Paula Dawidowicz

Dr. Paula Dawidowicz has been teaching with Walden since 2004. She has served as a Specialization Coordinator and was a Research Coordinator from 2008 to 2018. She is currently research faculty while she conducts research and writing activities. Prior to working at Walden, she served as research faculty at The Florida Center for Reading Research for two years conducting evaluations of different reading programs, parents’ participation in reading programs, and other aspects of Florida education reading activities.

Paula conducted her dissertation as a grounded ethnohistoriography at Walden on cultural changes in one Educational environment as a result of religious diversification. She followed that with a second grounded ethnohistoriographic study of a school district and its special education program. She has conducted case studies, narratives, phenomenologies, correlation studies, historiographies, ethnographies, grounded theory studies, single subject studies, content analyses, quasi-experimental studies, online network analyses, and discourse analyses. She has used documents, observations, interviews, focus groups, surveys, questionnaires, journals, books, secondary data, and test scores. She has published numerous research report articles and methodology articles published and made numerous presentations on these topics, as well.

Paula has broad interest areas because she looks at systemic connections. She has a Ph.D. in Education and postdoctoral courses in Psychology from Walden University, an M.S. in Health Services from Central Michigan University with a Business Administration focus, a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University with foci on both the Middle East and political/military analysis, and graduate level courses in creative writing, history, and international affairs. She also has certification as a master coach, a canine behavior consultant, and a service dog trainer. She is interested in sociological, psychological, and cultural aspects of education and how education can help address cultural and psychological issues, including logic, critical thinking, argumentation, systemic thinking, social systems, and education's role in evolution of social and cultural structures and challenges. Her methodological foci are qualitative methods and mixed methods, although she does work with quantitative, as well. She has numerous published articles and presentations, including on both content research and methodology and methodological processes and instruction. She is constantly in the process of conducting and reporting on research activities she pursues.

Courses Taught

RSCH 8350 - Advanced Qualitative Reasoning

RSCH 8300 - Qualitative Reasoning

EDPD 8113 - Tools for Doctoral Research

EDPD 8114 - Demystifying Doctoral Writing

Education

PhD, Walden University

MS, Central Michigan University

BA, The George Washington University

Public Service

American Mothers, Incorporated, Organizer -

Virginia Homeschool Conference, Volunteer - Blacksburg

Awards / Honors

Faculty Research Initiative Grant, Walden, 2011

Secretary, Systems Thinking in Education SIG, , 2009

Sigma Iota Epsilon Management Honor Fraternity, Central Michigan University, 1985

State Department Internship, The George Washington University, 1978

National Model United Nations Ambassador, University of Maine, 1977

University Paralegal, University of Maine, 1976

Publications

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2016). Grounded Ethnohistoriography: What, Where and, Especially, Why .

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2017). Escaping the black hole of Calcutta unscathed: Planning for best completion of Chapter 2.

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2017). Glintin' in the sun: Dramatic exploration as a research experience.

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2016). Conceptualizing an aligned study problem, purpose, framework, & questions.

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2011). With scholarship & practice in mind: The case study as research method. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design

Dawidowicz, P. (2012). Reverse redesign model: Putting the play back into restructuring problematic study designs.

Dawidowicz, P. (2003). Teaching Morality in Schools in Utah's Religion-based Society. Journal of Moral Education

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2016). Teaching methodology essentials using nonsense activities.

Presentations

Dawidowicz, P. M. (2012). Grounded Ethnohistoriography. ICQI