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Most research indicating dissonant forms of student learning engagement, leading to problems in the achievement of learning outcomes, is with undergraduates. Action research at Anglia Polytechnic University (APU) involving questionnaires, focus groups and supervisory dialogues, conducted with Israeli and UK postgraduate students between 1998 and 2001, indicates that dissonance in research seen as a form of learning produces potentially significant difficulties for students at different stages in their work. These difficulties emerge principally when developing a proposal, deciding on research methodologies and methods, undertaking the research, and developing and maintaining links between findings, analysis and conclusions, specifically those which aim to lead to transformative research outcomes. A research development programme and supervisory dialogues provide support, enabling some PhD students to overcome dissonance and succeed in their studies.
Wisker et al. (Wed,) studied this question.