DNP 801 Topic 2 Doctoral Learning Strategies

The purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate your working knowledge of APA format by writing a paper.

The doctoral Learning process is uniquely autonomous. It is important to develop individual plans for success and use personal strategies to reach your goals.

General Requirements:

• Review the APA Quiz questions prior to beginning work on your paper.
• When writing this paper ensure you are speaking from a formal standpoint and are not using I-statements.
• Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center.
• This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

  

• You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Directions:

In 750-1,000 words, construct a paper that addresses the following.

1. Discuss learning experiences one may face prior to the doctoral learning experience. Support your discussion

   

   with scholarly evidence.

2. Research the autonomous nature of doctoral learning. Discuss how doctoral programs and learning skills and strategies employed when completing them is different than other learning experience.
3.  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.

Sample Answer for DNP 801 Topic 2 Doctoral Learning Strategies

Earning a doctoral degree is perceived as one of the fundamental achievements and successes in the modern world. However, the doctoral learning journey is a challenging process. Doctoral students have to balance competing demands from work, personal life, and academics. They also have to explore ways in which their previous learning experiences influence their doctoral journey. Therefore, this paper explores various issues related to doctoral learning that I will encounter as I begin my doctoral learning journey.

Learning Experiences One May Face Prior to Doctoral Learning Experience

Enrolling for a PhD program is one of the most inspiring as well as challenging decisions. One’s success in the program is dependent on a number of factors. One of them entails previous learning experiences that inform the strategies that need to be embraced for success in the process. A research conducted by Decker et al. (2009) to explore the previous learning experiences of PhD candidates revealed that their ability to balance the demands from internal and external environments is crucial for their success. Accordingly, external environmental demands relate to those from families, personal, and work-related demands that must be met while pursuing the program. The internal environmental factors relate to the candidate’s ability to manage their self-expectations, self-worth, and health problems that might affect their journey in the program. As shown by the authors, candidates with successful experiences in addressing the needs of internal and external environmental factors are likely to have a smooth journey in their doctoral program.

The previous experiences of the PhD students with the scholarly community also have an effect on their PhD journey. According to Vekkaila, Pyhältö and Lonka (2013), the experiences can contribute to burnout, disengagement, and conflicts between the students and the scholarly community. The research by Benner and Curl (2018) revealed that factors such as conflicts in balancing the needs of academics and work, lack of mentorship and support from the supervisors increase the risk of poor performance and high rates of attrition among students. Therefore, it is critical that institutions strive to ensure the existence of supportive dynamics between the learning environments and the doctoral students (Hunter & Devine, 2016). The need for such environments stem from the fact that negative encounters by the students in their lower levels of education influences their decisions on whether to pursue a PhD program or not.

Autonomous Nature of Doctoral Learning

Doctoral learning is highly autonomous. As shown by Pretorius, Macaulay and de Caux (2019), the learning process is self-directed. The learners utilize a wide range of self-regulated processes to achieve their learning goals and objectives. The processes include planning knowledge activation, regulation and reflection, and metacognitive monitoring. The students are also intrinsically motivated to pursue learning strategies that will enable them to achieve their goals in the learning process. PhD learners have control over the process of their learning. Through self-regulated learning, Pretorius et al. (2019) believes that these learners are likely to succeed in their academic journey as well as become optimistic about their future prospects with the program. Consequently, lifelong learning is likely to be promoted with the autonomous nature of the PhD learning. For these outcomes to be achieved, learning institutions should focus on providing optimum support, explicitly teaching, and scaffolding to the PhD students.

Doctoral learning is also focused mainly on knowledge generation than knowledge acquisition. Students engage in activities that would underpin the utilization of evidence-based information in clinical practice. It therefore implies that the learning process explores the manner in which problems in practice can be addressed using novel solutions. Students are motivated to explore solutions for issues in collaborative manner with others (Pretorius et al., 2019). Therefore, the autonomous nature of the learning process incorporates teamwork for the generation of problem-based solutions to issues affecting practice.

The autonomous nature of doctoral learning is different from the learning utilized in other learning experiences in a number of ways. Firstly, the doctoral students guide the learning process. They develop learning goals and ways in which they can be achieved. The other learning experiences such as those in masters and undergraduate levels are guided by the instructors. The other difference lies on knowledge generation in doctoral learning. This is unlike knowledge utilization in the other levels of learning experiences. Lastly, the success of doctoral studies is highly dependent on the individual strive for knowledge acquisition and generation. The learning experiences in the other levels are dependent on the level on the influence that instructors have on the learning process.

How the Orientation Webinar will help to prepare me for the Program

The orientation webinar will help me prepare for the program in many ways. Firstly, it will expose me to the program goals and objectives. This will help me to come up with the strategies that I need to embrace in order to achieve the stated goals. The webinar will also enable me to determine the best learning strategies that I need to adopt for me to be successful in the program. The webinar will also enable me to learn more about the faculty members. I will be able to known a few things concerning them such as their experiences with the students, personalities, and behaviors that I need to embrace in order to work with them in an efficient manner.
The webinar will also act as a platform to address my concerns. I will use it to share my areas of concerns with the other members of the faculty. I will also be updated on other issues that I am not aware about based on the contributions by the other students. Therefore, I believe that the webinar will broaden my understanding about the program, faculty members, and the institution as a whole.

Strategies for Success in Doctoral Program

Several strategies that doctoral students can embrace to achieve success in their doctoral program exist. One of the strategies that I would recommend is persistence. The doctoral students should remain dedicated to achieving their success irrespective of the challenges they face. They should be optimistic of the processes they embrace to achieve their success (Okoroji, 2018). The other recommended strategy is forming collaborations with other doctoral students and faculty members. The students should work in collaboration with other stakeholders in exploring the ways in which their success can be achieved. They should seek support from the faculty members in case they experience any challenge (Conn et al., 2014). It is also recommended that students attend conferences to enhance their visibility and understanding of the ways of achieving success in their academic journey (Pifer & Baker, 2016). Lastly, they should learn to establish a balance between work, academic and personal life demands (Young et al., 2019). Therefore, doctoral students should explore these strategies to achieve their desired success in doctoral programs.

Conclusion

Enrolling for a PhD program is an inspiring as well as a challenging decision one can make. Previous experiences have a significant impact on one’s success in doctoral program. Learning in the doctoral program is highly autonomous. The students are self-directed towards achieving their developed learning goals. Therefore, it is important that doctoral students understand the strategies that are needed for them to be successful in their doctoral learning journey.

References

Benner, K., & Curl, A. L. (2018). Exhausted, stressed, and disengaged: Does employment create burnout for social work students? Journal of Social Work Education, 54(2), 300-309.

Conn, V. S., Zerwic, J., Rawl, S., Wyman, J. F., Larson, J. L., Anderson, C. M., … & Topp, R. (2014). Strategies for a successful PhD program: Words of wisdom from the WJNR editorial board. Western journal of nursing research, 36(1), 6-30.

Decker, A., Dykes, M., Gilliam, J., & Marrs, S. (2009). Being students again: Balancing ambiguities, expectations, and responsibilities. In annual meeting of the Southern Regional Council on Educational Administration, Atlanta, GA.

Hunter, K. H., & Devine, K. (2016). Doctoral students’ emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave academia. International Journal of doctoral studies, 11(2), 35-61.

Okoroji, M. L. (2018). Persistence motivation of foreign-born doctoral recipients in the field of education. Retrieved from https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2504/

Pifer, M. J., & Baker, V. L. (2016). Stage-based challenges and strategies for support in doctoral education: A practical guide for students, faculty members, and program administrators. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11(1), 15-34.

Pretorius, L., Macaulay, L., & de Caux, B. C. (Eds.). (2019). Wellbeing in doctoral education: insights and guidance from the student experience. Springer Nature.

Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K. (2013). Experiences of disengagement–A study of doctoral students in the behavioral sciences. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 8(2013), 61-81.

Young, S. N., VanWye, W. R., Schafer, M. A., Robertson, T. A., & Poore, A. V. (2019). Factors Affecting PhD Student Success. International journal of exercise science, 12(1), 34.

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ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.

Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.

One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.

I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.

In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.

Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).

Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).

Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.

I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.

As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.

It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.