LCLE

Project Title: Evaluation of LCLE Online EdD Program
Team Members: Dan Record, Sabina Ramazanova, Su Jin Park, Vladan Jacimovic
Project Duration: 2 months

This report presents the outcome of the evaluation project, which was conducted in order to evaluate the forthcoming online EdD program in the Literacy, Culture, and Language Education (LCLE) department at Indiana University (IU). The report describes the methods that have been used to collect data, analyses used to interpret that data, findings that the team came up, and recommendations for the department.

The purpose of the project was to evaluate the viability of the proposed online EdD program by exploring the interest from Master’s students. Additionally, existing programs in similar fields were compared to identify strengths and weaknesses of the LCLE curriculum.

The master’s student survey was sent to 82 Master’s students and alumni, out of which the team received 26 responses (response rate: 31.7%). The survey indicated a relatively high interest by the respondents towards pursuing a doctoral degree program, with 11 respondents stating that they are interested and an additional 13 respondents stating that they may be interested in pursuing either an EdD or PhD.

There were 11 respondents interested and 13 who may be interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in LCLE. Out of those 24 respondents, the highest interest lies in pursuing the proposed online EdD program, with 14 respondents stating that it would be their first choice (Yes = 5, Maybe = 9).

Strengths:
● Unique academic focus combining 3 disciplines
● Lower costs compared to other programs
● High quality of instruction (as perceived by current students)
● High interest for online EdD among current Master’s students/alumni, compared to interest for residential EdD and PhD

Weaknesses:
● Low sense of community among residential students and alumni
● Potential issues with technology skills among some faculty (as perceived by current students)
● Perceptions of an EdD degree being inferior when compared to a PhD degree

Opportunities:
● Opportunity for network building during the summer conference visits
● Becoming a very competitive/leading program in this field, due to a good combination of academic focus and low costs
● Leveraging best practice in online program design would ensure proper rigor while balancing academic requirements with personal and professional requirements throughout the program
● Improvement to the curriculum could encourage students who were undecided to apply for the doctoral degree.

Threats:
● Not fulfilling the requirement of the class size
● Technical problems (faculty adjusting to online instruction)
● Perceptions by students and academia around the value of an EdD catc
● Politics and bureaucracy that impede the successful matriculation through the program (credits, transfers, costs, technology, etc.)

Roles: This evaluation project is a result of a joint effort of four members. All stages of the project were conducted in a team, but each section of the project had a person in charge. My main role in it was designing quantitative data collection (surveys) in Qualtrics and sharing the results with the team in order to jointly interpret them. Additionally, I was in charge of the entire layout design of the printed report.

A full needs assessment report with recommendations is available here.