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Project Reflection

reflection on dissertation research notes

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9 views6 pages

Project Reflection

reflection on dissertation research notes

Uploaded by

Gene Haynes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Project Reflection 1

Project Reflection

Project Reflection
Project Reflection 2

Throughout the Ed. D program organizing artifacts and building a portfolio has been

challenging. It consists of time management skills, critical thinking, and patients. In meeting the

course requirements the eportfolio has been completed and finishing touches are currently being

organized. The process has been time consuming from organizing the folders, writing

descriptions, matching the outcomes and supporting evidence to justify the rationale related to

the competency. It’s important not to rush when designing a portfolio. According to Janosik &

Frank (2013) putting the ePortfolio together took much more time than students anticipated.

Many participants stated they underestimated the amount of time it would take to put together an

effective ePortfolio. Learning not to rush and to properly pace yourself when completing

doctoral work was beneficial in successfully building the eportfolio.

Claim of Competency

The rationale used to justify the claim of competency was completed by thoroughly

reviewing various assignments and discussions completed throughout the program. After

selecting various artifacts, the Ed.D program information guide was reviewed; It contained the

20 competencies and 6 program outcomes. While reviewing past artifacts, each was reviewed to

determine which outcome it relates too. For example, the assignment the “vision statement, and

game changer” assignment was selected in meeting program outcome 1 “lead and manage

change in educational organizations.” The first step was reviewing the title and breaking down

its meaning. The keywords in the title consisted of managing change. In relation to the selected

artifacts the vision statement assignment met this outcome because an existing vision statement

was analyzed and recreated to implement change at a selected research site. The assignment also

met several of the competencies related to the outcome. E.g. competency 1 “Achieve key

organizational objectives.” According to the Capella Program Information Guide (2012)


Project Reflection 3

Effective leadership in a twenty-first century school demands that their leadership facilitate the

conceptualization and development of key organizational objectives. They will need to

collaborate with all stakeholders, to strategically and operationally plan how they will

collectively achieve those objectives, while effectively managing the organization, operations,

and resources to ensure a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment. In meeting

organizational objectives it is important to have a vision that is clearly written and easily

understood by others. The vision statement assignment was an assignment that allowed creativity

and thinking outside of the box in order to reach a common goal. “For both the individual and

the organization, nothing can be more damaging than a confused and cloudy picture of where

they want to go or what they want to become; in short, do they know what success looks and/or

feels like?” (‘Your Company vision, ’2013)

Proposed Research Design

The purpose of this action research is to investigate and evaluate how a laughter therapy

program impacts the stress levels of faculty at a small college. The potential intervention will be

implemented by designing a laughter therapy program for approximately 1 hour before faculty

start teaching course. The program will consist of having faculty participate in guided laughter

exercises by the interviewer. The exercises consist of breathing exercises, stretching and

laughing without jokes, humor or comedy. According to Lindholm and Szelenyi (2008), Results

of a recent quality of life survey administered in 2002 to faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) revealed that 62 percent of respondents feel physically or emotionally drained

at the end of the day. Faculty in academia are stressed and need ways to cope with it throughout

their day. At the completion of the intervention faculty will be interviewed to determine how
Project Reflection 4

laughter therapy affects their moods. The intervention will take place at XYZ College in a

designated room for full time and adjunct faculty.

Proposed Research Question

Q1. To what extent could a laughter therapy program reduce faculty stress in academia?

Q2. What percentage of faculty felt their stress levels were reduced at the completion of a

laughter therapy session?

Q3. How can the implementation of a laughter therapy program affect the quality of life of

faculty in academia?

Opportunity for Improvement

According to mentor feedback there are some minor adjustments that can be made to

improve the action research study, however overall the feedback stated “interesting topic.” Areas

of improvement are as follows: revising the problem statement, removing or revising research

question 3, and revising some incomplete areas within the plan. The changes needed are minor

and overall the topic is heading in the right direction.

Project Changes

Project changes may include changing the study to focus on students vs. faculty. It may

be difficult to get approval to use faculty during the study. With the research site closing at the

end of 2015 a new research site may need to be found. In addition, a backup research site was

found at a business, however the mentor needs to be contacted to discuss this alternative research

site.
Project Reflection 5

Mentor Questions

1. What can I do if my research site is not willing to allow me to conduct my study with

faculty or students?

2. Is ok to implement an action research study at a business not educational. I can utilize

employees and relate my study to corporate training. Would this still be allowed as

relating my study in an educational setting?


Project Reflection 6

References

Janosik, S., & Frank, T. (2013). Using ePortfolios to Measure Student Learning in a Graduate

Preparation Program in higher Education. International Journal of ePortfolio, 3(1), 13-

20.

Lindholm, J. A., & Szelenyi, K. (2008). Faculty Time Stress: Correlates Within and Across

Academic Disciplines. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 17(1-2),

19-40.

Program Information Guide (2012) Overview of the 20 Competencies. Retrieved from

http://www.capella.edu/EdDProgramGuide/comp_1.asp

Your Company Vision: If It's Complicated, It Shouldn't Be. (2013). Forbes. Retrieved from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/10/14/the-reason-most-company-vision-

statements-arent-effective/

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