Answers to update 1.1 - related to my general field research topic are below. I look forward to any feedback! 

Provide a one-sentence summary of your general field (you'll elaborate in the next action item)

I plan for my general field to be competency-based education implementation models.

What were the research genres and methodologies of the dissertations you found?

The first article I found (Evans et al., 2020) was a systematic literature review. The second dissertation I found (H. S. Hassanein, 2021) used a descriptive- analytical method. The final dissertation I found (Belin, 2020) used qualitative research.

Even if these were not explicitly marked, what do you infer were the general and special fields of the dissertations you found?

Evans et al., 2020:

• General: K – 12 competency-based education in the United States.
• Specific: What are the facilitators and barriers to successful K-12 CBE implementation in the United States?

H. S. Hassanein, 2021:

• General: Implementation models for competency-based education at the collegiate level.
• Specific: Competency-based implementation and curricular designs and the collegiate level.

Belin, 2020:

• General: Alternate educational models
• Specific: competency-based education implementation models

What do you want to emulate in the dissertations and why? Share specific excerpts from the dissertations.

All three dissertations do a good job of providing charts, graphs, and raw data from their study. While I did not spend a great deal of time looking into it, if I was extremely interested in the study, it would be important to look through the data to ensure I agree with its validity. I also think all three dissertations are well-organized, which makes it easy to find specific information.

What would you want to do differently than the dissertations you found and why? Share specific excerpts from the dissertations.

I believe they could have done a better job explaining why their research is important. I believe Evans et al. (2020) did the best job with their abstract. I believe Hassanein does a good job advocating for his work at the end of his introduction when he states, “there are still many challenges in implementing competency-based learning that needs to be tackled and this study is an attempt that potentially contribute to overcome these challenges H. S. Hassanein, 2021, pg. 2).” I do, however, believe that this point is not made in his abstract, which, in my opinion, paints a picture of a study that is so narrow that it may not be relevant outside of the university he works in. I think it will be hard to strike the balance between being specific about your study while convincing the broader community why they should be interested in your work.

References

Belin, M. (2020). Competency-based Education Through the Lens of Personalized Learning in a Large Public High School [National Louis University]. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/471/?utm_source=digitalcommons.nl.edu%2Fdiss%2F471&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages

Evans, C. M., Landl, E., & Thompson, J. (2020). Making sense of K‐12 competency‐based education: A systematic literature review of implementation and outcomes research from 2000 to 2019. The Journal of Competency-Based Education, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1228

H. S. Hassanein, O. (2021). Investigating Competency‐Based Learning Implementation at the Northern Border University (NBU): A Descriptive Analytical Study. Arab World English Journal, 12(2), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no2.1