Research Methods Courses Redesigned for an EdD in Instructional and Performance Technology

Abstract

This essay describes the design, and subsequent redesign, of the research methods courses included in an Instructional and Performance Technology (IPT) EdD program at a regional comprehensive university in the southeast United States. The program under examination was developed based on the principles of the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED) and research and best practices aligned with the practice of performance improvement. The curriculum includes three research methods courses. The first introduces the students to the principles of action research as applied to the analysis of performance problems in organizational settings. The second addresses instrumentation and data collection processes used in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research, and the third examines analyzing and reporting quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. Collectively these courses provide students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to serve as scholarly practitioners, examining any type of problem of practice in any organizational setting.