program. These terminally degreed graduates return to educational practice to improve practice, impact innovation, and solve the complex problems of practice through research-based decision making. Practice-Based and Practice-Led Research for Dissertation Development provides the most current research, innovation, and insights into practice-based research conducted within U.S. practitioner doctorate programs across fields that include management, education, computer science, health sciences, and social and behavioral sciences. The book illustrates the latest uses of practitioner research and highlights current findings for the dissemination and use of practice-based and practice-led research within these settings. Covering topics that include self-inquiry methods, action research, and high-impact writing support, this book is an ideal reference source for doctoral scholars, doctoral research supervisors, faculty, program deans, higher education leadership, and doctorate program developers.