Reimagining the role of the dissertation in Arts & Humanities (pre-corrected proof) (original) (raw)
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Composition Studies, 2019
In this article, we forward a perspective on interdisciplinarity and diversity that reconsiders the notion of expertise in order to “unstick” discussions of graduate education reform that have been at an impasse for some 45 years. As research problems have become increasingly complex and demand scholars who both specialize narrowly within a discipline AND understand the importance of contributions from other disciplines, we reimagine the dissertation committee as a group of diverse participants from within and beyond the academy who contribute their knowledge and skills to train the next generation of scholars and researchers to be members of interdisciplinary teams. Graduate students, then, are not expected to be “interdisciplinary” themselves, but to work in interdisciplinary and diverse teams to come to new insights on their research areas and prepare for careers interacting with a range of academic and non-academic stakeholders.
What is the future for undergraduate dissertations?
Education+ Training, 2004
This article argues that the changing nature of the dissertation experience, and its associated supervision calls for more detailed attention to the development of dissertation supervisors. Dissertations have always played a major role in student learning. The following themes constitute the kernel of the article: the role of the dissertation in the student's learning experience, managing the link between theory and practice, digitization of information resources, research methodologies and design, and finally, the implications for the role of the supervisor. It is suggested that without an awareness of the changing nature of the dissertation experience, and a more proactive approach to supervisor development, there may be serious degradation of the dissertation experience and outcomes.
Message for the Special Issue: Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Inquiry
African journal of inter-multidisciplinary studies, 2022
Academic and professional practice development is taking an ever-more dominant role in higher education and is evolving through undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry (URSCI) in the undergraduate curriculum, particularly in courses involving interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary modules/subjects. Such courses are critical to engaging students in more meaningful and deeper learning experiences and enabling them to experience real-world issues, all while developing various disciplinary and professional skills as part of both a specific content area and more general competencies. By developing and enhancing URSCI skills, graduates from higher education institutions gain the agility to adapt to changes in the world. Inter-and multidisciplinary approaches are required to tackle global challenges such as climate change, food security, and public health. Such engagements and experiences are particularly important as employers increasingly expect graduates to have higher-order literacies and communication skills in addition to their discipline-specific knowledge. This special issue, therefore, presents original work and nuanced ways that faculties around the world actively engage students in URSCI. It comprises the following topics:
Educating Scholars: Doctoral Education in the Humanities (review)
Educating Scholars: Doctoral Education in the Humanities presents a readable and compelling account of the many problems facing postgraduate education in the twenty-first century. Based on the book's quantitative and qualitative data, the humanities can be cautiously hopeful and optimistic. If they adapt. Educating Scholars avoids the usual plodding, passive-heavy approach of sociological studies while retaining the genre's benefits, most especially consistent and careful attention to the evidence. The authors spell out specific, desirable changes to the system that have proven their worth in the subject departments. Consistent organizational signposts guide humanities readers through the quantitative material, and generous use of the narrative material provided by their research subjects acts as a qualitative supplement and complement to the number-crunching. The book is part of the Andrew W.
The Trajectory of an Undergraduate Researcher
Pedagogy, 2022
sity (USU), I was entirely unfamiliar with the idea of undergraduate research. Although I was adept at literary analysis and criticism, as far as empirical research was concerned, I knew nothing. In my mind, research was something that scientists did. What could there possibly be to research within the world of English? As I would soon discover, a great number of avenues are available to pursue, especially within my emphasis area, English education. I was in for a challenging, yet eye-opening, semester that would set me on the path to eventually becoming an undergraduate teaching fellow for this same research methods class two years later. While I by no means consider myself an authority on research, my journey from novice to expert to mentor changed my perspective on research in English studies and proved to me just how beneficial participating in undergraduate research can be for a student. The fast-paced nature of the Research in English Studies class meant that I had to learn how to conduct research by simply doing it. The class used scaffolding to teach the steps of the research process through a whole-class project, which we started early in the term, about two weeks before launching our own independent research projects. 1 In preparation, we all received certification to conduct human-subjects research. The class research project, aptly titled "Undergraduate English Studies Students' Knowledge of and Anxiety about Empirical Research," sought to explore English majors' perceptions of
Dissertations are positioned as the capstone of an undergraduate degree, bringing together what students have previously learned from their programmes through a piece of independent research. However, there is limited research into the ways in which engaging in a dissertation impacts on students' understandings of disciplinary knowledge. In this article, we explore the relations between students' accounts of sociological knowledge in their second and third year and how they engage with sociological knowledge in their dissertations. We argue that for the work of the dissertation to impact on students' understanding of sociological knowledge, students need to see their discipline as providing a way of answering their research questions. We explore the implications of this argument for both our understanding of the role of dissertations and research-based learning in universities more generally.
Special challenges of assessing undergraduate research in the arts and humanities
2013
Departments in the arts and humanities are often inhospitable environments for assessment of learning outcomes. For one thing, student learning in these disciplines is not easily quantified. Also, department chairs and faculty members, having survived the culture wars of the 1990s, are understandably wary of any initiative that seems to demand a justification of what they do. In an atmosphere of distrust, assessment becomes little more than a defensive tactic. When, on the other hand, departments take ownership of the process, assessment becomes a powerful tool in making an effective case for scarce resources. We have found that that the best approach to assessment starts with first principles(historical perspectives on the discipline, the fundamental aims and methods of its research), then proceeds to instrumental issues (what to measure and how to measure it).