Walden Doctoral Writing Workshops: Student Interview
The Walden Center for Student Success
(WCSS) launched its first Doctoral Writing Workshop series in November, 2014 through
the Academic Skills Center to better support Walden students who are in the dissertation
writing stage. There are four 6-week long workshops for both quarter and semester-based
term starts that encompass the various stages of a student’s dissertation,
including:
As coordinator for the WCSS faculty development,
I reached out to students from the WCSS 8010 workshop to ask their opinion of
the workshop. I learned a great deal about the content and the inner workings
of the workshop from Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration/Criminal Justice
student Carmelita Dockery.
Carmelita began her journey at Walden in
June, 2010, already holding a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Edwards University
in Austin, TX and an M.A. in Professional Counseling from Olivet Nazarene
University in Bourbonnais, IL. When I caught up with Carmelita, she had just
completed her first Doctoral Workshop 8010 – Revising and Editing the Proposal
as of January 4, 2015, and she took the time out of her busy Walden career to
answer a few of my questions.
Shawn:
Did the workshop help you with your dissertation?
Carmelita: I was able to submit a
portion of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 to my instructor. She was very helpful in
terms of guiding me towards scholarly writing, which is required for
dissertation writing.
What
was the most helpful aspect of the dissertation workshop?
The workshop helped me understand the
importance of creating topic sentences, eliminating wordiness, being more
concise, and eliminating anthropomorphism in my paragraphs.
Were
you familiar with Walden’s Writing Center previous to taking the workshop?
Yes, I am familiar with the Writing Center,
but I have not utilized the Writing Center because I work unusual hours at the
Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. When I need assistance at midnight, I
don’t think anyone is available; hence, my reason for taking the writing
workshop.
How
were the materials from Walden’s Writing Center helpful during your
workshop?
The reading material was helpful, as well as my faculty
member’s suggestions. I am using the information I gleaned from the workshop to
revise both my Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
Can
you tell us about the feedback you received from your faculty member through your essay reviews and
other interactions?
I received constructive criticism from
my instructor on a regular basis. Each time I submitted two to three pages of Chapter
1 or 2, she responded within 24 hours. I appreciated her prompt response. My
faculty member also provided me with suggestions on improving my writing for my
proposal.
Did you receive feedback from your peers?
Yes, I received feedback from my
classmates. I was reluctant to allow anyone to read my proposal, but when I
realized I was not alone in this situation, I shared and received feedback from
my peers. I also provided feedback on my classmates’ writings. I enjoyed this
workshop tremendously!
Is
there anything else you would like to add about the workshop?
I think this workshop should be part of
the required coursework at Walden. I completed 3 years of required coursework
and thought I was writing well, or scholarly, but I was not writing well enough for
the dissertation proposal. Perhaps if this class was included in my coursework, I would not be struggling with my writing issues.
Would
you recommend these workshops to other Walden students?
Yes, I would highly recommend this
workshop to every student in the PhD program.
If you want more information about the WCSS Workshops, please visit the Academic Skills Center website or contact wcsscourses@waldenu.edu.
Today's interview wraps up our month of capstone (dissertation or doctoral study) posts. Did you miss a post? Here's March's roundup:
Today's interview wraps up our month of capstone (dissertation or doctoral study) posts. Did you miss a post? Here's March's roundup:
- WriteCast Episode 19: The Literature Review: Tackling the Hard Questions
- 5 Things to Know Before Starting Your Dissertation
- You've Received Your Form & Style Review--Now, What?
- Come Out From Behind That Laptop! How to Make the Most of the Real Live Humans You Meet at Residencies
- Planning for Your Proposal? Why Now is the Time to Get to Know IRB Resources
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Shawn Picht is a writing instructor in the Writing Center and the coordinator of faculty development for the Academic Skills Center. In his free time he likes to jog, jump rope, read literature and philosophy, write about his travels, and play Rolling Stones and Dylan songs on a blue acoustic guitar.
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Planning Your Proposal? Why Now is the Time to Get to Know IRB Resources
Many of you working on your doctoral capstone studies
already know that completing the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application is a pivotal stage in your progress. After you have
completed your proposal and your committee members have approved it, IRB will
review your proposed methods before you will be able to collect any data
(including pilot data). Did you try to get a head start and collect any data
before your study received IRB approval? Well, I hope not, because none of that data is now usable in your
study. None.
This is why the IRB application is so important. Walden’s IRB exists to ensure all research conducted through the university complies with
Walden’s ethical standards and U.S. federal regulations, and your chairperson,
committee member(s), and URR are there to ensure your study is ready to meet
those standards by the time they approve your proposal.
 |
| While your IRB application probably won't get a big red stamp, receiving approval will be no less exciting. |
How to Prepare for IRB Approval
As someone trying to craft a good and sound research project
the size of a dissertation or doctoral study, you may feel like you are starting over a lot. All of the work you do toward your final study is work
that is important in your development as a scholar, but it can be frustrating—especially
after you have put in a lot of work—to hear from your faculty or IRB that
you need to change something significant in your study.
That’s why you should take advantage of the materials
available through IRB to plan ahead as you start your writing process. Remember,
that doesn’t mean you can approach participants or collect data prior to IRB
approval, but you can start using the
IRB guidelines to outline your proposal and preproposal documents even before
it’s time to submit your application.
IRB Resources
Read through the application and general materials available
through the IRB website—you will see there is even a Research Ethics Planning Worksheet designed to help you “anticipate and manage
possible ethical concerns that are relevant to planning and executing a study”
(para. 1). Even though you cannot complete the IRB application until your
committee approves your study, you can start using this worksheet to plan your
study even at the very beginning (such as the premise or prospectus, depending
on what your program requires).
Some chairpersons even recommend their doctoral students use
the IRB Application itself to plan out content in the methods section of the
proposal. In that case, students use the rubric or checklist for their degree
program (available through the Center for Research Quality) to outline the headings for each section and use the IRB Application Form to help fill in the required information.
Anticipating potential IRB concerns should happen sooner
rather than later. Even if you are not ready to start drafting your proposal,
you can attend IRB office hours. There you can interact with an IRB member in a group advising
format to discuss ethical challenges and potential pitfalls to avoid when
seeking IRB approval.
Research Red Flags
Designing a study with any of the elements or populations below
does not mean you will be unable to get IRB approval, but in order to receive
approval you will have to make totally sure you meet all requirements and
expectations for ethical treatment of human subjects. The following
recommendations are from the Center for Research Quality's "Red Flag Issues
that Need an Early IRB Consultation".
While everyone could benefit from attending IRB office hours, people planning to conduct research at their place of employment should definitely make plans to consult with someone from IRB prior to getting too far into designing a study.
While everyone could benefit from attending IRB office hours, people planning to conduct research at their place of employment should definitely make plans to consult with someone from IRB prior to getting too far into designing a study.
Other types of research that would benefit from early IRB
consultation include anything that may put participants at risk, such as
- studies designed to disclose behaviors or views that could compromise someone’s job;
- studies involving any intervention; questions regarding substance abuse, mental state, or violence that might obligate a referral or intervention on the part of the researcher to prevent harm to the participant;
- studies including race or ethnicity as a variable or inclusion criteria;
- questions that may cause participants to incriminate themselves; or
- studies framing personal issues in a judgmental, noninclusive, or otherwise insensitive manner that could cause individuals severe distress.
Checking with IRB is also a good idea if you want to recruit from any vulnerable populations, such as
- anyone subordinate to you at work;
- any of your own colleagues, patients, or adult students;
- nursing home residents;
- anyone age 17 and under;
- prisoners;
- individuals with mental, physical, or emotional impairment or disability;
- people who may be less than fluent in English;
- victims or witnesses of violence or trauma;
- people who may be undocumented immigrants;
- active duty military personnel; or
- anyone else who may be particularly unable to advocate for themselves or protect their own rights and interests.
If you have specific questions, please contact the Walden IRB at irb@waldenu.edu. Additional contact information for the Center for Research Quality is available here.
Additional Resources and Help
The Writing Center also has resources for addressing ethical
issues and maintaining confidentiality in your document in compliance with IRB.
This FAQ document covers many of the concerns you might have when writing about
your participants and research site.
Also, check out our blog posts on best practices for
maintaining confidentiality in your doctoral capstone document before final
submission:
Maintaining Confidentiality (Part 2)
This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the capstone (dissertation or doctoral study). Check out our latest WriteCast episode on tackling hard literature review questions and our posts on five things to know before starting your dissertation, what to do after you've received your Form and Style review, and how to make the most of face-to-face time at residencies. Stay tuned next week for our last post in the series.
This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the capstone (dissertation or doctoral study). Check out our latest WriteCast episode on tackling hard literature review questions and our posts on five things to know before starting your dissertation, what to do after you've received your Form and Style review, and how to make the most of face-to-face time at residencies. Stay tuned next week for our last post in the series.
Lydia Lunning is one of Walden’s dissertation editors and the coordinator for capstone resources in the Writing Center. Lydia also helps oversee the Walden Capstone Writing Community, a place where doctoral students working on their proposals and final studies can connect with their colleagues and get support through the capstone writing process.
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Come Out from Behind that Laptop! How to Make the Most of the Real Live Humans You Meet at Residencies
*Note: This post is
relevant to EdD, EdS, PhD, DBA, and DIT students, as these are the residencies
currently staffed by the Walden Writing Center.
As a writing instructor for an
online university, I often find myself torn between gratitude for the flexibility of my work and dismay at how much I miss seeing students
face-to-face on a regular basis. My impression is that many Walden students share
this sense of conflict about the online experience. While online education is
designed specifically for students juggling work, families, and community
responsibilities in addition to their schoolwork, it does not, of course, include
the more traditional classroom experience where students and instructors meet
in the same geographical location and get to know one another in person. This
means that while working toward a degree at Walden is convenient and
academically rewarding, it can feel isolating and lonely as well.
Many Walden programs do offer a face-to-face component in the
form of academic residencies, which can provide a healthy dose of in-person
interaction with faculty, staff, and fellow students. However, in my residency experiences, I’ve noticed that students sometimes end up creating an
environment much like the virtual one they are used to: Students sit in a
room while the presenter presents, the students listen and take notes, and when it’s
over, they leave.
When we become used to
communicating primarily through typing, the flexibility, spontaneity, verbal
fluency, and sheer stamina required to discuss academic topics in an intensive
environment like a residency can be overwhelming. And especially if you’re an introverted personality, you might find yourself a bit rusty at interacting face-to-face in a scholarly environment after filtering your education through your laptop. In this post, I’ll share three
tips for how to overcome these obstacles and get the most out of your
opportunities to interact face-to-face with staff from the Walden Writing
Center at residencies.
 |
| Welcome sign at the 2014 Indianapolis residency. |
Tip 1: Come prepared
In Blackboard, you have time to
think about and edit your discussion comments and responses. At residencies,
you’ll need to be able to respond more quickly in presentations and
advising sessions. If you feel
tongue-tied speaking in front of large groups or if you tend to freeze during
the question and answer time of a presentation, consider looking through the
program book or new residency app ahead of time. Read the titles and descriptions
of the sessions and consider what your main questions or concerns are about the
topics being covered. Write down your questions in advance, so that when the
time comes for you to ask them, you don’t draw a blank.
You can also prepare questions to
ask in individual writing center advising sessions or bring a paragraph or two
of your own writing to advising with specific questions about how to improve
it. Don’t have a specific writing question? Come to advising anyway and ask for
a tour of our resources. This is a great way to show initiative, meet Writing
Center staff, and learn about the services we offer Walden students.
 |
| Writing Instructor Kayla chats with a student during open advising. |
Tip 2: Speak up
One of the major benefits of being
in the same room with one another is that we can speak to one another using our voices. We also get the added
benefit of body language, inflection, and other important communication cues
that are lost when we are typing back and forth. Strangely
enough, communicating verbally about writing can actually help you improve your
skills in writing, because you don’t have to attempt to express your concerns
or questions about writing in writing, as you often do in an online
environment. So, speak up! Chat with Writing Center staff about your writing
concerns, either informally after a presentation or in an advising
session.
Don’t forget to talk to your fellow
students, too. You can extend the usefulness of your residency experience far
beyond the official days of the residency by building a network of support that
you can carry back into your online experience. In the Writing Center, we call
this building your writing community.
You can learn more about writing communities in our WriteCast podcast (episode 16) and in
Lydia’s blog post on writing communities as the secret to success.
Tip 3: Follow up
So, you’ve initiated connections
with faculty, staff, and students at a residency, but now you’re back home
behind your laptop. How do you make sure those relationships don’t just fade
away? The key is to follow up. Use the communication mediums we become so used
to in the online environment to solidify the connections you made face-to-face.
For instance, if you had an interesting conversation with fellow students, you
might send them a quick e-mail letting them know you enjoyed meeting them. You
can also connect with folks—including the Writing Center—on social media. We
love to chat with students on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and here on the blog.
You can also solidify connections
you made with Writing Center staff by making an appointment for a review of a discussion post or course paper not related to capstone work, registering to attend a webinar, or e-mailing a specific writing question to us at writingsupport@waldenu.edu. Remember,
your connection to the writing staff you meet at the residency doesn’t end when
the residency is over! We are here to support you through your entire Walden
experience.
This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the capstone (dissertation or doctoral study). Check out our latest WriteCast episode on tackling hard literature review questions, our post on five things to know before starting your dissertation, and our post on what to do after you've received your Form and Style review.
This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the capstone (dissertation or doctoral study). Check out our latest WriteCast episode on tackling hard literature review questions, our post on five things to know before starting your dissertation, and our post on what to do after you've received your Form and Style review.
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You've Received Your Form & Style Review--Now, What?
At Walden, one of the last steps in the capstone process for doctoral students is the Form & Style Review, which prepares the document for publication. Here's what to do after you receive your completed Form & Style Review.Before digging in
- Try not to panic. Everybody needs an editor (including your editor). But getting edited is no fun. Most writers dislike it.
- Even though the capstone represents your ideas and your research, and you are responsible for all of it in the end, the process is really a shared one. Everybody gets to chime in: your chair, methodologist, other committee members, and now the Form & Style Review editor.
- Try not to take it personally. Your editor only wants you to get approval ASAP. If you missed something in your final draft, your editor will probably have identified it in her or his review.
- Chances are good that most of what your editor has suggested would be seen as an improvement by your committee. Nevertheless, you are required only to meet all APA and Walden standards. Please revise whatever your committee insists on.
- If you can wait, don't look at the Form & Style Review for a few days. For some students, it can be overwhelming. Try to psych yourself up to begin the process. Let your mind get adjusted to the idea of digging in again one last time and making revisions—sometimes significant revisions—despite that fact that you already did the best that you could do.
- Keep in mind that making revisions is a process of discovery and it’s in the nature of writing. Everyone needs to write multiple drafts. The Writing Center at University of North Carolina offers a good definition: “Revision literally means to ‘see again,’ to look at something from a fresh, critical perspective. It is an ongoing process of rethinking the paper: reconsidering your arguments, reviewing your evidence, refining your purpose, reorganizing your presentation, reviving stale prose” (para. 2). It takes courage and some time to “see again.”
How to proceed
- There are two parts to this revision process: (a) structure (chapter, section, subsection, paragraph, sentence) and composition (word choice, flow, tone, voice, clarity, etc.), and (b) the details of APA (formatting, spelling, citing, etc.). If you get tired of working on one part, switch to the other for a while.
- Check with your chair or mentor as needed. She or he can be of great help with questions about meeting the requirements of the rubric.
- Your dissertation editor is happy to answer technical questions or questions about what she meant in a comment. Don’t be afraid to ask.
- You might print your work. For many people, a hard copy makes this final draft easier to read and easier to see the issues (and gives you space in which to write notes). Don't forget that you can print your work with or without the comments, including formatting.
- Write out a list of the tasks in the revision process. Break them down into small parts. (You can get some ideas from your editor’s cover letter.)
- Proceed slowly. You might tackle just one or two pages at a time. Or you could tackle just one issue at a time.
- Start with a task that seems easy, something you know how to do. (That way you can build up some confidence.)
- If you're in agreement with the edits, you can make many changes quickly via the Track Changes function. Just keep in mind that your editor did not mark all instances of a given issue, but mainly those in Chapter 1. You’ll need to apply what you learned in Chapter 1 to the rest of the chapters in your paper.
- Try reading a problematic sentence or paragraph out loud. Sometimes it’s easier to recognize what needs to be done when we hear the words in question.
- For some kinds of fixes, you might be able to use the search-and-replace function. For example, you might decide to abbreviate a commonly used phrase or name, or change “the researcher” to first person (“I”). To do so, bring up the search-and-replace dialog box. Put the old word or phrase in the Find box and your replacement in the Replace box. (Just make sure that there is no space after either word.) Then click on Find Next to decide, on a case by case basis, whether to Replace the old with the new. If you're quite certain of the replacement, then just click on Replace All.
- Perhaps your editor recommended that you review the guidance offered in the pages of the Writing Center website. Many of the topics are offered in audio or video format.
- If you have concerns about something your editor did not comment on, consider running the relevant pages through Grammarly. That program can find—and explain—many kinds of writing errors. You are also welcome to contact your editor. He or she remains available to answer your questions.
The capstone can seem like an insurmountable task. You’ve likely never tackled such a large and complex project before, and now you're faced with a series of revisions. In this final stage, try to keep in mind what brought you to this scholarly endeavor and how it will change your life. Publishing a well-executed and well-written study constitutes a pinnacle of achievement. Your study will function as your calling card for some time and you’ll always be known as a specialist on your topic. The finish line is in sight! And with just a little more time and a little more guidance, you will soon have your degree in hand.
This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the capstone (dissertation or doctoral study). Check out our latest WriteCast episode on tackling hard literature review questions and last week's post on five things to know before starting your dissertation.
Tim McIndoo, who has been a dissertation editor since 2007, has more than 30 years of editorial experience in the field of medicine, science and technology, fiction, and education. When it comes to APA style, he says, "I don't write the rules; I just help users follow them."
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5 Things to Know Before Starting Your Dissertation
Writing a doctoral dissertation is a major task. For many people, it is the most difficult professional or academic endeavor that they ever undertake. Stories of dissertations years and years in the writing are all too common, and for good reason: The dissertation stage is where students who complete their first year of coursework are most likely to get stuck or give up. Fortunately, a little advanced planning and shrewd use of your resources goes a long way to helping you finish your dissertation and graduate in a timely fashion!_optimized.png "5 Things to Know Before Starting Your Dissertation")
WriteCast Episode 19: The Literature Review: Tackling the Hard Questions
- When can you stop researching and start writing?
- When do you know you're finished?
- How long should the lit review be?
To download the episode to your computer, press the share button on the player above, then press the download button. Visit the Writing Center's WriteCast page for our episode archive and transcripts. Happy listening!
This month on the blog, we're featuring topics related to the doctoral capstone (dissertation or doc study). Stay tuned for a new post each week! For more on literature reviews, check out our upcoming live webinars:
Reviewing the Literature and Incorporating Previous Research | April 15 at 1 p.m. ET
Literature Review Panel with the Library & Writing Center | April 15 at 9 p.m. ET
WriteCast: A Casual Conversation for Serious Writers is a monthly podcast written, produced, and published by staff in the Walden University Writing Center. Join us each month for a dialogue between two experienced and trained writing instructors. Possible episode topics will always be considered from listeners--share your questions and suggestions in the comments.
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