Preparing for Viva

Submitting the thesis was a very moving experience. Actually seeing the size of the hard copy had me stunned. I mean I am finding it hard to pick one copy and walk around! OK OK I know that is because I still have problems with my muscles but you know what I mean. Also never having handled such a big document as an e-copy I found that my editing was not as good as I had assumed it to be. So I got stuck right into editing on the hard copy. It was also an opportunity to read the complete thesis and re familiarise myself with all the important points.

Then I had my mock viva ...... while I do know my work inside out and the mock was being carried out by my supervisors it was still a daunting process. They were familiar with the research projects where i worked collaboratively to gather my data and so in my mind much more likely to find weaknesses. But then I do know that the examiners were most likely to find issues to clarify as they are not familiar with the projects. I also find that collaborative approach to PhD is not so common with the UK universities but much more common in Europe.

There are many advantages of carrying out collaborative research. It allowed me to work with an experienced research team on real projects. It gave me the confidence of working within the team while developing my research skills. The collaborative approach further allows for strengthening the findings of my research as they get incorporated into project reports and also publications related to the two different projects. This approach also makes it feasible to carry out those kinds of researches for a PhD which would otherwise not be possible to do due to reasons of financial and logistical implications. This approach allowed me to compare two very different synchronous online learning tools which are cutting edge software.

What came as a good surprise that when answering the questions in the viva I was to make extensive reference to my thesis. I was not expected to answer from memory. Rather my memory was more to ensure I got to the appropriate parts of the writing. This will mean the need to at least have a few tags for the key points so I can go right to the answers. That will be done with the second reading of the thesis. Then I think I will be as ready as I ever will be. I just hope there is not a lot of re writing suggested by the examiners. Most likely it would be with regards to clarity of linking the findings to examples and of explanations. Fingers crossed......... So another week to have butterflies and anxiety before the d-day...