University of British Columbia
Department of Educational Studies

EDST 602
Second Year Doctoral Seminar

Winter Session, 1999-00
Terms 1 & 2
Meets alternate Tuesdays beginning September 7
9:30 am-12:30 noon
Section No. 084, Catalogue No. 55514

Seminar Coordinators: Bill Bruneau and Tom Sork

Doctoral students come to their studies with much experience of writing and argument. By their 2^nd or later year of doctoral study, they’ve already had years of practice at writing and defending seminar papers, undergraduate essays, and brief research proposals. Alas, this experience, however useful as preparation for the final stages of doctoral studies, is just not enough.

Suddenly, in the climactic phase of their doctoral studies, students must produce a substantial "thesis proposal," pass a comprehensive examination, and of course, write a thesis. Many students will also find themselves wanting to write conference papers or articles for publication based on their research.

For many doctoral students, these forms of writing and argument are completely unprecedented. The kinds of questions and the forms of supporting argument appropriate to a thesis proposal are unlike those one needs for a graduate seminar paper. And of course, the typical thesis raises all sorts of writing and argument problems that never crop up in any of the other forms we’ve listed.

Some of the frequently asked questions we will answer in 602 are:

• How do you know when you have established a solid acquaintance with relevant literature and can stop adding entries to your reference list?
• How do you know when you have done enough research and should begin writing?
• How do you know when you have written enough about your work for it to be convincing?

EDST 602 will offer clear and practical writing and argument strategies to support doctoral students who are preparing/writing:

1. thesis proposals
2. comprehensive examination answers
3. doctoral theses
4. articles for publication in scholarly and popular journals
5. conference papers

Larger Problems

The course will also include a review of problems in logic and rhetoric that every student of education must face. The main problems have to do with the "fit" between the demands of (a) ordinary expository prose, and (b) the peculiarities of the many forms of quantitative and qualitative research now being practiced in North American faculties of education.

The seminar will also address the mistaken notion that a doctoral thesis must be presented in a particular form. There is a persistent yet mistaken belief held by some that an acceptable thesis must have a certain number of chapters and be organized in a particular way. We intend to demonstrate the acceptability of a wide range of work and discuss the important factors to consider when deciding how you will present your own work.

Because the type of writing expected in a PhD program is also political, we will consider the politics of conducting research and of writing. Of concern here are issues such as:

• knowing whom you wish to persuade with your writing,
• how to negotiate matters related to your research and writing with those who will be evaluating your work, and
• how to anticipate and respond to the criticisms that are likely to be directed at your work.

Readings and Work Schedule

EDST 602 meets every other week for 3 hours. This means that we’ll dispose of 13 meetings.

No fewer than seven of the meetings will concern the writing and argument problems listed at nos. 1-5 above. Five or fewer meetings will be concerned with the logic and practice of research in selected fields of educational studies. Although the emphasis will be on fields included in the PhD programmes of the Department of Educational Studies, the issues and problems we address will be relevant to other domains of educational research.

Students will be asked to read a variety of work, some of it badly written, some of it good. In two extended workshops, they will re-work (i) an entire thesis proposal, and (ii) a substantial section of at least one doctoral thesis. It may be necessary to hold two of our course meetings on a Saturday, but only with the complete consensus of students in the course. Students in the second or later year of their programs are welcome.

If you have questions about this course, please contact either of the seminar coordinators:

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