Using the M.Phil to Ph.D Transfer Viva as a Focus for the Collaborative Self Study of Examining Practices

This paper questions the practice whereby the university teacher has sole power over judgments about doctoral student outcomes. The analysis is based on action research and a case study examination of one student's vive voca examination to transfer from the M.Phil to the Ph.D. program at Kingston University (England). In the examination process the stakeholders explored the value of collegiality which they sought to implement in their examination practice. An analysis of the transcripts of the examination process suggested that three dilemmas were central to a reconstructed notion of examination, including: (1) democratization of the process of examination; (2) conflicting research paradigms and the nature of the Ph.D.; and (3) the viva voce as a formative learning process for stakeholders in the examination. These three dilemmas are then used to address issues that arise between a supervisor and doctoral student, using a joint self-study conducted through a facilitated-memory work session. (Contains 43 references.) (MDM)