Doc101

Jason Titus, a recent Ph.D. from Texas Christian, joined us to discuss the question, "What do you wish you knew when you started." Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

(in my loudest "Ross" voice): We were on a break. We were on a BREAK! In this episode, we were joined by Dr. Alexandra Babino, Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education at Texas A&M Commerce. This was one of those episodes where our planning session before the recording turned into such a rich discussion that we just kept on talking. Dr. Babino helps us think about the paradigms that underpin our understanding of the world around us: a particularly important reflection for the student engaged in the dissertation! Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Thomas Brooks and Daniel Chadborn join us to discuss their transition from new doctorate to a full-time tenure-track faculty role, and revisit their doctoral experience through that lens. The Psychosocial Distancing Podcast Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Joan Otten joined us to discuss her experience of cognitive dissonance in the dissertation. Linnea was her chair, so this was an especially rich and valuable conversation. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the ways we manage the distractions that come with stress, joy, sorrow, and major life events. Scott was supposed to cut out the last two minutes, and he decided not to :-) Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss isolation, and the ways in which doc programs often limit interaction and collaboration. Send Us Your Message in a Bottle, Yeah: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We were joined by Oscar "Coach" Ramos to discuss the sojourning that many students experience in the space between starting and finishing a doctorate. For some of us, that sojourning takes years. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We were joined by Richard Remedios to discuss how one's research agenda develops, and what students should watch for in the development of their own research agendas. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the process of managing our "todos" and how we sometimes find that we impose odd constraints on ourselves - well, Scott does at least. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We were joined by Emerson Graham (they, them) and Sienna Lloyd (she, her) for a great discussion on the ways that gender is represented in culture and in research. They helped to inform our approach to research design. Links and Notes: APA Guidance on Sexual Orientation in Social Sciences The Trevor Project, Fostering the Mental Health of LGBTQ Youth Contact: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the motivations of earning a doctorate - or losing weight - and the option to see view education as a public good. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the ways in which iteration becomes a form of exploration and re-discovery. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the iterative nature of discovery, knowing, and growth: all imperative elements of a good dissertation. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Goals can motivate us, but they can also trap us. We discuss challenges to setting, meeting, and measuring goals. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We are joined by Shandon Klein and Abbie Salcedo; Shandon is starting her doc, and Abbie is finishing. We discuss finding our voice, imposter syndrome, the challenges of an out-of-field doctorate, and having goals for what we get out the doc. This episode runs long, but it's worth it. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the ideal student; one who is eager to learn rather than to know. Links: "I Promise" by Dr. Self Thinking Fast and Slow by Kahneman et al. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

This is part 2 of a 2-part conversation with Dr.s Rachel Slaymaker and Berlin Fang. Rachel and Berlin were both faculty while they did their doctoral degrees. In this episode, we discussed the balance of avocational, vocational, educational, and familial responsibilities in the doc program, and being ok with “good enough.” Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

This is part 1 of a 2-part conversation with Dr. Rachel Slaymaker and Dr. Berlin Fang. Rachel and Berlin were both faculty while they did their doctoral degrees. In this episode, we discussed the challenges of isolation and the kinds of community that help sustain students in doc programs. McKeown, G. (2014). Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less. Currency. Foss, S. K., Waters, W. (2015). Destination dissertation: A traveler's guide to a done dissertation. Rowand & Littlefield Publishers Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We were joined by Dr. Tonya Vetter to discuss the “why” of earning a doctorate. This was supposed to be a longer conversation, but the first part was corrupted, so we were left with only part of the conversation with Dr. Vettor. Here's hoping we can get her back again! Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Tami Shetron joins us for more discussions around the question "What do you wish you knew when you started your doc?" We had a great discussion on learning as a creative act and the power of random in the journey. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We are joined by Natalia Assis and Alia Ammar for more of the discussion on "what you wish you knew when you started the doc program." This is part 2 of a two-part series. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We are joined by Natalia Assis and Alia Ammar for a discussion on "what you wish you knew when you started the doc program." This is part 1 of a two-part series. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Ana Gomez de Torres joins us for a discussion of navigating the parts of ourselves and our identities in doctoral programs, and the ways in which we discern how we are welcome in specific settings. Link: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/10/11/foreign-students-and-graduate-stem-enrollment Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Mei Jiang to discuss the experience of advanced learning in second languages. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Dr. Jennifer Butcher joins us to discuss the question that arises for all doc students (some more often than others); do I belong here? Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss some of the cultural reflexes and misconceptions of productivity in knowledge and creativity work, and how students can best think about being productive on projects like the dissertation. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the relationship between theory and research design. This is part 2 of the conversation from last episode. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the relationship between theory and research design. This conversation ran very long, so we split it into two episodes. 23b will be the other side of this conversation. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the role of theory in inquiry and how best to understand the ways that we use theory to understand the world around us. Links and Notes: Bacharach, S. B. (1989). Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 496-515. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss what it means to be a self-directed learner and the real challenges of shifting from a person who is being taught to a person who is teaching themselves. Links: Weimer, Maryellen. Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the role of being an expert in the public square - and at the holiday table - and some of the responsibilities and considerations of developing expertise in inquiry. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the challenge of synthesizing feedback, especially in a context where there are no right or wrong answers. Understanding feedback as discussion and discovery is a valuable posture to growing. Links and Notes: "Learning to Fly" written by Ezrin and Gilmour Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the challenge of communicating scholarship in ways that are accessible to a larger audience. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the ways in which job opportunities come to new docs, and how we find and curate our work. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the value of learning to live in a place of cognitive dissonance, and how doc students experience the development of this skill. Links and Notes: "Not by Chance Alone with the Legendary Social Psychologist Elliot Aronson" by Scott Barry Kaufman "Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong." By M. L. Mencken in "The Divine Afflatus" in New York Evening Mail (16 November 1917) Elsevier's Dictionary of Psychological Theories Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory. (2006). In J. E. Roeckelein (Ed.), Elsevier's dictionary of psychological theories. Elsevier Science & Technology. Credo Reference: Posselt, J., 2018. "Normalizing struggle: Dimensions of faculty support for doctoral students and implications for persistence and well-being. The Journal of Higher Education, 89(6), 988–1013. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1449080 ABSTRACT Faculty mentoring is a durable structure of doctoral education that facilitates intellectual growth, professional socialization, and progressive independence. We must more deeply understand, however, professors' role in supporting doctoral students' persistence and well-being, especially for students from groups who have been historically excluded and marginalized in their fields. This study strived for such understanding by evaluating findings of a phenomenology of faculty support in 4 high-diversity science, technology, engineering, and mathematics PhD programs at 2 research universities. I found that holistic faculty support has academic, psychosocial, and sociocultural dimensions, which faculty enact through specific behaviors. Students reported meaningful experiences with faculty that normalized struggle and failure by promoting a growth mind-set, validating student competence and potential, and opening discussion about racialized and gendered dynamics in academia. Collectively, these activities may prevent students from misconstruing the difficulty of graduate school with their ability to succeed. The article discusses how the findings may advance future higher education research and faculty professional development. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Larry Machi joins us to discuss the literature review, and recommends ways of approaching the literature review in terms of a practice of critical thinking. Literature reviews are often treated as evidence that the doc student read a lot of articles. In this discussion, we discuss the deeper purposes and value of the literature review. Links: The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success by Lawrence A. Machi and Brenda T. McEvoy Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the mechanics of literature review; using a citation manager, annotating sources, and mapping/outlining literature. Neill, C. (2017). Writing & Research. Writing a Literature Review. Radiation Therapist, 26(1), 89–91. Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2016). Completing your qualitative dissertation :A road map from beginning to end (Third edition.). SAGE. Links: Scott's Annotated Bibliography Checklist Examples of "Crazy Walls" Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We are joined by Dr. Rose Opengart, who helps us discuss the skills employers want beyond the credentials. Link: "Find Your Where: Turn the Tables, Negotiate Your Success, and Do Work and Life on Your Own Terms" by Rose Opengart Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the ethics of research and the deeper challenges of thinking about the effects of data collection and dissemination. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the ways in which the life of doc students (and folks who have earned their doctorates) is really a kind of free-lance lifestyle. We discuss the processes, and some of the tools, we use to approach managing our projects. Scott recommended Linnea recommended Also, since Linnea mentioned checklists, check out Links: "Getting Things Done" by David Allen "Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day" by Joan Bolker "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We're joined by Dr. Ben Ries, Associate Dean for Vocational Formation at Abilene Christian University to talk about developing virtues while in a doctoral program. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss "feasibility" in the dissertation, and address some of the challenges of scope, access, and perception that students face in developing a feasible project. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss some of the challenges of hearing feedback on one's work, and explore some of the deeper issues related to those challenges. Links: "I Promise" by J. Scott Self "Reading and Responding to Feedback" by Linnea Rademaker Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

Dr. Jenifer Williams and Dr. Kristin O'Byrne join us for a special episode on dealing with some of the stressors of COVID-19 as doctoral students. This episode was released as soon as we produced it since so many of our own students seem to be dealing with anxiety, stress, and even growth. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss "feasibility" in the dissertation, and address some of the challenges of scope, access, and perception that students face in developing a feasible project. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss the taboo topic of stopping out of one's doctoral program, and the barriers (institutional and personal) to getting back to work on earning a degree. Contact Us: Email: Dr. J. Scott Self Email: Dr. Linnea Rademaker Email: Dr. Peter Williams

We discuss how to prepare for proposal defense, dissertation defense, and the mythology of the defense experience. Link "The 'Snake Fight' Portion of Your Thesis Defense" by Luke Burns Contact Us Dr. J. Scott Self - scott.self@acu.edu Dr. Linnea Rademaker - lxr16c@acu.edu Dr. Peter Williams - Peter.Williams@tamuc.edu

We discuss the necessity of a strong social support network and the value of developing a network of cheerleaders. Contact Us Dr. J. Scott Self - scott.self@acu.edu Dr. Linnea Rademaker - lxr16c@acu.edu Dr. Peter Williams - Peter.Williams@tamuc.edu

We discuss the interchange between writing and thinking, the power of journaling in doctoral work, and developing one's academic voice. The passive voice is also discussed (by vikings). Links Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century, by Steven Pinker Oppenheimer, D. M. (2006). Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: Problems with using long words needlessly. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 139-156. DOI: 10.1002/acp.1178 Making Meaning Clear: The Logic of Revision, by Donald M. Murray Sanchez, B., & Lewis, K. D. (2014). Writing shapes thinking: Investigative study on preservice teachers reading, writing to learn, and critical thinking. Texas Journal of Literacy Education, 2(1), 55-68. Contact Us Dr. J. Scott Self - scott.self@acu.edu Dr. Linnea Rademaker - lxr16c@acu.edu Dr. Peter Williams - Peter.Williams@tamuc.edu

Students in doctoral programs face unique challenges in adding another major role to all of the other responsibilities that normal adults occupy. Dr. Williams and Dr. Self discuss some of the issues and offer recommendations for striking a balance. Contact Us Dr. J. Scott Self - scott.self@acu.edu Dr. Linnea Rademaker - lxr16c@acu.edu Dr. Peter Williams - Peter.Williams@tamuc.edu

A discussion of the importance of keeping open the communication lines with one's chair during the dissertation. Contact Us Dr. J. Scott Self - scott.self@acu.edu Dr. Linnea Rademaker - lxr16c@acu.edu Dr. Peter Williams - Peter.Williams@tamuc.edu