Doctoral students’ writing profiles and their relations to well-being and perceptions of the academic environment (original) (raw)
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This study investigated PhD students' conceptions of writing and how they saw themselves as writers. The Writing Process Questionnaire was created to analyse PhD students' ideas of academic writing. In addition, it was of interest, what the relation between conceptions of writing and the PhD students' well-being was. The participants were 669 PhD students from a major Finnish university who volunteered to fill in a questionnaire. The present study covered scales for measuring six distinct theoretical constructs that were created by forming sum variables of 26 questions: Blocks, Procrastination, Perfectionism, Innate ability, Knowledge transforming, and Productivity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to verify the six-dimension construct. Exhaustion, stress, anxiety and lack of interest all correlated positively with Blocks, Procrastination, and Perfectionism, and negatively with Productivity. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted by LISREL confirmed the six-factor structure of the writing scale. In conclusion, there is good evidence that the questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool, and it captures some essential aspectsof academic writing process and its emotional dimensions.
How to measure PhD students’ conceptions of academic writing – and are they related to well-being?
Journal of Writing Research, 2014
This study investigated PhD students' conceptions of writing and how they saw themselves as writers. The Writing Process Questionnaire was created to analyse PhD students' ideas of academic writing. In addition, it was of interest, what the relation between conceptions of writing and the PhD students' well-being was. The participants were 669 PhD students from a major Finnish university who volunteered to fill in a questionnaire. The present study covered scales for measuring six distinct theoretical constructs that were created by forming sum variables of 26 questions: Blocks, Procrastination, Perfectionism, Innate ability, Knowledge transforming, and Productivity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to verify the six-dimension construct. Exhaustion, stress, anxiety and lack of interest all correlated positively with Blocks, Procrastination, and Perfectionism, and negatively with Productivity. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted by LISREL confirmed the six-factor structure of the writing scale. In conclusion, there is good evidence that the questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool, and it captures some essential aspectsof academic writing process and its emotional dimensions.
Being and Perceptions of the Academic Environment
2018
using a person-centred approach. We also studied differences between profiles in terms of experienced well-being and perceptions of the learning environment. The participants of our study (n = 664) were PhD students from three faculties at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The Writing Process Questionnaire (Lonka et al., 2014) was used to measure writing conceptions and problematic writing. Well-being was measured by MED NORD, adapted to the doctoral context (Lonka et al., 2008; Stubb, Pyhältö & Lonka, 2011) and Perceptions of the learning environment, using specific items from Dahlin et al. (2005). PhD students with similar patterns of writing variables were identified through latent profile analysis (LPA). We conducted one-way ANOVAs to examine group differences with respect to well-being and perceptions of learning environment. We identified three writing profiles: Growth-Transforming (51%), Ambivalent (40%), and Fixed-Blocking (9%) groups. The Fixed-Blocking group reported a ...
Writing conceptions and psychological well-being in Ph.D. studies: students’ perspectives
The present study aims to analyze and explain the relationship between scientific writing conceptions and psychological well-being in the third cycle of university. It includes a comparative study in which we analyze the patterns obtained in two samples (631 Spanish and 939 Finnish doctoral students), and a study about writers' profiles (focused on the 631 Spanish students). The tools used for the data collection are The Writing Process Questionnaire (Lonka et al., 2014), which is translated and adapted to the Spanish population, and one scale of the MED NORD questionnaire (Lonka et al., 2008) -adapted to the PhD context in Pyhältö et al. (2009). The correlational analysis of factors in the cross-cultural study and the analysis of profiles of the Spanish PhD students reveal a relationship between writing and well-being. Furthermore, the results sustain the use of The Writing Process Questionnaire as a reliable tool for the Spanish population.
Developing research-writer identity and wellbeing in a doctoral writing group
Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2023
Various models of writing groups for doctoral candidates are effective in developing research writing skills. While most groups focus on writing and providing feedback, less is written about groups that focus on empowering the research-writer through social interaction. This paper explores the impact of an ongoing fortnightly writing group as a regulated writing space for promoting wellbeing and fostering research-writer identity among doctoral candidates, whilst developing cognitive and social skills. Eight participants and the facilitator reflect on the effectiveness of this group using collaborative autoethnography. What began as a group of higher degree research students who wanted to develop their research writing skills, became a supportive community of practice which enhanced individuals' confidence to write, their research writing identities and wellbeing. Of significance was the writing expert as a facilitator. The study recommends that institutions value and create regular writing spaces for doctoral candidates to write, discuss their experiences as research-writers and in so doing, address their research writing identity and wellbeing, particularly given current concerns about mental health.
THE EFFECTS OF WRITING APPREHENSION AMONG JORDANIAN PHD STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVES
The purpose of this paper was to discover writing apprehension experiences of Jordanian PhD students at Universiti Utara Malaysia. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach. The sampling of participant was done through purposive sampling in order to select information rich cases. The sampling strategy was homogeneous sampling to find the characteristics of the sub-group of the whole population. Data collection was done through interviewing Jordanian PhD students. Twenty one students were interviewed to get their perspectives on the writing apprehension phenomenon. The main objective was investigated: the effects of writing apprehension. In terms of the effects of writing apprehension, three main themes were found such as personal effect, social effect, and academic effect. The study concluded that writing apprehension is a prevalent phenomenon among the participants. All the participants expressed experiencing writing apprehension ranging from low, moderate or high level.
Doctoral Peer Writing Groups as a Means of Promoting Well-Being
LEARNing Landscapes
This collaborative autoethnography explores how a doctoral peer writing group (PWG) has become an important means of fostering well-being among the authors, who are four doctoral scholars. Focusing on how writing in doctoral education can act as a barrier to well-being, defined as feeling part of a community, feeling balanced, and feeling motivated by forward momentum, each author shares her particular experiences with writing and how the PWG has contributed to her well-being. Based on the authors' narratives, the article also suggests how PWGs may be useful in promoting well-being across several levels of education.
Writing a Doctoral Dissertation: A Qualitative Study of Education Doctoral Students' Perceptions
Global Sociological Review, 2021
For doctoral students, dissertation writing is an important stage in their completion of the degree. They might face several problems during this stage. The aim of the current qualitative study was to explore doctoral students' perceptions of dissertation writing. Ten participants were selected through a purposive sampling technique from the education department of a private university in Lahore, Pakistan. An interview guide was constructed in light of the research objectives and literature review. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The findings of the study revealed language barriers, insufficient academic writing skills, inadequate supervisory support, and personal factors as problems faced by doctoral students during their dissertation writing. It is recommended that an academic writing course should be offered during coursework. Moreover, effective supervisory support should be ensured at the dissertation...
Doctoral students writing: where's the pedagogy?
Writing occupies a key role in doctoral research because it is the principal channel students use to communicate their ideas, and the basis on which their degree is awarded. Doctoral writing can, therefore, be a source of considerable anxiety. Most doctoral candidates require support and encouragement if they are to develop confidence as writers. Drawing on interviews with two international doctoral students at an Australian university, this paper examines the writing practices the students have encountered and discusses them in the light of recent research on doctoral writing pedagogy. Analysis of the students’ experiences in terms of Wenger’s ‘communities of practice’ framework suggests that this perspective fails to account adequately for the power relations that impact on the students’ learning opportunities. Examining the students’ experiences also highlights the importance of good pedagogy in supporting the development of scholarly writing in the doctorate.
Issues in Educational Research, 2022
Academic writing, which allows scientific research to be shared with other researchers, has an important place in graduate education because individuals at this stage of education gain experience in their fields with their academic writing experiences and are referred to as field experts when their education has been completed. At this point, graduate students' perception of academic writing and their experiences in this process are seen as an important element. The purpose of the current study is to examine graduate students' perceptions of the academic writing process and its problems. To this end, a phenomenological study design was adopted, with a purposive sampling to obtain participants for the study. Nine students who were attending a state university in Turkey volunteered to participate. Using a content analysis approach, perceptions of academic writing and the problems experienced in academic writing were derived from the responses to the interview questions. Results showed that graduate students' perceptions of academic writing fitted into five sub-themes: grammar, process, product, form and content. Problems experienced in academic writing were grouped under five sub-themes: text, mistake, competence, support and place of publication. In light of these findings, suggestions are offered about improving the acquisition of academic writing skills and confidence.