part-time Ed.D. student experience: a narrative analysis of transferring what is learned in coursework to professional practice.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20361055

Ed.D. programs are growing in popularity as working professionals seek advanced professional skills, knowledge, understanding of theory and enhanced academic credentials. One of the reasons individuals begin the journey of an Ed.D. program is to advance professionally; however, what they obtain from the Ed.D. program are professional skills, knowledge and expertise that can be immediately applied to their professional practice. Despite the challenge's adult learners face in a part-time Ed.D. program, the awareness that what they will learn will be transferred to their professional practice serves as motivation to continue and persevere. The central research question that drove this research study was: "How do doctoral students describe their experiences transferring what they learn in their coursework to their professional practice in a part-time, cohort structured Ed.D. program at a private University in the northeastern United States?". To inform this research question, 8 students volunteered as participants. The selection criteria for the interview candidates included the following criteria: (a) currently an active Ed.D. student in the program; (b) currently in good academic standing; (c) completion of a minimum of 4 quarters of coursework; and (d) identified their professional work as meaningful. Ed.D. students at the site institution and those selected for the interview are diverse in ethnicity, gender and age. All eight are students at the same Ed.D. program with 4 students enrolled in the fully online program and 4 students enrolled in the hybrid executive weekend program at "X" University. "X" University is a private, urban Tier 1 research institution in the northeastern region of the United States that has been in continuous operation since 1891. A narrative research approach was utilized to depict the experiences of the participants of how they transferred what they learned in the classroom to their professional practice. After collection and analysis of data, for themes emerged: : (a) Participants Have a Predisposition to Transfer Learning Because of Their Orientation to Being a Scholar Practitioner, (b) Practical Application of What Students Learned in Their Coursework to Professional Practice, (c) Development of Professional Skills, and (d) Participant Awareness of Shift in Thinking. Two of the main themes contained subordinate themes. While overall these themes align with the literature, a deep analysis of the data presented data provided robust insight into what is transferred to professional practice.