Professional practice doctoral education is distinguished by its focus on practice-based pedagogies aimed at fostering students' development as researching professionals--individuals who are adept at using evidence to tackle educational issues. To advance students' research competence, the doctoral study should facilitate the integration of theoretical knowledge acquired in the program with their professional worlds, a process that can be considered as boundary crossing. Drawing upon the theory of boundary crossing, we used the pilot study as a practice-based pedagogy in an EdD course, which aims to link students' professional practice with their developing scholarly practice. We explored how students encountered the boundary between professional practice and academia and how they navigated the tensions inherent in this boundary-crossing process. We found that the pilot study served as a boundary object, generating tensions at the boundary between students' professional and academic worlds. In navigating the tensions, students utilized research as a mediating tool, leveraging productive dissonance, reflection, and idea sharing within Critical Friends groups. We draw implications about the use of the pilot study in professional practice programs to support students in their transition from practitioners to scholarly practitioners and researchers.