Dear Colleagues,
I am working on my dissertation at University of Pennsylvania and need help securing an additional research site. You may be interested in my dissertation topic. It focuses on the role of language in the exec ed/professional development classroom in creating credibility (both facilitators and students express strong need to develop credibility in this space). It also focuses on how building the learning community works to create interaction norms and build this credibility and eventually leads (in the successful course) to a shared (co-developed) language and shared framing. I am currently looking for a research site-a 2-10 day exec ed or professional development classroom to observe and record for linguistic analyses-in addition to the corporate university course I have already documented. If you are interested, below is the one-pager with additional details.
Thanks!
Chris Allen Thomas
PhD Candidate
University of Pennsylvania
Dissertation Research Brief
In an age of continual professional development, we see the increasing popularity of and need for creating professional learning environments beyond the "traditional" college education; we have all realized the importance of developing quality Executive Education programs.
For my dissertation, I will video record 2 executive development programs (one in the private sector, and one in the academic sector) delivered in the classroom over a period of a few days to several weeks. I also will talk with a few participants and facilitators about their experiences and interests when and where appropriate (i.e., not during the program, itself, and at participants' discretion). Ideally, I am looking for different instances within academic, professional, and corporate settings-or a blend-where my focus will be on studying communication in the classroom to learn more about the social structures of learning in Executive Education programs and how the process of building the learning community influences subsequent learning exchanges. The broad overreaching interests of this dissertation are:
• How are credibility and interpersonal trust in the classroom space developed in a learning environment in which professionals are the students, and what are the effects on access to the resources of the classroom network?
• How do instructors/facilitators and participants develop effective communication structures?
• In the classroom, who is successful or unsuccessful in framing the learning content, and under what conditions or situations? How are academic and professional interests balanced in the course?
• What forms of communication and approaches to learning are valued, by whom, and how are they differentially valued by students and instructors in the classroom, and what effect do they have on participation?"
To meet these goals, I will collect my data through classroom observation, classroom recordings, and qualitative interviews with a select group of willing participants, program directors, and facilitators. My goal in this research is to be as unobtrusive as possible so as to collect "real" data about what it means to be engaged in professional development courses.
Chris Allen Thomas
PhD Candidate
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
Chris Allen Thomas
Manager, Research and Knowledge
Teleos Leadership Institute
7837 Old York Road
Elkins Park, PA 19027
Phone: 267.620.9999
Email: cthomas@teleosleaders.com
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisallenthomas
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrisallenthoma