Comments on: PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! http://blogs.capella.edu/askdoctoraladvising/2009/06/29/practice-practice-practice/ Preparing for and accomplishing a doctoral program at Capella Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:16:27 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Mark Larson http://blogs.capella.edu/askdoctoraladvising/2009/06/29/practice-practice-practice/comment-page-1/#comment-3654 Mark Larson Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:50:42 +0000 http://blogs.capella.edu/askdoctoraladvising/?p=271#comment-3654 Frankly, faculty do not always completely agree on the way a particular research project should proceed. It is common to have lively discourse about the best way to proceed. This is what PhD-land is all about. There is no easy, cut-and-dried way to propose doctoral research. It is a complex, multi-faceted process that can require literally dozens of revisions. What was said at colloquia was the opinion of those folks, but they are not your mentor. The role of the doctoral learner is to figure out how to sort through the varying comments one receives about proposed research and yet follow the lead of the mentor. I can tell you from personal experience that during my dissertation process I needed to do exactly what I am advising you to do. There was disagreement among my committee and I had to resolve it. All learners at Capella must be registered in order to proceed. It isn't a question of how much guidance one receives for a set dollar amount. It is about learners quickly responding to feedback and resolving the differences among faculty opinions. In the end, however, learners defer to their mentors. With that said, the role of the mentor is not to lay everything out or pave the way. The role of the mentor is to comment on learners' work and to steer the learner in the right direction. If you feel you are getting pulled in multiple directions, you should be critically analyzing all of the feedback you have received and head in a direction that seems to incorporate it, paying particular attention to your mentor's guidance. Again, it is your mentor who approves your work first before it heads to the next level of approval. At that point, there may be differing opinions and, again, you must work to gain approval of all who are involved. Many of us on the Comps/Diss team have doctorates and have gone through the same experience you describe. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your mentor, your committee, your specialization chair and those you met at colloquia had an experience that was similar, if not very much like yours. Keep up the revision, rewriting, reworking, redoing, and all the other "Rs" until it finally passes. Celebrate each milestone as a major achievement and, in the end, you will understand why earning a doctorate is at the pinnacle of higher educational pursuits. Frankly, faculty do not always completely agree on the way a particular research project should proceed. It is common to have lively discourse about the best way to proceed. This is what PhD-land is all about. There is no easy, cut-and-dried way to propose doctoral research. It is a complex, multi-faceted process that can require literally dozens of revisions. What was said at colloquia was the opinion of those folks, but they are not your mentor. The role of the doctoral learner is to figure out how to sort through the varying comments one receives about proposed research and yet follow the lead of the mentor. I can tell you from personal experience that during my dissertation process I needed to do exactly what I am advising you to do. There was disagreement among my committee and I had to resolve it.

All learners at Capella must be registered in order to proceed. It isn’t a question of how much guidance one receives for a set dollar amount. It is about learners quickly responding to feedback and resolving the differences among faculty opinions. In the end, however, learners defer to their mentors. With that said, the role of the mentor is not to lay everything out or pave the way. The role of the mentor is to comment on learners’ work and to steer the learner in the right direction. If you feel you are getting pulled in multiple directions, you should be critically analyzing all of the feedback you have received and head in a direction that seems to incorporate it, paying particular attention to your mentor’s guidance. Again, it is your mentor who approves your work first before it heads to the next level of approval. At that point, there may be differing opinions and, again, you must work to gain approval of all who are involved.

Many of us on the Comps/Diss team have doctorates and have gone through the same experience you describe. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if your mentor, your committee, your specialization chair and those you met at colloquia had an experience that was similar, if not very much like yours.

Keep up the revision, rewriting, reworking, redoing, and all the other “Rs” until it finally passes. Celebrate each milestone as a major achievement and, in the end, you will understand why earning a doctorate is at the pinnacle of higher educational pursuits.

]]> By: John Burik http://blogs.capella.edu/askdoctoraladvising/2009/06/29/practice-practice-practice/comment-page-1/#comment-3569 John Burik Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:30:22 +0000 http://blogs.capella.edu/askdoctoraladvising/?p=271#comment-3569 Thanks, Mark, appreciate your remarks as well as personal comments from you, Constance and Ellen. They are encouraging. What has been, and remains, difficult is I received solid positive feedback from faculty when I presented my proposal as a poster at two residencies. It doesn't feel as if the revision requests I'm receiving square with past feedback. It also doesn't feel as if I am getting $2500 worth of consultation per quarter. My eye is firmly on the goal. At the same time I hope my expression of my subjective experience may be helpful to Capella, the Comps/Diss team, and present and future learners. Best, John Thanks, Mark, appreciate your remarks as well as personal comments from you, Constance and Ellen. They are encouraging.

What has been, and remains, difficult is I received solid positive feedback from faculty when I presented my proposal as a poster at two residencies. It doesn’t feel as if the revision requests I’m receiving square with past feedback. It also doesn’t feel as if I am getting $2500 worth of consultation per quarter.

My eye is firmly on the goal. At the same time I hope my expression of my subjective experience may be helpful to Capella, the Comps/Diss team, and present and future learners.

Best,

John

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