Abstract
The demand for university education is increasing from an elite to a mass to possibly a universal requirement. Universities have evolved to the point where an undergraduate coursework degree has similarities to a batch manufacturing process. The research degree, though, continues to resemble more closely a traditional craft paradigm. The undergraduate degree has structures that support navigation for the student and reliable delivery for the institution. The research degree is far less structured: each journey is individually crafted to produce a unique work of art that showcases a journeyman’s readiness to be admitted into the fellowship of scholars. This chapter applies a comparative case study methodology, comparing the undergraduate degree with a research degree, with data drawn from documents from the Australian government and an Australian university. The comparison applies both the logics of the discipline of Education and the logics of the discipline of Engineering. From an Education logic, the undergraduate degree most resembles systematic instruction and a research degree an apprenticeship. From an Engineering logic, they most resemble process and project systems respectively. The first-named author used the analysis in the case study to design and implement his doctoral journey. The chapter concludes with his reflections.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
“An OP (overall position) is a student’s position in a state-wide rank order based on their overall achievement in Authority subjects. It indicates how well a student has done in comparison to all other OP-eligible students in Queensland and is used for tertiary entrance purposes only. Students are placed in one of 25 OP bands from OP1 (highest) to OP25 (lowest)”; (The State of Queensland [Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority], 2015). Authority subjects are specific subjects listed by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority and for which they have a sullabus and manage assessment. The OP will be discontinued after 2019.
- 2.
Product based planning enforces greater clarity and responsibility than process-based planning. What needs to be produced must be unambiguously specified. Success is achieved with a concrete output rather than time served.
- 3.
The term scholar isn’t used in the historical sense of a collector and preserver of knowledge: rather more aligned to Boyer’s (1990) categorisation of scholarship into discovery, integration, application or teaching. Eureka moments are both the epitome and elixir of scholarship.
References
Australian Qualifications Framework Council. (2013). Australian qualifications framework. South Australia. Retrieved from http://www.aqf.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AQF-2nd-Edition-January-2013.pdf.
Boyer, E. L. (c1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Boyer. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. (1983). Resolution 1 of the 17th CGPM (Vol. 1). Paris, France.
Confucius. (2018). The Analects of Confucius: An online teaching translation (R. Eno, Trans.). Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/AnalectsOfConfuciusEno2015/Analects_of_Confucius_%28Eno-2015%29_djvu.txt.
Credit Points. (n.d.). Glossary: CQUni handbook. Rockhampton, QLD: Central Queensland University. Retrieved from https://www.cqu.edu.au/about-us/structure/governance/glossary/items/units-of-credit-uc.
CQUniversity. (2017a). Graduate attributes. Rockhampton, QLD: CQUniversity. Retrieved from https://www-search.cqu.edu.au/s/redirect?collection=policy&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cqu.edu.au%2Fpolicy%2Fsharepoint-document-download%3Ffile_uri%3D%257BBE8380F3-F86D-4C55-AC0D-84A81EAFD6A2%257D%2FGraduate%2520Attributes.pdf&auth=kkPupFb7Q1wUaeWrWu7KrA&profile=_default&rank=1&query=Graduate+Attributes.
CQUniversity. (2017b). Research higher degree thesis policy and procedure. Rockhampton, QLD: CQUniversity. Retrieved from https://www-search.cqu.edu.au/s/redirect?collection=policy&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cqu.edu.au%2Fpolicy%2Fsharepoint-document-download%3Ffile_uri%3D%257BBE8380F3-F86D-4C55-AC0D-84A81EAFD6A2%257D%2FResearch%2520Higher%2520Degree%2520Theses%2520Policy%2520and%2520Procedure.pdf&auth=EiqeET7nXQ9u1vtNePpP7Q&profile=_default&rank=2&query=doctor+of+philosophy.
CQUniversity. (2018). Confirmation of candidature procedures. Rockhampton, QLD: CQUniversity. Retrieved from https://www-search.cqu.edu.au/s/redirect?collection=policy&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cqu.edu.au%2Fpolicy%2Fsharepoint-document-download%3Ffile_uri%3D%257BBE8380F3-F86D-4C55-AC0D-84A81EAFD6A2%257D%2FConfirmation%2520of%2520Candidature%2520Procedure.pdf&auth=F8H31TAi8vY8GG81VSJIYQ&profile=_default&rank=1&query=confirmation+of+candidature.
CQUniversity. (n.d.-a). CQ01—Bachelor of accounting. In CQUniversity (Ed.), CQUni handbook. Rockhampton, QLD: CQUniversity. Retrieved from https://handbook.cqu.edu.au/he/courses/view/CQ01.
CQUniversity. (n.d.-b). CD62—Doctor of Philosophy (Sciences, Engineering and Health). In CQUniversity (Ed.), CQUni handbook. Rockhampton, QLD: CQUniversity. Retrieved from https://handbook.cqu.edu.au/he/courses/view/CD62.
CQUniversity. (n.d.-c). ACCT11059—Accounting, learning and online communication. In CQUniversity (Ed.), CQUni handbook. Rockhampton, QLD: CQUniversity. Retrieved from https://my-courses.cqu.edu.au/pub/profiles/index/?courseCode=ACCT11059&termCode=2191.
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. St Leonards, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Education. (2005). Oxford University Press, USA.
Enders, J. (2006). The academic profession. In International handbook of higher education (pp. 5–21). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1977). Intuitive prediction: Biases and corrective procedures. Arlington, VA: Cybernetics Technology Office, Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. Retrieved from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a047747.pdf.
Karpicke, J. (2014). Preface. In B. Oakley (Ed.), A mind for numbers. Tarcher: Los Angeles, CA.
Marquis, C., & Tilcsik, A. (2013). Imprinting: Toward a multilevel theory. The Academy of Management Annals,7(1), 195–245.
Oakley, B. (2014). A mind for numbers. Los Angeles, CA: Tarcher.
Oakley, B., & Sejnowski, T. (Producer). (2014/2017, June 12). Learning how to learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects. Retrieved from https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/welcome.
Oehmen, J., & Rebentisch, E. (2010). Waste in lean product development. Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved from https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/79838.
Office of Government Commerce. (2002). Managing successful projects with PRINCE2 (3rd ed.). Norwich, UK: Her Majest’s Stationery Office.
Perkin, H. (2006). History of universities. In International handbook of higher education (pp. 159–205). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Process. (2006). In Glossary. AS/NZS ISO 9000: 2006—Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary. Australia/New Zealand.
Process Control Engineering. (2003). In E. Geller (Ed.), McGraw-Hill dictionary of engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Process Engineering. (2003). In E. Geller (Ed.), McGraw-Hill dictionary of engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Production Engineering. (2003). In E. Geller (Ed.), McGraw-Hill dictionary of engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Project. (2006). In Glossary. AS/NZS ISO 9000: 2006—Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary. Australia/New Zealand.
Rashdall, H. (1895). The universities of Europe in the middle ages (Vol. 1). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Somasundaram, J. (2017, September 6–8). A revolution in the science of learning: Higher education at the crossroads. Proceedings of the 17th annual SEAAIR conference (pp. 235–245). Singapore. Retrieved http://www.seaairweb.info/conference/2017Proceedings.pdf#page=260.
Somasundaram, J. (2018). Paradigms from the science of learning: An emerging revolution in education. ASEAN Journal of Education, 4(2), 1–14. Retrieved http://aje.research.dusit.ac.th/upload/file/Flie_journal_pdf_07-01-2019_130124.pdf.
Somasundaram, J., Bowser, D., & Danaher, P. A. (2006, September). Reconceptualising the instructional design model for the knowledge society. Paper presented at the conference proceedings: 6th annual SEAAIR conference, Transforming higher education for the knowledge society Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Somasundaram, J., Howard, P., & Reed, R. (2016). Navigating the scholarship of integration: Signposts for a Maze. In D. Rossi, F. Gacenga, & P. A. Danaher (Eds.), Navigating the research maze: Contextual, conceptual, methodological and transformational challenges and opportunities for researchers (pp. 79–95). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Somasundaram, J., Rasul, M. G., & Danaher, P. A. (2019). Sustaining competencies and employability: A fishbone model for engineering education to fit the processes of life. Journal of Institutional Research South East Asia, 17(1), 216–229.
Tan, D. (2015). Engineering technology, engineering education and engineering management: Proceedings of the 2014 international conference on engineering technology, engineering education and engineering management (ETEEEM 2014), Hong Kong, November 15–16, 2014. Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis Group: CRC Press.
The State of Queensland (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority). (2015). Overall positions (OPs). Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/630.html.
Thornton, P. H., & Ocasio, W. (2008). Institutional logics. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, K. Sahlin, & R. Suddaby (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 99–129). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Trow, M. (2005). Reflections on the transition from elite to mass to universal access: Forms and phases of higher education in modern societies since World War II. In P. Altbach (Ed.), International handbook of higher education (Part one: Global themes and contemporary challenges) (pp. 243–280). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Willingham, D. T. (2009). Why don’t students like school: A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom. Wiley.
Acknowledgements
One purpose of citations is to honour the scholars who have influenced the current work. But the body of knowledge that influenced us is vast and integrated. The scholars whom we cite are but a patch of tapestry that forms the culture and values of the community, the guild of scholars. The editors of this book established a supported community of chapter writers who encouraged and critiqued the chapters during their development. CQUniversity’s public website was used to draw much of the material used for this study. And, last but not least, Dave Somasundaram cheerfully read and critiqued the multiple drafts of this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Somasundaram, J., Howard, P. (2019). Engineering the Doctorate: Designing a Highway to Traverse. In: Machin, T.M., Clarà, M., Danaher, P.A. (eds) Traversing the Doctorate. Palgrave Studies in Education Research Methods. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23731-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23731-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23730-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-23731-8
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)