Mike’s Doc Blog

A meeting last week with my boss yielded a surprising “all in favor” response to asking about doing research within our job family and using resources other than me to complete it. Not that there is anything in the research that warrants a ‘no’ but I was surprised by the enthusiasm and vision of what this could mean for our job family in terms of training. It also beget a conversation about the things that could be coming down the road for this group. We both left equally excited.

Still there are some other hurdles to overcome.

1. Permission from the regional leaderhsip of the geographic location I intended to use. I am using something outside the Northeast United States to eliminate bias and potential other hurdles related to vision and allowances
2. Letters drafted for each leader to showcase to the various committees and boards needed to earn an approved proposal
3. The finalized proposal and executive summary for the various committees and boards needed to earn an approved proposal
4. Finally, some project planning to implement this. I honestly think we can carry out the research in about 2 weeks of time.

I also have to finish updating my literature review and fortunately, an assignment in my current class hits right on the topic I need to research so bingo.

I must say that for the first time in months, I feel good about this. I wish I’d felt this long ago, I’d be done by now. I need to finish this Spring though. There is some celebrations and plans moving ahead for the Spring, Summer and Fall whether I am done or not.

Image Source: Kristina B

A phone conversation with my mentor a few weeks ago highlighted a problem I am having with my dissertation that is compounded by working full time (and more so in the last few months) and trying to still be present with the family; dropping the ball. My dissertation proposal has stalled in this state of being unsure about the problem, the research, the everything. It was so confusing that I was allowing myself to dig into working insane hours and agreeing to bad projects at work. I was trying to do anything vs. trying to do something.

My mentor and I agreed to speak via phone and talk through what was going on and the feelings I was experiencing of uncertainty, confusion, frustration, and inadequacy. The good news is that these feelings were commonplace at this phase of the process and compounded by the work full time-study full time aspect of going to school as an adult.

I was thankful to hear that I was experiencing something normal and that this was the real point of proving my metal. I was so thankful that I inquired about how I can press on vs. step out. My mentor informed me that sometimes beginning with the end in mind is helpful (who would have thought Covey was right on this? ha). Her guidance was to understand the problem in general and select a sample population then work from there on the design. It seemed like cheating to do that but in the world of being a scholar, practitioner, leader, we need to find a process that is academically and business sound. This might work.

We discussed a few other ideas for my project like using only podcasts or linking blogs and podcasts through a literature search. We talked about sample size and the statistical analysis. All helpful conversations. I felt re-energized with the project again.

So I’ve set off to get some initial documentation completed and working a bit backwards to accomplish the while goal. Thanks Maureen!

Did you know I was a Toastmaster?

I’ve been in Toastmasters for 6 years now and have gotten a lot from the experience. One of the regular pluses to being a Toastmaster is getting the magazine each month. Sometimes, like any magazine, the articles lack appeal but most of the time the articles have some value to my work, my life, or my speaking.

This month’s magazine came with many articles on persuasion and one focused on logical fallacies. As a doctoral learner, the logical fallacy is a mine field of critical thought. One is always on guard for these persuasion pitfalls and then looks for logical reasoning to side step the pitfalls. I’d link you to it but Toastmasters holds onto some archaic tenets of play for pay and gives little in terms of members-level insights into the organization for visitors. This should not detract you from joining though.

Logical fallacies are easily defined as arguments that make logic mistakes. Many times these slip up the target audience and that person enters into agreement under some false pretense. It isn’t always tragically negative but it does happen. The article talks about 5 key fallacies.

1. Slippery slope arguments. If we make this school budget cut the children will all drop out and begin taking drugs. It is an argument that draws alludes to some chain of events that has no real proof or reasonableness that the final event will occur.
2. False dichotomy. Either you let me go out or I will just die right here. This is an either-or argument that implies that doing both are impossible or that there is no option (like the example given above).
3. Appeal to ignorance. No one saw Elvis lowered into the grave (in the coffin) so he could still be alive. This is an argument that suggests because there is no definitive proof supporting one side then the other cannot be discounted.
4. Appeal to emotions. You need to finish your food; there are starving children in Africa dying because you have extra food. This is an argument that has no real rationale but draws that the emotional strings of the intended target.
5. Red herring. How can George be good at balancing the books; he can’t even drive a car. This argument diverts the audience with another issue and attempts to draw a conclusion based on the information in that diversion.

- Thanks to Dave Zielinski for the summary article in Toastmasters magazine

These are a few examples of logical fallacies and obviously some extreme arguments made to illustrate the point. Many times the fallacies are more subtle. Picture a fast food commercial showing happy/healthy children playing after having some of that restaurant’s food.  Subtle, right? Who doesn’t want happy and healthy children? Who doesn’t like the idea of children playing? No one, that’s who. But the reality is that those images conjure up an emotional charge within us and so we fall into the fast food must not be bad for kids, look at those kids pitfall. It is an appeal to emotion.

These fallacies happen all around us in the media, our working worlds, our school worlds, our interactions with others. At work it happens often in a simple and common argument: Yanni is not a team player; he won’t do what I tell him to do. False dichotomy.

Critical thinking and logical reasoning are two really important skills to have. Here is a warning for you though. Punching holes in arguments will make you slightly less popular and could be viewed as argumentative or actively disengaged. Suggesting that you either become persuaded or you are a bad seed is a false dichotomy.

What logical fallacies do you see?

How can you overcome the pitfalls of illogical arguments and people?

What benefit can you gain from thinking more critically about the things you see and hear?

For me, this helps me read articles for my dissertation, tackle tough work issues, and build a stronger learning leader mindset.

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Last week I was speaking to a few people about podcasting as a form of learning intervention. My research is narrowing to look at the podcasting technology solely and this gives me the impetus to reflect on the tool in terms of learning and other aspects. I began to think about podcasting in the ways the literature I am reading suggests, as a standardized communication of a message to a massive or varied audience. In my experience, though, podcasting serves largely as a 1-way method of communication. I have something to say, I record it, I podcast it, you receive it, done. Podcasting, again in my experience, has not been a 2-way collaborative modality. The quote I delivered twice last week was “no one ever podcasts back”.

This is not entirely accurate. Podcasts often beget other podcasts, some retort from another podcaster but rarely will people interact with a podcast by sending a recorded comment directly to the producer. Instead, podcasts often serve as the front of a large collaborative community filled with blogs, wikis, and other social media. Podcasts alone are like radio stations, you may react but I won’t hear you.

On the other hand, I sit in a lot of teleconferences where I can interact with the hosts. However, I sit in a lot of teleconferences originating from the same source but with different hosts. Along with that, a slightly different message. Sometimes this is valuable and sometimes it is not valuable. Regardless of value, it is interactive and people comment or collaborate back and forth.

Do I see podcasting as an inferior technology for collaborative learning? Not really. Of course, research will bear this out quantitatively. I am truly neutral on this matter; curious really.

I don’t theorize that podcasting needs to be 1-way or non-collaborative in nature. With the advent of microphones, low/no cost recording software, built-in cameras, and the like, anyone can create a recorded comment and podcast back as it were. Podcasts are hot items these days and I wonder about the impact on learning.

Image Source: mag3737

Instructional developers understand the notion of evaluation. Even the most basic ISD model, ADDIE, includes the evaluation phases needed in any deployment of training. As I look into the learning evaluation element of the literature review I am struck by how many people feel testing is the answer.

Student testing is a form of assessment, how much has that student learned, and to some degree can be used in determining the effectiveness of training materials. However, testing is only 1 form of student assessment and student assessment is only one aspect of evaluation.

To be effective training the training needs to meet or exceed the learning objectives developed at the beginning of the process. If you are designing behavioral or performance based objectives then looking at learner performance can help identify gaps in or highlight effectiveness in training. Still another tool to use is aligning training elements to the objectives.

• Does this training element support this learning or training objective?

Testing is such a hot item now that a lot of people want to implement it into the workplace training conducted within their organizations. Why? It is easier to develop tests and score them than actually observe performance. Even Kirkpatrick’s Level 2 – Learning stage focuses on pre and post testing.

Is testing evaluation? No. It is one element that can be used but it is not training evaluation. I will be looking deeper into this as I learn more about how to effectively evaluate training for learning.

Image source: Pragmagraphr

I got my newly revised problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions back from my mentor this weekend. I had also asked for some guidance on what elements to include in my new literature review.  Year 3 residency really set me back a bit with some small changes. Think of it like turning a ship only 1 degree from the course and figure out what that impact is 2,000 miles away; quite a different landing place.

I’ve selected some categories for the next evolution of my literature review:

• Constructivism
• Blended Learning
• Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts
• Learning Evaluation

My mentor thought these areas will serve me well and likely aid in redrafting the problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions. What!?! Again!?! Yes, again. This process is iterative and continues to cycle back on the previous components at every turn. Frustrating to be sure but needed to validate and refine the project.

So the biggest piece of advice is keep reading. I will read. I need to read. First, I need to find some articles. So the remainder of the week is business travel and my regular class, so I will be in the academic frame of mind.

One nice about my research is that it fits my work well. If everything holds out, I will be able to use my work to do my research. That would be ideal.

Image Source: Swamibu

In revising my problem and purpose statement, along with fleshing out Chapter 1 of the dissertation, I got some sage words of wisdom from my mentor.

We want you to graduate

I liked the idea of measuring my dissertation to what Kirkpatrick would call the behavioral level or Level Three. However, as I know and my mentor pointed out to me again, this level of measurement is evasive and lengthy to determine. While I think understanding this is important, I also think graduation is important.

Even Kirkpatrick determined that Level Three is a difficult level to evaluate and can lead to false negatives. In the literature Kirkpatrick proffered that too many factors can mute a behavioral change and lead the researcher to issue a negative statement which might not be accurate. In fact, Kirkpatrick cautioned that influencers like a boss, workplace, personality, etc could give the impression that the training was ineffective when in fact learning took place, at Level Two.

So, I pulled back from work performance to get a faster and more accurate evaluation for the research. Is it cheating? Not at all. In fact, because the literature doesn’t have any determinations of effectiveness, this is a most appropriate level to evaluate. Future studies could include behavioral evaluation. In fact, that would make a nice second book for me…so don’t take my idea

I sent my revisions into my mentor and am looking forward to her feedback on the matter. This does add another component to my literature review but that isn’t going to be too bad. I jsut need to read more.

Sometime overnight, the server that my classroom resided one ended its life, at least this is what tech support told me. They had hoped to rebuild the server in less time but as of Sunday afternoon things were still down. When class isn’t available on weekends things get dicey. All of a sudden, I had last minute questions about the assignment that I knew could be resolved in class postings. All of a sudden, I wanted to check my professor’s notes and lectures. All of a sudden, I wanted to take advantage of the class materials.

It was a frustrating weekend, school-wise, for sure.

Some might say this has to do with the switch to a web-based classroom environment. It might, but the server being down would have impacted the Outlook Express environment too. Although, is OE the older posts would be available offline, making accessing the materials more readily accessible. Still, the new web interface is not the issue. The issue is redundancy. I am sure there are backups somewhere but the IT failure is no doubt giving rise to a series of conversations that ensure up time.

Perhaps most frustrating was that the server meltdown came at the end of CUR/722. I’ve had contentions with this class in the past few weeks and none of them were adeqautely resolved. I still feel as though the assignments and discussion were at Bachelor or Master levels and did not adequately stretch to doctoral level leadership discussions or work. The class being done now, I have little left to harp on. So, it is enough that I have voiced my concern through the end-of-course survey (and here I suppose).

I completed my assignment and like a seasoned UOP student, I emailed it to the professor to make sure the paper got counted. I hope my classmates did the same.

The classroom did come back up on Monday afternoon. It was empty of all earlier posts and materials. A message assuring students the earlier posts would be restored gave little comfort. The class was ending, what do I care if the older materials appear somewhere down the line. Truth be told, the classrooms dissappear after a few weeks, making accessing all older materials impossible.

Just as one class ends, another begins. I am preparing for Year 3 residency. I have a lot to do in terms of drafting chapters 1-3 and I will be buckled down after a short break here.

Image Source: zoomar

I’ve spent the Summer revising and revising my literature review in hopes of getting it to the point I feel it is worth my mentor’s time to review and comment. I understand the function of the mentor is to guide and offer coaching as needed. Perhaps I should have taken her up on this function. In fact, I know I should have.

Still, the revision process takes some time. I spend most of it writing something, then reading it to make sure it sounds accurate, understandable, and scholarly. This is no easy task.

What I have found in my reflection is an evolution of writing style from the Master’s level to this dissertation level. In my MAED program it was appropriate to conclude something based on cited evidence and support from a peer-reviewed author. In the beginning of the EdD program it was appropriate to cite evidence and conclusions that were cited elsewhere adding some transitional text that agreed with the preceding work. At the dissertation level, it is appropriate to academically report the findings and conclusions of others (at least for the lit. review).

My thesaurus and the online thesaurus tools are getting a work out. How many synonyms for report, conclude, said wrote, offer, etc. do you think there are?

Some good news on this front. I am learning to be a better critical thinker and writer. I am also learning more about journalism that I thought I should know. Journalism in the theoretical sense, not the practioner sense.

I am happy with the lit. review so far. The long process should conclude this month with another submission to my mentor and then onto planning the proposal (chapters 1, 2, & 3).

Side note: my APA PERRLA/StyleEase posts have gotten some notice from APA PERRLA. Here is hoping for a speedy release so I can return to my favorite APA tool.

Image source: quartermane

I’ve been laying low for a few days trying to break my Internet addiction and give my mind some rest from the last class (earned a B+, by the way). This morning I popped by the Wordpress Stats page in my admin section and saw a spike in hits. What is this spike? It was a bunch of clicks from a recent Yahoo! Finance article by Anya Kamenetz titled Whose American Dream Is It, Anyway?

The article cites my Lit Review on the Millennial generation as substance for the following quote:

Money and security are important, but research says young people really want meaning in their jobs, too.

Anya was kind enough to read my research and use it for her work on Y! Finance. Doing my research Anya has quite a record of speaking and writing on the Millennials and I am impressed she felt my work worthy. Further validation that I am on the right track.

I would like to clarify and extend the quote by adding some important information about my feelings on meaning. Specifically by extracting that section of the lit. review section.

Meaning is an important element in Millennial work expectations (Allen, 2004; Martin, 2005); this generation expects the work being done to be social responsible (Martin) and important to the business (Eisner, 2005). Similarly, Millennials distaste being assigned work considered as chores or menial; preferring tasks important to the success of the organization (Eisner). The expectation of meaningful work relates to the Millennials’ lack of inherent loyalty to employers (Allen; Hulett, 2006). Rather this generation of employees aligns with organizations that best fit the need for balance and meaning (Allen; Hulett).

References can be sent or posted if you would like them, I just don’t want to clutter up the post.

What is seen here is that the Millennials really are looking for things to do that have value and meaning. This does not mean that they are looking for every task to be linked to a global steward level of importance. It means that this generation are looking for jobs, tasks, roles, and responsibilities that are important to the person, the organization (think strategic alignment), and community/marketplace/industry.

Anya, thanks for using my research for your resource.

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