The Intersection of Andragogy and Dissertation Writing

Abstract

Andragogy is a theory that attempts to explain how adults learn in contrast with pedagogy which attempts to explain how children learn. In many universities, doctoral students struggle to complete the final requirement for graduation, the dissertation. Little research has been conducted on this issue. Two studies were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the ten-year-old doctoral program in education at the author's university. The author believes that using andragogy theory it is possible to modify the doctoral program to allow a higher percentage of students to complete their dissertation and for all students to experience less frustration with the process. Both interviews and statistical analysis were used to better understand what was working, what was not, and to suggest potential modifications to the program. Certain variables such as dissertation advisor, emphasis area, and previous teachers proved to not be significant. A student's reported self-motivation emerged as significant.