Applying a Solution-Focused Model for Doctoral Student Motivation

kathleen-barclay

Abstract

Adults who choose to enter a doctoral degree programme in the United States generally progress well during content classes. In online courses, as in a physical classroom setting, students will form support groups, meet due dates for class activities, and submit assignments. Once finished with the content course phase of a doctoral programme, students enter the independent dissertation research and writing stage. Classmate support disappears, much time and money has now been spent in school, and determining how to write a 150 to 250 page doctoral dissertation becomes a serious undertaking. Motivation decreases while frustration increases. For this SF project, doctoral students were involved in a coaching project intended to help them regain the excitement and inspiration experienced earlier in the doctoral programme. A telephone call with each student was held at the start of a research course, guiding each through a series of SF questions based on the SIMPLE model. In-class follow up was conducted at the end of the course. Students expressed greater motivation and enthusiasm about progress, with less frustration presented in class and personal emails than in previous research classes.

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