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Strategies for Mentoring Online Doctoral Students
through the Dissertation Process
Melissa L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Swapna Kumar, Ed.D.
Truly Hardemon
University of Florida, USA
Objectives / Purpose
In what ways can a supervisor-student mentoring relationship be successfully supported in an online environment?
Literature
• Mentoring relationships between student and graduate advisor (Ives & Rowley, 2005; Lee, 2008; Maher, Ford, Thompson, 2004; Smith, 1995)
• Helping to become a credentialed scholar (Burnett, 1999; Gaffney, 1995; Johnson, Lee, & Green, 2000; Lyons, Scroggins, & Rule, 1990; Rose, 2005)
• E-mentoring (Bierema & Merriam, 2002; Griffiths & Miller, 2005; Mueller, 2004; Schichtel, 2010; Warner & Witzel, 2004)
Methodology
• Participants: 6 graduates from first cohort of online doctoral program
• Data collection: Semi-structured interview, phone
• Data analysis: Inductive (Hatch, 2002)
Results
Emerging themes:
• The online environment and mentoring
• Strategies used by mentors that helped students
• Challenges faced by students
• Strategies used by students termed best practice
Results
The online environment and mentoring
• Value of using multiple media sources
• 4/6 participants met with mentor for F2F discussion
• Synchronous communication tools for discussion
• Asynchronous communication tools for feedback
Results
Strategies used by mentors that helped students
• Participants appreciated structure, timely feedback, and the establishment of timelines for feedback
• Types of feedback = encouragement, specific / candid feedback, additional resources, posing questions
Results
Challenges faced by students
• Time management, work-life balance, motivation to continue writing, research implementation problems
• Handling / acting on feedback
• Low peer support
Results
Strategies used by students termed best practice
• Establish open and consistent communication with mentor
• Ask questions and find medium of communication that is helpful
• Establish deadlines with mentor
Discussion / Implications
• Clear communication, honest feedback -> perceptions of ideal mentor (Rose, 2003)
• Multiple modes of communication in mentoring (Schichtel, 2000)
• Students prefer faculty to initiate structure / supervise transition (Johnson, Lee, & Green, 2000)
• Improved strategies need to be found to provide feedback in online environment
Future Research / Practice
• Continue interviews with students in first cohort as they graduate from program
• Use strategies to advise second and third cohort through the dissertation process
• Interview faculty members re: their perspectives of mentoring from a distance
References
• Bierema, L.L. & Merrian, S.B. (2002). E-mentoring: Using computer mediated communication to enhance the mentoring process. Innovative Higher Education, 26(3), 211-227.
• Burnett, P.C. (1999). The supervision of doctoral dissertations using a collaborative cohort model. Counselor Education and Supervision, 39(1), 46-52.
• Gaffney, N. (Ed.). (1995). A conversation about mentoring: Trends and models. Council of Graduate Schools, Washington, D.C.
• Griffiths, M.D. & Miller, H.M. (2005). E-mentoring in schools: A brief review. Education and Health, 23, 6-8.• Hatch, J.A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in education settings. Albany, NY: State University of New York
Press.• Ives, G. & Rowley, G. (2005). Supervisor selection or allocation and continuity of supervision: Ph.D. students
progress and outcomes. Studies in Higher Education, 30, 535-555.• Johnson, L., Lee, A., & Green, B. (2000). The Ph.D. and the Autonomous Self: Gender, rationality, and
postgraduate pedagogy. Studies in Higher Education, 25(2), 135-147.• Lee, A. (2008). How are doctoral students supervised? Concepts of doctoral research supervision. Studies in
Higher Education, 33(3), 267-281.• Lyons, W., Scroggins, D., & Rule, P.B. (1990). The mentor in graduate education. Studies in Higher Education,
15(3), 277-285.• Mueller, S. (2004). Electronic mentoring as an example for the information and communications technology in
engineering education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 29(1), 53-63.• Rose, G.L. (2003). Enhancement of mentor selection using the ideal mentor scale. Research in Higher Education,
44(4), 473-494.• Schichtel, M. (2010). Core-competence skills in e-mentoring for medical educators: A conceptual exploration.
Medical Teacher, 32(7), e248-e262.• Warner, M. & Witzel, M. (2004). Managing in virtual organizations. London: Thomson Learning.
