Doctoral Applied Improvement Project By Johnathan Cockrell​

This doctoral project by Johnathan Cockrell investigates how a structured, asynchronous faculty development program can improve student persistence in online community college courses. The research addresses a significant 19-percentage-point gap in completion rates between virtual and face-to-face modalities by focusing on instructional presence. Through a five-week intervention, faculty members engaged in modules designed to enhance course organization, communication routines, and feedback practices. Qualitative data, gathered from semi-structured interviews and implementation journals, revealed that participants developed a higher awareness of their digital impact and intentionally refined their teaching strategies. Ultimately, the study suggests that targeted professional development serves as a vital institutional lever for closing equity gaps and fostering student success in online environments.

Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership, completed in 2026
Applied Improvement Project: The AIP implemented an asynchronous faculty development program designed to strengthen instructional presence in online courses. The intervention was grounded in the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), with particular attention to the teaching presence construct, which includes course design, facilitation of discourse, and direct instruction.
The faculty development experience was delivered through the institution’s learning management system and focused on practical strategies that support effective online instruction, including:

• Clear course organization and navigation
• Alignment between learning objectives and assessments
• Intentional instructor communication and feedback
• Strategies to support student engagement and persistence

Faculty participants engaged in structured learning modules, reflective activities, and applied course-design tasks intended to strengthen instructional practices in their online courses.
Implementation and FindingsThe project was implemented with procedural fidelity and included qualitative data collection through faculty interviews and an AIP implementation journal. Participants reported several instructional refinements, including:

• Increased intentionality in feedback practices
• Improved alignment between objectives and assessments
• More visible and consistent instructor communication with students

While the project did not directly measure student persistence outcomes, participants described changes in instructional design and facilitation practices that align with the teaching presence dimension of the Community of Inquiry framework.
Leadership and Professional Learning. This experience reinforced several important lessons about leadership and improvement work within community colleges:

• Organizational improvement requires intentional collaboration with faculty and academic leaders.
• Structured faculty development can create space for reflective practice and instructional refinement.
• Data-informed improvement initiatives can help institutions address persistent student success challenges.

Completing the AIP monograph required integrating research, leadership, and practical application, reflecting the central goal of the EdD: preparing leaders who can apply research to real organizational challenges.

Applied Improvement Project MonographAs part of EDD-FPX 9955, I completed my Applied Improvement Project Monograph, which documents the problem of practice, research foundation, implementation process, evaluation findings, and implications for professional practice.
The monograph was submitted and accepted as the culminating scholarly product for the Applied Improvement Project.

Looking Ahead: Completion of EDD-FPX 9955 marks the transition to the final stage of the doctoral program, which focuses on communicating project results to stakeholders and reflecting on the overall Applied Improvement Project experience.
Presenting the project findings to institutional stakeholders provides an opportunity to share insights that may inform future faculty development initiatives and support continued improvement in online teaching and learning.

Courses Completed in My Doctoral Program ​

• Foundation of Doctoral Studies - In this course, learners gain an understanding of the EdD program and insights into how cycles of inquiry and systems thinking are used to address problems of practice. Additionally, learners engage in critical thinking and communication while reflecting on their own personal learning and growth
• Dynamics of Organizational Development - Learners in this course continue their study of systems thinking and foundational leadership concepts, and apply them to workplace environments. Learners examine systems thinking, use of systems tools, and inquiry and design cycles as ways to maximize available resources to solve problems under conditions of uncertainty and ambiguity. This course emphasizes the importance of evidence-based reasoning and critical analysis as essential skills for practitioners who plan action research interventions or design and implement improvement processes.
• Educational Leadership by Design: This course provides an introduction to fundamental systems principles and leadership skills in organizations, with a focus on continuous organizational learning and improvement processes. Learners apply their personal values and behaviors, as well as those of organizations. Learners apply basic principles of systems thinking, systems mapping, and inquiry-cycle approaches to leadership processes and organizational change. In addition, learners apply disciplines of learning organizations and a change model to a problem of practice to real-world leadership challenges.
• Investigating Problems of Practice - In this course, learners examine continuous improvement models, engage in an inquiry cycle, develop data and information literacy skills, and collaborate with stakeholders to assess organizational needs and dynamics. Learners identify an organizational issue, collect and analyze relevant data, and develop valid inferences. Learners document the process they use to tell the story of their research, effectively sharing it with stakeholders. This course requires obtaining an organizational site and completing site-based assignments.
• Leading a Culture of Learning and Inclusion- In this course, learners evaluate the role of culture in supporting an organization's ability to learn, improve, and successfully adapt to a changing environment, and the leader's role in shaping it. Learners analyze patterns of behaviors within organizations, as well as the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the inclusive leader that support values of diversity and equity in organizational culture and in organizational development and improvement processes. Additionally, learners examine the characteristics and theoretical bases of cultural awareness, sensitivity, and responsiveness, and their roles in achieving the goals of a learning organization. 
• The Future of Educational Leadership - Learners in this course demonstrate leadership skills that support the ability to exercise influence regardless of position in an organization, and the importance of deep knowledge and understanding of internal and external environmental factors impacting an educational organization. This course emphasizes ongoing learning about current research and future trends in education in a rapidly changing environment. Learners also examine social influence and communication skills, commitment rather than compliance, empowerment of others, creative practice, and self-management, along with a robust professional knowledge base, as they consider ways to build an organization's capacity to envision its future.  
• Research Design for Practitioners- In this course, learners are introduced to research approaches, designs, and methods with a focus on the needs of educational leaders. Learners assess the conceptual and theoretical foundations of quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and action research designs, and analyze a variety of research literature and journal articles through the lens of a practitioner. Learners acquire the knowledge necessary to assess the applicability of research and theoretical literature to practice and become critical consumers of research. Learners apply course concepts to the design of an action research study relevant to the learner's organization. 
• Data Literacy for Leaders - In this course, learners apply the data literacy skills required by leaders for effective organizational planning, decision-making, and communication with stakeholders. Learners examine skills such as data interpretation, data aggregation and disaggregation, data transformation, use of multiple data sources, analysis, statistical techniques, and selection of appropriate metrics for the intended purpose. Learners also utilize technology to process data and present and communicate results.
• Assessment and Evaluation in the Learning Organization: In this course, learners examine the varied purposes of evaluation, evaluation models, and when and how to apply them. Evaluation and assessment processes are framed as learning tools that lead to new knowledge and understanding, with a focus on emergent, evidence-based recommendations to determine next steps and sustain ongoing cycles of continuous improvement. The course emphasizes reflective practice, data literacy, research reasoning, and habits of mind as leadership characteristics that support a continuous personal and organizational learning process.​
• EdD Doctoral Project 1- In this course, learners collaborate with stakeholders at their doctoral project sites to collect evidence and share relevant literature to identify and frame a chosen problem of practice. Learners demonstrate inquiry, analysis, communication, and leadership skills as well as the ability to evaluate and interpret organizational data to determine performance gaps and root causes. Learners deepen their understanding of a problem and its factors to develop a problem statement for their doctoral project. Learners also secure the commitment of their project site to conduct their applied improvement project.
• EdD Doctoral Project 2- In this course, learners collaborate with stakeholders at their doctoral project site to begin to develop a potential intervention that addresses a problem of practice. Learners develop an in-depth literature review that synthesizes relevant theory and best practices related to the problem and the proposed solution, and begin developing an implementation plan to address a problem of practice.
• EdD Doctoral Project 3 - In this course, learners continue to collaborate with stakeholders at their doctoral project site to develop a potential intervention that addresses a problem of practice and to develop a detailed implementation plan. Learners complete and submit IRB applications for approval. ​
• EdD Doctoral Project 4- In this course, students collect and evaluate doctoral project data, applying appropriate quantitative and qualitative analysis tools. Students make valid inferences from the data in relation to the intervention's goals and the implementation process. Students incorporate written and visual formats to effectively communicate their results in preparation for developing their written report in the next course.
• EdD Doctoral Project 5- In this course, students synthesize their findings, key learnings, and next steps in relation to their doctoral project in a written report that includes student reflections on the applied improvement project experience, and provides the basis for the doctoral project presentation students develop in EDD-FPX9956
• EdD Doctoral Project 6- In this course, students complete their doctoral project by developing a presentation on the problem, intervention, and results, and sharing it with stakeholders. In addition, students submit a portfolio of their signature assignments related to their doctoral project.