Building a Foundation for a Successful Doctoral Student Journey: A Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Investigation

Abstract

Doctoral students’ program non-completion continues to be a worldwide phenomenon. Given the challenges across the globe following the 2020-22 pandemic, we need scholarly and skilled PhD and education (EdD) doctoral program graduates. A place to look for retention improvement is by studying what students learn and how they are taught in their university doctoral programs. One purpose of this case study was to describe how 12 EdD students in a program seminar responded to instruction in research and writing strategies during their first year of a four-year program. The second purpose was to examine student responses to formative assessments and describe and explain ongoing instructional adjustments using a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) framework within our own faculty community of practice. Analysis of surveys and student work indicated that writing and research strategies were instructive, engaging, and useful in building research and writing foundations. Analysis of multiple formative assessments helped us refine our instructional strategies during the year. Because all students completed the first high stakes program milestone (comprehensive paper) in year two, our findings suggested that the seminar’s instructional strategies established a foundation for student success and timely program progress. Using multiple formative assessments over time was critical in strengthening our teaching practice as well. We recommended instructional practices associated with student research and writing skill development as well as student progress and retention.

Cultivating a Continuous “I Don’t Know”: Four Supervisory Mentoring Practices that Support Online Doctoral Students’ Academic Writing

“…However, addressing the challenges and barriers to academic writing, including the emotional investment and vulnerability, cannot fall entirely on the supervisor. Establishing a collaborative community of practice that actively engages in supportive measures and ongoing feedback is an important consideration in program and institutional structures [2,8,[15][16][17]29], while "resituat[ing] the supervisor, not as the sole provider of support but as an important anchor within a network of wider contacts and supports" [4, p. 9]. Building on the strengths of the greater supervisory committee and community of support bene ts both students and supervisors in that they experience and learn from each other in an academic community of practice.…”

“…Speci c program structures [5] that participants described as helpful included linking the coursework with dissertation writing, establishing a collaboratory of practice to develop supportive feedback networks and shared experience, and opportunities to engage in research as a research assistant. The academic preparation gained through practice writing in coursework was a vital part of student growth in that it provided not only procedural support, for example with APA and ethics preparation, but it offered early writing experiences as a learning and practice opportunity [15]. Shawn described how "the research courses were really my re ection courses which surprised me.…”

“…Lavelle and Bushrow [13] describe different doctoral student writing styles that include task-oriented (get it over with), systems-oriented (big picture), structureoriented (organized), and intuitive (deep). Indeed, academic writing is considered by some to be the most challenging aspect of graduate work; thus, supportive mentoring practices are needed to address the emotional, cognitive, conceptual, and methodological processes that take place [9,15]. It is not just about the writing per se -the affective, theoretical, and methodological aspects of academic composition can institute roadblocks to the construction of ideas.…”

“…The notion of these types of roadblocks aligns well with Belcher's [2] suggestion to focus on, when writing, the large-scale aspects of the article -"its argument, evidence, structure, ndings or methods'' (p. 204). Furthermore, student scholars identify the need for clear expectations (3,15) as well as the provision of experiences and support in the giving and receiving of feedback [3,14,[16][17][18][19]. Program structures need to be considered; for example, the inclusion of structured writing practice as part of course work [15,19] whereby courses are seen as "springboard[s]" [20, p. 106] to less structured, candidate-led academic writing for the dissertation.…”

“…Furthermore, student scholars identify the need for clear expectations (3,15) as well as the provision of experiences and support in the giving and receiving of feedback [3,14,[16][17][18][19]. Program structures need to be considered; for example, the inclusion of structured writing practice as part of course work [15,19] whereby courses are seen as "springboard[s]" [20, p. 106] to less structured, candidate-led academic writing for the dissertation. There is much to unpack in the word trust.…”