u of alberta enhancing doctoral education: a collaborative endeavour? lynn mcalpine, oxford...
TRANSCRIPT
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Enhancing doctoral education: A collaborative endeavour?
Lynn McAlpine, Oxford UniversityCheryl Amundsen, Simon Fraser University
(As you get settled)Please respond to Part A of the handout and discuss with the person next to you.
A global focus
Doing a doctorate …. ?
Why do a doctorate?
I wanted to pursue personal intellectual interests.
I wanted to increase my knowledge in my field of study.
I needed a doctorate to enter into or advance in my field.
A faculty member recommended I pursue a doctorate.
*All options chosen: top to bottom most common whether full or part-time
The personal …
Doctoral activities
Doctoral-academic work … practice
What students reported
27%
29% 13%
31%
Writing
Reading/ knowing the literatureOther
Reflection
Relationships: Who do students interact with ? Who is most important?
Interactions: Day-to-day and most important
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Supervisor Student peers Family/friends Otherprofessors
Universitystaff
Self
Day-to-dayMost important
Day-to-day
Most important
Another view of relationships
(Mack & Passet, 1993)
What do students expect of supervisors?
What do students expect of supervisors?
• Expertise, experience, most informed about ‘my work’
• Concrete constructive timely feedback on work (writing, design, data collection, analysis)
• Feedback on overall progress • Available (meeting at least once a month)• Ethical advice (co-authorship, referreeing fairly,
appropriate use of research funds)• Dealing with bureaucratic tangles and regulations
** Shifts in frequency and nature of need over time
** Rarely mentioned: career planning, reading
Other challenges: Why some students take longer
Other challenges: Why some students take longer
• Supervisory relationship• Absence• Lack of intellectual investment• Conflict
• Concurrent chronic family/ personal issues
• When students seek help• Lack of information (including who to see) about issue• Lack of consistent response
Moving forward: an agenda
Moving forward: an agenda What is missingWhat is working
Moving forward: an agenda
• Critical review – scanning the landscape, e.g., U of A report
• Codes of practice for supervision, e.g., Oxford
• Exit survey of all doctoral students who leave including those not graduating, e.g., SFU
• Institutional regular reporting structures (students and supervisors), e.g., Oxford electronic report
• Review institutional resources:– Oxford, Career Services
academic mentoring program
– McGill, Counselling Service self help group
• Ensure visibility of resources: – SFU, Faculty of Education
Handbook for Students and Supervisors
– McGill, Faculty of Education ‘ABCs of the PhD’ workshops
– Oxford, research supervision website
Our ideas: PracticesOur ideas: Policies
