learning journeys and success (wisker)

7/23/2019 Learning Journeys and Success (Wisker)

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Gina Wisker


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Some thoughtsThe best masters or doctorate is the

one you finish and hand in.

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This research and these ideas arise from working atpostgraduate level, then with postgraduates

AskingWhat makes good research learning?

How do you know you are working at a conceptualcritical and creative enough level for successfulpostgraduate work?

What are the signs of this and how do they relate tothe stages of the research learning?

How do you move beyond stuck places? How can supervisors, communities and your own

behaviours nudge the learning development andrecognition of it?


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Overview Threshold concepts (Meyer and Land 2006)

Conceptual threshold crossings (Wisker, Kiley, Robinson 2008--)

Early work (Wisker, Kiley, Trafford & Leshem) has started toidentify threshold concepts and conceptual thresholds at theresearch education level (EARLI 2007, QPR 2006, 2008, Threshold

concepts conferences 2006,2008, 2010, 2012; EARLI 2009) Postgraduates experiences with threshold concepts and

conceptual threshold crossing

Supervisors experiences of identifying students conceptual

threshold crossing and

nudging

them across. 4


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Conceptual Threshold Crossing in Doctoral Learning

Journeys

We developed the notion ofconceptual threshold

crossings to identify moments when postgraduate students

make learning leaps and begin to work at a more

conceptual critical and creative fashion- Developed from threshold concepts in the disciplines


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The absolutely essential concepts for understanding how knowledgeis constructed and the world is seen in a discipline

Akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible wayof thinking about something. It represents a transformed way ofunderstanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without whichthe learner cannot progress. (Meyer & Land, 2003)

Threshold concept


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Threshold concept

Transformative

Irreversible

Integrative

Troublesome Knowledge

Conceptual threshold crossing - learning leaps

Ontological change

Epistemological contribution

Threshold concept & conceptual threshold

crossing


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Wisker, Kiley, Robinson, Trafford & Leshem identified threshold

concepts and conceptual thresholds at the research education

level (EARLI 2007, QPR 2006, 2008, Threshold Conceptsconferences 2006, 2008)

Doctoral learning journeys 2007-2010

Survey (350 doc students) Journalling and narrative interviews 30 down to 20 students over

3 yrs

Interviewing 20 supervisors

11 examiners

Parallel project

Interviewing students , supervisors and examiners internationally

Swedish project- interviewing 40 postgraduate students and

supervisors (including medical scientists) 8

Early work and DLJ


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Research questions

How dodoctoral students signify their awareness of workingconceptually?

How do students conceptual grasp and comments display

crossing of subject-specific and generic doctoral thresholds?

How do supervisors recognise students conceptual grasp ofresearch?

What strategies and activities do supervisors use to encourageor nudge conceptual grasp by doctoral students?

How do examiners identify and assess conceptually-robust

research outcomes and skills developments? 9


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The Journey

Intellectual /cognitive

Ontological

Personal / EmotionalProfessional

Instrumental:meeting courserequirements

Research learning journeys: multi-dimensional


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Ontology / Identity

We argue that when a candidates behaviour

changes it suggests that they have crossed aparticular conceptual threshold and that thisindicates an ontological shift, a change in identity

Behaviours such as:Working conceptually, critically and creatively rather

than just busily

Production of an abstract and a conclusions chapterwhich deal with concepts not merely facts

Being able to put forward an argument supported by

evidence

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Question Please consider

Does the idea of

crossing a threshold,

making a learning leap,

working at a new level,

working at a conceptual, critical, creative level

Sound like a way of describing your own experiences ofkey moments in your development as a learner,particularly as a researcher, a postgraduate?

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emes rom e survey odoctoral students in the UK Discovery the identification of a new theory, theorist or

concept that encapsulates thinking

Synthesis the bringing together of two or more conceptsto create a new concept

Verbal the discovery of new ways of thinking as a resultof discussion or the recognition of knowledge sufficient todefend a position

However-

Mechanical almost superficial adoption of conceptualposition to satisfy requirements of discipline

InnateI always thought this way

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learning moments/ crossing conceptual thresholds


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Learning moments where students indicate

conceptual threshold crossingIn both the survey and interviews, postgraduate students have used a

variety of metaphors to describe their learning journeys andexperiences.

Learning leaps are often described metaphorically, in visual terms (alightbulb moment) or kinaesthetic terms (things clicked into place)

as are moments where students feel they are stuck, e.g. I hit a brickwall.

The learning moments are more likely to occur when researchers :

Identify research questions; Determine relationships between existing theories and their own work; devise methodology and engage with methods; Analyse and interpret data See self as researcher, practitioner within field, e.g. sociologist Become part of academic community Contribute knowledge, engaging in debate Take ownership of and responsibility for work Reach conclusions - conceptual as well as factual.

Present to peers and others. 15


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Student responses: crossing a

conceptual threshold....

In terms of learning moments I think you have thosesmall or medium moments every now and again, dont

you, when you read and you are exposed to new ideas

and you think ah now, Ive got it and then actually acouple of weeks later youre a bit further but then youhave another one of those moments and so you kind of

gradually I guess get closer and closer to the final

thing, the final shape of your theories and ideas aboutit.

(2nd year Philosophy student)

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A couple of weeks ago I found that things have stoppedmentally I found myself up against a brick wall I just feltthat I was kind of stuck and it wasnt moving and it was all

bitty, Id done all these chunks of work but I couldnt reallysee how they fitted together and yeah so I reached quite acrisis point. Especially when I got negative feedback I just

felt quite down hearted about it and, but like I say I thinkhaving the supervision, talking it through, taking a step

back from everything, taking it to bits and being questionedabout everything and then having to simplify everything, inorder to present. I mean over a couple of days - mysupervision was one day and my presentation was the nextday

I came out of that whole process feeling that I could kind ofsee it, I could see that there was shape there I can seeshapes.

(1st year Gender Studies student)

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Well, actually, I wasnt talking about the thinking right, I wastalking about er I think more about the er I have the word, it is [?].To be more attuned to my task when I am coming here. So, I am

kind of collecting from the basket all the skills that I need to thetask. So, that is one thing. Er in the way of thinking er again, I feelthat I er, I tell you, I give you an example er yesterday night er Iwas going with in the car, we went to X , we were invited to X andsuddenly I heard, I saw the matrix that I want of the variables. I

said, yes, give me the paper, I have everything, you know. Likefrom this side and this side, I have everything written and it canbe also at home but if you are doing this brainstorming in thisatmosphere, I think that this thing can happen especially in timeslike that and this is something in the thinking in terms of er, er

joining variables and understanding like the er like thetriangulation which was much more clearer to me this time andthen I kind of said, ok triangulation this and this and this, youknow, so erI dont know if that answers more about the thinkinger process, ok.


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A stage/stages when students develop project ownership andresearcher identity

New ideas- feeling the work becoming clever

Theoretical breakthrough-literature review

Fieldwork breakthrough Breakthrough in accepting supervisors guidance

New perspectives and more complex understanding enabled bydialogue, casting new light

A gradual process

A single process

A series of learning leaps

Identifying conceptual threshold crossings


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Have there been moments when you are aware thatyour thinking , your understanding, your discoveryyour expression and articulation (any of those) havereached a higher level youve made a learningleap???

When was it?

How did it feel? How did you know?

Question Please consider


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Becoming a researcher-identity

As time goes on and you start to, you almost

develop this skin that is academic and this personawithin yourself and as you get the feedback thatcomes back andyoure thinking about youre doingthis the right way and so you begin to start, its likewatching a butterfly I suppose emerge from

chrysalis pupa or pupa chrysalis and so on like thatand so you begin to develop and I think as that goeson then you gain a certain amount of confidence.


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Taking ownershipThe balance in the relationship between us is tiltingslightly as well because where I was prepared to be guided,

going back to assignment one where you are at thebeginning stage, the actual balance itself is quite, its moreof an equal partnership in the discussions now.

So Im coming with more and more ideas and more andmore thoughts and more about, you know, can we meetquickly to discuss this as this has come up as opposed towaiting tilthe next session when we will sit and discuss.


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Becoming part of an

Academic Community

A big learning experience for me has been that doing adoctorate is not a search for the truth but is really justtaking part in a conversation. This doesnt stop methinking that an 'expert' knows all of the answers and

I suppose this is about confidence on my part [Butthey dont have my experience] So how can they knoweverything? and what I have to offer is just asimportant as theirs, and I suppose that is also a

learning experience in that when I sit with the 'learned'in a conference I feel confident in challenging them asI now see myself as a peer.


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As time goes on and you start to, you almost develop this skin

that is academic and this persona within yourself and as you

get the feedback that comes back and youre thinking about

youre doing this the right way and so you begin to start, its

like watching a butterfly I suppose emerge from chrysalis pupa

or pupa chrysalis and so on like that and so you begin todevelop and I think as that goes on then you gain a certain

amount of confidence. (S3)

Transformation


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Integration

And then there are these wonderful moments where things just slot

into place, but only after a long engagement and in depthknowledge then suddenly all relates to each other, like my

argument is revealing itself to me. Of course this isntthe case I

cantreally explain what happens, but it does feel like the pieces of

my puzzle physically move towards each other. (S10)


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Our work with supervisors to support the developmentof the literature review/theoretical perspectiveschapter crucial moment for learning leap conceptual

threshold crossing

Where students begin to see their own work in adialogue with

Theorists Others using similar/ same theories in critical practice

See how they contribute to the field

Literature review


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NudgesSome of the visual prompts and

metaphors I use to support students

thinking then acting


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Identifying a research question

Whole cake whole field, all the questions you can ask in all the ways

our slice of the cake

boundaries

A di t ti /th i i b ildi


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Research is a journey

A dissertation/thesis is a buildin

It looks mapped but -risks, surprises,deviations Ordered, coherent, organised, link


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(student) A beautifully architected building is fairly

misleading. It is the work, the result of being up hereon the journey.

No wonder it is so daunting for the rest of us to considerconstructing such a building, because we are notactually anywhere near where we could build it. A mudhut is as much as I could hand in at the moment.

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Stuckness, troublesome issues and

emotional resilience Our research project with Education postgraduates on

troublesome encounters looked at

Intellectual and personal, emotional, moments of

stuckness and ways of managing and overcomingthem.

Some of these truly hold you up- find ways of

managing them and using them

Some of these are necessary a liminal space beforeenlightenment and breakthrough


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I think a couple of weeks ago I found that things have stopped.

Partly because they actually had physically stopped and Ihavent

been able to get back to my PhD for a while but also mentally I

found myself up against a brick wall and felt that, I think I wasworried that I didnt have my conceptual framework or my

analytical framework ready I just felt that I was kind of stuck

and itwasntmoving and it was all bitty,Iddone all these chunks

of work but Icouldntreally see how they fitted together and yeahso I reached quite a crisis point. (1styear student, Gender studies)

Stuck places


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Stuck placesAt this point I feel like I've reached a plateau - I nowknow exactly what I need to do to finish my work and doit well. It is like finally coming to an understanding ofwhere I am in my career and where I'm going and theconfidence that I can get there. However, I am also, for

the first time, more aware of just how little time I haveleft in my course. It seems the more I read, the more Ineed to read, because I can now pinpoint what exactly Idon't know and need to learn more about, but I havebegun to worry that the time constraints may limit just

how much I need to do. I have spoken with several of mycolleagues and they say they feel the same way. It's a bitof a mid-course panic.

C)what they are capable of and in terms of what they


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C)what they are capable of and in terms of what theywrite I am very impressed. So often these are peoplewho are adults, they have problems, they have families,a couple of them have had crises.

Int) and that stops them from working at anythingother than university level?

Sup: It stops them from working at all, once they havefinished their coursework, and they have gone off todeal with their family issues.

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1 Troublesome encounters project

2 Priceless- stuck places in writing project

Masters and doctoral Education students consideringwellbeing and emotional resilience

Working through stuck places in writing

Recognise feeling an imposter, unconfident, stuck is

all normalWork life balance

Determining strategies which enable you to step backsee the whole shape- return and renew energy and

focus , do something different/related to or unrelatedto project

use support from critical friends, family, community

Perseverence, self knowledge, confidence


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Supervisors

Supervisors comments (from parallel research)on recognising students work that evidences thatthey have: acquired and owned various threshold concepts, and

crossed conceptual thresholds In the following discussions, posts and interviews,

supervisors identify their recognition of thresholdcrossing, and their thoughts about what nudgesstudents across.

How can they identify the crossing moments and thequalities?

How can they nudge? Please read and discuss theircomments and inputs-

what are YOUR views? 36


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Support provided by supervisors and community

Confidence building

Suggestions on literature search

Encourage students to experiment

Students involvement with research community

(seminars, conferences, and group study)

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A Indicators of change

A) I think er the skill of helping somebody through

this thought process in terms of research er camefrom my own PhD. I mean, it has to, er because Ithink that I had such a struggle and because I hadsuch a struggle, I knew where I was coming upagainst brick walls and er where I could have done

with understanding the process better as I wentalong. And so I think that it was out of my ownsort of conflicts that, that I recognised those inother people. Is, is being able to see that problemand then just sort of say, well, what do youthink? You know, which way do you think thatyou are going to go? and

this is the reason why I think you should know.

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Supervisors:

Increased confidence

Well, theyve got an extra dose of confidence. Theyve

got an extra dose of clarity. Theyre more confident,

theyre clearer, and theyre probably very inspired to

go and do something else quickly, to take advantage of

those changes. I thinkthats right. (S8)

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Writing

In terms of the reports they can give to you, you can

see theyve become more sophisticated in their

thought process, theyre more sophisticated in theiranalysis of what theyre looking at and as to how

theyre thinking (S9)

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Improved writing

Well, there are times when students startbringing you written work that begins to look like

it could go in the final thesis, whereas initially itdoesnt. In that sense, you know, theres a point atwhich the first time you say to a student, Look

youve written something here which I could seecould go in the finalthesis,that for them is a very

significant moment, I think. In that sense theirwhole thinking has moved forward between thatand the last piece of written work (S7)

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Conference presentation

They could be things that happen externally,

they could be somebody does a conference

presentation and they realise that their work iscomparable with other people presenting (S6)

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Confidence building through challengingI thinkits very important that, you know, the supervisorsare able to challenge what the student is writing downand actually saying about the literature. Sometimesstudents are a bit frightened about critically appraising

otherpeoples work. its not until they get to the end oftheir PhD, when theyve transferred, and you say right,now its time to go back and have a look at this chapter,see what you think about thesepeoples writing now, andit comes back and its quite different. So I think there issomething in there about building confidence and I think

you can do that, you can try to do it early on.(S7)

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Allow / encourage students to experiment

Well exactly, thats what I say, there is a risk

that you might lose some time but if you cometo realise thats not the best way to do things

then thats something thattheyve learnt (S8)

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When they are writing thats when I work really hardwith the students. They send me each chaptersometimes several chapters. Its me that goes through

the threshold.

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Overall what helps-


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Overall what helps-

Ensuring a boundaried (doable) and conceptual

enough questionEarly focus on conceptual framework,

methodology and methodsVery close reading and focus on dialoguing with

experts in the literature review/theoreticalperspectives chapterOral prompting of conceptual, critical work

individually in supervisions and in groups

Prompt feedback encouraging conceptual andcritical workModels, dialogues, pointing out contradictions

and tensions and urging incorporation for criticalconceptual engagement

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Encouragement of careful data analysis developingthemes, engaging with theories

Encouraging early writing and much editing-

sharing and reflection Focus on using the language of research learning

e.g. conceptual framework, and the ideas, theresearch and theories of learning e.g.

Metacognition Developing coping skills, perseverence, emotional

resilience Setting up and enabling communities to support ,

share, help develop each other maintainsmomentum through and beyond the masters anddoctorate

Kiley, M., & Mullins, G. (2006). Opening the black box: How examiners assess your thesis. InC Denholm & T Evans (Eds ) Doctorates downunder: Keys to successful doctoral study in


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C. Denholm & T. Evans (Eds.), Doctorates downunder: Keys to successful doctoral study inAustralia and New Zealand(pp. 200-207). Melbourne: ACER.examiners approach theassessment of research theses. International Journal of

Kiley, M., & Wisker, G. (2008, June 2008). Now you see it, now you dont: Identifying andsupporting the achievement of doctoral work which embraces threshold concepts and crossesconceptual thresholds. Paper presented at the Threshold concepts: From theory to practice,

Queen's University, Kingston Ontario Canada. Kiley, M., & Wisker, G. (2010). Threshold concepts in research education and evidence of

threshold crossing. Higher Education Research and Development.

Mullins, G., & Kiley, M. (2002). 'It's a PhD, not a Nobel Prize': How experienced examinersassess research theses. Studies in Higher Education, 27(4), 369-386

Wisker,G, Morris,C, Warnes, M, ,Lilly,J (2009 ) Doctoral learning journeys inAssessment

Learning and Teaching journal, Leeds Metropolitan university. Wisker, G. (2005, 2012 ). The good supervisor: Supervising postgraduate and undergraduate

research for doctoral theses and dissertations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Wisker, G., Robinson, G., & Kiley, M. (2008). Crossing liminal spaces: Encouragingpostgraduate students to cross conceptual thresholds and achieve threshold concepts in theirresearch. In M. Kiley & G. Mullins (Eds.), Quality in postgraduate research: Research educationin the new global environment - Part 2: Conference Proceedings. Canberra: CEDAM, ANU.

Wisker, G., Robinson, G., Trafford, V., Lilly, J., & Warnes, M. (2004).Achieving a Doctorate:Meta-learning and Research Development Programmes Supporting Success for InternationalDistance students. Paper presented at the Quality in Postgraduate Research: Re-imaging

research education, Adelaide, Australia.

learning journeys and success (wisker)

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