Final Reflection

Doctoral Seminar

Spring 2005

Erin Peters

As a second semester doctoral student, I feel that I will miss attending the doctoral seminar because it provided a connection to the School of Education as a whole for me. As I embark on a more specialized program, I will not be able to devote the time that I did during the Doctoral Seminar exploring other content interests. During the Doctoral Seminar I was able to indulge my idealism and contemplate possibilities of my future research. Now as I shift from the idealism of a beginning student to the realism of a student who needs to get a dissertation done, I will look back longingly at the evenings I spent in the Doctoral Seminar.

I enjoyed each semester of Doctoral Seminar for different reasons. Class during the fall semester focused on research methods and logistics of dissertation completion. The class this semester focused on the results of research: policy, communities of practice, and educational programs. I began to see a connection of the “So What?” in research. That is, a research project must be chosen with a purpose in mind. I saw how individual interests in research resulted in active programs in the community and started to think about how my interests could serve a larger community.

Our online discussions helped me to process the various aspects of research that the professors brought to the course. I was enlightened to some other perspectives regarding the speakers through the medium of Blackboard. One drawback of group discussions this semester was that they tended to revolve around issues with practitioners, rather than scholars. As my future goals include working in academia, I was disappointed in the focus on our past, rather than our future.

I have also come to the realization that I am in a crossroads in my life right now. I am pursing the knowledge I need in the future to move from affecting one classroom as a teacher to affecting many classrooms as a researcher. The presentations during the Doctoral Seminar aided in helping me to focus my interests in order to facilitate this process.