Transcript Document

Academic excellence for business and the professions
What works for completing your thesis
on time?
Dr Siân Lindsay
Department of Learning Enhancement and Development (LEaD)
13th June 2014
Overview
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Sharing experiences of completing the PhD
Development of my research question and background
Main findings
Discussion
Developing an action plan to complete on time
Close
2006-2007 = the year that I wrote my PhD thesis
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Most stressful year of my life?
How did I feel?
How did I cope?
What did I wish I had done?
Did I complete on time?
Is there life after a PhD?
Over to you…
• In pairs, please share:
– Why you are here today
– Where you are from
– Where you are with your PhD and thesis (if applicable)
– What works for you in getting things done on time (in general
and/or in relation to your thesis)
My research question:
“From the student’s perspective,
what are the impact factors that
affect the rate of progression
and completion of their PhD
study?”
What does the
literature say about
the student
experience of PhD
completion?
Relevant literature
• Most literature in this area focuses on peripheral student
characteristics and links these to PhD completion rates , e.g.:
– Seagram (1998): Full-timers more likely to complete
– Wright & Cochrane (2000): Part-timers more likely to complete in
equivalent of 4 years
• Latona and Browne’s useful 2001 review and framework of 3
categories of impact factors:
1. institutional/ environmental
2. individual supervisory arrangements
3. student cohorts and characteristics
Relevant literature cont.
• Manathunga (2005) study:
– Experiences of PhD students in varying stages of candidature at
University of Queensland
– Focus groups with students
– In relation to difficulties students would not otherwise share with
their supervisors
– Links these to strategies offered by experienced PhD
supervisors (interviewed)
– Purpose is to provide comprehensive solution to detect ‘early
warning signs’ of possible non-completion
Where is the novelty?
- Positive impact factors too
- One-to-one interviews with
PhD students in or beyond
their writing up year
Perspectives from Senior Tutors for Research
• Talking to five Senior Tutors for Research (STRs) at City
• What were their opinions with regards to factors affecting PhD
completion rates?
– 4 out of 5 STRs said that PhD completion rates in their School /
Department were not ideal
– When asked why, all STRs agreed that the writing-up stage of
the PhD represented a significant stumbling block for most
PhD students, and that what is needed is support (predominantly
financial) and time to write-up properly.
• Is financial support really the answer?
• What do you think?
March – May 2011: interviews with 8 PhD students*
at City
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Jennifer
Tom
Natasha
Evan
Lilly
Samantha
Sofia
Luke
* All names are pseudonyms to protect participant identity
Name
Status
TTC
TTWU
Funded?
In employment during
write-up?
Jennifer
FT
4 years
9 months
Self
No
Tom
FT
10 years
5 years
Self and
department
Yes full-time employment for
5 years
Natasha
FT then
PT
6 years
8 months
Self and
department
Yes part-time employment for
6 years
Evan
FT
4 years
8 months
Self
Yes – part time for 3 years
Lilly
FT
4 years
8 months
Self
Yes – part time for 3 years
Samantha
PT
7 years*
2 years*
Self
No
Sofia
FT then
PT
7 years*
N/A as writing
continuously*
Self
No
Luke
PT
7 years
7 months
Self
Yes part-time employment for
7 years
TTC = Time To Completion (from start of PhD until viva voce)
TTWU = Time Taken to Write-Up thesis
* indicates still writing thesis during time of interview
 Writing up throughout PhD study
• Motivated to do this as parts of it were assessed along the way
• Being encouraged to do this from first year by HoD
– This included keeping an ongoing research journal
• Not seeing doing the research and writing up as separate activities
• Writing all the way through at same time as collecting data, a
continual process
“...at the time, the head of the department gave a few
talks to us and I remember he said, ‘make sure you write
your literature review early on, when you read because
that is going to be helpful. And also make sure you write
as you go along and write it with methodologies because
you are going to forget, by the time you finish it, you are
going to forget’...I really appreciated this advice, right
back then...it made such a huge difference at the
end...because I had quite a bit of work done, maybe a
third of the thesis more or less done” Natasha
What does the literature say about continuous
writing?
• The notion of ‘writing up’ as a detached phase of doctoral study
should be rejected - writing should be viewed as a way of
developing knowledge rather than just “knowledge telling”
(Wellington, 2010, p 148)
• Central message to Murray’s self-help guide for PhD students - How
to Write a Thesis (2011) – advises a model of continuous writing that
she terms ‘serial writing’:
– thesis is written in ‘instalments’
– writing occurs regularly and with clear intervals between
instalments
– allows the writer to work to a pattern that suits their working and
social environment, with the latter sustaining the writing process
– serial writing is “critical for the development of our thinking
through writing” (Murray, 2011, p 179)
Questions / discussion point
• Is continuous writing of the thesis a realistic goal?
• What if…
– I haven’t been writing up from the start, I’ve left it too late, I
haven’t got anything written – now what?
– I don’t have time to write and research (not to mention do all
other things in my life)
– Its better use of my time for me to get my data collection done
first, writing really isn’t a priority now
– I can’t actually start writing until I know the whole story
– Anything else?
Murray’s 10 steps to fast-track thesis writing
1. Take stock (quantify writing, don’t keep it to yourself)
2. Start writing (don’t wait for someone to tell you to start, free-write)
3. Outline your thesis (outline your whole study, sketch it out, ignore
gaps, errors)
4. Make up a programme of writing (outline what you need to do, when)
5. Communicate with your supervisor(s) (negotiate when to receive
feedback on drafts)
6. Outline each chapter (headings, sub-headings, sub-sub headings)
7. Write regularly (write everyday, type only, record no of words)
8. Revise (translate supervisor comments into actions)
9. Pull it altogether (links btw chapters, back to your research question,
aims and conclusions)
10. Do final tasks (in line with your institution’s regulations)
Taken directly from Murray, R. (2011) How to Write a Thesis (Maidenhead, McGraw Hill and Open University Press), p 239257.
 Self factors
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Self -determination and
motivation
Being highly organised
Working to self-imposed
deadlines which led to a
reward / break and use of
deadlines that outside
circumstances dictate so it is
harder to go back and change
them
Self-discipline, e.g. forcing
self to work in the library,
seeing that as a place of
work
Breaking task into manageable
chunks
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Response to interpersonal
traumas – writing up offered
distraction ‘therapy’
Good self-awareness with
respect to knowing when ‘in the
writing zone’ and working in
tune with this, conversely
knowing when the time for
writing is not right
Confidence in writing
abilities as confirmed by
previous assignments and
qualifications
“me being me I kind of knew I
wasn’t going to give up...because I
had gone so far” Evan
“I’d have a wall planner in my bedroom, and I literally planned out – this month
I’m going to do this, this month I’m going to do that – set a lots of interim
deadlines and my supervisor found that hilarious because I was saying ‘right,
we need to meet on this date because by then I will have done this’ and he was
like ‘okay – calm down’. But I found that was the only way that I could take this
incredibly daunting, overwhelming project, was to break it down into small
chunks and set yourself goals and celebrate each goal” Jennifer
“Just, grit your teeth and get on
with it, one foot in front of the
other, don’t panic” Lilly
Distractions, distractions…
How to finish your PhD when you’re addicted to the internet…
 Supervisor support
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Supervisor who is proactive in
making and sustaining contact
during writing up
Supervisor demonstrating that he/she
knew how their student ‘worked’
Supervisors encouraging / being
ruthless in chasing the student for
evidence of written work and
reads full drafts
Supervisor giving positive, frequent,
timely and targeted feedback
Supervisor who is easily
contactable, tech-savvy, offers
‘online continuity’
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Supervisor believing in their
student’s ability and in the
research they are doing
Supervisor who is
approachable, calming,
reassuring and encouraged
student to keep going
Supervisor awareness of the
research, offered reassurance,
goals to work toward, was
aware of how far away from
completing the student was
Supervisor who offered an
approach which balanced
between being supportive
and critical
“...I don’t know how I would
have finished this because she
knew exactly what I was
about...and what I wanted to
achieve with it...she also
made me aware of the fact
that it’s (the thesis) not quite
there yet” Luke
“...every couple of weeks I would
come in and have a meeting with
the supervisors and that really
helped...she (the supervisor) didn’t
mince her words either, which is a
bit soul destroying at times, but I
suppose you need that...it was the
fact that it (the feedback on thesis
drafts) was really targeted and you
knew what you needed to work on
rather than just kind of an overview
of a chapter” Sofia
 Other positive factors
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Having support and encouragement from friends and family (5)
Support and encouragement from peers (5)
Having financial support during write-up period (4)
Having some form of part-time employment to help structure
their life around writing up (4)
Having a good working environment in which to write-up in (4)
The prestige of having a doctorate (2)
Presenting their work at departmental research symposiums,
conferences or in journals (2)
Other (self-help books) (1)
Mystery of the PhD thesis
• Uncertainty in what academic work / thesis should look like and
what is expected
• Being confused by the subjectivity, overall uncertainty about different
people’s opinions on style and formatting of the thesis
• No support for writing the thesis
• Difficulty in expressing research through writing
• Being overwhelmed by what is required
• Unfamiliarity of academic culture
“I know that what I’m doing is
important and interesting and is
fascinating to me mercifully, but I
know that, but I can’t get it across! I
can but which way? How? Who to?
That sort of mystery, fog, what is it
I’m trying to convey to people” Lilly
“...it was all these little things
(such as writing in the third
person) that no-one knew the
answer to, and when you went to
say to your supervisor, she said
‘well if you want to, you can’. And
it was a case of well I may want
to, but is it correct? ...Everytime
you finished something you were
asking yourself, is this correct?
...My supervisor was quite good,
you know she said ‘that sounds
fine, I don’t see anything wrong
with that’, but then it wasn’t your
supervisor who was going to
looking at it” Evan
Action Plan
• Working in pairs or small groups:
• Consider the perspectives of the PhD students, are
there any findings or issues that resonate with you?
Why?
• Now please consider - what practical measures
could you put into place to help you write your
thesis on time? (or support those who are writing
theirs?)
Any questions?
[email protected]
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/siany
#sianylindsay
Image and video credits
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Bookshelf spectrum:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pio1976/3330670980/sizes/l/ (accessed
26/11/10)
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Dave climbs a mountain:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chodhound/3607638672/sizes/l/ (accessed
26/11/10)
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Fractal # 65 Psybient: http://www.flickr.com/photos/craft_uas/1759684120/
(accessed 30/11/10)
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Longleat hedge maze: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberslayer/952121271/
(accessed 30/11/10)
How to finish your PhD when you’re addicted to the internet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMaqdQWleUw (accessed 05/06/14)
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References
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Latona, K. and Browne, M. (2001) Factors associated with completion of
research higher degrees. Higher Education Series 37: 1 – 8
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Manathunga, C. (2005) Early warning signs in postgraduate research
education: a different approach to ensuring timely completions, Teaching in
Higher Education 10: 219 – 233
Murray, R. (2011) How to Write a Thesis (Maidenhead, McGraw Hill and
Open University Press).
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Seagram, B., Gould, J. & Pyke, S. (1998) An investigation of gender and
other variables on time to completion of doctoral degrees, Research in
Higher Education, 39: 319 – 335
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Wellington, J. (2010) More than a matter of cognition : an exploration of
affective writing problems of post-graduate students and their possible
solutions. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(2), 135-150.
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Wright, T. & Cochrane, R. (2000) Factors influencing successful
submission of PhD theses, Studies in Higher Education 25: 181 – 195