The keyword lists are rich in terminology and as such, they are also characterized by great semantic ambiguity, which presents the problems of synonymy and polysemy typical of uncontrolled language, ...which is both an advantage and a drawback. However, assigning keywords has gained particular importance in the current open scientific communication ecosystem in digital environments, mainly in the academic dissertation and repositories of theses.
This article reports a study on the organization of knowledge, using subject-access metadata of master's theses from the digital repository of the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, applying analytical techniques to a big amount of data. The objective was to analyze the number of keywords in each record and keywords repeated in the title and abstracts of the dissertations in Portuguese and English. The analysis of the 48,501 metadata records of master's theses submitted to the repository, between 2001 and 2019, presents a total of 223,867 keywords in Portuguese, with an average of 4.62 keywords per record, and a total of 216,521 keywords in English, equivalent to an average of 4.59 per record. Although, the attribution of keywords in Portuguese and English by the author is an economic way to expand access to the content of theses and dissertations in institutional repositories, it is necessary to define rules for authors about the choice of keywords and the preparation of the abstract, as well as its translation into English. The task of controlling keywords requires a partnership between authors and librarians who can enrich the quality of indexing languages.
There is increasing impetus for higher-degree-by-research students to publish during candidature. Research performance, including higher degree completions and publication output, commonly determines ...university funding, and doctorates with publishing experience are better positioned for a career in softening academic labour markets. The PhD by Publication provides a pathway for candidates to foster and demonstrate their publishing capabilities. It also provides existing academics a means of achieving doctoral status while managing the 'publish or perish' milieu endemic to their work. This paper clarifies the precise nature and significance of the PhD by Publication pathway in the Australian context and discusses the associated benefits and problems, enriched by personal experience. It summarises factors pertinent to assessing the pathway's suitability. The review of current policy suggests institutional guidelines in universities nationwide are inadequate for producing theses of comparable quality to conventional dissertations and capitalising on the pathway's significant benefits.
Academic supervision of PhD dissertations and master's theses has traditionally been conceptualised as the pedagogy of the dyadic relationship between master and apprentice. Recently, researchers ...have argued for a more systemic approach. Yet, many communities lack practices for sharing the pedagogical responsibility of supervision. Consequently, individual teachers face the challenges of supervision alone. We have been involved in university pedagogical training where these challenges are explored. Data consist of 44 academics' learning tasks, from which we analysed to what extent and how supervision is interpreted as a social activity, and what kind of cultural elements appear in the teachers' discourses. We adopted the sociocultural approach to discourse analysis and treat the academics' experiences as reflections of their wider culture. A traditional supervisory discourse pervaded much of the challenges we identified in the academics' descriptions; however, there was also evidence of an aspiring process-orientated dialogical supervision discourse.
PurposeResearchers in information studies have examined fictional depictions of libraries in various mediums because these images can reflect and influence real-life experiences and attitudes. Video ...games, despite being relatively overlooked, are increasingly culturally relevant and can indicate library users' real needs and desires. This study investigates the ways in which video games depict characters using libraries to seek and use information.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis approach incorporating methods from information studies and game studies was applied. Tancheva's (2005) semiotic analysis of fictional libraries and Carr's (2019) textual approach provided the framing for the unique aspects of video games and their meanings. Carroll (2021)'s character analysis and Chatman (1996)'s theory on insiders–outsiders dynamic underpinned the data collection and analysis. The purposive sample included 15 video games released since 2010.FindingsVideo games depict game characters visiting libraries to solve short-term problems, to gain knowledge to improve themselves or to bond with others. Protagonists are often depicted as adventurers or outsiders who must adapt to unfamiliar places and situations to achieve their wider objectives. In these games, libraries provide useful documents, spaces or helpful guides and intellectuals who assist the protagonists. As outsiders, the protagonists seek information in libraries to help them learn about their environments and to immerse themselves in the local histories and cultures in their worlds. Overall, these depictions highlight both short- and long-term benefits of library use.Originality/valueAs with existing studies, the ways in which fictional library use appear in video games can suggest real needs and desires among library users. The findings from this study emphasise the importance of library services and spaces that help users both address short-term problems and immerse themselves in local concerns, with longer-term goals. Applying different research methods or lenses to analysing video games could deepen our understanding of what library users think and feel when they seek and use information in libraries.
Supervising masters and doctoral dissertations is a key function of teaching in higher education and giving written feedback on draft sections is an essential component of this function. However, the ...specific types of response that supervisors give to their dissertation students' written work have received limited research interest to date. The present study drew on an academic discourse community perspective in examining feedback comments on draft sections of dissertations across three disciplinary areas. It investigated which aspects of writing the comments focused on and how the comments were formulated linguistically, and developed descriptive frameworks that may be of value to supervisors wishing to reflect on their practice. Findings are discussed in relation to supervisors' perspectives, academic discourse community expectations and norms of supervisory communication.
This paper aims to explore the potential role of Master's of Education dissertation/thesis work in developing twenty-first century skills. A total of 600 education professionals studying Master's of ...Education programmes in five countries - Poland, Portugal, England, Latvia, and Romania - were surveyed. The findings have revealed that participants recognise the usefulness of twenty-first century skills for their (future) professional practice, and perceive dissertation/thesis work as a valuable foundation for developing these skills. This study offers practical implications for designers of Master's of Education programmes and contributes to our understanding that this assignment is not only a formal requirement for obtaining a degree, but that it also serves as a pathway towards deepening students' professional learning.
Predstavljamo primer dobre prakse s Fakultete za šport, zdravje in znanost o gibanju Univerze v Portsmouthu v Veliki Britaniji. Pri njih namreč vsi študentje v zadnjem letniku magistrskega studija ...časovno koordinirano izdelajo magistrska dela in jih zagovarjajo na študentském posvetu, prireditvi, ki jo vsako leto organizirajo v prvi polovici septembra. Pri javni predstavitvi magistrskih del si študentje pomagajo s plakati. Glede na trenutno obliko zaključka magistrskega studija pri nas menimo, da bi imele spremembe v smeri opisane prakse iz tujine kar nekaj pozitivnih učinkov za vse vpletene, torej za študente, visokošolske učitelje, studentski referat in fakulteto.
In this article, we document a framework for developing recommendations to improve a master's course for technology student teachers to better foster research-inquiry attitudes. A French case study ...of seven years of the master's teacher education course is analysed. The study adopted a three-phase educational design research model: analysis and exploration, design and construction, and evaluation and reflection. The data consists of 54 master theses (2014-2021), the degree coursework documentation, and teacher-educators notes. In the end, a discussion is proposed on the practices implemented in the teacher education master's degree course oriented to research-inquiry attitude and recommendations for potential enhancements to technology teacher education.
Translanguaging in education Bonacina-Pugh, Florence; da Costa Cabral, Ildegrada; Huang, Jing
Language teaching,
10/2021, Volume:
54, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This state-of-the-art review focuses on translanguaging in education. In recent years, scholars have engaged in the conceptualisation of ‘translanguaging’ (e.g. García, 2009; García & Wei, 2014a; ...Wei, 2018) as well as in conducting a vast and ever-increasing number of empirical studies, in educational contexts in particular. This article aims to take stock of the different ways in which ‘translanguaging’ has been conceptualised and of the ways in which it has been interpreted and applied in the study of multilingualism in diverse educational contexts across the globe. Our review exercise shows that ‘translanguaging’ has been conceptualised within two different approaches, which we propose to call the ‘fixed language approach’ and the ‘fluid languaging approach’. It further shows how ‘translanguaging’ has been studied within these two approaches in different educational contexts. We finish our review by calling for new methodologies adapted to a linguistics of fluidity and by considering critically translanguaging as a scholarly phenomenon.
This study aims to analyze graduate theses completed between 2010 and 2020 about academic procrastination. Qualitative survey method was used in the study. In the study, document analysis was used as ...the analysis method. After an initial search made using "academic procrastination" keyword in Council of Higher Education Thesis Center's Web Page (CoHE-thesis) 97 theses completed between 2010 and 2020 were found and analyzed. Primarily, graduate theses were analyzed according to their types, topics of study, methods, number of samples and sample group distribution. Afterwards, the methods, sample distributions and sample numbers of the theses according to their types were examined. Majority of these 97 completed theses are postgraduate theses (n=83), secondly doctoral theses (n=12), and thirdly specialty in medicine theses (n=2). As for the methods used, relational method (n=68) was seen to be the most used method after which comes descriptive method (n=15), thirdly interventional method (n=6), fourthly descriptive and relational method (n=3), and fifthly relational and interventional method (n=1). As for sample groups, the most researched sample group was university students (n=49). The most researched topics in theses on the subject of academic procrastination were educational and socio-demographic characteristics. Paper presented at the Experiential Learning Congress (Oct 23-24, 2020).
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