Using collaborative peer feedback and supervision to support doctoral research at a distance

Abstract

This paper documents a collaborative peer-support and supervision model with peers and supervisors provide critical feedback to doctoral thesis proposals within an online learning community in a New Zealand university. A content analysis was conducted on 26 online presentations from 10 EdD proposals to investigate the nature and types of feedback provided by a group of 10 students and 10 supervisors engaged in this collaborative learning and supervision process. Six students were also interviewed. Findings from this study show that the online feedback process was helpful in supporting revisions of thesis proposals, and was a valuable component of this new approach to thesis supervision.