Assessment procedures of Norwegian PhD theses as viewed by examiners from the USA,the UK and Sweden

This article focuses on the assessment procedures of Norwegian PhD theses as viewed by external members of evaluation committees from three countries with different examination systems; the USA, the UK and Sweden. Their viewpoints give useful information not only on the pros and cons with the Norwegian system, but also on the strengths and weaknesses of their own national assessment systems. Various procedures of the four national PhD assessment systems are compared: the composition of the evaluation committee, the status of the thesis as published work, the pre-examination assessment, and the examination and defence.     

Assessing the doctoral thesis when it includes published work

In this article we explore how examiners assess a thesis that includes published work. An online survey was used to gather data on approaches to assessing publication-based theses (PBTs). The respondents were 62 supervisors who had experience examining PBTs across a range of disciplines at a research-intensive university in New Zealand. Nearly half of the respondents had examined ‘hybrid’ theses with papers inserted as chapters, 41% had examined theses with publications appended and 14% had examined PhDs by publication (i.e. papers alone). Twenty-nine per cent of examiners used their own extended set of criteria to assess PBTs, 48% found them easier to assess but 26% wanted more guidance. Our analysis also indicated that 86% of the examiners were highly influenced by publications in top-ranked journals and international peer-reviewed journals. Among the concerns of the examiners was the intellectual input of the candidate in any multi-authored publication, as well as the coherence of the thesis. We recommend the need for clearer guidelines for doctoral candidates, supervisors and examiners managing PBTs.     

Revealing future research capacity from an analysis of a national database of discipline-coded Australian PhD thesis records

This article reports how statistical analyses of PhD thesis records can reveal future research capacities for disciplines beyond their primary fields. The previous research showed that most theses contributed to and/or used methodologies from more than one discipline. In Australia, there was a concern for declining mathematical teaching and research capacity. We decided to investigate the ‘hidden’ mathematics research capacity in PhDs outside of mathematics. Australian PhD records were re-coded with up to three fields. Records with mathematics as one of their codes were selected and analysed for their relationships to disciplines in their other codes. Triple-coding revealed ‘hidden’ mathematical research capacity that had previously been single-coded in another field had mathematics as one of their subsequent fields. Our findings have implications for policy and planning for mathematics in Australia, and multiple coding of PhD theses records enables analyses for other disciplines to be undertaken to show their research capacities.     

Paper-based theses as the silver bullet for increased research outputs: first hear my story as a supervisor

With increased pressure to publish, academics are pursuing creative ways to achieve enhanced research outputs. One such process is the publication-based thesis (PBT) for both masters and PhD candidates, rather than monographs. While this process is not novel in the sciences, it has not been widely applied by economic and management schools, particularly in South Africa. Despite the apparently limited institutional guidelines and policies, some academics have pursued an article-based thesis writing process. Doing so has several consequences of special interest for supervisors and candidates. This research set out to identify the impediments to the PBT process, so as to guide future consideration by academics. This is an auto-ethnographic study by one senior academic with experience in both masters and PhD supervision, who has embarked on the PBT process purposively, and reflects on a deliberate choice to change from standard monograph thesis writing to the PBT approach. Member-checking interviews with 12 senior academics in management sciences (some supporting and others not supporting PBT) to some extent validated the generalizability of the liabilities expressed here as concerns. I conclude with a conceptual framework containing the experienced and envisaged realities of PBT writing. The aim of the framework is to assist and warn newcomers to the process with guidelines for considering the associated impediments. Five main liabilities that may ‘bind’ progress, covering 13 antecedents to consider, were identified. The findings led to improved understanding by contextualizing the issues underlying the PBT supervision process, giving structure and meaning to possible solutions to overcoming the liabilities.     

Completing a PhD by publication: a review of Australian policy and implications for practice

There is increasing impetus for higher-degree-by-research students to publish during candidature. Research performance, including higher degree completions and publication output, commonly determines university funding, and doctorates with publishing experience are better positioned for a career in softening academic labour markets. The PhD by Publication provides a pathway for candidates to foster and demonstrate their publishing capabilities. It also provides existing academics a means of achieving doctoral status while managing the ‘publish or perish’ milieu endemic to their work. This paper clarifies the precise nature and significance of the PhD by Publication pathway in the Australian context and discusses the associated benefits and problems, enriched by personal experience. It summarises factors pertinent to assessing the pathway's suitability. The review of current policy suggests institutional guidelines in universities nationwide are inadequate for producing theses of comparable quality to conventional dissertations and capitalising on the pathway's significant benefits.     

The PhD viva: a space for academic development

This study examined the viva experiences of 87 social science PhD graduates from three Irish higher education institutions through a questionnaire that assessed outcome, preparation, conduct and post-viva. The majority were awarded their PhD with minor corrections, considered their viva as a summative assessment, and emphasised its purpose as authentication, examination and defence. Most felt well prepared yet few had experienced a ‘mock viva’ or viva workshop. Even those with minor corrections identified aspects of the viva for improvement. The study recommends that academic development programmes should incorporate assessment literacy for PhD students and supervisors and the need for evaluation of graduates’ viva experiences.     

The benefits of publishing systematic quantitative literature reviews for PhD candidates and other early-career researchers

Universities increasingly expect students to publish during a PhD candidature because it benefits the candidate, supervisor, institution, and wider community. Here, we describe a method successfully used by early-career researchers including PhD candidates to undertake and publish literature reviews – a challenge for researchers new to a field. Our method allows researchers new to a field to systematically analyse existing academic literature to produce a structured quantitative summary of the field. This method is a more straightforward and systematic approach than the traditional ‘narrative method’ common to many student theses. When published, this type of review can also complement existing narrative reviews produced by experts in a field by quantitatively assessing the literature, including identifying research gaps. The method can also be used as the initial step for further analysis, including identifying suitable datasets for meta-analysis. Students report that the method is enabling and rewarding.     

Assessing the quality of PhD dissertations. A survey of external committee members

This article reports on a study of the quality assessment of doctoral dissertations, and asks whether examiner characteristics influence assessment of research quality in PhD dissertations. Utilising a multi-dimensional concept of quality of PhD dissertations, we look at differences in assessment of research quality, and particularly test whether prior relationship to supervisor, examiners’ assessment experience and the regional affiliation of examiners influence assessment, also controlling for academic fields and type of higher education institutions. The data are drawn from a survey to foreign members of thesis evaluation committees that served in the year 2010 at the Norwegian universities. The sample consisted of 1159 foreign committee members, representing a response rate of 79%. The results indicate that the regional affiliation and previous experience of committee members influence quality assessment significantly, but that the relationship to supervisor(s) was of little importance.     

Measuring educational quality by appraising theses and dissertations: pitfalls and remedies

In this paper, we argue that, as indicators of the educational quality of graduate degree programs, student theses and dissertations are best used in specific contexts. High-quality theses and dissertations, that is, may be the result of factors such as verbal skills students already possessed at admission or of complex interactions between supervisors and students, not only effective class design or offerings. Consequently, this paper recommends ways for programs to avoid making post hoc errors in assessing educational quality and suggests strategies to make the critical appraisal of theses and dissertations a productive, quality-enhancing activity.     

完善工程硕士培养过程 确保培养质量

笔者对目前工程硕士培养中存在的问题进行分析和比较，提出确保工程硕士培养质量的具体办法，使工程硕士的培养满足国民经济建设上战场的需要。     

博士生培养过程中的若干问题分析与建议

随着博士生培养规模的不断扩大,提高博士生培养质量已成为社会各界的迫切要求.博士生培养质量要靠整个培养过程来保证.本文结合作者自身博士求学体验,针对博士生课程学习阶段和论文研究阶段存在的问题进行了深入分析,并提出了建议.     

博士学位论文质量保障的实践与反思

博士学位论文是博士生教育的标志性成果,因此,通过对博士学位论文质量保障措施的研究与实践,积极探索适合我国博士生教育发展现状的学位论文质量保障机制,对于提高博士生教育质量具有十分重要的意义.     

博士生创新品质培养

创新品质是博士生培养的根本.博士生的培养是建立在科学研究的基础之上的,本文通过分析科学研究的内在规律,指出了学校、导师、学生作为统一的整体,需要在博士培养过程中尊重科学研究规律,各负其责,形成利于创新型科技人才成长的环境.具体结合科学研究的内在需求.有针对性的分析了学校在学术氛围、科研条件、科学管理等方面的责任,导师在学术品德、学术指导、学术交往等方面的责任,学生在责任感、创新意识、自身知识结构等方面的责任.     

The effect of multiple change processes on quality and completion rate of theses: a longitudinal study

Improving the quality of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses while at the same time increasing the number of theses without expanding the existing resources proportionately is a huge challenge faced by higher educational institutions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of multiple change processes on Bachelors and Masters level thesis work in a selected higher educational institution. The following research questions were studied: (1) How has the thesis quality changed? (2) How has the number of completed theses changed? and, (3) How has the ratio of completed theses per supervisor changed? The change processes were introduced into the thesis process in the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University during 2008–2014. The results show that the quality and the number of completed theses have significantly increased. The multiple change processes including a purpose built ICT system named SciPro, which was introduced and improved incrementally during 2010–2014 are discussed and evaluated in relation to these results.     

地方高校毕业设计(论文)工作初探

地方高校做好毕业设计 (论文 )工作是十分重要的。但目前由于种种原因 ,地方高校毕业设计 (论文 )的水平有所下降 ,本文讨论了此项工作中存在的主要问题 ,并指出应在考核安排和时间安排等环节上加以改进     

A new approach to evaluating the well-being of PhD research students

This study describes the development of an assessment to evaluate the well-being of PhD researchers using a clinically approved methodology that places the perceptions and experiences of the subject population at the heart of its construction. It identifies and assesses the range and relative importance of seven distinct dimensions which are shown to impact adversely on the perceived well-being of student researchers across all stages of their studies. According to the findings, the well-being of doctoral students comprises needs relating to development, facilities, home and health, research, social, supervisor and university. The instrument was found to demonstrate good content validity and internal reliability. Its use offers new insights into the experiences of early career researchers and may inform efforts to better support them. This, in turn, may have a positive impact upon retention levels and future career choices for this research population.     

What examiners do: what thesis students should know

Although many articles have been written about thesis assessment, none provide a comprehensive, general picture of what examiners do as they assess a thesis. To synthesise this diverse literature, we reviewed 30 articles, triangulated their conclusions and identified 11 examiner practices. Thesis examiners tend to be broadly consistent in their practices and recommendations; they expect and want a thesis to pass, but first impressions are also very important. They read with academic expectations and the expectations of a normal reader. Like any reader, thesis examiners get annoyed and distracted by presentation errors, and they want to read a work that is a coherent whole. As academic readers, examiners favour a thesis with a convincing approach that engages with the literature and the findings, but they require a thesis to be publishable research. Finally, examiners give not only a final evaluation of a thesis, but also instruction and advice to improve the thesis and further publications and research. We hope that these generalisations will demystify the often secret process of assessing a thesis, and reassure, guide and encourage students as they write their theses.     

History of Spanish Mathematics Education Focusing on PhD Theses

This article offers an overview of mathematics education in Spain, analyzing the production of PhD theses over the last 30 years. This period has been divided into four cycles that describe the evolution of Spanish research in the field of mathematics education, together with changes in university and social politics. This paper also includes a forecast of the number of theses that will be produced over the next 7 years, thus predicting the future progress and development of this area of research.     

Boundary crossing by science teacher researchers in a PhD program

The boundaries between communities of teaching and educational research are very persistent. Boundaries can be conceptualized as sociocultural differences, leading towards discontinuity in action or interaction. Boundary crossing refers to the efforts made to establish continuity. The purpose of this article is to provide a better understanding of how these boundaries can be crossed by teachers who are also PhD students in a national PhD program for educational research in the context of science education. Sixteen teacher researchers as well as their professors and school principals were interviewed. Additionally, two stories were studied of two teacher researchers who seemed successful in crossing boundaries between the two communities. Many differences were found between the two communities, not all of them being boundaries. Specific personal characteristics - such as communication skills and flexible switching – seemed to facilitate boundary crossing, just like particular contextual factors such as school teams with open learning climates and supportive supervisors. All 16 teacher researchers contributed to better science teaching in their own practices, while eight teacher researchers had been able to share insights from their PhD projects with others.