What are the preparatory steps in the process of refining a thesis topic, deciding your overarching research question and commencing your investigation? The aim of the paper is reflect upon the preliminary process that higher degree research students need to navigate, so that they can ease into the winding road they must travel to complete their thesis. While it is accepted that every student’s experience and personal circumstances may be different, this paper provides a reflective exploration of the author’s journey which is supported, informed and guided by literature and educational theories. It will address the impact of the individual’s perception of the responsibilities of both supervisor and students, managing work responsibilities, administrative university requirements and consider how these experiences may increase or decrease motivation, and are adjusted, ultimately leading to transformation in learning and practice. By sharing these observations and eliciting feedback from colleagues on resilient strategies they adopted or advised their students to use in their HDR journeys, this research will contribute to a model that will be developed for helping part-time higher degree research students ‘stick with it’ and achieve success. This reflective practice work is the second part of a work in progress presented in 2020 and published as an extended paper as an introduction in the form of a Reflective overview of the HDR journey, in early 2021.

Speaker: Marie B. Fisher

Published in: London International Conference on Education (LICE-2021)

• Date of Conference: 22-24 November 2021
• DOI: 10.20533/LICE.2021.0009
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-42-6
• Conference Location: Virtual (London, UK)