Presented in 2nd International Conference on Professional Doctorates, Edinburgh, April 20-21, 2011

1. 2nd ICPD Conference
The Education Doctorate in
Transnational Context:
Reflections from a Programme Mgt
Perspective
Benjamin Tak-Yuen Chan
Tak-
Open University of Hong Kong
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2. Speaker’s Interest
Past coordinator of a transnational
EdD in HK
Personal insight from being a
graduate of such programme
This presentation attempts to fill in
the gap of knowledge about
programme management of EdD in
overseas delivery sites
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3. Some past studies
ESCalate Conference (2003),
Leicester (U of Nottingham) explored on
the transnational EdD in relation to:
• Differences in cultural assumptions of
knowledge
• Adequacy and effectiveness of supervision
arrangement at a distance
• Library support
• Costing model that takes into account possible
high attrition rate
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4. Some past studies (cont’d)
Chapman (2008) was concerned with:
• Experience of students doing a
transnational EdD in HK and Singapore
of the U of Western Australia
• Dynamics and complexities of student
expectations
• Membership of students in a learning
community
• Relationship between student learning
style and research supervision needs
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5. Issues of Interest
Why has the transnational EdD been
introduced into HK and what are the
conditions that had helped to sustain
its recruitment momentum?
What effect does the transnational
EdD have on local institutions?
What will be the future direction of
the transnational EdD in Hong Kong?
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6. Background to the transnational
EdD in HK
The driving forces for recruitment
• HKIEd was established in 1994 from an
amalgamation of teacher training colleges
• Boom in continuing and professional education
after 1997
• Postsecondary education expansion and
establishment of community colleges in 2000
• Re-organisation and expansion of the
Re-
Vocational Training Council
• A perceived or real need by those employed in
these sectors to obtain a doctoral degree
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7. The supply side
First wave providers (transnational)
• 6-7 UK and Australian universities involved
• Often offer programmes in multiple sites in the
region or worldwide with pathway specialisation
(e.g. education mgt)
• One UK programme has an unbroken record of 14
intakes since 1997
Second wave providers (local)
• Associated with the confidence of local universities
to offer taught doctoral degree, strong financial
impetus behind due to withdrawal of gov’t funding
for taught postgraduate programmes in 2004
Third wave providers (transnational)
• Blended learning mode (US), DProf still a rarity!
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8. A profile of programmes
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9. The demand side
The students studying in transnational
EdD programmes in HK are generally:
• Working in tertiary and secondary education,
with more from teaching than administration
background
• Most of them do not hold an MEd, but have 2
or more Masters from other fields
• Majority of students are in the age range of
36-45
36-
• Professionals from non-educational fields are
non-
also admitted
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10. Current market situation
4 local universities (HKU, CUHK, HKIED,
OUHK) offer EdD, 3 are major providers
Only 1 UK transnational programme
actively recruiting now (Bristol)
New transnational entrants include 1 US
institution (Northeastern)
Underlying demand is still strong but
applicants show a preference for local
programmes (a retreat in transnational
provision may be both a cause and effect!)
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11. Comparing HK local and
transnational EdD programmes
Transnational programmes
UK providers are mature and upper-tier HEI, 1
upper-
programme has passed the litmus test of QAA
collaborative audit in 2007. Quality is not the
prime concern
Graduation/attrition rate of these transnational
programmes are not publicised (Unofficial tally of
206 graduates as at April 2010) but it is believed
to be quite variable across programmes
One programme has a cumulative recruitment of
280 with 44 graduates (as of 2008)
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12. Comparing HK local and
transnational EdD programmes
HK local programmes
Three of the 4 programmes are late starters
(from 2003 onwards) with few graduates to date
Gained advantage in curriculum design from
being late developers (improved feature for
research skills training to enhance completion
rate)
HK is ranked #2 in education research in the
Asiatic region after Taiwan (based on SCOPUS
and in terms of the total no. of papers, citations
and H-index). This reflects underlying research
H-
strength of the schools of education in HK.
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13. Addressing applicants’ concern
Cost
• Issue of front-loading in fee payment
front-
Reputation of institution
• RAE performance or University ranking
table as indicator?
Can I graduate?
Matching potential thesis topic with
supervision expertise
Recognition of EdD vis-à-vis PhD
vis-
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14. Comparing fee level and structure
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15. Ranking table and RAE indicators
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16. Responses to questions of
applicants
Need to consider own priorities and time mgt
Need to take into account breadth and depth of
taught modules and coursework requirements
Need to understand the supervision relationship
and expectation of supervisor
Need to understand the EdD career pathway
(both local and overseas)
Need to be realistic after all, or risk non-
non-
completion!
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17. Future direction of transnational
EdD in HK
Local EdD programmes (mostly reformed 1st
generation professional doctorates) remain to be
too academic and singularly focused on training
of research skills as these programmes are
similarly driven by the research agenda of staff
Local professional doctorates in other fields
(engineering, health science, nursing, psychology,
social work, tourism and hotel mgt, law) continue
to proliferate
The discussion about professional doctorates of
the second generation type or beyond has not
reached the scene yet
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18. Recommendations for future
transnational programme providers
Transnational EdDs of the reformed 1st
generation type offer little competitive advantage
over their local counterparts
Professional doctorates with its focus on the
learner and links between the profession,
workplace and university, and its assessment via
portfolio or project rather than thesis actually
goes well with the practical ethos of professionals
in HK
HK universities are traditional and experience
substantial lag in adopting liberal approaches and
ideas from overseas
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19. Recommendations for future
transnational programme providers
(cont’d)
Opportunity for 2nd generation transnational
professional doctorate programmes to enter the
market, especially the post-1992 HEI
post-
The major challenge is to debunk the assumption
of lesser quality put on these programmes due to
thesis not being the end product
Alliance with professional bodies/associations as
partners is advisable
Window of opportunity for overseas providers is
based on the lag period of uptake of this
curriculum model by local universities
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20. Thank you
Email: btychan@ouhk.edu.hk
A travelling grant from the Sino-British
Sino-
Fellowship Trust is gratefully acknowledged
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