Cognitive Apprenticeship for Dissertation Writing

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to make explicit how faculty members at one institution adopted the cognitive apprenticeship model as a way to support doctoral students' development from student to scholar. The efforts in doing so focus heavily on dissertation thinking and writing because the dissertation is such a significant, culminating element in any doctoral student's experience. Writing a dissertation is something one only does once, and the process is typically designed to be an individual test of the ability to make connections between theory and practice, conduct research, and communicate about research in a scholarly manner. The isolation of dissertation writing often results in doctoral students' remaining ABD (all but dissertation). Most professors who have mentored a doctoral student through the dissertation process can attest that success in completing coursework does not necessarily lead to success in completing a dissertation. Because dissertation writing is markedly different from other kinds of academic and professional writing, many doctoral students need explicit support such as cognitive apprenticeship to guide their journey through the dissertation writing process.