General Requirements:
� When writing this paper ensure you are speaking from a formal standpoint and are not using I-
statements.
- Conduct a literature review of five scholarly articles related to strategies for success in doctoral
programs. - Based upon your research discuss specific strategies you recommend when developing a plan for
successful completion of a doctoral program.
Word count: 1073
DOCTORAL LEARNING PROCESS 2
The writing skills that most of us have when compared to the doctoral writing are
rudimentary. The writing often focuses on the use of long sentences to communicate an idea.
Besides, the sentences lack clauses, which are essential to ensure a smooth transition of ideas.
Moreover, learners have the weakness of ensuring that each paragraph has one idea. The
paragraphs are at times organized in a haphazard manner, which makes idea correlation
difficult (Maher et al., 2013). The most common problem in most scholars is the use of
passive voice rather than an active voice in presenting their arguments. The use of passive
voice makes it easy for scholars to overuse third person instead of the first person
(McDougall, Orneles, and Rao, 2015, p.263).
The Doctoral writing is independent of the writing experience that we may have
acquired from K-12 through to high-school level. According to Burford (2017), doctoral
writing focuses more on what knowledge that a learner had about a particular subject more
than their study skills. Moreover, the doctoral writing process falls into two contexts. The
first one is a socially communicative process based on an idea. The second one is a rhetorical
process created by power relations that focus on social and personal significance (p.29).
Doctoral learning process centers on inculcating the constructive feedback into the
writing process. As a learner one needs to detach emotions from the feedback process to
enable them to complete the doctoral program successfully. Emotions demotivate the learner
from carrying out an overhaul of the entire work to ensure that they deliver authentic work
(Collins, 2015, p.53). Moreover, in the doctoral learning process quality supersedes quantity,
this is opposite to the other learning experience. The prior learning experience emphasized on
the quantity of information when it came to grading. Contrariwise, in the doctoral field,
writing is quality oriented based on the idea that one wants to project or discuss (McDougall
et al., 2015, p.264).
DOCTORAL LEARNING PROCESS 3
Additionally, the previous learning experience concentrated on idea generation and
writing process. Conversely, the doctoral learning skills are an extensive process that has
multiple areas of focus. It involves identifying the subject area, researching intensively,
prewriting, followed by writing and finally being ready to rewrite after any feedback from
suitable professionals (McDougall et al., 2015, p.263).
According to Anderson et al., (2017), many strategies are suitable for not only
promoting the learning experience but also ensuring success in any discipline. The first one is
higher-order learning deals with the establishing the value and application of theoretical
knowledge. The second one is integrative learning that requires the learners to
compartmentalize ideas from various sources when tackling addressing a particular issue in
their doctoral program. This provides an in-depth overview of an issue and increases the
authenticity of the doctoral program.
The last one is reflective learning that concentrates on self-examination of their
perceptions and that of others on an idea in a particular context. Collins (2015) suggests that
in delivering a good doctoral one should focus on a topic that they can relate to. This enables
one to easily carry out self-examination where they merge their interests in pinpointing a
research gap that they can address conclusively (p.53).
Collins (2015) suggests that when it comes to writing doctoral programs graduates
encounter some challenges. They include: having the notion that writing is not for them, the
feeling that they have limited knowledge on the subject they are writing, the lack of sufficient
training when it comes to writing scholarly articles, the perception of limited time, allowing
interference during the writing process, and discerning constructive feedback in a negative
manner. Another group of researchers, McDougall et al., (2015), have highlighted the
DOCTORAL LEARNING PROCESS 4
following issues the excessive use of the article the, passive voice, third person, and
superfluous common phrases.
The researchers went further ahead to propose ways those scholars could ensure they
achieve success in their doctoral programs. McDougal et al., (2015), indicates that character
should precede action in a sentence. In addition, scholars should ensure that the readers are
able to understand who performs an action and incorporate active voice in their work.
Burford (2017) suggests that doctoral writing is an involving practice where the writers
should seek aid from other people. Doctoral writing is not an individual process but a social
process that contributes to the body of knowledge.
Collins (2015) suggests that one should focus on topics that they could relate to, set
achievable timelines during the writing process, accept constructive criticism in a positive
manner and have confidence in their work. The suggestions make sure that the writer delivers
exemplary doctoral writing. Maher et al., (2013), goes further ahead to suggests that scholars
need to review other doctoral programs in their field of work. This will provide them with an
idea of what doctoral learning experience entails. Anderson et al., (2017), proposes the focus
on quality instead of quantity when writing. The focus on quality ensures that the scholars are
able to focus on the important issues and are able to avoid common errors. The common
denominator in the literature review is that scholars need to review their work before
submitting it. This will enable them to detect common errors that may interfere with the
quality of their doctoral programs.
There are a number of recommendations that are pertinent in developing a plan for a
successful completion of a doctoral program. The first one deals with consultation with
instructors, supervisors, and other scholars to identify a suitable topic. This provides one with
direction and scope that will direct their research. The second one focuses on identifying the
DOCTORAL LEARNING PROCESS 5
appropriate articles to use in the research process before beginning the writing process. This
ensures that sufficient material is available to complete the doctoral program. Finally, setting
in between breaks during the writing process to review what one has done before progressing.
The importance of this process is that it ensures that they can correct any deviations from the
topic and common writing errors.
In conclusion, the doctoral learning experience requires an overhaul of perceptions to
the scholars concerning writing. Based on the analysis, the experience is a process that has
different subsets. Each of the subsets requires total commitment to change and criticisms
from other scholars. Moreover, it shows that the process is a social rather than independent. It
requires the full involvement of other scholars, instructors, and researchers in different
capacities to ensure the doctoral program is completed successfully.
DOCTORAL LEARNING PROCESS 6
References
Anderson, P., Anson, C. M., Fish, T., Gonyea, R. M., Marshall, M., Menefee-Libey, W., …
& Weaver, S. (2017). How Writing Contributes to Learning: New Findings from a
National Study and Their Local Application. Peer Review, 19(1), 4.
Burford, J. (2017). Conceptualising Doctoral Writing as an Affective-political Practice.
International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 12,17-32. Retrieved 14 November 2017,
Collins, J. C. (2015). Writing for publication while in graduate school: An accessible reality.
New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 27(1), 51-55.
Maher, M. A., Feldon, D. F., Timmerman, B. E., & Chao, J. (2013). Faculty perceptions of
common challenges encountered by novice doctoral writers. Higher Education and
Research Development. Advance online publication.
McDougall, D., Ornelles, C., & Rao, K. (2015). A primer on the pathway to scholarly
writing: helping nascent writers to unlearn conditioned habits.
