Doctoral Learning Research Articles

Review: World War II and the West It Wrought, edited by Mark Brilliant and David Kennedy

Book Review| November 01 2021 Review: World War II and the West It Wrought, edited by Mark Brilliant and David Kennedy World War II and the West It Wrought. Edited by Mark Brilliant and David Kennedy (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2020, 245 pp., $28.00 paper). Sara Fox Sara Fox Sarah Fox is author of Downwind: A People's History of the Nuclear West (University of Nebraska Press, 2014, paperback, 2018) and is a Killam Doctoral Scholar in history at University of British Columbia. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Southern California Quarterly (2021) 103 (4): 498–500. https://doi.org/10.1525/scq.2021.103.4.498 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Sara Fox; Review: World War II and the West It Wrought, edited by Mark Brilliant and David Kennedy. Southern California Quarterly 1 November 2021; 103 (4): 498–500. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/scq.2021.103.4.498 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentSouthern California Quarterly Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2021 by The Historical Society of Southern California. All rights reserved.2021 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Dimensions of fit for doctoral candidates: supporting an academic identity

ABSTRACT With an expectation that different doctoral programmes may encourage and support different student learning identities, this paper compares the experiences of doctoral candidates participating in doctoral studies in England and Germany. A comparison of the experiences of doctoral candidates as expressed through interviews is viewed through the lens of the theory of fit. This theory considers the alignment of values between those engaged in PhD study and the programmes created to support them. The paper claims that the identification of dimensions of fit is helpful for considering the data generated on the learning experiences and self-expressed identities of the doctoral candidates. Addressing how dimensions in relation to culture, environment and vocation change and strengthen or loosen the alignment between doctoral candidates’ values and those affecting their doctoral work are important for supporting progress. These dimensions should be discussed in order to develop supervisory, programme and university support for doctoral learning.

A ‘doctoral compass’: strategic reflection, self-assessment and recalibration for navigating the ‘twin’ doctoral journey

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper contributes to a broader perspective on doctoral experience via a synthesis of several crucial concepts during the doctoral journey. The first part discusses the core challenges customarily confronting doctoral scholars due to the distinct PhD genre leading to introducing the main conceptual base. Metacognition, being central to doctoral knowledge creation, is explored through the stages of competence development and against the competing notions often faced by PhD scholars: the Imposter Syndrome and the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Drawing upon these metacognitive concepts, the implications of crossing competence stages during lengthy, non-linear doctoral trajectories in a high-performance academic culture are further explored. While recognising associated challenges, this paper also highlights a range of available tools, resources, and skillsets useful for the transitional period, doctoral learning progression and eventual completion. This paper has, therefore, interwoven and unified key doctoral experience concepts with a view to proposing a conceptual framework for a doctoral self-management strategy. This holistic framework, a form of metacognitive scaffolding for navigating the PhD experience, is likened to a ‘compass’ for trekking both the research landscape and the doctoral development landscape. In the absence of a doctoral ‘map’, employing one’s personal metacognitive ‘compass’ can empower doctoral scholars to manage a potentially complex experience – by identifying essential praxes to scaffold the entire doctoral process through iterative cycles of reflection, calibration and recalibration of strategic reflection and personal evaluation of one’s progression.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND METHODICAL PROBLEMS OF DISTANCE LEARNING OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, since March 2020, medical universities in different countries have been forced to switch to distance or blended learning formats. The article discusses the limitations and advantages of distance learning through a meta-analysis of the research results and the authors' own experience. The article describes different options for conducting current classes, intermediate and final online certification, the peculiarities of establishing new methods of communication and changes in student-teacher communication. Practical recommendations are offered for solving organizational, methodical, educational, technical and informational problems of RUDN University and A. I. Yevdokimov MSMSU, associated with distance learning of future doctors.

"UHAND"-A National Cancer Institute Funded Partnership to Advance Cancer Health Equity through Scholar Training.

Black and Hispanic adults are disproportionately affected by cancer incidence and mortality, and experience disparities in cancer relative to their White counterparts in the US. These groups, including women, are underrepresented among scientists in the fields of cancer, cancer disparities, and cancer care. The “UHAND” Program is a partnership between institutions (University of Houston and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) aiming to build the capacity of underrepresented and racial/ethnic minority student “scholars” to conduct research on eliminating cancer inequities by reducing social and physical risk factors among at-risk groups. Here, we examine the outcomes of the UHAND Program’s first scholar cohort (n = 1 postdoctoral fellow, n = 3 doctoral scholars, n = 6 undergraduate scholars). Data collection included baseline, mid-program, and exit surveys; program records; and monthly scholar achievement queries. From baseline to exit, scholars significantly increased their research self-efficacy (p = 0.0293). Scholars largely met goals for academic products, achieving a combined total of 65 peer-reviewed presentations and nine empirical publications. Eight scholars completed the 2-year program; one undergraduate scholar received her degree early and the postdoctoral fellow accepted a tenure-track position at another university following one year of training. Scholars highly rated UHAND’s programming and their mentors’ competencies in training scholars for research careers. Additionally, we discuss lessons learned that may inform future training programs.

“Peering through the window looking in”: postgraduate experiences of non-belonging and belonging in relation to mental health and wellbeing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore belonging in relation to postgraduate wellbeing in the light of renewed concerns about the mental health and wellbeing this group of learners. It attends to postgraduates’ subjective wellbeing, identifying ways in which this is intertwined with a sense of belonging. Belonging is situated in relation to the social domains of postgraduate experiences. This paper seeks to contribute in-depth understandings of postgraduate experiences, to make recommendations for practice and to identify fruitful paths for further theorisation and research.Design/methodology/approachTwo qualitative data sets situated in UK higher education are drawn on here: firstly, longitudinal qualitative data entailing 33 narrative interviews and written reflections of doctoral researchers were collected as part of a phenomenological study of doctoral learning. Secondly, interview data from 20 postgraduates (including masters, professional doctorates and PhD researchers) were collected as part of mixed method qualitative case study research into postgraduate wellbeing. Postgraduate participants were based in the social sciences, humanities, arts and professional disciplines at a cross-section of UK higher education institutions. Data were analysed thematically with a focus on interconnections between wellbeing, learning and belonging.FindingsA sense of belonging arose as a key contributing factor to postgraduate wellbeing. Belonging emerged as multi-faceted, interlinking with spatial, relational and cultural factors which are likely to be experienced in different ways and degrees depending on positionalities. Experiences of belonging and non-belonging are understood as produced through academic cultures and structural inequities. They also pertain to the uncertain, in-between position of postgraduate learners. For postgraduates, and doctoral researchers especially, reaching a sense of belonging to academia was a profoundly important aspect of their journeys. Conversely, lack of belonging is linked with poor mental wellbeing and engagement with studies.Originality/valueThis paper engages with the neglected social domain of wellbeing. Attending to subjective perceptions of wellbeing enabled nuanced understandings of the links between wellbeing and belonging. It identifies spatial, relational and cultural dimensions of postgraduate belonging, contributing an understanding of how feelings of non-belonging manifest, how belonging might be nurtured, and how this potentially contributes to postgraduates’ wellbeing.

Creating Agents of Change through Doctoral Learning

The proposed article seeks to provide a case study of a doctoral program aspiring to create change through student progress and provide an overview of how they have structured program curricula to promote academic and professional growth and empower students to become global leaders. Further, this proposed article is focused on providing a focus on the importance of learning technologies and how doctoral students develop the skill sets and expertise needed to employ technology into educational and organizational contexts to enhance academic outcomes, instructional approaches, and employee productivity. Particularly, information will be provided on the importance of providing students access to cutting edge technologies that are transforming the landscape of educational and organizational learning.

Doctoral Program Learning Module on Developing Leading Secondary School Teachers in Creative Thinking for Enhancement of Students’ Learning Activities in Thailand

The purposes of this study were to: 1) create and develop effective doctoral learning module on leading teachers development program to enhance critical thinking for students in secondary schools under the Office of Basic Education Commission, and 2) evaluate the developed module on its efficiency and effectiveness- its congruence of utility, possibility, and appropriateness, learning achievement of learners, learning retention, and the learners’ satisfaction. Samples were 20 Doctoral degree students in Educational Administration and Development and Leadership program, Northeastern University, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. Statistics used were percentage, mean, standard deviation, effectiveness index, and t-test. The results were: 1) The developed module on learning activity management of leading teachers in simulation situation had 9 Modules: (1.1) Survey of former experience (1.2) Collaboration in planning (1.3) The development of creative teacher conception (1.4) The application of thinking approach (1.5) Practice in classroom (1.6) Supervision, follow up, and evaluation (1.7) Feedback and reinforcement (1.8) Seminar for enhancing strength, and (1.9) Reflection learning. 2) The efficiency and effectiveness of the developed module were: (2.1) The efficiency of 86.53 (E1) /83.29 (E2) which were higher than the committed 80/80 standard, (2.2) The congruence of utility, possibility, and appropriateness were in the highest level ( = 4.69, SD = 0.42), (2.3) The effectiveness index was 0.7397 which meant students gained more knowledge of 73.97%, (2.4) The students had significantly higher learning achievement after learning via the module at the level of 0.05, (2.5) There was no significant differences of learning achievement between after learning and after learning for two weeks which mean the students’ learning retention, and (2.6) The students had satisfaction on the developed module in the highest level ( = 4.52, SD = 0.41).

Reflections on Mentoring Online Doctoral Learners through the Dissertation

Writing a dissertation can be a daunting task for any learner. Yet online doctoral learners often face additional challenges. In my experience as an online doctoral dissertation mentor, learners typically face five common challenges: writing, feelings of isolation, access to resources online, establishing a professional and collegial relationship with their mentor, and managing the research component. The primary responsibility of online mentors involves helping their learners navigate these challenges, while often facing challenges of their own, many unique to the online environment. My experience as an online dissertation mentor includes both the role of dissertation mentor and as chair of the dissertation committee. This relationship with the mentee begins at the dissertation stage, after successful completion of all coursework and any written exam that is required for graduation. This article will focus on how a mentor in a fully online doctoral program can help the doctoral learner navigate these five areas of challenge, and what skills the mentor must develop to be effective. Although the role of the mentor and the resources provided by the university may vary, the recommendations included here should be relevant to all online mentors.

Reflecting on a Personal Doctoral Study Experience: A Journey to Academic and Professional Maturity

Doctoral students across African Universities encounter negative and positive experiences in their interaction with their supervisors during the whole doctoral learning process. The doctoral students’ well-being, competence attainment and studies timely completion depend on supervisors’ active engagement and students’ adaptability levels. This study explored the author’s experience during the proposal writing stage of his doctoral study at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, drawing mainly on how the author was an active participant in doctoral learning. It addressed the question: how do doctoral students experience their supervisors’ involvement in supervision during the proposal stage of their doctoral programmes? Quantity and quality of supervision significantly impact the doctoral experience. Information that was used to discuss and draw conclusions about the studied issue came from the author’s recounting experience and from a critical review of various sources. It was found that supervisors were not involved in selecting students they supervised, which resulted to possibilities of a misfit between supervisors’ expertise in the students’ learning content area as well as methodology. It also led to supervisors’ power relation conflicts based on seniority and methodological mismatch, to the learner’s drawback and liminality. The learner’s negotiation of the supervisors’ relation led to a successful crossing of the threshold, contributing to the learner’s academic and professional maturity. An efficient communication between doctoral students and their supervisors form an important facet to the triumphant and well-timed completion ofa doctoral journey.

The use of Virtual Media in Postgraduate Medical Training During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Context: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought about public health safety measures of social distancing and avoidance of crowded gatherings. These led to widespread disruptions in activities of daily living, as well as routine health-care services and learning activities. There has been a noticeable move to the online domain as the platform for teaching and learning. Aims: The present study aimed to describe the online learning and teaching experiences of postgraduate medical doctors in Nigerian hospitals. Subjects and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional online survey sent to medical doctors across social media platforms, and it sought to find out the current number of hours utilized and modalities of their online educational media use. Results: A total of 116 doctors responded and completed the survey, with 74 (63.8%) and 104 (89.6%) of them having some webinar experience before and during the pandemic, respectively. At least 82 (70.4%) had 1–5 h of online learning activities each week, and an overwhelming 114 (98.2%) used a personal Internet data subscription to access online educational material. In addition, 56 (48.3%) felt that online learning was less rewarding than in-person interactions even though 93 (80.2%) found the online learning activities to be quite convenient. Poor Internet connectivity was cited as a major challenge to a successful online learning experience in 80 (68.9%). Conclusion: Although the COVID-19 pandemic restricted face-to-face human contact including learning activities, postgraduate medical education has filled the void by increasing online learning activities, resulting in an admixture of experiences and reactions.

Moving Beyond Comprehensive Exams: Implementing Authentic Assessments to Enhance Doctoral Student Learning

This article explores how a Midwestern Christian university’s doctoral program aligns an authentic assessment process of evaluation, in lieu of comprehensive exams, with the university’s tag line to “Shape Lives that Shape the World.” The process of assessing “authentically” comes from the belief that evaluating students on skills they enact outside of the classroom will better reflect what they need to master for their chosen field or vocation. The implementation of the benchmark system of assessments was constructed with intentionality to foster and evaluate growth in six program outcomes, with intellectual ability actualized in a real-world context and to model the values reflected in the Christian faith. Although comprehensive exams, or “comps,” are a staple of many doctoral programs as a way for students to express their understanding of material, synthesize their learning, and apply that learning to their fields of study, literature reviewed on the benefits/challenges of comps reflects a theme questioning the true assessment value of these exams. The authors share examples of how doctoral students have developed/implemented genuine learning experiences that synthesize both the content and skills they learn and practice in their program, while propelling them forward into the field of scholarship. Through these authentic assessments, doctoral students are shaping not only their lives, but also the lives of those they touch through their doctoral work.

Effective Practices in Facilitating Non-Traditional Adult Learners' Dissertation Writing in an Online Doctoral Program

To address the challenges nontraditional adult doctoral learners face in completing dissertations online, we reflect on the effective practices utilized in an online doctoral-level educational leadership program at a public university in the United States. This paper focused on two major topics: 1) how to prepare students to write a dissertation through coursework based on the Competency-based Education (CBE) theory; and 2) how to build relationships between mentors and students writing dissertations based on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. The theoretically founded practices based on CBE and CoI must be utilized in building an interactive, collaborative online learning community.

Psychological distress among doctoral scholars: its association with perseverance and passion

Psychological distress among doctoral scholars: its association with perseverance and passion

James G. Kelly (1929-2020).

Memorializes James G. Kelly (1929-2020), one of the founders of the field of Community Psychology in the United States. Jim was one of the last surviving attendees of the 1965 Swampscott Conference, an event sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health that is considered the origin of community psychology in the United States. He was a founding member of the Division of Community Psychology of the American Psychological Association in 1967 (now The Society for Community Research and Action, SRCA). Jim mentored doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars with an extraordinary level of commitment to their development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Where’s the validation? Role of emotion work and validation for doctoral students

ABSTRACT This article presents an original engagement with research into emotions in the PhD to ask ‘Where’s the validation?’ by using emotion work as a theoretical foundation. We develop a focus on emotional dissonance in the PhD journey to explore challenges around managing emotion. We explore how PhD students manage emotions around their projects and their PhD communities. Our focus in this paper is on the lived experiences of six PhD students, using reflective methods and interviews. In our analysis of the challenges PhD students face, we find that validation is a key part of the doctoral learning journey, and the emotion work that takes place. By aligning analysis of PhD emotion work with the theme of ‘validation theory’, we pinpoint how instances of validation are key to identity formation for PhD students. We argue that validation is crucial for PhD students’ wellbeing and conclude that unless identity formation as a PhD student coincides with processes of external validation, then emotional dissonance occurs.

Interactive three-dimensional female pelvis model for teaching purposes

A 3-dimensional (3D) model of the female pelvis was created using the 2-dimensional dataset of the “Visible Human Project” and modern imaging techniques (IrfanView, Sante DICOM Editor 6, 3D Slicer) to augment traditional anatomic learning for students and doctors. Using the segmentation tools in the 3D Slicer, the female pelvis was segmented, utilizing the 0.3-mm thick image slices, into 98 unique anatomic models. These models were further divided into different subsets, that is, bones, organs, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.

Trailblazers, Reciprocity, and Doctoral Education: The Pursuit of Critical Race Praxis and Survivance among Doctoral Students of Color

ABSTRACT This study utilized a mixed-methods, survey research design to explore the experiences and motivations of Students of Color who pursue doctoral studies in colleges or departments of education and the agential decisions they make to carry out their motivations. Data collection included dissemination of a 61-item survey via Qualtrics inclusive of Likert-based and narrative items. Participants included 40 respondents who were either doctoral students, candidates, postdoctoral scholars or early career scholars within two years of obtaining their doctoral degrees. Critical Race Theory and Vizenor’s concept of survivance frame an understanding of how race and racism impacted the lives of doctoral Students of Color and how they enacted an active presence in their doctoral studies in spite of obstacles. Findings based on participants’ narratives revealed (a) high levels of interest in addressing educational inequities and the collective advancement of Communities of Color, and (b) recurring efforts to leverage their experiences to advance praxes based on equity and social justice within their teaching and research activities. Such findings reiterate the value of recruiting and retaining doctoral Students of Color who seek to engage in Critical Race Praxis due to their unwillingness to compromise commitments to their cultural communities or anti-oppressive education.

Engaging doctoral students in networking opportunities: a relational approach to doctoral study

ABSTRACT Doctoral work is often characterised as lonely and isolating (Holbrook et al. 2014). This paper explores how collaboration with peers and other professionals supports the doctoral learning experience. The research study asks what networks doctoral students engage with and how their engagement in networks supports their studies. Semi-structured interviews were designed to get doctoral students to reflect on their social and cognitive practices. Examples were sought of doctoral students collaborating with peers and colleagues. These collaborations highlight the potential for creating networks where higher-level competences can develop from individual competences. In cultural-historical terms, the cultivation of relational expertise helps to develop relational agency (Edwards 2011). Working collaboratively requires effort from the students but also facilitation from the doctoral community. The findings consider the doctoral learning process as one that can be developed pedagogically by appropriating ideas around relational expertise and relational agency.

Learner Engagement in Optional Discussion Forums: A Reflection on An Online Statistics Course

When teaching pre-loaded and ready-to-use online courses, online instructors can integrate some optional discussion forums to tailor their instructions and to redirect teaching to meet instructional objectives. My teaching experiences, however, have revealed a lack of learner engagement in such optional discussion forums. Keeping this problem in mind, I explored possible ways to design and incorporate optional discussion forums in a pre-loaded online statistics course. Learners in this course were non-traditional doctoral learners, and they demonstrated satisfying engagement in these optional discussion forums. Therefore, in this reflection paper, I describe the process to design these optional discussion topics, evaluate learner engagement in optional discussion forums through three dimensions, and share major instructional strategies I used during this course to cultivate student engagement to work on these optional discussion topics. Keywords: Cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, deep learning, expectancy-value motivation theory, classroom assessment techniques