DISSERTATION IN PRACTICE OUTLINE For an Evaluation and Problem Solving Project Executive Summary (Place the summary at the beginning of your paper, before the Table of Contents) Briefly describe your project and its most important points. Make sure you include the following important points in your summary: •an introduction of your area of study and your topic; •a statement of the main argument of your project; i.e. What is the problem of practice? What is the design for action? •a few words about methodology and approaches used for researching and analyzing the topic; •the results of your project. i.e. What generative impacts are expected? Overview Give an overview that allows the reader to understand what your dissertation is about. Don’t recycle sentences from the executive summary. Make sure to: •Describe the nature of the Dissertation in Practice •Provide concise, complete, and specific information. •Do not include any excessive references, details and desсrіptions. Core Issues Central to Human Resource Development/Educational Leadership •Define human resource development/Educational Leadership and how it fits with this evaluation project Conceptual Models •Briefly introduce the two underlying conceptual models that guided the project (for example, Rothwell’s HPE, PDSA Cycle, Kirkpatrick/Phillips Model of Evaluation,). •Be sure to share how it will be applied •Be sure to include a process map/diagram of each model Background Provide the background of the organization (its purpose, its constituents, when established etc.) and factual information are pertaining to the performance issue. Performance Gap (Formative Data Collection) •Be sure to make compelling case that the problem of practice… ois defined through the process of systematic & intentional inquiry ois informed by critical review of data and perspectives across the boundaries of the organization •Start this section talking about how Rothwell/PDSA Cycle will guide this process. 1.What is the performance issue? 2.When does it occur? 3.How often does it occur? 4.Where does it occur? 5.How frequently does it occur? 6.Why does it occur? 7.Who is affected by the performance issue? •Focus here on your Data Collection process: What are the primary and/or secondary sources of data used to determine the problem of practice? Consider the following questions and right your content with this flow: oWhat and why are you using this data collection method? (Surveys, interviews, focus groups etc.) oWhom did you collect the data from? oWhat was the procedure to collect the data? oHow long did it take? oWhat was the data collected? oHow was it analyzed? oHow did it inform the next step in the process? •End this section with a clear statement of the Problem of Practice oDescribe the performance gap or issues as revealed from your data. oState if the problem is at the individual, group or organizational level. Causal Analysis Not only explain the performance gap, but think about illustrating it as well by using a cause-and-effect Ishikawa Fishbone diagram. As you introduce the diagram, you want to clearly show how it illustrates and was informed by your data analysis. Literature Synthesis/Summary of the Central Problem •Review of current literature (last 5 years) is used as a foundation framing the problem and synthesizing what is known about the problem. •Start by first defining the central performance problem in one sentence. •Then review the literature related to the central problem. •Consider using the causes and effect from the fishbone diagram as the central themes for your literature summary. •Refrain from highlighting excerpts of the literature that informs the solutions and implications of the work. This aspect of the literature synthesis should be presented in chapters 2 and 5 respectively. Model of Improvement/Change •Here is where you need to make a compelling case that your problem of practice is likely to yield performance improvement or change. Do this by introducing Kurt Lewin’s Model of Change and briefly: oDescribe the current situation? oDescribe the desired situation? oIdentify where the current situation will go if no action is taken oImportant to include diagram highlight the driving and resisting forces.
