DNP 801 DOCTORAL LEARNING STRATEGIES

The purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate your working knowledge of APA format by writing a paper.

The doctoral Learning process is uniquely autonomous. It is important to develop individual plans for success and use personal strategies to reach your goals.

General Requirements:

• Review the APA Quiz questions prior to beginning work on your paper.
• When writing this paper ensure you are speaking from a formal standpoint and are not using I-statements.
• Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center.
• This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
• You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Directions:

In 750-1,000 words, construct a paper that addresses the following.

1. Discuss learning experiences one may face prior to the doctoral learning experience. Support your discussion with scholarly evidence.
2. Research the autonomous nature of doctoral learning. Discuss how doctoral programs and learning skills and strategies employed when completing them is different than other learning experience.
3.  Conduct a literature review of five scholarly articles related to strategies for success in doctoral programs.
4. Based upon your research discuss specific strategies you recommend when developing a plan for successful completion of a doctoral program.

Doctoral studies are about learning to create new knowledge and to become a researcher. Yet surprisingly little is
known about the individual learning patterns of doctoral students. The study aims to explore learning patterns among
natural science doctoral students. The participants included 19 doctoral students from a top-level natural science
research community. The data were collected through interviews and qualitatively content analysed. Five
qualitatively different learning patterns were identified: 1) active knowledge creator, 2) active producer, 3) active
project manager, 4) passive producer and 5) conformist. The patterns differed from each other in how the participants
approached their learning regarding conducting research and becoming a researcher, learning strategies and their
perceptions of learning objects. This indicates that learning environments need to be adjustable to different doctoral
student learning patterns. At best, by designing practices in congruence with doctoral students’ ways of learning,
scholarly communities can provide flourishing environments in which doctoral students are able to become
autonomous scientists who conduct high quality research. To our knowledge, doctoral students’ learning patterns
have not been previously reported in doctoral education literature. This study contributed to the literature on doctoral
student learning and provided new insight into the complexity of learning processes among natural science doctoral
students by identifying five qualitative different learning patterns.
Keywords: Doctoral student, Qualitative research, Learning pattern, Natural science, Postgraduate education.

1. Introduction

Learning is at the core of doctoral studies (Brew, Boud, & Namgung, 2011; Pyhältö, Nummenmaa, Soini, Stubb, &
Lonka, 2012). Doctoral studies entail learning about research and making an original contribution to knowledge
(Delamont & Atkinson, 2001; Lovitts, 2005; Saunders, 2009). They are also about learning to become a researcher
(McAlpine & Amundsen, 2009; McAlpine, Jazvac-Martek, & Hopwood, 2009; Pyhältö et al., 2012; Sweitzer, 2009)
and to engage in a scholarly community (Austin, 2002; Gardner, 2007; McAlpine & Norton, 2006; Pyhältö, Stubb, &
Lonka, 2009; White & Nonnamaker, 2008). Doctoral journeys are suggested to vary in terms of their unique
individual characteristics (McAlpine et al., 2009; Lovitts, 2001; Vekkaila, Pyhältö, & Lonka, 2013a, b). Lahenius and
Martinsuo (2011), for instance, identified three different types of doctoral journeys among doctoral students in
industrial engineering and management: the students’ orientations towards their doctoral studies differed in their
goals, resources and level of progress. Moreover, Terrell (2002) found that doctoral students majoring in educational
technology typically employed two learning styles in a web-based learning environment: the converger and the
assimilative, which both entailed a high level of abstract conceptualization. The findings, despite of lacking focus on
doctoral student learning, imply that doctoral students’ learning patterns may differ.
Prior research on higher education student learning has focused heavily on undergraduate students (Vermunt, 2005;
Vermunt & Vermetten, 2004). As a result, we still know surprisingly little on doctoral students’ learning. Therefore, a
better understanding is needed of doctoral students’ learning during their doctoral process. The aim of this study is to
explore what learning patterns can be identified among natural science doctoral students.
www.sciedupress.com/ijhe International Journal of Higher Education Vol. 5, No. 2; 2016
Published by Sciedu Press 223 ISSN 1927-6044 E-ISSN 1927-6052

2. Theoretical Framework

The learning pattern refers to the activities that the student employs in learning, including cognitive strategies,
metacognitive regulation, conceptions of learning and approaches to learning (Vermunt, 2005; Vermunt & Vermetten,
2004). Accordingly, doctoral students’ learning patterns encompass activities that they employ in learning to conduct
research and to become a researcher. This includes their situated approach to learning and their perceptions of
learning objects.

Previous studies on higher education student learning have identified various approaches that undergraduate students
apply in learning and studying (Entwistle & McCune, 2004; Lonka, Olkinuora, & Mäkinen, 2004). Approaches to
learning include learning strategies and the motivation to learn and study (Biggs, 1978; Entwistle & McCune, 2004).
A deep approach to learning that focuses on understanding ideas and the meaning of the learning contents and a
surface approach which is characterized by the management of the learning contents and their reproduction have
frequently been identified in prior studies on undergraduates (e.g., Lonka et al., 2004). In addition, a strategic
approach referring to the organization and monitoring of studying activities has been reported (Entwistle & McCune,
2004; Entwistle & Peterson, 2004; Lonka et al., 2004). Yet these studies have focused almost solely on Bachelor’s
and Master’s degree students.

Doctoral students’ approaches to learning may also vary. Doctoral students have, for instance, been shown to focus
on gaining an in-depth understanding of their research topics (Vekkaila, Pyhältö, Hakkarainen, Keskinen, & Lonka,
2012; Wisker, Robinson, Trafford, Creighton, & Warnes, 2003), and frustrating experiences of failing to master
certain research areas or techniques have been reported (Delamont & Atkinson, 2001; Pole, 2000).
The strategies that students apply to learning are the central determinants for successful learning (Lonka et al., 2004;
Vermunt, 2005). It has been suggested that the degree to which students are able to regulate their learning i.e., are
metacognitively, motivationally, affectively, and behaviourally active participants in their own learning process
affects the quality of their learning process and achievements (Pintrich, 2004; Puustinen & Pulkkinen, 2001;
Zimmerman, 2008). Self-regulative learning involves student’s goal setting and personal initiatives, selection and
development of learning strategies, and self-monitoring of learning activities as well as evaluation of the learning
process (e.g., Pintrich, 2004; Puustinen & Pulkkinen, 2001).

For instance, the perceived degree of academic
involvement predicts doctoral students’ educational outcomes: students that value their involvement more have
higher levels of satisfaction with doctoral education and increased perceptions of self-efficacy to conduct scholarly
work (Anderson, Cutright, & Anderson, 2013). Moreover, doctoral students associate active involvement in training
with attaining good quality professional development and relationships within scholarly communities (Gardner &
Barnes, 2007). On the other hand, doctoral students who perceive themselves as passive objects within their
scholarly community report lower levels of interest towards doctoral studies and have more often considered
interrupting their studies than students who are active agents in their communities.

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The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource