A research doctorate for computing professionals

Abstract

through applied research and development. It is designed specifically for people who want to do research in an industrial setting.The DPS program provides an intellectually stimulating learning environment in which emerging computing and IT can be discussed and researched in an open forum. Students and faculty are encouraged to share their experiences and ideas with everyone in the program.While a Ph.D. advances knowledge in the discipline of study and a professional doctorate advances the practice, in computing there can be a fuzzy distinction between the two concepts. Successful professional doctoral students will demonstrate how they have affected the practice as well as effected deeper and broader understanding of the practice through research. Our students regularly have the opportunity to put their learning into practice. This is particularly true because they hold senior positions and are able to effect change in their organizations. There is value added by practicing computing and studying at the same time.The DPS in Computing admitted the first class of 20 students in the fall of 1999. To qualify for admission, stu- THE DOCTOR OF Professional Studies (DPS) inComputing at Pace University provides computing and information technology (IT) professionals a unique opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree while continuing to work full time. It supports interdisciplinary study among computing areas and applied research in one or more of them, and thereby provides a background highly valued by industry. It is an innovative post-master's doctoral program structured to meet the needs of the practicing computing professional. The DPS in Computing, while advanced in content and rigorous in its demands, is distinguished from the Ph.D. by focusing upon the advancement of the practice of computing key insights With diverse professional backgrounds, students tend to think about research in an interdisciplinary manner, stimulating their ability to bring to light new problems that no single discipline would recognize, often leading to fundamentally new ways of thinking about problems.We start close to the frontier of computing knowledge and practice and look back to understand how we got there. Because of the diversity in academic and professional experience, every student's distance to the frontier is different, and we depend on the teaching-learning community to provide some normalization.The program creates a new class of scholarly professionals, who, acting as stewards of the computing discipline, are capable of critically evaluating new ideas and transforming and interacting with interdisciplinary professionals.

The Trend Toward Online Project-Oriented Capstone Courses

“…The Doctor of Professional Studies in Computing program enables computing and information technology professionals to earn a doctorate in three years through part-time study while continuing their professional careers (Merritt et al, 2004;Grossman, Tappert, Bergin, & Merritt, 2011). In contrast to project work, which uses known technology to develop systems according to specified customer requirements, research is original, rigorous work that advances knowledge, improves professional practice, and/or contributes to the understanding of a subject.…”

Improving professional IT doctorate completion rates

“…The objective reviewers, on a rating scale to a maximum of 4.0, rated those six as 3.4 for significance of the problem, 3.3 for strength of the investigative methodology and 3.5 for readability (Merritt et al, 2004, p. 45). That study was conducted 5 years into their new program, with a later study conducted in the 11th year revealing that over the period of those 11 years completion rates had averaged 52% (Grossman et al, 2011).…”

“…The agile course design, first seen in the Pace University course (Grossman et al, 2011), addresses another area of retention, namely the need to teach research skills by engaging students through early and continuous delivery of valuable products. Supervisors believed that it is important for student progression that they publish articles based upon their work to date.…”

“…A better approach would be to enable a mutual choosing. To this end, and similar to the Pace University example of symposiums as a deliberate strategy of course design (Grossman et al, 2011), the new DIT structure includes an annual doctoral symposium which provides staff and students an opportunity to meet.…”

Doctoral Capstone Products: A Systems Thinking Model for Quality Assurance

“…The research doctorate typically produces original research that contributes to advancing the field of study (e.g., PhD for diverse disciplines), whereas the professional research doctorate combines both research and practices in the advanced training (e.g., EdD for education, DBA for business administration, DMin for ministry, DMA for musical arts, etc.). This distinction between the research and professional research doctorates has been readily accepted by scholars and practitioners (Grossman et al, 2011;Perry, 2016;Wildy et al, 2015). This article will focus primarily on these two types of research doctorates.…”