scholarly journals Thinking of doing a doctorate? : Reflections from a Tertiary Learning Advisor perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Allan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Doctoral Study ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Pedagogical Relationship

This article considers the desirability of the doctorate for a tertiary learning advisor (TLA), explains the process and experience of doctoral study, and affirms how doctoral study can enhance the effectiveness of a TLA in developing students’ academic literacies. Effectiveness relates not only to the pedagogical relationship between a TLA and students, but to enhanced visibility and credibility of the TLA and their team within their institution. But what is the doctoral journey actually like? This article will be of interest to curious individuals who may have wondered what the doctorate involves in terms of time and commitment, and whether the benefits outweigh the costs. This article seeks to demystify the process and encourage neophyte researchers who may be considering a qualitative project. Using an autoethnography approach, I take as a case study my own doctoral journey, touching on my initial motivation and sharing candid insights on the challenges and milestones as I perceived them. These insights are shared through a series of brief narratives and reflections, with practical advice offered for each stage of the journey.

scholarly journals Tracing interacting literacy practices in master's dissertation writing

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin Kaufhold
Keyword(s):  
Social Practice ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Literacy Studies ◽  
New Literacy ◽  
New Literacy Studies ◽  
Business Partners ◽  
Dissertation Writing ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches

Academic literacy practices are increasingly varied, influenced by the diverse education and language backgrounds of students and staff, interdisciplinary approaches, and collaborations with non-university groups such as business partners. Completing a master's dissertation thus requires students to negotiate literacy practices associated with different domains. To enable an investigation of conditions for such negotiations, this article extends the concept of literacy practices by combining insights from Academic Literacies, New Literacy Studies and Schatzki's (1996) social practice ontology. The resulting framework is applied in a case study of a student who negotiates academic requirements and entrepreneurial goals in completing a master's dissertation.

scholarly journals Fostering Motivation When Virtually Mentoring Online Doctoral Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Crissie Jameson ◽  
Kelly Torres
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Education ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Degree ◽  
Doctoral Degrees ◽  
Doctoral Study ◽  
Advanced Degrees ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Internal Locus Of Control ◽  
Dissertation Process

Online learning in higher education has become commonplace as more working adults and nontraditional aged students return to pursue advanced degrees. Graduate education, specifically, has grown in recent years (Allen & Seaman, 2014), including doctoral degrees. Pursuing a doctoral degree requires writing a culminating paper (e.g., dissertation, doctoral study, capstone study). Writing and conducting such a study requires support and mentorship from faculty of the program. Establishing a positive relationship in which the student feels supported by the mentor is crucial to encourage dialogue and motivation throughout the process. In this case study, online doctoral students’ perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness were investigated, along with how these connections with their dissertation chair influenced students’ motivation to make progress. Results show that feelings of relatedness were crucial to the students’ motivation to continue in the doctoral study and dissertation process. Also, internal locus of control motivated students to complete their doctoral study and dissertation.

Induced speech errors as a tool for language description: a case study from Xong “prenasalized consonants”

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Reza Sarvestani
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Speech Errors ◽  
Natural Speech ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Speech Error ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses ◽  
Language Description

AbstractThe task of language description often requires a linguist to make a choice between alternative hypotheses which cannot be satisfactorily decided by data obtained through traditional descriptive methods. This paper proposes induced speech error tasks as a means of extending the evidential base used to address descriptive questions. Much previous research has explored language-general cognitive processes underlying speech errors, but little work has investigated their potential as a tool for improving the description of language-specific phenomena. In part, this is because the collection of natural speech errors requires more time and a more certain knowledge of the structure of the language than descriptive linguists often have available. Induced speech error tasks, however, help overcome these limitations by allowing the rapid collection of speech error evidence which can aid in selection between competing analyses. Practical advice is offered for researchers considering implementing speech errors tasks in their own research. These points are then illustrated by an investigation of the segmental status of “prenasalized consonants” in Xong, an under-documented Hmongic/Miao language spoken in southern China. While traditional descriptive techniques were unable to resolve the question, a simple speech error-inducing task produced results which can be interpreted as support for a cluster analysis.

scholarly journals Embedding academic literacies in university programme curricula: a case study

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1296-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Murray ◽  
Shashi Nallaya
Keyword(s):  
Academic Literacies

Conducting Online Surveys in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Mei ◽  
Gavin T. L. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Online Surveys ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Technological Constraints

Using online surveys is becoming increasingly extensive and widespread. Social science research in China is no exception. However, due to contextual factors (e.g., technological constraints, social and cultural norms, and language barriers), prior successful methods may not apply. This article reports an alternative way of conducting online surveys in China, by combining local commercial online survey service providers with indigenous Web 2.0 applications. The case study demonstrates the feasibility of this approach and provides practical advice (e.g., adding incentives) on how to effectively conduct online survey in China.

scholarly journals The Role of the Collaborative Integrated Model (MDSIC) in Agile Software Development - Case Study and Practical Advice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Cendejas Valdéz ◽  
Gustavo Abraham Vanegas Contreras ◽  
Heberto Ferreira Medina ◽  
Alfonso Hiram Ginori González
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Agile Software Development ◽  
Integrated Model ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Agile Software

scholarly journals Pandemic within workplaces. Address the recovery post Covid-19 by training

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-327
Author(s):  
Chiara Biasin ◽  
Veronica Marin
Keyword(s):  
Training Needs ◽  
Quantitative Approach ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Professional Needs ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Training Demands ◽  
And Training

This paper concerns the effects of the pandemic in the Italian working context. The Covid-19 crisis has forced transformations in working methods, has involved changes of working spaces and times, has generated new social and professional needs and different training demands. The aim is to understand how Covid-19 has changed the way people work and stay at work, exploring the effects of the pandemic in new skills and training needs of adults at work. Through a quantitative approach, an organization in the North-East of Italy is studied as a case study in order to offer theoretical perspectives and practical advice useful to broaden the discussion on the topic.   Pandemia e mondo del lavoro: sostenere la ripresa attraverso la formazione.   Questo contributo riguarda gli effetti della pandemia nel contesto lavorativo italiano. Il Covid-19 ha imposto trasformazioni nelle modalità lavorative, ha implicato ristrutturazioni degli spazi e dei tempi di lavoro, ha generato nuovi bisogni sociali e professionali e nuove domande formative. L’obiettivo di questo articolo è quello di comprendere come e in che modo il Covid-19 abbia cambiato il modo di fare e di stare al lavoro, facendo emergere nuove competenze e differenti bisogni formativi presso gli adulti al lavoro. Attraverso un approccio di tipo quantitativo, verrà studiato come caso di ricerca una azienda del Nord Est, al fine di offrire prospettive teoriche e indicazioni pratiche utili per una più ampia discussione sul tema.

scholarly journals Partners in a changing dance: embedding academic literacies in unit and course curricula

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Carol Thies ◽  
Viola Rosario
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Government Response ◽  
Commonwealth Government ◽  
Curriculum Renewal ◽  
Australian Universities

This paper presents a two-part case study that used the seminal Lea and Street (1998) paper on academic literacies to inform ways of working collaboratively with a range of partners on embedding the development of academic literacies in course curricula. The two projects that make up the case study were funded by an Australian Government response to a greater linguistic, social and cultural diversity of students enrolling in Australian universities (Australian Commonwealth Government, 2009a). Both projects focused on the development of curricula in selected professional courses in order to increase students’ awareness of the requirements of their chosen discipline, and ensure that they acquire the academic literacies needed to succeed in their area of study. What differed is the combinations of project partners and the nature of the partnerships. The case study presents the collaborative work of numerous project partners including Language and Learning Advisers (LLAs) and Subject Lecturers (SLs) in first identifying and defining academic literacies relevant to each course, and then implementing different teaching and learning practices to integrate the development of academic literacies in course curricula. Using the analogy of an ever-changing dance, the paper suggests that the degree of success and the sustainability of curriculum renewal projects depends on numerous interrelated factors, and that it may not be possible to enact academic literacy development by following set dance steps. Awareness, sensitivity and flexibility are important in bringing the dance to life.

scholarly journals Positioning an academic literacies framework in an EAP context: case study of a university Pre-sessional course

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Breen
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Educational Development ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
The Future ◽  
Teaching Learning

Historically, there has been a strong element of crossover between English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and academic literacies approaches, as originally conceptualised by Lea and Street (1998). However, a recurring cause of concern for the latter has been its perceived lack of focus on pedagogy, with greater emphasis on construction of text (Lea, 2004). Lillis (2003) highlights another concern being the lack of ‘a design frame’ (Kress, 2000) which can harness synergy between theory and practice. As such, the strength of academic literacy from a theoretical perspective can simultaneously be an Achilles heel in its practical pedagogic application. Consequently, examples of sustained academic literacies approaches in practice are rare. This paper thus argues for EAP acting as a fulcrum between theory and practice and provides one instance of enacting academic literacies approaches in the practical context of a Pre-sessional course in a post-92 university. Therein academic literacies approaches have shaped the design and delivery of an EAP curriculum. Through presenting a case study of this story, I hope to provide one ‘exemplar’ (Shulman, 1986) of integrating pedagogic practice and theory to serve as a model for the future. In doing so, academic literacies can better meet both the practical and theoretical demands of 21st century teaching, learning and educational development.  

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