Writing your doctoral dissertation - part 6 pptx

The stages in writing a dissertation

20

will find they teach these courses as well. You need to meet the conditions

imposed on your continuation in the program. Concurrent with your status as a

provisionally matriculated student, you will start your coursework.

One of your goals in taking courses is to move beyond “conditional” or

“provisional” matriculation status to permanent matriculation status. In the

Bulletin for your university you will find a description of your doctoral program

along with, for example, information about the required courses and the

minimum number of credits to be completed in the program. Use the information

provided in the Bulletin, along with informal guidance from your program

advisor and your student-colleagues in selecting your courses. Your advisor is

likely to know the frequency with which courses will be offered and can suggest

an appropriate sequence to facilitate your expanding knowledge base.

Not only will you need to enroll in the requisite courses, but you will need to

adopt a useful stance as a student in these courses. Drawing on your

undergraduate and graduate collegiate experiences, you are probably accustomed

to completing assignments for each individual course with the goal of

accumulating a specific number of credits for the degree. Some students approach

their courses as if they were making a necklace. Each course is an isolated bead

added to a long string of similarly isolated beads, which eventually form a

necklace. However, if you choose courses which are connected, in particular, to

your long-term goal of creating and conducting a research project based on the

concepts, theories, and processes discussed in them, you will be using your

learning in these courses throughout your doctoral experience.

As a doctoral student you will benefit by taking a long-term perspective

on your individual courses. By considering each course as one site in an

unfamiliar community, you will obtain a more cohesive perspective on your

studies. By purposely creating connections between your courses, you will

develop a more comprehensive understanding of the theories and practices in

your discipline. Each course offers opportunities for you to prepare for your

dissertation writing in specific ways. For example, you will:

• acquire more knowledge about your discipline;

• connect with related disciplines;

• explore processes for doing research in your major area;

• identify topics which seem to be at the forefront of discussion in your field;

• meet faculty with a broad range of perspectives, knowledge, and

interaction styles; and

• collaborate with students in your program, speculating on potential

dissertation topics.

In other words, coursework offers you a full range of experiences, all of

which are preliminary to the writing of your dissertation. The coursework is

the foundation for the project that will eventually become known as your

dissertation.

One of your initial goals in taking the courses is to move from provisional

to permanent matriculation status. Institutions differ in their requirements for