Confronting the Limitations of the MFA as Preparation for PhD Study

Leonardo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-212
Author(s):  
Meredith Davis

Today's design research problems are different from the past; they are more complex and call for inter- and multidisciplinary work. Design faculty and doctoral students are hindered in this work by the curricular content and pedagogy of the terminal master's degree. Students graduate from professional MFA design programs often unprepared to pose truly researchable questions, recognize multiple research paradigms and their corresponding standards, structure methodologically rigorous investigations or even author papers longer than a few pages. These shortfalls persist in the scholarly pursuits of many design faculty and extend to the institutional adoption of alternate evaluation criteria from the research thresholds in other fields. Strengthening of the quality in doctoral research and supervision, therefore, depends to some extent on rethinking master's study in design.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1552-1563
Author(s):  
Denise A. Tucker ◽  
Mary V. Compton ◽  
Sarah J. Allen ◽  
Robert Mayo ◽  
Celia Hooper ◽  
...  

Purpose The intended purpose of this research note is to share the findings of a needs assessment online survey of speech and hearing professionals practicing in North Carolina to explore their interest in pursuing a research-focused PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) and to document their perceptions of barriers to pursing a PhD in CSD. In view of the well-documented shortage of doctor of philosophy (PhD) faculty to attract, retain, and mentor doctoral students to advance research and to prepare future speech and hearing professionals, CSD faculty must assess the needs, perceptions, and barriers prospective students encounter when considering pursuing a doctoral research degree in CSD. Method The article describes the results of a survey of 242 speech and hearing professionals to investigate their interest in obtaining an academic research-focused PhD in CSD and to solicit their perceived barriers to pursuing a research doctoral degree in CSD. Results Two thirds of the respondents (63.6%) reported that they had considered pursuing a PhD in CSD. Desire for knowledge, desire to teach, and work advancement were the top reasons given for pursuing a PhD in CSD. Eighty-two percent of respondents had no interest in traditional full-time study. Forty-two percent of respondents indicated that they would be interested in part-time and distance doctoral study. The barriers of time, distance, and money emerged as those most frequently identified barriers by respondents. Conclusion The implications inform higher education faculty on how they can best address the needs of an untapped pool of prospective doctoral students in CSD.


Author(s):  
Virginia TASSINARI ◽  
Ezio MANZINI ◽  
Maurizio TELI ◽  
Liesbeth HUYBRECHTS

The issue of design and democracy is an urgent and rather controversial one. Democracy has always been a core theme in design research, but in the past years it has shifted in meaning. The current discourse in design research that has been working in a participatory way on common issues in given local contexts, has developed an enhanced focus on rethinking democracy. This is the topic of some recent design conferences, such PDC2018, Nordes2017 and DRS2018, and of the DESIS Philosophy Talk #6 “Regenerating Democracy?” (www.desis-philosophytalks.org), from which this track originates. To reflect on the role and responsibility of designers in a time where democracy in its various forms is often put at risk seems an urgent matter to us. The concern for the ways in which the democratic discourse is put at risk in many different parts of the word is registered outside the design community (for instance by philosophers such as Noam Chomsky), as well as within (see for instance Manzini’s and Margolin’s call Design Stand Up (http://www.democracy-design.org). Therefore, the need to articulate a discussion on this difficult matter, and to find a common vocabulary we can share to talk about it. One of the difficulties encountered for instance when discussing this issue, is that the word “democracy” is understood in different ways, in relation to the traditions and contexts in which it is framed. Philosophically speaking, there are diverse discourses on democracy that currently inspire design researchers and theorists, such as Arendt, Dewey, Negri and Hardt, Schmitt, Mouffe, Rancière, Agamben, Rawls, Habermas, Latour, Gramsci, whose positions on this topic are very diverse. How can these authors guide us to further articulate this discussion? In which ways can these philosophers support and enrich design’s innovation discourses on design and democracy, and guide our thinking in addressing sensitive and yet timely questions, such as what design can do in what seems to be dark times for democracy, and whether design can possibly contribute to enrich the current democratic ecosystems, making them more strong and resilient?


1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 859-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsuo Nagamachi ◽  
Andrew S. Imada

Over the past few years the concept of macroergonomics has heightened our awareness of how human factors can be successfully implemented in the work place. One application of this approach addresses the importance of psychological aspects of work that contribute to safe work performance. Traditionally safety interventionists, and to some extent, human factors professionals, have focused exclusively on the physical dimensions of work. Emphasizing the psychological and organizational impacts on safety represents a broader macroergonomic approach to human factors interventions. There is evidence that this approach has merit in reducing human suffering and costs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
Atif Khalil ◽  
Bronwen Cowie

This research note aimed to highlight the reflections of the researcher while conducting videoconferencing interviews as a part of his doctoral research project. The researcher drew some inferences based on recent literature and two videoconferencing interviews conducted with the doctoral students via Zoom. It was a crucial experience to deal with the recruitment of research participants, building rapport/understanding, especially with the female participant, exchanging nonverbal cues between researcher and participants, considering socio-cultural aspects of the participants, writing the interview summaries and getting them reviewed by the participants. Moreover, technological aspects were also considered important like having a PC, laptop or android of good condition with consistent internet connectivity, appropriate software (Zoom) and recording of the interviews, backup of the recordings, making sure electricity and other equipment essential for videoconferencing interviews was available. Besides, reviewing the order of questions and time for the research interviews is also important for videoconferencing interviews. The researcher believes that it might be possible to increase the trustworthiness of the videoconferencing interviews by considering all these aspects.  


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 153-180
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Jurczyk

The paper aims at showing the influence and the views espoused by economic theories and schools of economics on competition policy embedded in antitrust law and conducted by competition authorities in the field of vertical agreements. The scope of the paper demonstrates how substantially the economization of antitrust law has changed the assessment as to the harmfulness of vertical agreements. The analysis of economic aspects of vertical agreements in antitrust analysis allows one to reveal their pro-competitive effects and benefits, with the consumer being their beneficiary. The basic instrument of the said economization is that antitrust bodies draw on specific economic models and theories that can be employed in their practice. Within the scope of the paper, the author synthesizes the role and influence of those models and schools of economics on the application of competition law in the context of vertical agreements. In presenting, one after another, the theories and schools of economics which used to, or are still dealing with competition policy the author emphasises that in its nature this impact was more or less direct. Some of them remain at the level of general principals and axiology of competition policy, while others, in contrast, delineate concrete evaluation criteria and show how the application of those criteria changes the picture of anti-competitive practices; in other words, why vertical agreements, which in the past used to be considered to restrain competition, are no longer perceived as such. The paper presents the models and recommendations of neoclassical economics, the Harvard School, the Chicago and Post-Chicago School, the ordoliberal school, the Austrian and neoAustrian school as well as the transaction cost theory.


10.28945/2347 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 015-034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan J. Pifer ◽  
Vicki L. Baker

Studies of doctoral education have included an interest not only in processes, structures, and outcomes, but also in students’ experiences. There are often useful recommendations for practice within individual examinations of the doctoral experience, yet there remains a need to strengthen the application of lessons from research to the behaviors of students and others engaged in the doctoral process. This paper is the first to synthesize research about doctoral education with the particular aim of informing practical strategies for multiple stakeholders. In this article, we summarize findings from a literature review of the scholarship about doctoral education from the past 15 years in a stage-based overview of the challenges of doctoral education. Our aim is to apply theory to practice through the systematic consideration of how research about doctoral education can best inform students and those who support them in the doctoral journey. We first present an overview of the major stages of doctoral education and related challenges identified in the research. We then consider key findings of that research to offer recommendations for doctoral students, faculty members, and administrators within and across stages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-302
Author(s):  
Fruzsina Szigeti

Compared to the trends of the OECD countries, the proportion of graduated higher educational students is low in Hungary, especially in the doctoral education; however, the need for doctoral education has been increased due to the expansion in the past two and half decades. According to the report of the European Committee, the ratio of those having a PhD degree is 0.8 per mille among the 25- to 34-year-old Hungarian population that is not advantageous. As a causal factor, the dropout can be detected. The aim of my investigation is to detect the pattern of the dropout of the doctoral students. Who are those who quit their studies before finishing it? In which field is the ratio of graduation the lowest? I hypothesize that approximately one fifth of the students enrolled for a doctoral course quit their studies during the education. According to the educational fields, the dropout ratio is the lowest in the natural, medical, and agricultural sciences, whereas it is the highest in the arts, human, and social sciences. The basis of the current research is provided by a huge national database entitled Higher Educational Informational System, containing the data of doctoral students enrolled in the autumn semester of the school years 2010/2011 and 2014/2015.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-36
Author(s):  
Carey Borkoski ◽  
Brianne Roos

The Johns Hopkins online EdD program prepares students as scholar-practitioners who become leaders and agents of change across educational contexts.  Advocating for equity and social justice requires our students to not only immerse themselves in the relevant literature and learn the traditional skills of applied research but to master the art of communication through a sort of storytelling. Storytelling, in this sense, represents a means to gather and analyze data and understand and integrate diverse perspectives to engage and persuade relevant stakeholders (Moezzi, Janda, & Rotmann, 2017). The Hopkins first-year EdD programming and coursework emphasize the use of deficit-free language to understand people and problems, consideration of diverse perspectives and structuring inquiry with a systems-approaches to explore contextual problems using a mixed methods research paradigms.  Together, the program's approach to student learning and practice-oriented courses and dissertation research contribute to training scholar-practitioners as activists who ask relevant questions, draw on multiple perspectives to craft potential solutions, adapt to a variety of contexts and circumstances, engage with diverse stakeholders, reflect on their own assumptions, and admit to and learn from mistakes throughout the process. Through a detailed accounting and examination of the JHU onboarding features and processes, particular course content and assignments, as well as the interplay of these elements, this paper will demonstrate how attending to language, perspective taking, context, and research inquiry support the development of scholar-activists.


Author(s):  
S. Taubaeva ◽  
◽  
S. Imanbaeva ◽  
Zh. Baltabaeva ◽  
◽  
...  

The academic literacy among students development problem, which includes academic reading, academic writing, and academic performance, becomes relevant in the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the system of higher and postgraduate education. PhD students in the field of pedagogy study the basic discipline "Pedagogy Philosophy and Methodology". This discipline is designed to educate them in public speaking to an audience with their search and experiment results throughout their studies. For a speech to the audience, students prepare a scientific report. Report (scientific), researcher public presentation, which is a summary of his scientific search results, design, experiment. The purpose, structure and content of the discipline allows the teacher to systematize didactic presentations in six areas and use them in lectures and seminars. Over the past ten years, these presentations have contributed to the deeper understanding and assimilation by PhD students of the pedagogy philosophical and methodological foundations, and the pedagogical research methodological tools.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngozi Agu ◽  
Christy O. Odimegwu

Doctoral research supervision is one of the major avenues for sustaining students’ satisfaction with the programme, preparing students to be independent researchers and effectively initiating students into the academic community. This work reports doctoral students’ evaluation of their various supervision models, their satisfaction with these supervision models, and development of research-related skills. The study used a descriptive research design and was guided by three research questions and two hypotheses. A sample of 310 Ph.D. candidates drawn from a federal university in Eastern part of Nigeria was used for this study. The data generated through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics andt-tests. Results show that face-to-face interactive model was not only the most frequently used, but also the most widely adopted in doctoral thesis supervision while ICT-based models were rarely used. Students supervised under face-to-face interactive model reported being more satisfied with dissertation supervision than those operating under face-to-face noninteractive model. However, students supervised under these two models did not differ significantly in their perceived development in research-related skills.


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