Don't Be a Ghost Who Drops Grades in Blackboard

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of a program evaluation conducted to assess the effectiveness of an online doctoral program in educational leadership at a Research One University from the perspective of its students. Feedback was sought from over 80 currently enrolled students. The study focused on three aspects of the program, namely faculty social and cognitive presence. Recent changes to the program that address these areas include the creation of a thematic group model that clusters students based on academic interests over the last 2 years of the program, extensive revisions to coursework, the adoption of a problem-based dissertation model, and the use of social media and an online community portal to promote student engagement. The results indicate that although students had encountered positive experiences in all three areas, online doctoral students continue to need focused individual mentoring in order to experience success.