摘要：This paper discusses the nature and characteristics of doctoral dissertation learning and the role of mentor in the dissertation stage.Doctoral level education requires a considerable degree of learner’s independent thinking.While independence has been discussed as a personal trait or in relation to the socialization of doctoral education,independence has rarely been discussed as a higher level of cognitive development necessary to create new knowledge.When students transition from a consumer of knowledge to a creator/owner of knowledge,they are required to adopt a new epistemology,i.e.,a new way of knowing.How do doctoral advisors/mentors successfully open students to a new way of knowing? This paper addresses the pedagogical foundations of doctoral advising.Drawing on theories of student-centered pedagogy and self-directed learning,this paper attempts to conceptualize the doctoral supervisor’s role in the case of doctoral supervision.
