Strategies for Supporting Students in the Dissertation Process
Start Date
8-11-2024 2:30 PM
End Date
8-11-2024 2:55 PM
Keywords
Support Strategies, ABD, Dissertation Completion, Dissertation Support
Abstract
It is well known that approximately 50% of doctoral students fail to complete their degree (Marshall, Klocko, & Davidson, 2017). Upon completion of all their coursework, dissertation students are often left to their own devices to make progress on the dissertation in isolation, with little support from their committee or the university (Garcia-Castillo, 2019; Waheed, Gilani, Raza, & Ahmad, 2021). Dissertation and SRP Support Services (DSS) was developed at FCE&SCJ in 2017 to assist students in the dissertation process and help them make forward progress. The feedback from students, especially those in our Doctoral Completion Pathway (DCP) that are ABD from other universities, has been overwhelmingly positive. This session will provide an overview of the various strategies and support DSS provides to students in the dissertation process, and discuss implementation opportunities for other professors, administrators, and even students that participate in a capstone project or program with a capstone.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Develop an understanding of the modern learner.
- Evaluate different strategies and support mechanisms for supporting students in a capstone project/dissertation.
- Generate ideas for incorporating some of these strategies into their own programs.
- Discuss pros and cons of the strategies.
Track
Frontiers in Education
Session Type
25-minute Presentation, Panel, or Guided Discussion
Strategies for Supporting Students in the Dissertation Process
It is well known that approximately 50% of doctoral students fail to complete their degree (Marshall, Klocko, & Davidson, 2017). Upon completion of all their coursework, dissertation students are often left to their own devices to make progress on the dissertation in isolation, with little support from their committee or the university (Garcia-Castillo, 2019; Waheed, Gilani, Raza, & Ahmad, 2021). Dissertation and SRP Support Services (DSS) was developed at FCE&SCJ in 2017 to assist students in the dissertation process and help them make forward progress. The feedback from students, especially those in our Doctoral Completion Pathway (DCP) that are ABD from other universities, has been overwhelmingly positive. This session will provide an overview of the various strategies and support DSS provides to students in the dissertation process, and discuss implementation opportunities for other professors, administrators, and even students that participate in a capstone project or program with a capstone.