A Four Stage Framework for the Development of a Research Problem Statement in Doctoral Dissertations

2022

IJDS

Self Cite

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop instructional rubrics that help in writing and evaluating doctoral dissertation research problem statements. Background: This is a follow up study. In the first paper (Ali & Pandya, 2021), we introduced a model for writing a research problems statement that takes the students through four phases to complete their writing. In this paper, we introduce an instructional rubric to be used for helping to writing the re-search problem statement. Methodology: This paper builds on the previous model, adding to it Socratic questions to trigger critical thinking to help with writing of research problem statement. Contribution: Developing the instructional rubrics is the contribution of this study. The instructional rubrics can help with the writing of a research problem statement. Findings: Writing a research problem statement is difficult by itself. Following the methodological approach suggested in this study will help students with the task of writing their own. Following this instructional rubric will help more with the writing. Recommendations for Practitioners: A methodological approach to writing a research problem statement is helpful in mitigating the difficulties of writing the dissertation. This study tackles the difficulties with writing the research problem statement. Recommendations for Researchers: More research is needed to give examples of research problem statement that shows the writing of the statement through the suggested phases. Impact on Society: The findings of this research will help doctoral mentors/advisors as they guide students in completing the writing of their research problem statement.

Section: The Four Stages Of Writing a Research Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development Of Instructional Rubrics For the Research Proble...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Using Analytical Thought Process to Develop Instructional Rubrics in Writing Doctoral Dissertation Research Problem Statement – A Follow-Up Study

2022

IJDS

Self Cite

Writing Doctoral Dissertation Literature Review: Identifying the Prerequisites, Corequisites, and the Iterative Process for Writing the Literature

2022

IJDS

Self Cite

Aim/Purpose: Identify the prerequisites, the corequisites, and the iteration processes in organizing and writing the literature review chapter of doctoral dissertations. Background: Writing the literature review chapter of doctoral dissertations presents unique challenges. Students waste a lot of time identifying material to write, and the experience is generally that of frustration and time delay. Methodology: This paper reviews literature to identify levels of information helpful for writing the literature review chapter: prerequisites, corequisites, and iteration process. Contribution: The contribution of this paper is different than others that have been writ-ten about the literature review. The intended audiences for this paper are mentors, advisors, or academies that supervise students in writing their doctoral dissertations. This paper introduces the writing of the literature review by organizing the suggestions into groups of topics more familiar to academies than in other fields. The concepts of prerequisites, corequisites, and iteration are very familiar to educators; they often use them in their courses. The academic curriculums are built on such concepts. Thus, grouping the discussion into these terms familiar to mentors, advisors, or doctoral dissertations supervisors will put the findings into a more helpful focus for educators that supervise students in writing the literature review chapter. Findings: Writing a doctoral dissertation literature review is long and complicated be-cause some students delve into the writing without much preparation. Identifying what is helpful before and during the writing and being mindful of the repetitive steps helps guide the students through the writing of the literature review chapter of doctoral dissertations. Recommendations for Practitioners: Before delving into the writing of the literature review, it will be helpful to identify the prerequisites, the corequisites, and the iteration process that goes into the writing literature review. Recommendations for Researchers: Writing the literature review chapter in doctoral dissertations remains challenging. More research would be helpful that focuses on the late writing stages. The suggestions we made in this paper could form a solid start for future research in this topic. Impact on Society: The research findings will help doctoral mentors/advisors guide students in completing the chapter on literature review.

Into the Challenges of Aligning Key Sections of Doctoral Dissertations: Cognitive Analysis, Pedagogical Tools, and Instrument Development

2023

IJDS

Aim/Purpose The purpose of this study is to introduce an instrument that contains a set of exercises intended to help doctoral students align the key sections of their dissertation document. The exercises are developed after providing cognitive analysis of the factors that make aligning these key sections challenging to many, and after discussing pedagogical tools that can be used to address these challenges. Background Writing doctoral dissertations is a formidable endeavor for numerous students. Among the myriad challenges that are faced is the issue of aligning key sections of the dissertation document. Students often struggle with conceptualizing the alignment among different sections of the various chapters of their dissertation. In this study, we introduce here an instrument that includes a set of exercises to help address the challenges of alignment in chapter one, before the issues spiral and addressing them becomes complicated. Methodology This paper reviews literature that discusses the underlying challenges that face the writing of doctoral dissertations in general and the alignment of the key sections in particular. It analyzes the cognitive factors that contribute to the challenges and examines the pedagogical tools that can be used to address these challenges. The review of the literature, the analysis of the cognitive, and the examination of pedagogical tools lead to the introduction of an instrument that is designed to help address the challenges of aligning the key sections of doctoral dissertations. Contribution This paper presents an instrument with a set of exercises that are intended to help students align key sections of their doctoral dissertation document. This alignment step is crucial to the successful completion of dissertation documents and is best tackled early in the writing. Delaying alignment or worse, ignoring alignment altogether, can complicate the issue and lead to numerous extra steps and delays. Our developed instrument here can be used to tackle this issue of alignment from the beginning and throughout the writing and completion status of dissertation documents. Findings Students are often faced with challenges when aligning the key sections of a doctoral dissertation. They struggle with conceptualizing the alignment process. They often write each section separately, and independently of other sections of a chapter and a dissertation. However, sections of the dissertation document are interrelated, and each section affects the writing of other sections. For the successful completion of the dissertation, the sections need to be aligned, and it would be best if these issues are tackled from the beginning of the writing and throughout the writing of the dissertation. Recommendations for Practitioners A methodological approach to aligning the sections of a doctoral dissertation is crucial for the resulting treatise to be coherent and present a unified purpose that threads through each chapter consistently. Recommendations for Researchers We recommend that doctoral students follow the exercises we introduced in the instrument provided in this paper or take other similar approaches. With-out such an approach, aligning the key sections of a doctoral dissertation will be challenging, the dissertation writing process will be more complicated, and the time necessary to complete it will lengthen. Impact on Society The findings of this research will help doctoral mentors/advisors as they guide students in aligning key sections of their doctoral dissertations. Keywords doctoral dissertation alignment, aligning sections of a doctoral dissertation, doctoral dissertation challenges