Un grupo de escritura virtual doctoral Factores que influyen en su funcionamiento según sus participantes

Abstract

One of the reasons why doctoral studies are not completed is the difficulty in writing the dissertation. This problem is further accentuated when students have limited exchange opportunities with peers and professors from their postgraduate programs towards the end of their studies. A pedagogical practice that has proven to be significant to advance this type of writing is the joint revision of texts in virtual writing groups. This article analyzes the factors that influenced the development of a virtual writing group composed of three doctoral students from different Argentinian universities that have been meeting for over a year. For this purpose, a thematic analysis of data from group and individual interviews, exchanges via email, and documents related to the group’s organizational issues was carried out. In line with previous work, our results show that, according to the participants, a writing group’s usefulness depends on three interconnected types of factors: logistical, cognitive, and interpersonal. Despite the narrow scope of our study, it contributes with empirical data that can inform future institutional initiatives created to support the development of thesis writing at the postgraduate level