QUOTE(v1n0d @ Mar 21 2013, 03:56 AM)
... potential candidates overlook the purpose of research degrees - to expand the horizons of knowledge, and relay that knowledge to the future generation.
In this thread alone, I’m sure you find everyone is different, and naturally, people choose to get a PhD for
a variety of reasons, including:
• for the prerequisite to becoming a professor
• for future professional opportunities
• for the delay of getting a job
• for the pursuit of knowledge
• for fear of “the real world”
• for the love of research
• for status and acclaim
• for an ego boost
QUOTE(v1n0d @ Mar 21 2013, 03:56 AM)
Add this to the lack of any research competency in the acceptance criteria, and we're breeding lecturers that have poor research skills...
As the PhD students work their way through the settling in process, they will identify their goals and objectives in the big picture and then break things down into several tasks. The research competency can be categorized into Mechanisms and Procedure that are necessary to achieve the objectives of the tasks and the experiments. You can
imagine children connecting the dots, dot-to-dot on the dot pictures, where the mechanisms are the dots, and the procedure is the steps the children take to join the dots correctly to complete the big picture.
MECHANISMSYou probably already know that designing a suitable experiment to test a hypothesis takes ingenuity and skill. Whether the experiment requires sophisticated equipment or not, there are a number of features that are common to all well-designed experiments and the students should know about this:
(1) Discrimination between different hypotheses
(2) Replicating the results
(3) Controls of variables
(4) Methods of measurement
(5) Blinding conscious and unconscious bias
(6) Accuracy and precision
QUOTE(v1n0d @ Mar 21 2013, 03:56 AM)
The inability to conduct quality research is a core problem...
PROCEDUREIn order to conduct an experiment to test each hypothesis, the students need to
make a list of the things they will need to do to answer each issue. And this list they create will be their experimental procedure. This procedure should include the appropriate methodologies, technologies and equipment. For some types of experiment, a ‘control’ will be required to act as a reference.
(1) Prepare the materials & equipment
(2) Record the data
(3) Record the observations
(4) Analyze the raw data
(5) Draw conclusions
QUOTE(v1n0d @ Mar 21 2013, 03:56 AM)
Furthermore, the direct-PhD program lacks certain components, mainly an aptitude test in the general field of study...
If they don’t yet know what exact area of research they want to pursue, or if their interests are not specific or focused enough, then they probably aren’t ready for PhD programs. If they want to pursue doctorates but are not keen on research, there are some other options available. But telling PhD candidates to
write their research interests on papers will generally cause them to think critically about what they want to study and help make their ideas more concrete.
QUOTE(v1n0d @ Mar 21 2013, 03:56 AM)
... most importantly, the 3-year "regular" duration rushes candidates to work on novelty projects - research that only serves the purpose of boosting a university's journal repository.
Sometimes we don’t find novelty features and unobviousness in their projects at all. Probably part of the overwhelming nature of the PhD degree is that there are many things to do at once, but if they
learn to direct their efforts rather than get sidetracked and try to undertake too many projects at the same time, they can streamline the process and make their life as doctoral students much easier.
One of the things that would help them get through the PhD process more easily would have been a better
understanding of what were expected of them. Although the only research they are absolutely required to complete in order to receive the doctorate is their dissertation, there is an implicit (and sometimes explicit) expectation that they must have at least a couple of publications before graduating with their doctorates.
QUOTE(v1n0d @ Mar 21 2013, 03:56 AM)
... their lecturers don't know their subject material well enough to teach it, or that their supervisors are unable to adequately supervise them...
Part of being a successful lecturer is being resourceful, especially when it comes to finding information or learning how to accomplish important things, whether in teaching or doing research. The same applies to the students. One of the Right Practice is to reason your way through a problem. People are confronted by problems every day and everything from coming up with a meaningful keynote presentation at work to a PC malfunctioned at home.
How they think their way through those problems is what matters and will largely determine their level of success.