Churches and the Australian community

Abstract

It is rare for a PhD candidate who submits a thesis for examination to fail outright. If a thesis exhibits significant flaws the candidate may be required to make major revisions and re‐submit the work for re‐examination. The written comments of examiners before and after resubmission can provide important insights into the process of examination and the qualities examiners identify in a marginal thesis. Drawing on 101 of the most recent, completed theses across fields in one Australian university, this article investigates the differences in examiner comment on the qualities of theses by the same candidates before and after major revision and re‐submission (N = 6), and between these theses and those that were ‘passed’ at the first examination (N=95). Critical comments about the literature review and the degree to which the examiner moved into a supervisory role were found to be strong indicators of theses at the margin’.     

Investigating PhD thesis examination reports

There has been a slow but steady accretion of findings on doctoral assessment and examination processes over the past decade and a half. The study of Australian PhD examination reported here draws on the written reports on 301 theses across all discipline areas. Text categories identified in the reports are linked to other data including the recommendation examiners give the thesis and the final report of the committee. The assessment discourse of examiners is explored in depth with reference to high- and low-quality theses. The questions addressed are: (1) What qualities, attributes and characteristics of the thesis are examiners emphasising in their reports? (2) What form does their evaluative comment take? (3) What can the reports indicate about the relative strengths and weaknesses of a thesis and the standards examiners apply in determining a recommendation? and (4) what areas of report content and types of comment most clearly differentiate between the high-and low-quality theses? While it was evident in the reports that examiners weigh and balance many features of the thesis against their expectations to arrive at a recommendation, there were three general criteria that distinguished each of high-quality low-quality theses.     

Building a reflective community: development through collaboration between a higher education institution and one school over 10 years[1]

This article reports university/school partnership in research and development over a decade of unprecedented change in England. The programme of work evolved through three distinct phases in response to formative evaluations of each stage and changing circumstances. This could be conceived as action research on three levels: the classroom, the school and the partnership. The success of the collaboration is evaluated by reference to Anderson & Herr's (1999) five validity criteria for practitioner research: outcome validity, process validity, democratic validity, catalytic validity and dialogic validity     

The doctoral experience in science: Challenging the current orthodoxy

Drawing on the literature this article identifies five characteristics that are frequently attributed to the doctoral student experience in the natural and physical sciences. These are then used to assist with the interpretation of qualitative data derived from a study in the earth sciences at a research‐intensive university in Australia. Case narrative is employed to synthesise three insider perspectives—a candidate and her co‐supervisors—as well as to capture the particularity of the contemporary doctoral enterprise. While similarities to the current orthodoxy can be identified in this study, it is the subtle variations and significant points of departure that reveal a higher level of complexity than is generally acknowledged.     

Making space for democracy through assessment and feedback in higher education: thoughts from an action research project in education studies

This paper reports on an action research project into the development of a ‘democratic feedback model’ with students on an education studies programme at a post-1992 university in the UK. Building on work that has explored the dialogic dimensions of assessment and feedback, the research explored the potential for more democratic practice in this area. Although much learning and teaching on the programme in question took a collaborative and dialogic approach, assessment and feedback were modelled entirely differently, around the concept of an ‘expert’ marker and ‘novice’ marked. The findings of the research indicate the elements necessary for ‘democratic feedback’, and illustrate the emotional impact of moving from more transmission-based models, grounded in notions of expertise, towards democratic practice. They also highlight the ways in which such work can alert students to the imperfect, messy and human nature of the assessment process. Although the model has limited applicability in its extant form, its constitutive elements might be usefully incorporated within existing practice to promote democratic learning.     

Motivational regulation strategies,academic self-concept,and cognitive learning strategies of university students: does academic self-concept play an interactive role?

The present study aimed to examine the specific relations between five motivational regulation strategies (i.e., interest enhancement, environmental control, self-consequating, performance self-talk, mastery self-talk), academic self-concept, and three cognitive learning strategies (i.e., organization, elaboration, rehearsal) of 415 university students. A total of n = 238 students were in the first year of their university program, while n = 178 students were in the mid-term of their university program. Results of correlation analysis revealed that all five motivational regulation strategies were positively related to the three cognitive learning strategies. In contrast, regression analysis showed that organization was only significantly linked to interest enhancement, self-consequating, and performance self-talk, while elaboration was only significantly linked to self-consequating, and rehearsal was only significantly linked to interest enhancement and performance self-talk. Academic self-concept proved to interact with interest enhancement in predicting elaboration. Furthermore, the measurement separability of the three constructs (i.e., motivational regulation strategies, academic self-concept, cognitive learning strategies) and measurement invariance across sample for the five motivational regulation strategies were also supported.

     

Examination of Research Theses

The examination of postgraduate research theses is of vital importance to academic institutions as well as to students. This paper reviews examination procedures at one university, summarising examiners’ comments on 58 theses. A number of questions regarding examiner anonymity, alternatives to the traditional doctoral dissertation, and most importantly, the criteria for the award of degrees are raised. Although great care is taken in choosing examiners, the criteria they are expected to employ are inadequate. Rates of progress of research students in different degree programs suggest that some students may well lack adequate information about the extent of their task as postgraduates.     

Undoing bad upbringing through contemplation: An Aristotelian reconstruction

The aim of this article is to reconstruct two counter-intuitive Aristotelian theses—about contemplation as the culmination of the good life and about the impossibility of undoing bad upbringing—to bring them into line with current empirical research, as well as with the essentials of an overall Aristotelian approach to moral education. I start by rehearsing those essentials. I then illustrate the two theses and their counter-intuitive ramifications by dint of three life stories of imaginary persons. Subsequently, I offer a reconstruction of Aristotle’s theses which, while going beyond the textual evidence, remains faithful to core elements of his moral and educational theory. I finally bring some considerations from the current literature on self-change to bear on this Aristotelian reconstruction, arguing that the effects of bad upbringing can be undone through contemplative activity. I also elicit some implications of the proposed argument for contemporary moral education and schooling.     

Assessment feedback in examiner reports on master’s dissertations in translation studies

Assessment is a crucial part of degree programmes in higher education. While previous research has been primarily concerned with PhD thesis assessment practice in western countries, this article considers the focus and assessment criteria of 40 examiner reports on master’s dissertations in translation studies at a Chinese university. The results indicate that these examiners structured their reports in four rhetorical moves: ‘preparing the candidate for a decision’, ‘expressing an evaluation’, ‘conveying the decision’, and ‘making recommendations’. These examiners appeared to place more emphasis on the expression of ideas, rather than on the accuracy and originality of those ideas. They apparently adopted flexible working criteria, assessing the dissertations based on institutional requirements and on their own experience. This article concludes with a discussion of implications for dissertation writing.     

Factors related to resilience of academically gifted students in the chinese cultural and educational environment

This study examined variables in three domains (personal, parent support, and peer support) for their relationships with the resilience of academically gifted students in the Chinese cultural and educational environment. The participants were 484 academically gifted students in two highly competitive secondary schools (so‐called “key” schools) in a metropolitan city in southern China. The constructs measured in the personal domain were resilience, hope, creativity, and curiosity. The constructs measured in the domain of parent support were parent trust, parent communication, and parent alienation. The constructs measured in the peer support domain were peer trust, peer communication, and peer alienation. Three nested regression models showed that the personal constructs (hope, creativity, and curiosity) were all related to the resilience of the academically gifted students. Parent support variables did not exhibit predictive effects over and above that of the personal constructs, but peer support variables did show additional predictive effects over and beyond personal variables and parent support variables. Explanations and implications were discussed for the findings, and some limitations of the study were also discussed.     

Comparative analysis on the nature of proof to be taught in geometry: the cases of French and Japanese lower secondary schools

This paper reports the results of an international comparative study on the nature of proof to be taught in geometry. Proofs in French and Japanese lower secondary schools were explored by analyzing curricular documents: mathematics textbooks and national curricula. Analyses on the three aspects of proof—statement, proof, and theory—suggested by the notion of Mathematical Theorem showed differences in these aspects and also differences in the three functions of proof—justification, systematization, and communication—that are seemingly commonly performed in these countries. The results of analyses imply two major elements that form the nature of proof: (a) the nature of the geometrical theory that is chosen to teach and (b) the principal function of proof related to that theory. This paper suggests alternative approaches to teach proof and proving and shows that these approaches are deeply related to the way geometry is taught.     

Opportunities and challenges of Higher Education institutions in Europe: An analysis from a business model perspective

During the last decades, there has been increasing interest in the role of the university as a key stakeholder and agent in innovation and regional development. In the face of new technologies, especially growing digitalisation and new societal and economic challenges, this paper proposes to reconsider the role of the university in the innovation system. More particularly, we introduce the idea of a business model for the entrepreneurial university of the future and develop nine conceptual theses. The theses are based on four elements of a business model concept: value proposition, creation, delivery and capture. With the help of the nine theses, we aim to trigger new discussions regarding policy implications for the future university in Europe.     

The place of theory: locating the New Zealand ‘education’ Ph.D. experience, 1948–1998

The year 1998 marked 50 years of doctoral study in New Zealand, and in 1999 I embarked on a history of Ph.D. theses in Education. Influenced by Foucaultian genealogy, this employed a fusion of bibliographic, archival and life‐history interview methods. One hundred and eighty‐three Education theses were identified and 57 of these graduates interviewed. How has New Zealand’s ‘corpus’ of Education Ph.D. thesis production been enabled and constrained by its temporal/spatial location? To address this, I draw on geographical debates on ‘space’ and ‘place’. The first part contextualises thesis topics, theories and methods in discourses of international scholarship, New Zealand politics and social change. The second part narrates a parallel history of the changing circumstances and sites of thesis production—biographical, domestic and institutional. It integrates students’ accounts of thesis work’s epistemological, methodological, spatial and technological dimensions to suggest a history of New Zealand doctoral candidates’ experience.     

Prospective Students' Perceptions of University Brands: An Empirical Study

A model of the elements of a university brand was developed together with an instrument for measuring how favorably each of these elements was perceived by a sample of young people who were considering entering university. One hundred and ninety-eight students undertaking pre-university courses in two further education colleges in East London completed a questionnaire designed to assess their evaluations of two out of three post-1992 universities covered by the study. The questionnaire contained sections that explored the promises suggested by a university brand, the objective circumstances of an institution, and its symbolic and external representation. Linkages between the favorability of the sample members' perceptions of the main components of a university's brand and the participants' conative, affective, and cognitive responses (including those related to a university's reputation) were also examined. The model involved a mixture of constructs with formative or reflective indicators and thus was estimated using the technique of partial least squares.     

Predicting freshman persistence and voluntary dropout decisions: A replication

This paper describes the results of a replication of a study testing the predictive validity of a 34-item instrument designed to assess the fundamental constructs of Tinto's model of college student attrition. A design, variables, and analytical procedures virtually identical to those of the original study (done at a large independent university) were used, and this research was conducted at a large public university. The five-factor structure, found in the original study to underlie the 34 items, was replicated almost exactly. As in the earlier work, the Institutional and Goal Commitment Scale was a significant predictor of attendance behavior even after controlling for a variety of students' precollege characteristics. Potential institutional differences in faculty members' influence on retention were identified. A cross-validation classification procedure suggests the five factors are reasonably stable predictors of attrition.An earlier version of this paper was presented to the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, April 1980.     

Examining PhD and research masters theses

The examination of research theses has only relatively recently attracted research interest that has focused on what examiners do and how consistent they are. The research questions in this study address firstly whether PhD and research masters theses were treated by examiners as qualitatively different on 12 indicators of importance across the areas: contribution of the thesis, the literature review, approach and methodology, analyses and results and presentation. Secondly what was the examiner assessment of quality of a recently examined thesis on the same indicators and, finally, how well the indicators were reflected in a holistic assessment of thesis quality. The work reported here draws on the responses of 353 PhD and 74 research masters thesis examiners. Findings showed the examiners generally rated the relative importance of the indicators very similarly at both degree levels. Further the order of importance across indicators was essentially the same for the two levels of thesis. Anticipated differences did emerge with the examiners giving higher quality gradings for all contribution indicators for PhD as compared with research masters theses. The 12 specific quality indicators, individually and collectively were strongly related to the holistic assessment of thesis quality, particularly at the PhD level.     

Promotion to Full Professor: Moving Beyond Tenure and Associate Professorship

Although there has been great discussion and numerous workshops on obtaining tenure and promotion to associate professor, there has been little exploration of the expectations regarding the next step—promotion to full professor. To fill this void, this study gathered information from full professors teaching in 33 US doctoral programs in criminology and criminal justice. Survey questions asked subjects to note what they believe are the most important criteria for promoting a candidate to full professor. The study found that journal articles were critical for promotion, while grants, publishing a book, and service were not. Furthermore, individual variables such as gender, degree field, prior work as a criminal justice practitioner, and the department context such as program rank, the percentage of women, and number of full professors had significant impacts on the ranking of a candidate’s contributions, and the recommendation for promotion. The findings and implications are discussed.     

论学术在大学发展中的地位与作用

影响大学发展的因素主要有政治因素、经济因素以及内部自主性因素。这三种因素在大学发展过程中 ,通过不同机制的整合确立了以行政为中心和以学术为中心两种不同的治校理念。学术治校理念的确立是保证学术在大学发展中的中心地位以及统率作用发挥的重要前提     

The dissertation examination: identifying critical factors in the success of Indigenous Australian doctoral students

Indigenous Australians represent 2.2% of the working age population, yet account for only 1.4% of all university enrolments. In relation to higher degree research students, Indigenous Australians account for 1.1% of enrolments, but only 0.8% of all higher degree research completions. This paper reports on findings that emerged from an Australian Research Council-funded study which aimed to establish a model of best practice for the supervision of Indigenous doctoral students. The project identified the dissertation examination as one of the critical factors underpinning the success of doctoral candidates. Whilst research into the examination process for doctoral students is limited, the research that specifically explores the examination of dissertations submitted by Indigenous students is entirely inadequate. Our research identified key epistemological concerns that impact approaches to the examination process, to demonstrate how the dominance of Western methods of research impact the examination process for Indigenous doctoral students. This paper explores the experiences of 50 successful Indigenous Australian doctors with a specific focus on their examiner preference and disciplinary requirements. It highlights the limitations that some Indigenous students and their supervisors experience in finding an appropriate examiner.     

Determinants of organisational climate for academia

Being aware of the factors that develop a positive organisational climate is especially important in universities, where the academic members of staff are, in large measure, self-motivated. To identify the determinants of organisational climate for university academia, the validity and reliability of the first-order constructs of autonomy, cohesion and pressure were examined. These three constructs were found to have inadequate validity in this environment. The remaining five valid constructs indicated a second-order organisational climate construct organisational climate was influenced by support, followed by trust and fairness, and then by recognition and innovation. The findings of our study will assist university managers to identify areas to focus upon when developing their academic staff in the pursuit of improving the organisational climate.