It Is Harder to Generate Alternative Dissertations Than It Looks

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ie.2025.505

Keywords:

alternative dissertation, dissertation-in-practice, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED)

Abstract

This study examines 39 education doctorate (EdD) dissertations that were completed by members of five cohorts of EdD students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education (TLTE) to consider what constitutes an alternative dissertation. All of the dissertation authors began their EdD studies after UNL began its affiliation with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED). After pondering what makes an EdD dissertation “alternative”, the article notes both that most of the dissertations remain traditional (i.e., structurally like doctorate of philosophy [PhD] dissertations) and that all of the advising faculty are PhD-holders. The article does offer accounts of two dissertations, however, that seem to encapsulate well the spirit and rationale for alternative dissertations or dissertations in practice (DiPs).

Author Biography

Edmund T. Hamann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Professor, Dept. of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education

Coordinator of our dept's CPED-affiliated EdD program

Anthropologist of education interested in schooling and transnationally mobile students and comparative education.

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Published

2025-08-01

How to Cite

Hamann, E. T., & Boche, L. (2025). It Is Harder to Generate Alternative Dissertations Than It Looks . Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice, 10(3), 14–19. https://doi.org/10.5195/ie.2025.505

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 3 (2025): The Present and Future of EdD Alternative Dissertations

Section

Themed-The Present and Future of EdD Alternative Dissertations

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Copyright (c) 2025 Edmund T. Hamann, Laura Boche

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