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The motivations and reasons why researchbased students pursued their online PhD during the COVID-19 pandemic: The future trends of online postgraduate research education beyond travelling restrictions
Date Issued
2023
Citation
Dos Santos, L. M., Lo, H. F., Kwee, C. T. T., Chen, Y., Fan, P., Zhao, H., She, X., Wu, J., Zhou, Y., & Guo, T. (2023 Jul 5). The motivations and reasons why researchbased students pursued their online PhD during the COVID-19 pandemic: The future trends of online postgraduate research education beyond travelling restrictions. 2023 International Conference on Open and Innovative Education, Hong Kong.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Since early 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many international students could not go to the host country for various reasons. However, since March 2022, almost all South Korean colleges and universities have offered face-toface courses, as the South Korean government relaxed social
distancing restrictions in school environments. As faceto-face and peer-to-peer interactions are some key points for postgraduate education, it is important to understand why some students decided to give up their chances for networking and interaction. The purpose of this study is to understand and investigate the motivations, reasons, and decision-making processes of a group of postgraduate
students who decided to complete a part of their degree curriculum, such as coursework requirements, via the online teaching and learning platform after the South Korean government relaxed social distancing restrictions (March 2022). Based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory and Social Cognitive Career and Motivation Theory, the study was guided by two research questions: 1) Why did
postgraduate students decide to pursue their postgraduate degree programme via online teaching and learning platforms after the South Korean government relaxed social distancing restrictions in March 2022? 2) How do postgraduate students describe their experiences and sensemaking processes for their postgraduate degree programme via online teaching and learning platforms after the South
Korean government relaxed social distancing restrictions in March 2022?
The general inductive approach was employed to recruit 30 participants, particularly PhD students who are currently enrolled at a South Korean university. Three data collection tools were used: 1) focus group activity, 2) remarkable item sharing, and 3) member-checking interview. The grounded theory approach of data analysis was also used. Based on the open-coding and axial-coding techniques, the researchers merged three themes.
The researchers found the following themes: 1) employment engagement: the sudden change could not match my employment; 2) learning flexibilities: online learning has the same results; and 3) financial consideration: the COVID-19 pandemic affected my financial plan. These are three of the main themes which highly affected their motivations, experiences, and sense-making processes.
Although online teaching and learning is not new in the educational system, many postgraduate students decided to return to school for their postgraduate degree (both full-time and part-time). The results of this study offer some good suggestions and outline the future trends and developments for university leaders and department heads for onlinebased PhD education, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The general inductive approach was employed to recruit 30 participants, particularly PhD students who are currently enrolled at a South Korean university. Three data collection tools were used: 1) focus group activity, 2) remarkable item sharing, and 3) member-checking interview. The grounded theory approach of data analysis was also used. Based on the open-coding and axial-coding techniques, the researchers merged three themes.
The researchers found the following themes: 1) employment engagement: the sudden change could not match my employment; 2) learning flexibilities: online learning has the same results; and 3) financial consideration: the COVID-19 pandemic affected my financial plan. These are three of the main themes which highly affected their motivations, experiences, and sense-making processes.
Although online teaching and learning is not new in the educational system, many postgraduate students decided to return to school for their postgraduate degree (both full-time and part-time). The results of this study offer some good suggestions and outline the future trends and developments for university leaders and department heads for onlinebased PhD education, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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