Advising Best Practice commitment connecting the dots Dissertation Doctoral Advising doctoral model expectations flexibility Journey learner success letting go Marathon mentors NACADA persistence prepare Publication reflection Research
You’ve read what we have to say, but now it’s your turn. What questions do you have?
If effective reading strategies are the lifeblood of one’s intellectual development as a doctoral learner, what are they? How do you use them? And when do you know which ones to use? READ MORE
Collaborative research, like many other types of collaborations, can produce differing approaches to solving problems. Some learners labor under the misconception that topic definition, research question development, methodology selection and other aspects of the study should fall automatically into place. Doctoral learners are really apprentices or neophytes and are not expected to know everything or submit completely perfected ideas in the beginning. Their work will evolve as they experience many levels of review. More than likely, they will also receive some conflicting advice. Their job is to sort through the advice and proceed in the direction they feel is correct. If they need to redirect, so be it. It is all part of the learning process.
Sometimes in frustration, learners will say, “Just tell me what to do and I will do it.” That, of course, is the wrong approach. A significant aspect of earning READ MORE
The past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting a great deal on Capella’s mission and values. Why are we here? What are we all striving for? How do we prioritize our work? How do we make decisions? How do we interact with one another? And the like.
In August 2008, I spoke of a pledge to greatness and the invaluable tool of owning your own contribution and this commodity of human potential – the value of honoring the potential of each person and enabling transformation.
Today, some of my trusted colleagues and I were reflecting on a common question asked, “what is the most important piece of the puzzle needed to finish the PhD?” The usual fare was offered: competency, knowledge of the topic, the “research gene,” a strong committee, resilience, time, etc. But today, I say to all, what’s most important is knowing your needs and knowing your aspirations.
Preparing for Your Comprehensive Exam from Day One
It is easy to become so focused on each course every quarter that you do not see the forest for the trees. That is to say, you put up a valiant effort to do your work. You read and post and research and write to keep up with the weekly demands and the final assignment. And yet, this is not enough. READ MORE
Disappointment is ubiquitous. Learners are disappointed about shattered dreams, unmet expectations, lost employment opportunities, and much more. Likewise, learners may become disappointed about grades, academic probation, and many more academic disappointments can debilitate them from achieving their academic goals. But, working through and not over disappointment can present opportunities for becoming doctoral. How do you begin dissolving disappointment? READ MORE
Sitting down with your morning coffee or the beverage of your choice, you skim the headlines of the local newspaper, scoot through your RSS feeds, or rush through reading summaries of journal articles before you begin the day. Or, perhaps, you mesh with multi-tasking. READ MORE
What is the place of life perspective in the writing process? In other words, how can contemplating the span of one’s life contextualize the writing process as both an accumulation of experience and an evolution of the writer’s abilities? READ MORE
Recently, a comment was posted to our blog that due to certain restrictions, we elected not to release the comment, however, the author posed some important, legitimate questions that I would like to address further.
Specifically, the entry raised awareness to a professional dissertation writing website company. To this author’s credit s/he was not necessarily promoting the use or affiliated with the organization, however, raised questions surrounding the use of such “guidance packages.” Further questions that I personally viewed as thoughtful and insightful, surrounded the issue of dissertation quality. Reworking the author’s primary question, are today’s scholars more interested in efficiency and the shortest path to PhD completion v. preparing a quality document and by extension, becoming a scholar?
It tends to be negative which doesn’t do you any good.
A couple years ago, I entered a half marathon with a time limit. As I struggled through the heat, at the pace I was moving (slow), I had mind talk going about not being able to finish this event. Why did I run, anyway? I knew I wasn’t prepared for this event, why did enter? READ MORE
What is mediocrity? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as, “of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance.” Learners have encountered many kinds of mediocrity throughout their lives. For example, medical errors, banking errors, and other errors have had a negative effect on learners’ lives. Learners don’t like to be the object of mediocrity. READ MORE
