[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-597204-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-597204-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","mostly-true-confessions-joint-meaning-making-about-the-thesis-journey","Mostly True Confessions - Joint Meaning-Making about the Thesis Journey","","Thesis supervision is treated as a central yet insufficiently understood faculty teaching responsibility. The study retrospectively examines doctoral supervisory experiences through a co-constructed personal narrative involving a doctoral student and her thesis supervisor, addressing assumptions about dissertation originality, student intellectual property and autonomy in the supervisor relationship, expert committee versus student novice socialization, and the perceived generality of the thesis process across programs. By sharing these stories, the work invites others into the conversation and argues that building knowledge in an under-researched area can support higher completion success in doctoral education.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mostly-true-confessions-joint-meaning-making-about-the-thesis-journey/597204/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mostly-true-confessions-joint-meaning-making-about-the-thesis-journey/597204.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Rainbow Cat","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main focus of the paper?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The paper explores doctoral thesis supervisory experiences through a co-constructed personal narrative between a doctoral student and her supervisor.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Which assumptions about the thesis process does the narrative address?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It addresses assumptions about the dissertation as original research by the student, an arm’s-length supervisor relationship based on student intellectual property, differing roles of experts and novice student, and the idea that the thesis process is similar across programs and goals.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the paper suggest institutions can improve doctoral completion outcomes?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"By accumulating knowledge in an under-researched area of thesis supervision, higher education can improve its record of successfully completed doctoral dissertations.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},597204,1792120280,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962090769181,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","# Mostly True Confessions:Joint Meaning-Making about the Thesis Journey\n\nLYNN MCALPINE &JOEL WEISS  \nOntario Institute for the Studies in EducationUniversity of Toronto  \nMcGill University  \n## ABSTRACT\n\nThe thesis supervisory role is perhaps the most prominent,yet leastunderstood,of a faculty member's teaching responsibilities.We retro-spectively explore the doctoral supervisory experiences of a doctoral stu-dent and her thesis supervisor through the process of co-constructing apersonal narrative of the journey.Our story addresses several assump-tions of the thesis process:the dissertation is an original piece of researchby the student;the supervisors in an arms-length relationship because thethesis is the intellectual property of the student;the supervisor and com-mittee are experts while the student is a novice being introduced into theculture;the thesis process is the same regardless of the program and thegoals of student and supervisor.We invite others to join our conversationby sharing stories of their experiences.By accumulating knowledge in anunder-researched area,it is possible that higher education can improve itsrecord of successfully completed doctoral dissertations.  \n## RÉSUMÉ\n\nLa direction de thèse est peut-etre la fonction la plus importante et lamoins bien comprise des membres du personnel enseignant.Cet articleexamine rétrospectivement les expériences vécues par une étudiante dedoctorat et son directeur de thèse par le biais de la reconstitution  \nconjointe d'un récit personnel décrivant ce cheminement.Ce récitsoulève plusieurs hypothèses quant au processus de préparation de lathèse:la thèse est un travail de recherche original de I'étudiant;larelation avec le directeur de thèse est fondée sur le principe d'autonomie,car la these est la propriété intellectuelle de I'étudiant;le directeur dethèse et le comité font figure d'experts,tandis que I'étudiant est unnovice que l'on initie à la culture;le processus de préparation de la thèseest le même quel que soit le programme et les objectifs de I'étudiant etdu directeur.Nous invitons les intéressés à se joindre au débat en nousfaisant part de leurs expériences.L'avancement des connaissances dansce domaine négligé par les chercheurs pourrait permettre d'accroitre lenombre de thèses de doctorat menees à bien par les candidats.  \n### Vignette 1:Celebrating\n\nJoel(supervisor):There were changes taking place in the discoursein curriculum and I was aware of them and struggling with them…whatreally helped was Schon —reflective practitioner—had a major impacton me in terms of understanding the nature of what we do asresearchers/academics/technical rationalists,but also in starting to lookat what we do—our own practice.  \nLynn(graduate student):It was a very profound book for me too.….Iremember reading Schon and having this AHAA!experience —herewas someone who in a different way was describing what I had been try-ing to name myself,to understand the principles driving my practice...  \n### Vignette 2:Struggling\n\nLynn:I was still struggling with the idea that the academic worlddidn't necessarily validate my world of practice...I was having to do somuch literature review to defend the decisions about the [dissertation]approach I was using…So one day we were sitting talking and I think Iaccused you of being unable to see through my eyes,unable to see myprofessional practice and the concerns I had around that and youresponded quite irately —what did you say?  \nJoel:I don’t know if I was irate —I thought I was being as calmand collected as possible..But..I wanted to disagree with you…\"youknow there are different kinds of practice and right now we're participat-ing in my practice and I think there are some connections—as a profes-sor one has practices that deal with teaching and learning.  \nThese vignettes give you a flavour of the diverse experiences sharedby Lynn,a graduate student,and Joel,her supervisor,during the supervi-sor-supervisee relationship they shared.  \nSupervision h","cbCaiqjaApdYOBAh","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqjaApdYOBAh","pdf",861202,26,"English","# ABSTRACT\n# RÉSUMÉ\n# Vignette 1: Celebrating\n# Vignette 2: Struggling\n# Rationale","[{\"question\":\"What is the main focus of the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The paper explores doctoral thesis supervisory experiences through a co-constructed personal narrative between a doctoral student and her supervisor.\"},{\"question\":\"Which assumptions about the thesis process does the narrative address?\",\"answer\":\"It addresses assumptions about the dissertation as original research by the student, an arm’s-length supervisor relationship based on student intellectual property, differing roles of experts and novice student, and the idea that the thesis process is similar across programs and goals.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper suggest institutions can improve doctoral completion outcomes?\",\"answer\":\"By accumulating knowledge in an under-researched area of thesis supervision, higher education can improve its record of successfully completed doctoral dissertations.\"}]","Mostly True Confessions - Joint Meaning-Making about the Thesis Journey | PDF",1792084596,66]