荷兰应用科学大学专业博士学位项目改革及启示

为加快高层次职业人才培养,提升应用科学大学战略地位,荷兰政府积极推进应用科学大学学位体制改革,授权在应用科学大学设立专业博士学位项目。荷兰专业博士学位项目以欧洲博士学位通用能力标准为依据,明确规定了不同于专业硕士和工程博士的专业博士能力标准,注重通过产科教协同机制和实践研究反哺机制培养博士生解决复杂实践问题的能力,强化教授团队对博士生的专业指导,以三级质量保障机制监测博士生学习质量。荷兰应用科学大学专业博士学位项目具有较强的赋能社会增值和职教高质量发展的价值,对我国加快推进高层次现代职业教育体系建设具有重要借鉴价值。     

面向工业需要的英国工程博士及其培养特色

1992年英国开始设立工程博士学位。工程博士计划面向英国工业需要 ,兼取美国博士生教育重视课程学习和德国工程博士培养重视工程实践的长处 ,同时强调管理知识的学习和相关能力的培养 ,独具特色。英国工程博士不仅在学位要求上与哲学博士各有侧重 ,而且在组织形式和培养模式上也是独具匠心。     

英国"教育博士"培养的实践、问题与挑战

从1992年布里斯托尔大学开设第一个教育博士(EdD)项目到2005年,英国教育博士项目发展到了40多个,成为英国博士生培养中发展最快的领域.通过对相关文献的分析,介绍了英国教育博士发展背景、培养的模式与特点、课程开设与学位论文评估的实践,并进一步分析了其面临的问题、挑战及对我国培养教育博士的启示.     

以项目为载体:英国工程博士计划的推进与启示

工程博士教育作为应用型研究生教育的最高层次,以培养高端科技创新型人才为目标。英国工程博士计划以项目为载体开展工程博士的培养,为英国经济建设培养了大批高级工程师人才。研究发现,“围绕项目构建多主体协同的推进机制”“通过项目的开展培养工程博士”及“质量保障贯穿项目开展全过程”是实现英国工程博士计划有效推进的关键所在。借鉴英国工程博士计划的实践经验,从“构建多主体协同的顶层制度设计”“以项目开展实现工程博士培养”和“以社会标准作为工程博士培养质量的评价依据”三个方面提出对我国的启示。     

英国工程博士研究生招生特色及其对我国的启示

指出英国工程博士研究生招生具有招生计划合理、申请资格要求灵活、招生方式独特等特点,认为这与英国借鉴国际工程博士研究生招生的先进经验,充分结合本国高等教育实际情况,以工程博士中心为招生机构的创新性做法密切相关。认为我国应适当扩大工程博士研究生招生专业领域和招生数量,适当放宽工程博士研究生招生的资格要求,建立工程博士教育理事会。     

博士就业的多元化趋势及其政策应对——一个跨国比较的分析

传统上,研究型博士教育的宗旨是培养学术研究人才。但自20世纪80年代以来,在美国、德国、法国、英国、日本等世界主要的博士生教育大国中,博士到学术界之外就业的比例越来越高,工程科学领域尤为明显。博士就业的多元化成为世界性的趋势,博士研究生教育与传统上学术职业之间的联系正在逐渐解耦。虽然中国的博士生教育起步较晚,但研究型博士的授予规模在2012年超越美国跃居世界第一,在规模的急剧扩张之后,到高校、科研院所之外就业的博士比例也逐渐增高。这些趋势对传统的博士生培养模式提出了诸多挑战,世界各国也出台了一些应对措施,如稳定博士规模、培养可迁移的技能、跟踪博士就业状况,等等。     

弗吉尼亚大学教育学博士与教育博士培养模式之特征、差异及比较、借鉴

对弗吉尼亚大学教育学博士和教育博士项目的人才培养模式进行系统分析,发现其专业类型丰富多样、育人理念各不相同、招考方式体现差异、课程结构颇具特色、学业测试十分严格、毕业要求标准较高、论文设计独具创新;教育学博士和教育博士项目亦在不同环节体现出学术性与实践性等差异。在此基础上,建议我国教育类博士生培养拓宽专业方向、调整学制年限、完善课程结构、优化学分分配、增强实习训练、转变考核策略、关注研究方法、创新选课机制。     

英国论著博士项目：形成、特征及启示

分析指出英国的论著博士学位项目及论著博士学位申请人在申请注册、培养过程、学位授予、质量监控等方面具有以下特征：在申请注册时,哲学博士项目注重考查学生的培养潜力,论著博士项目则强调已有研究成果;在培养过程中,哲学博士研究生主要是在导师指导下开展以项目为核心的学术研究,论著博士研究生则是对已有成果进行一致性和原创性的再研究;在学位授予上,哲学博士项目主要考查攻博期间研究成果的原创性贡献为主,论著博士项目则主要考查已有研究成果的原创性贡献;在质量监控上,哲学博士项目主要体现在学位论文的同行评审及答辩环节,而论著博士项目在申请注册时就须进行严格的审核。认为英国论著博士的形成及特征可以为我国博士生教育提供借鉴和启示。     

质量和标准:专业博士教育面临的挑战

在追踪和分析英国专业博士教育发展背景的基础上,对新出现的与专业博士学位的质量和标准有关的一些实践问题进行了分析,最后对英国6所不同学校的专业博士教育情况展开了调查,并分析了影响学生完成专业博士教育的因素.     

美国“卡内基教育博士改革行动”成效研究之审视

“卡内基教育博士改革行动”的精髓为:“教育博士”新概念、六大指导原则和四大改革议题.基于学生认知评价视角的“卡内基教育博士改革行动”成效调查旨在了解:变革后的教育博士项目是否符合“卡内基教育博士改革行动”的新概念和基本原则,变革后的教育博士项目其教与学的方式是否符合“卡内基教育博士改革行动”的改革议题,教育博士生是否视自己为“专业领域的实践者”或“应用研究型人才”,学生追求教育博士学位的动机何在.调查结果表明,教育博士项目由于“卡内基教育博士改革行动”的推动发生了新变化,改革成效得到学生普遍认可,重构的教育博士项目与学生的价值诉求基本相符.     

Students’ perception of EdD and PhD programmes in Hong Kong

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the learning experiences of students enrolled on a Doctorate in Education programme in Hong Kong. The main questions are as follows. How do EdD students position themselves as doctoral candidates? How do EdD students experience their education in terms of scholarly expertise and scholarly identity? How do EdD students characterise their relationships with their supervisors? What perceptions do PhD students hold of the field of knowledge of EdD students and the value of an EdD degree? The data obtained from 10 semi-structured interviews in one selected institution are discussed with reference to the four main themes; distinction between EdD and PhD degrees: ‘co-existent’ vs. ‘separate’; positioning of EdD programme: title of doctor as ‘unfair’ vs. ‘deserved’; scholarly value: ‘insightful’ vs. ‘non-academic’; and relationship with supervisor: ‘independent and self-managed’ vs. ‘never equal, unlike the relationship between PhD student and supervisor’.     

Students’ perception of EdD and PhD programmes in Hong Kong

The aim of this study is to explore the learning experiences of students enrolled on a Doctorate in Education programme in Hong Kong. The main questions are as follows. How do EdD students position themselves as doctoral candidates? How do EdD students experience their education in terms of scholarly expertise and scholarly identity? How do EdD students characterise their relationships with their supervisors? What perceptions do PhD students hold of the field of knowledge of EdD students and the value of an EdD degree? The data obtained from 10 semi-structured interviews in one selected institution are discussed with reference to the four main themes; distinction between EdD and PhD degrees: ‘co-existent’ vs. ‘separate’; positioning of EdD programme: title of doctor as ‘unfair’ vs. ‘deserved’; scholarly value: ‘insightful’ vs. ‘non-academic’; and relationship with supervisor: ‘independent and self-managed’ vs. ‘never equal, unlike the relationship between PhD student and supervisor’.

     

Skills versus pedagogy? Doctoral research training in the UK Arts and Humanities

The traditional ‘lone scholar’ view of an Arts and Humanities doctoral student sits uneasily with the skills-based discourse underpinning policies aimed at enhancing researcher development and employability. This paper reports on a case study of a research training programme for doctoral students in the Arts and Humanities at a UK university. It calls for the embedding of the generic skills agenda within a more clearly articulated pedagogic discourse and formulates four pedagogic principles for research training programme design. Additionally, the paper problematises the research trainer role and highlights the importance of paying attention to the students' own learning agendas and the learning value they are prepared to derive from training.     

Spanning the Academy-Practice Divide with Doctoral Education in Business

The economy has always been a knowledge economy. We accept as a premise of this paper that phenomena such as the explosion of information, information technology, intellectual capital, knowledge workers and firms as knowledge systems are real, while reserving space elsewhere for the critique of such phenomena. To date, doctoral education in business has focused almost exclusively on the needs of future academic staff. One response to the growing demand for a practitioner-oriented doctoral education is the rise of Doctorate of Business and Administration (DBA) programmes. The DBA differs from a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) because of its increased focus on the application of knowledge, in addition to the development of that knowledge. While PhD research needs to make a significant contribution to theory, DBA research is expected to contribute to both theory and practice. This paper provides a brief history of doctoral education in business. We discuss the choices that have been taken in the design and content of the Massey DBA in relation to the academic/practice divide. An interim report of experiences by both academics and students is provided. The implications for doctoral education in areas that span the research/practice divide are then identified.     

Using email for formative assessment with professional doctorate students

This article reports on aspects of a recent research and development project in doctoral education. It focuses on the use of email for tutor’s formative assessment within the early stages of a Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) in an English university. Its case study methodology included participant observation of the programme workshops, critical discourse analysis of the email texts, and two series of in‐depth, semi‐structured student interviews. The tutor whose feedback was analysed had previously researched and theorised formative assessment, so the research allowed his previous theoretical insights to be explored and developed in an early doctoral context. The article concludes by discussing the problematic power of feedback at this level, given the culturally constructed associations of feedback with summative assessment, and implications for supervisory practice.     

Beyond authorship and accountability? The ethics of doctoral research dissemination in a changing world

Discussion of ethics in doctoral training courses usually focuses on the initial stages of planning and conducting field research. Shifting attention onto the responsibility of the researcher to share their findings throughout the research process, we set out to consider how doctoral students can conceptualise and engage ethically with research dissemination in the broader context of the globalised knowledge economy. A comparative analysis of the ethical guidelines produced by BERA (British Educational Research Association) and ASA (Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth) reveals that both are more concerned with the possible benefits or harm of dissemination to those directly involved in or affected by the research, and pay little attention to the ethical implications of multimodal and digital dissemination to unknown audiences. Drawing on the concept of research as a moral endeavour and the problematising of collaboration as an ethical issue within participatory and ethnographic research debates, we explore the implications for doctoral training courses. We argue that engaging students in discussion on dissemination can open a space to explore who benefits most from research undertaken.     

Peer facilitated writing groups: a programmatic approach to doctoral student writing

Very few empirical studies have investigated programmes in which doctoral students act as peer facilitators in faculty writing groups. We report on the development of a centrally delivered doctoral student writing programme in which twenty student participants were mentored and provided with the resources to initiate their own faculty-based doctoral writing groups. ‘Legitimate peripheral participation’ was used as a conceptual lens to interpret the data collected during the establishment and evaluation of the programme. All student participants in the preparatory training course, which was developed in consultation with postgraduate students and research supervisors, went on to become doctoral writing peer facilitators of peer writing groups. Insights from seven of these showed how a well-structured and supportive programme harnessed the benefits of peer learning by bringing personal rewards to participants and building institutional capacity around doctoral research writing literacies.     

Should first-year doctoral students be supervised collectively or individually? Effects on thesis completion and time to completion

Whether supervision of doctoral students is best pursued individually or collectively is a recurring but unresolved question in debates on higher education. The rarity of longitudinal data and the common usage of qualitative methods to analyse a limited number of cases have left the effectiveness of either model largely untested. To assist with overcoming these problems, this paper reports on a study of 145 individuals admitted to a specific doctoral programme between 1991 and 2014. It analyses the effects of either individual or collective supervision during the first year of the programme on the probability of thesis completion and the time to thesis completion. Group means, Cox regressions, Kaplan–Meir curves and Ordinary Least Square regressions are calculated on the basis of the number of months spent by each doctoral student in the programme without defending a thesis. Studied in these ways, it appears that collective supervision in the first year significantly increases the probability of thesis completion and decreases the time to thesis completion. Collective supervision may have this effect as it enhances peer learning, creates a wider academic learning context, allows doctoral students to gradually acquire the values and behaviours of a research practice community and reduces the risk of premature selection of permanent supervisors.     

Research and Teaching Revisited: a pre-Humboldtian or post-Humboldtian phenomenon? The cases of France and the UK

The evidence about the relationship between research and teaching at the level of doctoral education is far from conclusive. The focus of this study is to examine how teaching and research are related at doctoral level, especially when students' voices are heard, in two contrasting higher education systems — France and the UK. Models from Schimank and Winnes, and Clark were used to analyse the contrasting research and teaching configurations at institutional level in France and the UK. France has a Pre-Humboltian system of research and teaching, whilst the UK has a Post-Humboltian one. Two empirical studies were then drawn on: to measure teaching, a questionnaire composed of two major dimensions of research training experiences, supervision and research environment, was distributed to full-time doctoral students in Economics & Management and Chemistry in France and was compared to a survey carried out earlier in Education and Chemistry in the UK. To measure research, the result of the CNRS (National Centre of Scientific Research) research classification in France was used. In the UK, the corresponding measurement, RAE score (Research Assessment Exercise) was adopted. Strikingly similar findings were found in the two countries. First, there is little relationship between the departmental research performance and the quality of doctoral education as experienced by PhD students in either country. Next, this lack of significant relationship is found across all three disciplines. Thirdly, more consistent results were observed in France than in the UK. There is in-depth discussion with regard to these findings.