{"id":1379,"date":"2016-09-26T16:19:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T15:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/engage-in-teaching-and-learning\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2019-10-04T15:36:30","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:36:30","slug":"its-time-viva-day-by-heike-bruton-research-assistant-and-phd-researcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/2016\/09\/26\/its-time-viva-day-by-heike-bruton-research-assistant-and-phd-researcher\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time! Viva Day   &#8211;   By Heike Bruton, Research Assistant and PhD Researcher"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There can\u2019t be many more nerve-wracking oral exams than the PhD viva. A several-year build-up \u2013and then\u2026 what? To give research students an impression of what\u2019s it actually like on the day, Dr Carol Fuller from the Institute of Education has produced a short, entertaining and informative video. Using some Teaching and Learning Development Fund (TLDF) money, Carol, who is Director of the Institute\u2019s EdD Programme, has teamed up with film maker Henry Steddman \u2013 a UoR alumni &#8212; to provide reassurance to potentially anxious candidates. Starring some IoE colleagues as well as professional actors, the video thankfully stays clear of vague and meaningless advice often found in self-help type viva-survivor tips, such as \u2018just be yourself\u2019 (which is fine if your self is a confident academic on top of your game, not so much if it\u2019s a nervous wreck. As Father Ted says to Dougal: never be yourself! That\u2019s just something people say!)<\/p>\n<p>So how should you be, then? First, let\u2019s remember the cornerstones of the situation you\u2019re in here:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You\u2019re the expert on your thesis<\/li>\n<li>The examiners have read your work thoroughly\u2026<\/li>\n<li>\u2026.and they\u2019re keen to discuss it with you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On viva day:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>dress smartly<\/li>\n<li>refer to your thesis<\/li>\n<li>keep eye contact<\/li>\n<li>if unsure, ask questions<\/li>\n<li>stay hydrated<\/li>\n<li>\u2026.try to relax!<\/li>\n<li>at the end, if you\u2019re asked whether you\u2019d like to add anything, take the opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then, you\u2019ve done all you can for now, and there\u2019s no more to than just wait, until\u2026 it\u2019s time!<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, you\u2019ll get the desired result, and will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy! Congratulations!<\/p>\n<p>If UoR PhD\u2019ers and EdD\u2019ers find the video useful, Carol is keen to hear their feedback \u2013 via any means possible, be it the YouTube comment box, on Facebook or twitter, or via email.\u201d It\u2019s a good way to give students access to an easy-to-use resource\u201d, says Carol. \u201cIf students tell us they like this video clip, we can make the case for funding to make more such short films, for example on epistemology or methodology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What do you and your students think of Carol\u2019s video? Have a watch here:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=a3hnu2aq8P4\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=a3hnu2aq8P4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>post authored by:<\/p>\n<p>Heike Bruton | Research Assistant and PhD Researcher | University of Reading, Institute of Education, London Road Campus, building L33 room 115, 4 Redlands Road, Reading, RG1 5EX | + 44(0) 118 378 2645 | <a href=\"mailto:h.bruton@reading.ac.uk\">h.bruton@reading.ac.uk<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.owamail.reading.ac.uk\/owa\/redir.aspx?C=1CXM79asYQ5ZGY4Hwhb1ZVOXBti06hCehelwqoV4Di9-bIbzHubTCA..&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fgermanintheuk.com%2fabout%2f\">http:\/\/germanintheuk.com\/about\/<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.owamail.reading.ac.uk\/owa\/redir.aspx?C=XI3-kwG0D-ksfnM6uqJV2IzcQB3qRqCQReXHIYQRE9V-bIbzHubTCA..&amp;URL=https%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fHeikeBruton\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/HeikeBruton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There can\u2019t be many more nerve-wracking oral exams than the PhD viva. A several-year build-up \u2013and then\u2026 what? To give research students an impression of what\u2019s it actually like on the day, Dr Carol Fuller from the Institute of Education has produced a short, entertaining and informative video. Using some Teaching and Learning Development Fund [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[204],"tags":[561,221,71,37,262],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}