HSCI 987 Dissertation I

HSCI 987 is the first step for the PhD doctoral candidate in Health Sciences. It provides focused study to develop the problem, purpose, significance, theoretical framework, biblical integration and literature review.  Students must successfully write, present and defend the prospectus to move to HSCI 988. 

Textbook Readings and Lecture Presentations/Notes

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Quiz: Timeline and Semester Goals

The candidate will create a timeline related to when they expect to complete each step of the dissertation process along with his or her goals for the semester. The purpose of this assignment is to assist the candidate with time management. This quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 1 true/false and 1 file upload question, and has no time limit. (CLO: B)

Quiz: Teams Synchronous Meetings (6)

In the initial stages of dissertation writing, it is critical that the student and their Chair and their committees communicate ideas, expectations, and goals between one another. HSCI 987 initiates the dissertation process with prospectus development. For the First and Seventh (Note: there is a nuance in the seventh of these meetings that students should take note of) of these meetings, all four individuals should be present (student, chair, and committee members). For the Second through Sixth synchronous meetings, only the student and the Chair need to be present (CLO: A, B, & F).

Research Summary Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to assess where you are with your research as the student begins their research. This includes analysis of their direction, the research question(s) associated with their study, the gap in the literature, and their proposed methodology for answering these questions (CLO: B, C, & E)

Prospectus Assignments (5)

For this course, there are five stages for submitting the prospectus. 

Prospectus: Chapter 1 Assignment

The candidate will submit a well-developed draft of the first chapter of the prospectus, following either the Quantitate or Qualitative Template. The document must conform to the latest version of the Dissertation Handbook and templates. The submission must be a minimum of 10-15 pages of content for Chapter 1, beginning with the chapter overview and ending with the chapter summary. The chapter must include a minimum of 25 different unique sources and accompanying reference pages (CLO: B, C, D, & E).

Prospectus: Chapter 2 Assignment

The candidate will submit a well-developed draft of the second chapter of the prospectus. The student should check with their Chair to see if they want a resubmission of Chapter 1’s edits submitted along with this new submission of chapter 2.  The document must conform to the latest version of the Dissertation Handbook and Template. The submission must be a minimum of 15 pages (likely it will need to eventually be well north of 20 pages) for Chapter 2, beginning with the chapter overview and ending with the chapter summary. The chapter must include a minimum of 40 different unique sources and accompanying reference pages (CLO: B, C, D, & E).

Prospectus: Chapter 3 Assignment

The candidate will submit a well-developed draft of the third chapter of the prospectus. The student should check with their Chair to see if they want a resubmission of Chapter 1-2’s edits submitted along with this new submission of chapter 3. The document must conform to the latest version of the Dissertation Handbook and the Template. The submission must be a minimum of 12 pages of content for Chapter 3, beginning with the chapter overview and ending with the chapter summary. The chapter must include a minimum of 50 different unique sources and accompanying reference pages (CLO: B, C, D, & E).

Prospectus: Chapters 1-3 Draft Assignment

The candidate will submit a well-developed draft of the entire prospectus, including references, and appropriate appendices. The document must conform to the latest version of the Dissertation Handbook. The final submission must be a minimum of 40 pages with accompanying reference pages containing 60 sources. The 40 page count begins with the Chapter 1 overview and ends with the Chapter 3 summary. Expect that by the end of the process to write more than this 40-page minimum. The candidate must address all comments regarding previous chapters made by the instructor (CLO: B, C, D, & E).

Prospectus: Chapters 1-3 Resubmission Assignment

After the first draft of chapters 1-3, the candidate will resubmit a well-developed draft of the entire prospectus, including references, and appropriate appendices. The document must conform to the latest version of the Dissertation Handbook. The final submission must be a minimum of 40 pages with accompanying reference pages containing 60 sources. The 40 page count begins with the Chapter 1 overview and ends with the Chapter 3 summary. Here is where most students will see that their prospectus extends beyond the 40-page mark. The candidate must address all comments regarding previous chapters made by the instructor (CLO: B, C, D, & E).

PowerPoint: Prospectus Defense Assignment

For this assignment, students should follow the bulleted lists of what to include in their defense PowerPoint. Additionally, students are required to follow procedural steps for completing this stage in the process. Lastly, for students not ready for defense, they should create a rough draft PowerPoint outline that they can modify in the future for their defense (CLO: C, D, E, & F). 

Quiz: Teams Synchronous Defense OR Meeting 7

This is a T/F quiz that is to be taken after the prospectus defense or the seventh synchronous teams meeting. The student will be asked the following question: I have successfully defended my prospectus or I have met with my chair and committee (this time all three need to be present) virtually as we plan my retake of HSCI 987 (T or F) (CLO: C, D, E, & F).