Developing A Problem Of Practice

My Career Field is Healthcare Emergency Management Services Dispatch Support

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Developing a Problem of Practice

Last week, you explored the problem of practice, a central concept to the work you do in your EdD program and beyond. Feel free to review the following:

• Read the Problems of Practice [PDF] document and then complete the interactive Problems of Practice media activity.
• Read the EdD Doctoral Program Manual [PDF] and specialization-specific information to consider possible problems of practice to study further. The EdD program at Capella requires you to complete an inquiry project that is related to some aspect of your professional organization.

You have perhaps only recently started to consider potential problems of practice related to your professional site, so your understanding of such problems may still feel pretty unfocused. That is okay. It is helpful to ask questions to understand more fully. Respond to the following prompts as an exercise to help you start to focus that understanding:

• Describe a potentially problematic issue, an ongoing problem, or a challenging situation that could be improved at your professional site.
• Describe multiple scholarly sources that may provide focused and relevant insight into your problem of practice:
  • Which sources can describe the problem?
  • Which sources can identify how long this problem has impacted professional practice?
  • Which sources might identify who is affected by the problem?
  • Which sources might come from theorists or apply theories as a way of understanding the problem?
  • Which studies might detail solutions or interventions that have been applied and data that resulted from such interventions?
• Explore your own assumptions or beliefs about your problem of practice.
  • Why is this problem significant?
  • What do you assume to be the causes of the problem?
  • How could the organization improve if the problem were resolved?
  • What potential solutions do you assume might address the problem?
  • Which theories or theorists are likely most relevant when thinking about the problem?