ABSTRACT

Bringing together accounts of online community engagement from a range of perspectives, this book considers how the changing landscape of doctoral communities might be used to inform institutional level decisions about doctoral provision and support.

Despite the increasing availability of online communities dedicated to doctoral supervisors, there has been little consideration of how they form and operate. This book surveys the landscape of these online communities and examines their impact on the production of the doctorate, and on the experience of doctoral researchers and supervisors. Bringing together accounts of online community engagement from a range of perspectives – doctoral students, supervisors, content curators, and research support practitioners, one of the overarching aims of this volume is to explore these communities in action.

With the supporting doctoral research through online media catalysed as the ‘new normal’, this book allows stakeholders in doctoral education to better understand how students are using social media in their PhD studies, how online communities of practice impact upon researcher/supervisor relationships and support, and ways in which student experiences of various platforms might converge to create an augmented experience.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|15 pages

The open dissertation

How social media shaped – and scaled – my PhD process

chapter 2|15 pages

Doctoral candidates' experiences of social media

I don't think I could do the PhD without it

chapter 3|12 pages

It started with a tweet

How doctoral researchers become social media savvy

chapter 4|16 pages

Intersubjective reflections of @PhDForum

A doctoral community on Twitter

chapter 8|14 pages

The Supervision Whisperers

Why a virtual community of practice for research supervisors did (not) work

chapter 10|7 pages

Interview with Mel Haines

Julie Sheldon and Victoria Sheppard interviewing Mel Haines

chapter 11|6 pages

Interview with Katy Peplin

Julie Sheldon and Victoria Sheppard interviewing Katy Peplin

chapter 12|5 pages

Interview with Amy Bonsall

Julie Sheldon and Victoria Sheppard interviewing Amy Bonsall

chapter 13|9 pages

Interview with Pat Thomson and Anuja Cabraal

Victoria Sheppard interviewing Pat Thomson and Anuja Cabraal

chapter |2 pages

Afterword