I will be continuing this dialogue in the coming months, but returning to Liz’s question, do you think that “becoming doctoral” warrants further discussion and dialogue? In a word, yes. Dialogue and discussion, however, not in isolation of one’s own program or institution. That is, there really needs to be ongoing national conversation, like the “Re-envision” conference, that challenges our own assumptions about the American Ph.D. and what it means to “become doctoral” according to the Academy (not just the individual institution.) Individual doctoral learners (and the larger Capella community) would always do well to engage an ongoing, philosophical dialogue on how this degree is re-defining the larger educational experiment.

As a still-youthful institution, challenging the assumptions of the past “becoming doctorate,” it our collective responsibility to demand Capella maintain a level of scholarship and rigor reflective of the doctorate of old. To justly overcome our external scrutiny as a credible institution, it imperative not only to meet this standard, but to collaborate with those most cynical about, what I would classify, our re-envisioned program. Ph.D. simply done on the approach of historical past is destined to repeat past failings and does not accomplish the essence of the doctorate. So, yes, collaborate with the skeptics and cynics, but do so that challenges past assumptions and raises awareness to the current, broader education and societal needs fulfilled by a re-envisioned 21st century Ph.D.

In the coming weeks, consider the “Re-envision” participants’ Seven Propositions and Recommendations for the 21st century in relation to your own doctoral (and post-doctoral) work. Are there any propositions or recommendations you would add to this initial list?

Seven Propositions: (http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/project_resources/metathemes.html)

National Recommendations:
(http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/project_resources/national_recommend.html)

Jon

So, you ask yourself, what does a story about a bunch of either now-dead, elderly or middle aged scriveners and a CRT at the University of Minnesota have to do with Capella? I think a lot. At 55 I am the age of many of those in leadership at Capella. We are the products of a society that not long ago used ink as a way of keeping student records. We are the products of an educational system many of us have said we would like to change. (I keep saying “we” since I have some experience with this.) I’m asking, how can any of us emerge from traditional education without carrying some of those ink-stained values and prejudices with us? I ask, is Capella fulfilling its stated purpose of serving non-traditional populations in a high tech environment with old values and prejudices? I ask, how can Capella be accepted as a worthy institution among others as both an academic institution and as a business? I ask, how can many adult students finish a PhD quickly with families – children and aging parents – and full-time work? I ask, what kind of support or help do adult students need to finish their degrees? I ask, how can students who have been underrepresented in the heady realms of PhD-land gain even some of the skills needed to show that they can actually do it? And what if those students are adults with aging parents, children at home and/or in need of support and those same adults are working full-time? And how are any of us in higher education preparing PhD students for a different work world? Are we? What is the different work world? (I’m asking because I have lived this as both a student and as an online educator working with non traditional students.)

My concerns about the PhD programs at Capella is that they often become more of the same in a land where it might be different.

My concerns about the PhD programs at Capella is that it is still in that realm where an online PhD, no matter how laudable, is often still not as accepted traditional. I ask, why not, then be more different instead of the same some success.

Capella has taken a giant leap in providing an opportunity for non-traditional populations. This is exciting and wonderful. Capella has opened its doors to those who rarely before had the opportunity to achieve a doctorate. However, I feel the onus of redefinition is on the student. I ask you, should it be? I truly don’t know.

The administration and teachers use Infinite Campus, School Reach, Camtasia, and eInstruction. We utilize the Tablets as a classroom tool for researching, writing, composing, editing pictures and media, calculating, recording, etc. much like other schools. We use Synchronize, One Note, Journal, Logger Pro, etc. in the classrooms. We are working to ensure our students are successful in the 21st Century by promoting the use of the Internet and the computers for more than what I have listed above.

Our seniors are required to do Senior Experiences before they graduate. They must research an interest area, write a 12 page paper, create a project, do community presentations, and then the culminating activity is to present their learning in front of a panel of judges. We help to prepare them for this by requiring a junior project too. They do these in small groups and the product must reflect some type of community service.

We are encouraging our students to collaborate on school projects with students from other areas and to create content on the Internet, rather than just review it and use it. This is very difficult in the K-12 world when student safety is a huge factor/responsibility. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have tremendous educational value. We use Google Docs, Delicious, RSS, You Tube, and Wikispace, but the multitude of garbage out there creates barriers for our students and staff.

Liz, can you see the similarities in the efforts of Capella and the efforts in our school district? I feel like both institutions are on the cutting edge. In order to be successful in both schools students are actively engage, self motivated, and demonstrate strong work ethics, commitments to learning, and resilient efforts.

Due to the fact that I live in a remote area, have four kids, a husband, a home, and a full time job to juggle, I earned my masters degree and I am in the process of earning my Ph.D. online. As a result of my experiences at Capella and with the very effective facilitators of learning, I have learned more than just content. I believe I have developed and enhanced “21st Century Skills” and for that I am grateful!

I believe there can be key differences in a 20th Century vs a 21st Century Ph.D. due to increased communication, the global-ness of our society, and as a result of the Internet and technology. The determinant is the willingness of the individual to continue to grow as a practitioner.

Have a great day,
Barbara

Being in a field (music education) that is not a part of the Capella curriculum, I have shared with many of my colleagues just how important it is to further their education – not just in the realms of research for the sake of promotion, but to gain a wider scope of information that will allow our programs to grow as well as our own teaching experiences.

A doctoral holder in today’s world one needs to become active partners with faculty, peers, colleagues, friends, family, etc in the acqusition of knowledge. He/she needs to view everyone as a source of new knowledge and be willing to change previously held views or perspectives if valid new knowledge is presented. Viewing eveyone and everything as a source of new knowledge is a freeing experience and allows one to continue to grow throughout life.

I, too, find myself wondering if there is some way we can better prepare learners for being doctoral and readying them for joining the academic community of doctoral colleagues.

Socializing learner in this area seems to have merit; perhaps there could be a “brown bag” or a regular session at the residencies

Barbara what you are doing with K12 students to prepare them for their futures could possibly translate to our doctoral learners… preparing them for their futures as Ph.D. scholar practitioners.

I so concur – Barbara – that resilience is key to completing the Ph.D.

Barbara, how do you think you will be a different as a 21st Century Ph.D than those of us who finished in the 20th Century? Or do you perhaps not see that there will be any key differences?

With thanks,

Liz

I am a learner in the Capella School of Education. In the K-12 world where I work, we want our students engaged in meaningful and authentic learning and to be enthusiastic about their futures. I believe it is imperative to facilitate 21st century learning, promoting problem solving, research, writing, communication skills, information media literacy, interpersonal skills, collaboration, self-direction, global awareness, and civic literacy. In order for doctoral learners to be successful in an online learning environment which is global like Capella, learners either have to enter with these skills or develop them as they progress through the doctoral process. If not, they are toast!

Learners must be resilient in order to be successful and complete this process and earn their Ph.D. I am close, but I must admit that all of the changes have frustrated me. Sometimes I get emotional and the knowledge that there is an easier way tugs at my heart. Then I “Cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it.” I know that I will be a 21st Century Ph.D. once I have demonstrated those characteristics and completed the Capella program. I know that I will be successful in my endeavors to come because these challenges have made me stronger, wiser, and more resilient!

I wonder if the reactions you are getting from learners means that this idea of “becoming doctoral” should be raised in orientations with our learners?

It might help them to ease away from a bit of a ‘micro’ view that I see at times–focus on *this one*course, collect my grade and I’m done with it, and on to the next course. Seems to me from your and Jon’s thoughts that we need more of a *macro* view and to socialize learners into it

I do concur with the points in your synthesis and would add just a comment or two for further “food for thought.”

As a doctoral mentor at Capella, at the final
dissertation “defense” phone conference, I ask learners to talk about their doctoral experiences and how they believe these experiences have contributed to “being doctoral.” In all candor, my question about becoming doctoral usually initially elicits a nervous giggle, a long pause and responses something like – well, I think I have a new comfort with academic research and speaking about research literature and my own findings and interest.

I am wondering what you would have as a response to this question that I continue to find necessary and important to ask at the final “defense” phone conference.

Hmm – do you think that “becoming doctoral” warrants further discussions and… reflections – or is the process of becoming doctoral just integral to the entire experience?

With thanks,

Liz Bruch