Dissertation Writers� Negotiations with Competing Activity Systems

Abstract

Previous research on dissertation writing fails to embed it within the context of different, and often competing institutional forces constituting the genre expectations associated with producing the dissertation. The purpose of this study was to examine the negotiations of dissertation writers in a large Midwestern research university across a range of different activity systems: the Graduate School, department, advisor, committee, employment, and potential job market as different "layered" (Prior, 1998) systems. Analysis of interview data of 11 writers indicated that writers perceived marked differences in the objects/outcomes, roles, norms, and genre tools to vary across these different systems. While the Graduate School and departments formulated one set of expectations, the advisor or committee articulated different expectations for completing the dissertation. Writers also experienced time conflicts between the demands of teaching and writing. And, they experienced conflicting outcomes for the dissertation related to writing for an advisor or committee as opposed to positioning themselves for the job market, creating ambiguity related to their dissertation audience. They also noted that the research university positions the dissertation genre as preparing students for positions in other research universities as opposed work in universities in which teaching is a priority.

Genre Change Around Teaching in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The master's program aims to train teachers to analyze teaching activity and help them develop a collaborative activity system and the implied genres. See, for example, Carlino (2012) and Lundell and Beach (2003), on post-graduate writing. And see Gere (2019), Ivanic et al (2009) and Thaiss and Zawacki (2006) on undergraduate programs.…”

The Roles of Writing In Knowledge Societies: Questions, Exigencies, and Implications for the Study and Teaching of Writing

“…One of the first things to notice about supervision and doctoral writing is their location at the intersection of multiple communities and activities, a location that prompted Green (2005) to observe the "ecosocial" nature of supervision. Similarly, others have referred to this complex setting as the site of "competing activity systems" (Lundell & Beach, 2003) or as "laminations of activity" (Prior, 1998;Prior & Min, 2008). Both supervisors and students participate in many other collectives, both within and beyond the university.…”

Los lectores intermedios: un recurso fundamental para la escritura de la tesis

“…Así, se espera que los estudiantes, al realizar sus tesis, dejen de ser meros receptores de textos académicos para convertirse en productores de conocimiento (Arnoux, 2009;Carlino, 2012) que participan en las conversaciones académicas de sus campos disciplinares (Aitchison, Kamler, y Lee, 2010). Sin embargo, muchos estudiantes no finalizan sus tesis de posgrado debido a las dificultades que hallan en su escritura (Ahern y Manathunga, 2004;Brunner y Ferrada Hurtado, 2011;Carlino, 2005;Elgar, 2003;Lovitts y Nelson, 2000;Lundell y Beach, 2003;Torrance y Thomas, 1992; entre otros) lo cual se refleja en la baja tasa de egreso que existe en este nivel.…”