Claire Aitchison

Research writing: problems and pedagogies

Writing remains significantly under-theorized within research degree programs in universities. Yet there is clearly more at stake than the application of generic structural rules or guidelines for writing research. Whatever the discipline, these mechanics are inadequate to account for the complexities of writing faced by doctoral students. This article takes up the challenge of research writing as a social, situated practice and calls for it to be embraced as such within research education. The article identifies problems of policy, theory and pedagogy in relation to research writing. It then examines recent initiatives, undertaken by the authors and others, in the formation of research writing groups, in an attempt to address some of these problems. Despite wide variation, these groups have in common a strong reliance on the pedagogical principles of identification and peer review, community, and writing as ‘normal business’ in the doing of research. These are advanced as key principles for a broader conceptualization of the requirements for research writing.

Writing groups for doctoral education

There is a burgeoning interest in how best to support and facilitate the development of writing and writing output of research students. One pedagogy is the use of writing groups for and beyond the period of the doctorate; however, there is relatively little empirical research that helps explain how the pedagogies of research writing groups actually work. This article draws on academic literacy, and writing research and practices to explore what is learned, and how learning occurs through participation in research writing groups. This pedagogical analysis is developed by reference to a retrospective evaluative study of research writing groups in one large metropolitan university. Through self‐reporting by members, and as demonstrated in practice, scholarly writing was learned in complex and timely ways; one particular feature was through the construction, articulation and critique of peers’ texts.

Challenges to Stereotypes of International Students' Prior Educational Experience: Undergraduate Education in India.

ABSTRACT The discourse concerning teaching and learning for international students in Australia has been dominated by a cultural‐deficit approach. Proponents of this perspective argue that many international students bring with them learning experiences which are inadequate in the Australian context. These experiences have favoured rote, reproductive, surface, teacher‐centred and dependent approaches to learning; which lack analytical and critical perspectives; and which have occurred in contexts dominated by examinations and substantially lacking in educational resources. More recently, other research has challenged these stereotypes of international students, particularly regarding students from Confucian‐heritage cultures. This paper examines these stereotypes in relation to international students from India, through the use of a review of the available literature on Indian higher education and the analysis of the undergraduate learning experiences of a group of postgraduate students studying at a larg...

'Tough love and tears' : learning doctoral writing in the sciences

Contemporary changes to the doctorate mean student researchers are likely to be expected to write differently, write more and more often, and yet, despite a growing interest in doctoral education, we still know relatively little about the teaching and learning practices of students and supervisors vis-a-vis doctoral writing. This paper draws from a research study into the writing experiences of higher degree students and their supervisors in one science, health and technology-based university Faculty. The study used surveys, interviews and focus groups to collect information from students and supervisors about their experiences of doctoral writing and their perceptions about its development. By attending to the writing-related pedagogical practices of supervisors, this article explores how doctoral writing can be the stage for the playing out of tensions over changing roles and identities aggravated by contemporary pressures on doctoral education.

Networks, nodes and knowledge: Blogging to support doctoral candidates and supervisors

CITATION: Leibowitz, B., Wisker, G. & Lamberti, P. 2016. Postgraduate Study in Uncharted Territory: A Compartative Study, in M. Fourie-Malherbe, R. Albertyn, C. Aitchison & E. Bitzer. (eds.). Postgraduate Supervision: Future Foci for the Knowledge Society. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 189-202. doi:10.18820/9781928357223/11.

Blogging as community of practice: lessons for academic development?

As practices and expectations around doctoral writing continue to change, so too do the demands on academic developers and learning advisors. Social media is increasingly playing a role in doctoral education, just as it is in higher education more generally. This paper explores a blog initiated in 2012 to inform and support doctoral writing; since its inception, it has grown to include diverse and overlapping communities of academic developers, language and literacy specialists, supervisors, and students with shared interests in doctoral writing. This case study reflects on our experiences of entering the online environment through the lens of connectivist learning, noting the practices and communities that have been established, and the blog’s positioning in relation to our formal roles within universities. We consider how blogging relates to our work as academic developers. Details of our experiences, with our analysis and reflection of them, can inform other academic developers seeking to engage in social media networks as part of their working lives.

Peer facilitated writing groups: a programmatic approach to doctoral student writing

ABSTRACT Very few empirical studies have investigated programmes in which doctoral students act as peer facilitators in faculty writing groups. We report on the development of a centrally delivered doctoral student writing programme in which twenty student participants were mentored and provided with the resources to initiate their own faculty-based doctoral writing groups. ‘Legitimate peripheral participation’ was used as a conceptual lens to interpret the data collected during the establishment and evaluation of the programme. All student participants in the preparatory training course, which was developed in consultation with postgraduate students and research supervisors, went on to become doctoral writing peer facilitators of peer writing groups. Insights from seven of these showed how a well-structured and supportive programme harnessed the benefits of peer learning by bringing personal rewards to participants and building institutional capacity around doctoral research writing literacies.

Writing the Practice/Practise the Writing: Writing challenges and pedagogies for creative practice supervisors and researchers

Abstract There is now an increasing body of knowledge on creative practice-based doctorates especially in Australia and the United Kingdom. A particular focus in recent years has been on the written examinable component or exegesis, and a number of studies have provided important information about change and stability in the form and nature of the exegesis and its relationship to the creative project. However, we still know relatively little about the pedagogical practices that supervisors use to support these students’ development as scholarly writers, nor of how supervisors view ‘writing’ in relation to the creative practice components of the degree endeavour. This paper draws on data from a recent study of supervision in creative practice higher research degrees and it highlights the transformative nature of writing for the development of creative practice research scholars in the context of competing discourses on research writing. In contrast to institutional silencing of writing, the study relates numerous examples of effective writing-rich supervisory pedagogies illustrating how successful supervisors work with their students to bring their creative projects into articulation.

Re)Considering Postgraduate Education and Supervision in the Knowledge Society

CITATION: Fourie-Malherbe, M., Aitchison, C. & Bitzer, E. 2016. (Re) Considering Postgraduate Education and Supervision in the Knowledge Society, in M. Fourie-Malherbe, R. Albertyn, C. Aitchison & E. Bitzer. (eds.). Postgraduate Supervision: Future Foci for the Knowledge Society. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 1-12. doi:10.18820/9781928357223/01.