Exploring Doctoral Students’ Understandings of Researcher Identity and Agency Through the Draw-a-Researcher Test (Poster 7)

• In Event: Friday Poster Session 3:05 pm

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore doctoral students’ understandings of researcher identity and agency as measured by the Draw-a-Researcher Test (DART) As such, the present study aimed to understand how education and social science doctoral students view the work of researchers and also explored the possible influence of a qualitative methods research course on the students’ researcher identity. The central research question guiding the present study is: In what ways, if any, do doctoral students locate identity and agency within their mental models of research and researcher practices? Pre- and post-test findings indicate that, over the 16-week qualitative research course, doctoral students’ views of researcher agency evolved allowing for more reflexive and creative researcher identities to take shape.

Author

• Angela L. Eckhoff, Old Dominion University