Developing a community of practitioner researchers: History and analysis of the human and work dimensions of an adult education doctoral student support group

Scope and method of study. Competent professionals are returning to institutions of higher education to seek doctoral degrees. Despite rigorous entry requirements for doctoral programs, large numbers of adult learners are not completing program requirements. This dynamic creates a group of learners that has been labeled "All But Dissertation" or ABD. However, there is one group that has overcome this obstacle, accomplishing a 100% completion rate. This group is known as the MAKE IT SO (MIS) support group; a grassroots support group of Oklahoma State University graduate students in the Adult Education program of the College of Education. The purpose of this study was to describe the activities implemented by the MIS support group viewed through the lens of the Human and Work dimensions of the support group. In the Highlander tradition of Myles Horton, the group documented its activities. Therefore, this case study analyzed this historical data.;Findings and conclusions. The findings of this study revealed that the primary task of the MIS meetings was to demystify the dissertation process and that a strong social element underlaid the activities of MIS. These findings have led to several conclusions. MIS has created a research culture among the participants that produced practitioner researchers who not only were experts in their professional areas but who also were competent researchers capable of continuously conducting research in their fields. There is a participatory approach to the dissertation process where each learner consults with the expert, their peer, who has reached a milestone of having "figured out" an element of the process and how to take charge of it. This case study demonstrates how adult learning principles can be applied within the context of higher education to help students complete their dissertation process.