This chapter explores first the role of researcher perspective in the research process, then the unique nuances of the researcher positionality in dissertations in practice, followed by a discussion of the advantages and limitations of the unique positionality assumed by dissertations in practice. This chapter concludes by noting the importance of constructing conceptual coherence between the implications of the scholarly-practitioner's positionality statement and the discussion of the dissertation's ethical considerations and limitations. The dissertation in practice, more so than with traditional Ph.D. dissertations, assumes that the researcher holds close personal connections to the research site, participants, and contexts. Far from envisioning the researcher as an objective outside observer, the dissertation in practice assumes that the researcher has a vested interest in solving the professional problem of practice within their place of employment in the presence of colleagues. For this reason, the full disclosure of the researcher's positionality becomes all the more important.

This chapter explores first the role of researcher perspective in the research process, then the unique nuances of the researcher positionality in dissertations in practice, followed by a discussion of the advantages and limitations of the unique positionality assumed by dissertations in practice. This chapter concludes by noting the importance of constructing conceptual coherence between the implications of the scholarly-practitioner's positionality statement and the discussion of the dissertation's ethical considerations and limitations. The dissertation in practice, more so than with traditional Ph.D. dissertations, assumes that the researcher holds close personal connections to the research site, participants, and contexts. Far from envisioning the researcher as an objective outside observer, the dissertation in practice assumes that the researcher has a vested interest in solving the professional problem of practice within their place of employment in the presence of colleagues. For this reason, the full disclosure of the researcher's positionality becomes all the more important.

This descriptive case study centers the experiences of 12 preservice secondary English Language Arts (ELAR) teachers in their final two years of study as they navigate changing school environments in light of COVID-19 restrictions. The preservice teachers discuss successes and challenges with regard to their preparedness to teaching in online or hybrid modalities, their struggles to build learner engagement with social distancing restrictions within the classroom and some students who never log into class live, and similar struggles with intentional relationship building. From these emergent themes, the authors make recommendations on praxis for pre- and inservice teachers, teacher educators, and teacher education programs.

This chapter examines the existing literature surrounding educational technology in secondary classrooms both before and during the ERT as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2019–2021. The researchers synthesize digital learning, 1:1 and BYOD initiatives, PLCs, and TPACK in order to both describe the current state of secondary classroom technology integration as well as to make informed recommendations about necessary future research. The researchers suggest that TPACK provides a useful framework for secondary teachers to use as they implement new technologies into their teaching and that PLCs can serve as worthwhile areas in which teacher professional development can occur.

Despite high attrition rates and abundant criticisms, online graduate programs continue to grow. This paper describes the efforts of one online doctoral program that focused on developing programmatic support structures to increase community. Utilizing a qualitative, case study research design, including surveys and semi-structured interviews, this study examined two research questions: 1) In what ways did students experience a sense of community? 2) What elements of an online professional doctoral program did students find most influential in developing a learning community? Findings indicate that students experience community through peer collaboration, program support, and shared learning and networking. A sense of community was developed through the cohort model, strong student support services, synchronous live sessions, and relationships formed with faculty. As a result, a community of practice was formed among program participants. Findings from this study have the potential to aid other online graduate programs as they design and implement structures to foster student success and retention.