Developing Researcher Identity Through the PhD Confirmation

The PhD confirmation, or upgrade stage, is a key requirement and rite of passage for most doctoral students. Yet despite its significance and high-stakes nature, little attention has been paid to students’ experiences of this stage of the PhD journey and how it influences the development of their researcher identity. Through semi-structured interviews with PhD students from a range of disciplines who had recently successfully completed the confirmation stage, we found that for many the confirmation stage was a catalyst for ‘feeling’ like a researcher through external validation, recognition and legitimacy. Students also developed their researcher identity through talking about their research with significant others. We argue for recognising the pivotal role the confirmation stage plays in developing doctoral students’ researcher identity and offer suggestions on how supervisors and researcher developers can support students through this transition

Beyond publish or perish – exploring the multi-faceted benefits of academic writing

The phrase ‘publish or perish’ suggests that the purpose of academic writing is in and of itself to be published. Drawing on qualitative research into academic writing practices, Marion Heron, Karen Gravett and Nadya Yakovchuk suggest that the ‘publish or perish’ concept obscures much of the value in academic writing that resides in writing as a process, and the opportunities it presents academics to individually and collaboratively develop and innovate

MOVING BEYOND PLAGIARISM DETECTION TOWARDS A CULTURE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The advent of electronic detection of plagiarism can lead to an increasing use of punitive measures and the re-inforcement of a very negative approach to academic scholarship. An alternative approach is the honour code system, which originated in the US. Students take a pledge to uphold the principles of academic integrity and in return are awarded certain privileges and responsibilities. These may include examinations that are not invigilated by staff and a student judiciary that polices the honour code. There is a campus-wide focus on the positive promotion of academic integrity and scholarship and less emphasis on penalties and punishment.The rise in the number of plagiarism-related cases has forced many HEIs into a rapid evolution of policies and practices for dealing with plagiarism. Wide variation in the detail and use of plagiarism policies has been demonstrated at a national level, with concern from the OIA that this could lead to inequality of treatment of students.

Developing Researcher Identity Through the PhD Confirmation

The PhD confirmation, or upgrade stage, is a key requirement and rite of passage for most doctoral students. Yet despite its significance and high-stakes nature, little attention has been paid to students’ experiences of this stage of the PhD journey and how it influences the development of their researcher identity. Through semi-structured interviews with PhD students from a range of disciplines who had recently successfully completed the confirmation stage, we found that for many the confirmation stage was a catalyst for ‘feeling’ like a researcher through external validation, recognition and legitimacy. Students also developed their researcher identity through talking about their research with significant others. We argue for recognising the pivotal role the confirmation stage plays in developing doctoral students’ researcher identity and offer suggestions on how supervisors and researcher developers can support students through this transition.https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.5.1620pubpub

Beyond the University: Towards Transfer

This chapter explores students’ experience of transfer as a worked example of our assertion that a deliberate focus on transfer of learning beyond the university could be part of the new normal for higher education and could contribute to student success. Specifically, the article examines how students experience writing transfer beyond the university using a portion of the data which we gathered as part of a Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education Maynooth University case study on this topic, which was in turn part of a large international multi-institutional study on writing beyond the university (Elon University, Writing Beyond the University Research Seminar); the case study in full is reported in Writing Beyond the University: Preparing Lifelong Learners for Lifewide Writing. The purpose of our research was to explore how student writers make connections and navigate transitions between academic setting writing (writing done in the University) and writing beyond the university in professional settings. In order to answer this question, we worked with a group of 4th year undergraduate students (n 60) who completed a questionnaire pre- and post-professional placement. We mapped students’ experience of writing transfer beyond the university using an activity theory framework for understanding transfer and our findings. We suggest implications of the findings, which we believe could have applicability beyond writing to curriculum design, assessment, workplace readiness, employability and student success

Publishing and flourishing: writing for desire in higher education

In the current performative climate of higher education, where academic outputs are highly valorised, professional academic writing has become ‘high stakes’ and is often framed as fraught with tension and anxiety. In this article, we contest the phrase ‘publish or perish’ and argue that is not necessarily helpful or, indeed, always true. Through interviews involving critical incidents with a team of academics, the authors found that tensions in experiences of scholarly writing do indeed exist. However, participants also reported on the affordances of the process of professional academic writing in terms of developing ideas, collaborations, and creating spaces for creativity and desire. We emphasise the juxtaposition of the value of creation with the value of the finished product and argue that writing for publication needs to be highlighted as a process permeated with learning opportunities for both early career researchers and more experienced academics

Teaching citation to university students

A frequent comment by academic writing tutors is ‘use more citation’, yet this may not be helpful. University students may have difficulty with citation practices for several reasons. Prior to university, students may be encouraged to develop arguments based on personal opinions. At university, the risks of plagiarism are emphasised. Finally, students may be uncertain about challenging ‘expert’ views and how to assert their own voices critically and in ways that are acceptable in the disciplines and genres they are producing. This paper integrates findings from research that reveals the complexity of citation practices which could be presented as an intricate system network that might be practical for research purposes or for teacher education, but is more complicated than most students need. Three sample lessons are presented to show how research findings have been simplified for teaching students about citation. We are therefore able to compare theory that presents many logical possibilities, with research that presents probabilities and findings from specific contexts, with pedagogical practice in sample lessons that condense and often simplify theory and research in order to influence student writing

Staff and student perspectives on the potential of honour codes in the UK

Honour code systems have been long-established in some American universities, associated with cultures of academic integrity. This study considers the perceptions of students and staff, elicited through focus groups and electronic voting, in one UK higher education institution regarding the potential for implementation of these systems in the UK. Whilst the main principles of honour codes were broadly welcomed, implementation in the UK higher education context was perceived as problematic. Although both staff and students saw educational benefits in increased student involvement in the promotion of academic integrity and good academic practice, there was a tension between staff who would like to increase the responsibilities of students and the reality of the students' seeming lack of confidence in their ability to discharge those responsibilities. The introduction of students as participants in plagiarism hearing panels and processes was tentatively supported, potentially offering a route to break down the staff-student dichotomy