EdD Learning Outcomes

Knowledge Outcomes

Upon completing the program students will be able to:

1. Analyze the historical and philosophical underpinnings of educational practice, both inside and outside of traditional school settings.
2. Compare current theories of adult learning and development (both cognitive and affective).
3. Critique methods of educational practice that maximize learner engagement.
4. Explain relationships among education, leadership, scholarship, and social activism in their fields of practice.
5. Assess methods of both traditional and activist inquiry.
6. Explain methods and strategies for data collection from a variety of sources.
7. Assess major debates, theories, and approaches within the specialization that are pertinent to their fields of practice and their dissertation inquiry.

Skills Outcomes

Upon completing the program students will be able to:

1. Inquire into and reflect critically on their educational practice:
   • Identify and problematize issues stemming from practice.
   • Conduct rigorous inquiry into educational practice for social change.
   • Make meaning of data and reframe problems in dialogue with others.
   • Identify facilitators and barriers to social change and develop appropriate intervention strategies at three levels: individual, organizational, and the larger social context.
2. Assess educational needs and develop teaching/learning strategies appropriate for their students or consumers, including:
   • Defining learning outcomes.
   • Designing learning activities through which learning outcomes will be achieved.
   • Assessing progress on these outcomes.
   • Determining impact of educational practices on students or consumers
3. Develop personal pedagogies of practice:
   • Articulate a personal ethical moral code, a “pedagogical creed,” that guides one’s educational practice.
   • Design, implement, evaluate, and revise educational practices that are consistent with their pedagogical creed and research on human learning.
4. Critically evaluate and discuss published research in the field.
5. Produce scholarly writing that is clear, cogent, and informed by evidence.
6. Situate one’s practitioner-based scholarship within the relevant literature and debates in their fields of practice and specialization.

Dispositional Outcomes

During the program students will demonstrate their:

1. Commitment to and curiosity about using educational practices for social change.
2. Commitment to continually enhance and deepen professional expertise, exemplified by:
   • Critical reflection and praxis as integral to professional practice.
   • Respect for the value of tacit knowledge.
   • Appreciation for the power of dialogue, as demonstrated by active listening and showing respect for difference.
3. Commitment to professional ethics and responsibilities, and modeling integrity in decision making.
4. Willingness to take on leadership responsibilities, both formal and informal.