Ringing the Changes: Mapping Networks of Support for Two Doctoral Students

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Author(s)
A. Tyler, Mark
Danaher, P.
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2010
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Abstract Supporting postgraduate students in their efforts to soar through the rings is a crucial endeavour of contemporary universities. A variation on this approach is ringing the changes for such students - that is, identifying the distinct stages in their learning journeys and seeking ways to maximise opportunities to facilitate their movement through each stage and in the transition from one stage to the next. This approach recognises the many common issues faced by postgraduate students, yet also values the diversity of context and experience framing their engagements with those issues. This paper rings the changes ...
View more >Abstract Supporting postgraduate students in their efforts to soar through the rings is a crucial endeavour of contemporary universities. A variation on this approach is ringing the changes for such students - that is, identifying the distinct stages in their learning journeys and seeking ways to maximise opportunities to facilitate their movement through each stage and in the transition from one stage to the next. This approach recognises the many common issues faced by postgraduate students, yet also values the diversity of context and experience framing their engagements with those issues. This paper rings the changes in the learning journeys of two doctoral students, both in faculties of education in Australian regional universities, yet with different topics, research questions, theorists and findings. The account explores another incarnation of the ring metaphor: as a network of support. The authors map and compare their respective networks and link them with broader literature about contemporary doctoral students' experiences and outcomes, particularly the four "islands" distilled by Di Napoli (Batchelor & Di Napoli, 2006). The paper then considers four sites of potential student support that arise from the preceding discussion. These findings emerge as ongoing elements of the doctoral student journey and highlight the contradictions as well as the complexities of multiple understandings of ringing the changes for postgraduate students as they soar through the rings.
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View more >Abstract Supporting postgraduate students in their efforts to soar through the rings is a crucial endeavour of contemporary universities. A variation on this approach is ringing the changes for such students - that is, identifying the distinct stages in their learning journeys and seeking ways to maximise opportunities to facilitate their movement through each stage and in the transition from one stage to the next. This approach recognises the many common issues faced by postgraduate students, yet also values the diversity of context and experience framing their engagements with those issues. This paper rings the changes in the learning journeys of two doctoral students, both in faculties of education in Australian regional universities, yet with different topics, research questions, theorists and findings. The account explores another incarnation of the ring metaphor: as a network of support. The authors map and compare their respective networks and link them with broader literature about contemporary doctoral students' experiences and outcomes, particularly the four "islands" distilled by Di Napoli (Batchelor & Di Napoli, 2006). The paper then considers four sites of potential student support that arise from the preceding discussion. These findings emerge as ongoing elements of the doctoral student journey and highlight the contradictions as well as the complexities of multiple understandings of ringing the changes for postgraduate students as they soar through the rings.
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Journal Title
Studies in Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and Development
Volume
7
Issue
1
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2010. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. For information about this journal please refer to the journal’s website or contact the authors.
Subject
Curriculum and Pedagogy not elsewhere classified
Education Systems
Specialist Studies in Education