Part Two of the Themed Issue on Reimagining Research Methods Coursework for the Preparation of Scholar-Practitioners

In this second installment of the themed issue on redesigning research methods coursework for CPED-inspired EdD programs, EdD faculty and students share empirical research, conceptual insights, and practitioner-oriented coursework and activities to contribute to the conversation on research methods training and skill development for scholar-practitioners


INTRODUCTION
In the introduction to the first installment of the themed issue on reimagining research methods coursework (Capello et al., 2023), we highlighted the changing nature of the EdD degree and efforts to distinguish it from the PhD, the implications of those changes for research methods courses and the dissertation, and the lack of consensus in the field on what practitioner-oriented research methodology preparation might look like from a conceptual and practice standpoint informed by empirical evidence. The first volume includes eight papers that begin to address the ways that research methods courses are being redesigned and taught to support practitioners in CPED-inspired EdD programs.
The papers in the second installment of the themed issue aim to continue this work by offering empirical contributions on and conceptual insights for developing EdD students' research abilities and scholar-practitioner identities, a theoretical model for research methods training, and additional examples of innovative and practice-based coursework that allows students to develop researchrelated skills and dispositions. These papers are particularly rich in grounding such learning and skills in students' practice to serve local schools and communities. Furthermore, several papers in this issue center EdD students' voices either as paper authors or as participants in the research. We are encouraged by these contributions of EdD students to the literature and believe that partnering with and learning from our students is a key component to program and course (re)design.
Below are summaries of the seven papers included in part two of the themed issue: • In her paper, "Reinventing EdD Research Methods Courses: Elevating Traditional Teaching with Transformative Learning," Acton first proposes a theoretical model for EdD research methods courses that draws on adult learning theory and transformative learning theories and then describes how she used the model to redesign an introductory research methods course.
• In her paper, "Consultancy Communities of Practice: The Group Consultancy Project as a Promising Model for Scholarly Practitioner Development," Lambrev details how the University of Hawai'i uses a field-based, group consultancy project to help EdD students both learn how to conduct research as well as serve the needs of local community organizations.
• In their paper, "Pilot Testing as a Strategy to Develop Interview and Questionnaire Skills for Scholar Practitioners: A Selection of Education Doctorate Students' Reflective Vignettes," Tate and colleagues reflect on the use of pilot testing strategies for data collection instruments in an online research methodology course. Students reported that the collaborative pilot testing process strengthened the quality of their data collection instruments, contributed to the formation of their scholar-practitioner identities, and began to prepare them for psychological and technical challenges of conducting research.
• In their article, "Emerging Scholarly Practitioners: Utilizing Course-Embedded Research Projects," Smith and colleagues present a self-study that describes how projectbased learning and self-study can contribute to the growth and development of EdD students into scholarly practitioners.
• In their article, "Assessing Online Doctoral Student Research Competencies," Gillham and Schilling use the Scholar-Practitioner Research Development Scale (Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2018) to assess doctoral students' developing appreciation for, understanding of, and skill in carrying out research. They find that, on the whole, students in the program rated their scholar-practitioner competencies highly (averaging above a 4.0 out of 5.0 in most cases). Their results also helpfully illuminate how some scholarpractitioner competencies-particularly related to research skills and dissemination-may take longer to develop than others.
• In their paper, "Reflexivity for Restorying the Ontological and Epistemological Truths in Qualitative Research," Lee-Johnson and colleagues challenge traditional ontological and epistemological truths guiding educational research and propose the use of reflexivity for restorying such truths. The authors take up this work by sharing individual vignettes that recount their own personal and academic positionality and intersectionality.
• In her paper, "It's Time to Make More Room for Program Evaluation in the Education Doctorate Program," Marotta argues that program evaluation has been overlooked in the conversations around appropriate applied research methodologies for EdD programs, discusses several benefits of offering coursework in program evaluation, and suggests that the use of applied evaluation approaches and improvement science can complement one another in CPED-influenced EdD programs.