Track: Instructional Leadership

Concentration Core: Teaching and Learning

Cognate Area: Instructional Media

Dissertation Chair: Jonathan Becker, J.D., Ph.D.

Dissertation Title: Implementation and Outcomes of an English-Portuguese Online Tandem Language Exchange Program Delivered Jointly Across a U.S.-Brazilian University Partnership: A Case Study [LINK]

Ph.D. Program Advisor: Gary Sarkozi, Ph.D.

The Instructional Leadership track provided a comprehensive foundation in pedagogy, emphasizing instructional models, learning theories, and evidence-based teaching strategies. The program included coursework in curriculum and instruction, educational policy and administration, staff development, and instructional design.

To further specialize my expertise, I selected Instructional Media & Technology as my cognate area, allowing me to explore language learning and technology, online language instruction, digital media in language teaching, and virtual language exchanges.

The program’s research component was academically demanding, featuring advanced coursework in qualitative and quantitative research methods. These courses provided the theoretical and methodological foundation for developing my research topic. The process concluded with a prospectus hearing, where the first three chapters of my dissertation were formally reviewed and approved by my dissertation committee for continuance and completion.

My Ph.D. journey spanned seven years (2005–2012), during which I successfully completed all academic and research requirements for the Ph.D. in Education.

• 47 credits of coursework in the following areas:
  • Foundations of Teaching & Learning
  • Research Methods
  • Instructional Leadership
  • Cognate: Instructional Media and Technology
• 3 credits – Externship (served as Instructional Media Specialist for the Virginia Governor’s Foreign Language Academies, Grades 9-12)
• 3 credits – Prospectus Development
• 12 credits – Dissertation Research