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Guidelines for the conduct of a dissertation defense at the university of texas at tyler, outlining the general procedures, roles of attendees, and question session. It emphasizes the importance of effective communication and learning for all participants.
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Guidelines for the Conduct of a Dissertation Defense These guidelines describe the general conduct of a dissertation defense at The University of Texas at Tyler from a normative (what is usually done) point of view. The responsibility for the defense belongs to the dissertation committee chair, and departures from these typical guidelines will occur for various reasons. Nevertheless, The Graduate School has provided these common approaches and practices for this capstone event. What is a defense? A dissertation defense is an oral presentation and discussion of a dissertation study. The purpose is to share the results of the study and to demonstrate to the committee and the academic community that the author has done work of sufficient quality to receive the doctoral degree and is able to speak to it in an open forum. Dissertation chairs do not allow candidates to schedule defenses until the quality of the dissertation document is acceptable. It is expected that if the candidate speaks to his or her study as well as s/he has written about it, s/he will be successful in the defense. Who attends? The doctoral candidate and his or her committee members attend the dissertation defense. Sometimes, committee members attend via a conference call if the logistics of attendance make it too difficult to schedule his or her presence (for example, if the committee member is at quite a distance). Dissertation defenses are open to any interested members of the academic or professional community. Only the presentation and questioning portions of the defense are open; individuals who are not members of the official committee will be excluded from other portions of the defense. Faculty who are not members of the committee may not question. Personal guests (adult friends or family members) may attend, but this should be approved by the committee chair ahead of time. Personal guests who attend should realize they are attending a professional meeting as observers and may not ask questions. What is the order of events? This varies and will depend in large part on discussions between the committee chair and the doctoral candidate. The most common practice is to begin with the chair welcoming the attendees, and then the candidate making a presentation based on the dissertation. The purpose of the presentation is not to substitute for the committee’s reading but rather to demonstrate that the candidate can speak to what he or she did. Speaking about one’s research is in itself an academic skill that is different from writing the study. Presentations have been done in many formats: seated at a table with the committee, or standing in front of a large or small audience, with or without the aid of PowerPoint slides. The format itself is not as important as the substance and should reflect the most effective way to communicate to the audience. Questions should be held to the end. The chair will inform participants at the start of the defense how questions will be handled.
After the presentation, the dissertation committee asks questions designed to (a) explore further some of the candidate’s methods, findings, or theoretical and practical applications of results; (b) allow the candidate to demonstrate what he or she knows about the general topic; (c) probe what the candidate learned in general, or about his or her professional practice, from conducting the study. The questions may range quite broadly, from very specific to very general. They may be retrospective, intended to ask about something that was already done in the study, or prospective, intended to get the candidate thinking about future possibilities or uses for the findings. They may include open-ended questions to which there is no known or “right” answer as well as closed questions about particular literature, theory, methods, or findings. It is not “mean” to ask “hard” questions. The intent is for the candidate and all the attendees to learn as much as possible about the study, the new knowledge the candidate’s study has generated, and the candidate’s fitness for the degree. After the candidate speaks and the committee finishes with their questions, the committee excuses the candidate and any observers in order to discuss whether the candidate should pass and the dissertation defense form should be signed.