PhD research and change in thinking

Abstract

This action research aims to explore how my thinking has changed from doing my PhD research. My data consisted of my explicit records of actions between October 2007 and March 2010 (my messages on a web board, my emails to my supervisors, my emails requesting help from experts in the community, and my progress reports) and my conscious realization of changes in my thinking. Analyzing the data from critical and non-critical perspectives, I found that, critically, I had increased my awareness of underlying issues of decision making, and, non-critically, I had increased my independent judgments about my PhD thesis, associative thinking ability about relationships of components in research, and awareness of important external issues related to my PhD thesis. Through conducting this action research, I have a better understanding of significant changes in my thinking and an improvement in my reflection skills.