Identity and agency: pleasures and collegiality among the challenges of the doctoral journey

How do doctoral students develop their identities as academics? In this analysis, we explore identity from the perspective of agency – humans as active agents. The analysis was based on the collective data from three earlier studies in different contexts. Embedded in the data were expressions of agency linked to affect – both positive and negative – in which doctoral students were acting to shape and not just be shaped by their experiences. Key findings were evidence of collective student identity as well as supervisors modeling and affirming student agency. Both these findings are pertinent in rethinking doctoral pedagogies: the latter provides a model for supervisors to explicitly model student agency, and the former suggests the value of creating opportunities for collective identity in which students act as positive agents in improving their own doctoral experiences.     

Supervision – the most variable of variables: student perspectives

The supervision literature often conceptualizes the supervisor as the primary person in doctoral students' progress. Yet, there is growing evidence that the supervisor is but one of many resources that students draw on. Our study takes up this idea in answering the question: What is students' experience of their supervisory relationships over time? Sixteen social science participants in two UK universities, at different points in their doctoral journeys, completed logs of a week's activities for a number of months before being interviewed. This distinct longitudinal approach provides a more nuanced understanding of students' perceptions of the supervisory relationship, specifically, varied reasons for seeking supervisory help, distinct needs related to where students were in their progress, and diverse in which they negotiated and characterized the supervisory relationship.     

Reflection on Teaching: Types and Goals of Reflection

We describe an elaboration of an empirical cognitive model of reflection (McAlpine, Weston, Beauchamp, Wiseman, & Beauchamp, 1999). Specifically, we explain 2 fundamental constructs in the model that were previously less well understood: goal and type of reflection.     

统筹城乡教育视域下有“留守经历”的大学生现状及发展对策研究

文章以有“留守经历”步入青年期的群体——大学生为例,从实证的角度,对他们的人格特征与现状进行调查研究,为高校管理提供新思路,为统筹城乡教育对留守儿童相关的教育举措有所启示,为有相似生活背景的未成年“留守儿童”和已成年的青年的培养提供参考与借鉴。     

Building a more robust conception of early career researcher experience: what might we be overlooking?

Two decades of research into early career researchers has highlighted the interaction of a constellation of influences in making sense of their experiences. Such research largely draws on either quantitative or qualitative traditions. While both traditions explore similar phenomena, research questions are often framed differently and use different methods. Interestingly, there are few studies in which design integrates quantitative and qualitative processes. In this paper, we describe such a design in which we examined post-PhD researcher agency, social support and intention to remain in or leave the academy. The quantitative analysis highlighted two profiles representing variation in intention to remain based on the interaction of community and supervisory support. The qualitative analysis, while supporting this finding, suggested other influences as well. Examining these other influences in-depth led to a more robust representation of the interplay of personal life and work in relation to intention to remain. We concluded work-related factors are insufficient to explain intention to remain. We suggest future research in this area should explore what other factors may be overlooked in understanding (a) intention to remain and (b) early career researcher experience more broadly. Finally, we propose research designs integrating both quantitative and qualitative processes may prove fruitful in future research, not just in this area but more broadly.     

Debriefing interview and Colloquium: How effective are these as research strategies?

We would describe ourselves as qualitativeresearchers who use mixed methods. Like manyother researchers, we strive to find productiveways of interacting with research participantsto inform the studies we engage in. Severalyears ago, we used two different researchstrategies, an individual debriefing interviewand a group colloquium, and then did ananalysis of their relative effectiveness. Inthis paper, we describe our research approach,the actual research including the twostrategies, and the result of the analysis,that the colloquium was the more effective ofthe two strategies. We then explore this resultwithin two literatures. The first is theliterature on interviewing. We argue that ouranalysis explores and contributes to thescarcity and unsystematic analysis of groupinterviews, and specifically extends previouswork by examining the `how', `when', `where'and `why' of group interviews. The secondliterature we explore is higher education.Here, there is ongoing discussion on the needfor teaching to be valued equally to research,and there are suggestions that teaching shouldemulate aspects of research. We offer analternate argument, that we view researchthrough the lens of teaching and learning –that we approach our design and conduct ofresearch as a learning process in which we areat various times learners, co-learners andteachers.     

Spanish and UK post-PhD researchers: writing perceptions,well-being and productivity

Post-PhD researchers working at universities are contributors to a country’s productivity and competitiveness mostly through writing, which becomes a means to establish their scholarly identity as they contribute to knowledge. However, little is known about researchers’ writing perceptions, and their interrelations with engagement in research, productivity and the influence of workplace climate, which, if negative, can result in burnout and abandonment intentions. In this paper, we explore these issues for the first time. Using a cross-sectional design, 282 postdoctoral researchers answered a cross-cultural questionnaire focusing on engagement, scientific writing, researcher community and burnout, and socio-demographic variables. Data analysis included exploratory factor analysis, T-test, ANOVA or Mann–Whitney U (SPSS, v.22). Results showed that adaptive perceptions of writing were related to higher levels of engagement, lower levels of burnout and productivity; maladaptive perceptions of writing were related to burnout experiences. The consideration of research writing as a developmental process that can take many years beyond the PhD is discussed. Critical to understanding such development is the extent to which a shift in perception of writing to knowledge creation may be a precursor to more adaptive functional behaviours. Educational insights related to constraints in writing, publication processes and related research conditions are also considered.     

Telling the second half of the story: linking academic development to student experience of learning

Common measures used by academic developers, e.g. lecturer satisfaction with workshops, are necessary but insufficient indicators of impact since they tell only the first half of the story. Documenting whether positive responses translate into teaching actions that influence students is the second half of the story. In this study, the project team undertook to document this second half: the influence of a workshop for lecturers on student experience of learning in courses designed during the workshop. This paper describes the results of the study and also examines the implications – the difficulties and value of reconciling the desirable with the do‐able in undertaking studies such as this.     

蜘蛛抱蛋属（百合科）二新种

报道了在广西发现的2个百合科蜘蛛抱蛋属Aspidistra新种，即乳突蜘蛛抱蛋A. papillata G. Z. Li和环江蜘蛛抱蛋A. huanjiangensis G. Z. Li&Y. G. Wei。乳突蜘蛛抱蛋与大花蜘蛛抱蛋A. tonkinensis（Gagner. ）F. T. Wang&K. Y. Lang近缘。它们的共同特征是:花单生;花被裂片两侧彼此覆盖;柱头盾状，边缘3裂，上表面具3条辐射状沟缝。不同点是:乳突蜘蛛抱蛋植株较大花蜘蛛抱蛋的粗大;叶柄较粗;叶片椭圆形或长椭圆形;花被阔钟     

基于SLEUTH模型的沈阳-抚顺都市区城市规划

利用SLEUTH模型,在3种规划预案下研究沈阳-抚顺都市区城市规划。结果表明,低生态保护的城市增长预案导致了城市快速扩张和农田、林地等其他景观类型面积迅速减少.严格的生态保护规划预案虽然能很好地保持聚集的城市增长格局,减少对其他景观的侵占,但限制了城市增长速度,与区域经济发展现状相矛盾.如果扩散的城市增长格局能得到进一步的控制,适当生态保护的城市增长预案将是沈阳-抚顺都市区未来发展的推荐预案.