Monthly Archives: October 2012

mulling it over – a thinking tool for reflecting on a research experience

Posted on October 29, 2012 by

Reflection is one of those weasel-ly words that can mean anything and nothing. Most of us acknowledge that we need to do it, but what does it actually mean as a practice? You are probably familiar with Donald Schön’s (a) … Continue reading →

Posted in conceptual, experience, introspection, recollection, reflection, reflexivity, theory | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

writing the thesis from day one is risky

Posted on October 25, 2012 by

I was reading a final draft of a thesis written by one of the doctoral researchers I was working with. I’d just started and the text was going along very nicely indeed until I reached the end of the first … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, dissertation, identity, literature review, thesis, voice, writing | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

the digital thesis – more than a storage issue

Posted on October 22, 2012 by

I’ve been dipping in and out of a recent publication on digital theses – The SAGE Handbook of Digital Dissertations and Theses (Andrews et al, 2012). This is the kind of text that only libraries buy, because it’s expensive, and … Continue reading →

Posted in digital thesis programme, dissertation, image, multi-modal, storage, supervision, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

is there a format for a thesis?

Posted on October 19, 2012 by

There is a format for the thesis and it goes like this – Introduction, Literature review, Methods, Report of research findings, Discussion and conclusion. This is known as ILMRaD. Many theses follow this structure and it does ‘work’ – it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in chapter, default, ILMRaD, literature review, methods chapter, PhD, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

a thinking tool (tt) for academic writing: front and backloading

Posted on October 15, 2012 by

I ‘ve decided to post more on some of the thinking tools that I routinely use in my own writing and in conversation with early career researchers. You’ll see them off and on over the next few months. I’m going … Continue reading →

Posted in backloading, blank spot, blind spot, collocation, frontloading, signposts, thingification, thinking tool | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

finished your first draft? now it’s cut and come again

Posted on October 12, 2012 by

One of the crunch points for writers comes right after the first draft. It’s commonly understood that once the first draft is done what is needed is some editing. This is most usually thought of as minor rewriting and fiddling … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, editing, revision, rewriting, words, writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

when senior academics are interested in your work …

Posted on October 8, 2012 by

I was recently told a very disconcerting story by a supervisor about something that had just happened to one of the doctoral researchers she was working with. I’m repeating it here because it’s a cautionary tale. The moral of the … Continue reading →

Posted in digital thesis programme, doctoral research, exploitation, gift economy, intellectual property, publishing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

visual narratives as sense-making

Posted on October 5, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Megan McPherson who is an artist, educator and researcher. She is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She read the patter post on writing narratives as sense-making practice and … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, Anthony Paré, artist notebooks, image, narrative, writing as heuristic | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

judging a book by its cover – or title – or author order

Posted on October 1, 2012 by

One of the things that academic authors get very vexed about is the title of their book. They also often get very concerned about what goes on the cover. I’m no exception to this, although I have learnt to be … Continue reading →

Posted in author order, book cover, book title, books, marketing | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments