Doctoral Course Research Articles

Safely discussing what cannot be said out loud

The context: An online, doctoral course on contemporary Roman Catholic (hereafter RC) magisterial teachings on sexuality. Students, nearly all of whom were RC and employed professionally by that Church, worked in four different countries. The pedagogical purpose: My aims were multiple: to foster reflection on the Church's null curriculum, which consists of those ideas, topics, sources of wisdom, and perspectives on sexuality withheld from consideration and incorporation into moral argument; to force students to think critically about different sides of an argument, nurturing in them empathy for other viewpoints and the recognition of competing interests; and to create a safe space in which students can give voice to ideas which do not conform to prevailing cultural or ecclesial ideologies. Description of the strategy: It involved writing “in character” in various fictional scenarios. In a threaded discussion assignment, students were initially to pretend to represent the Vatican when articulating two traditional arguments against the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling rendering same-sex marriage constitutional. Then, they were to “change hats,” and in response to one of their classmate's summation of the best of magisterial arguments, present the best of alternative insights, presently not incorporated in official RC teachings. For their final paper, students role-played again. In this scenario their local RC bishop asks each for his/her help identifying new issues he might bring to a Synod on the Family in Rome. In their “letter,” students were to identify topics that given their particular geographical context needed to receive different or expanded attention by Rome. Why it is effective: Challenging church teachings can be (mis)perceived as disloyal. One's stance toward official teachings about sexuality in several Catholic dioceses functions as a litmus test for one's “suitability” for church work, fueling fears among theological students about job security and future vocational prospects. The fictional nature of these oblique teaching tactics reduces such fears. It enables students to imaginatively try on arguments with little risk. It eases concerns about the confidentiality, especially of written work shared online. Assignments that invite attention to what has not yet received sufficient attention underscore the positive aspects of developing tradition, while at the same time revealing as perhaps not fully unwarranted current normative conclusions.

An Analysis of Practical Arts Education Major Doctoral Course Curriculum in Republic of Korea

An Analysis of Practical Arts Education Major Doctoral Course Curriculum in Republic of Korea

Research on the Selection Method of the Key Factors of Engineering Doctoral Course System Based on Vague Value

Research on the Selection Method of the Key Factors of Engineering Doctoral Course System Based on Vague Value

English

The case study aims to explore the usability of library services through smartphones by the students of the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow-Noida Campus (IIM LNC). A survey was conducted through a well-structured questionnaire, prepared through Google Forms, sent to total 286 students, currently studying at IIM LNC in postgraduate, executive, and doctoral courses. The data collected was analySed through Google sheets and presented in the form of pie charts and tables. The findings of the study clearly show that the students are keen to use the library services through a smartphone. They very well received the services suggested by the author and expect that the quality of services will improve with the use of mobile technology. The study was confined to the smartphone usage for library services by the students of IIM LNC only. The study highlights the IIM LNC students’ overview and expectations regarding the use of smartphones by the library for enhancing the quality of its services.

Implementation of Ultrasonography as Screening Tool-After J-START in Japan

In November 2015, the results of J-START, the first large scale randomized control trial to examine usefulness of mammography(MG) and adjunctive ultrasound(US) screening for women aged 40-49 were published in the Lancet. In the intervention group which had both MG and US and mostly clinical breast examination (CBE), more cancers, especially invasive small cancers, were detected and interval cancers were less compared to the control group which had MG and mostly CBE. No cancers were detected by CBE in the intervention group. However specificity was low in the intervention group. In 2016, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare excluded CBE as the modality of breast screening and MG has become the only modality for screening. The Ministry did not include US because they thought that the base structures and qualified man-power resources were not enough to apply US to papulation based screening. To perform high quality ultrasound screening, the Japan Central Organization on Quality Assurance of Breast Cancer Screening has been organized two-day ultrasound training course for both technologists and doctors and is going to publish the names of the participants who achieved the prescribed level in the test held at the end of the course. To improve specificity, combined judgement criteria for US and MG results were proposed and the teaching program to broaden the criteria has been held several times. Based on those efforts, ultrasound screening has becoming popular especially in individual based screening, Among Japanese women, the concern on the problems of “dense breast” is spreading after press report. There are many problems relating “dense breast”, such as imaging definition and inter-observer differences. We are now trying to solve these problems and to implement high quality ultrasound screening to appropriate objectives.

A reflexive exercise to promote cultural humility among doctoral nursing students

Background: The U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse; however, nursing remains a predominantly Caucasian profession. To promote positive outcomes among diverse patients, nurses must rely on rigorous transcultural research. When conducting research with people different from oneself, knowledge of one’s own values and beliefs is a necessary first step. In Transcultural Nursing Research, a required doctoral course, the first assignment is a reflexive exercise followed by online discussion about one’s personal culture and the origins of values and beliefs. Objectives: To (a) examine students’ responses to a reflexive exercise for evidence of cultural self-awareness, cultural humility, and insights gained and (b) assess the effectiveness of the teaching method.Methods: The setting was online within the Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard. Participants: The sample consisted of twelve doctoral students enrolled in Transcultural Nursing Research. Methods: Student consent was obtained after course grades were submitted. Data was extracted from the LMS, de-identified, coded, categorized and collapsed into themes.Results: Four themes emerged from the data: “different versus familiar”, “cultural experiences”, “memories” and “reflections and implications”.Conclusions: Posts reflected insight into cultural awareness, values and humility. Students identified growth opportunities for themselves and their children. Suggestions for future education and research are presented.

Increasing Doctoral Students’ Self-Efficacy to Teach Health Promotion Theory

Health education specialists in academia and in the workplace must be effective teachers. However, doctoral programs often fail to equip students with effective teaching skills. In this study, we evaluate a first-year doctoral course that provided students the opportunity to learn how to teach health promotion theory, apply behavioral science theories and models to the development of health interventions, hone group facilitation skills, and develop their scientific writing abilities. Eight doctoral students completed a teaching self-efficacy assessment during the first and last class periods of a fall 2014 semester at a graduate school of public health in the United States. Throughout the semester, students reflected on their teaching. We applied a Wilcoxon signed-rank test to measure changes in pre- and postteaching self-efficacy scores and subjected student reflexive writings to a content analysis. The median increase in pre ( Mdn = 63, range = 24-72) and post ( Mdn = 76, range = 71-90) teaching self-efficacy scores were statistically significant for all participants ( z = 2.523, p = .012). The students’ reflexive writings explained how this increase occurred. Students gained an awareness of skills needed to teach effectively. Students found the course challenging because it uncovered teaching role ambiguities as they became cognizant of their lack of facilitation and presentation skills. The increased awareness of their deficiencies initially decreased their teaching self-efficacy. However, continued engagement in the course allowed them to resolve deficiencies, resolve some role ambiguity, and experience a net increase in teaching self-efficacy.

Psicólogos(as) escolares, diversidade sexual e escola: um estudo Brasil/Portugal

This article goal to come up with preliminary data from qualitative / exploratory research fulfilled between December 2013 and March 2014, inserted in the doctoral course in the University of Lisbon / Portugal. It aimed to characterize the performance of Psychologists school in Brazil and Portugal, facing the issues related to sexual diversity in the school context. For this was used the semi-structured interviews as a data collection technique. Through the content analysis results indicate that in spite of the participants highlight the important contribution that psychology can and should take forward the issues surrounding sexual diversity notably to overcome prejudice and discrimination that still persist in the school environment, some situations make it difficult to action: lack of incentive to propose interventions because of little importance given from school about to questioning issues related to this subject; the numerous demands of school; They do not feel sufficiently prepared due to little or no information received over the university and their own beliefs and values. Hence the importance of research to contribute to the awareness of psychologists about the issues of sexual diversity and the effects of the constitution of subjects especially at school where situations of discrimination and prejudice are reported.

A responsabilidade penal ambiental na constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988

Este artigo científico trata da Responsabilidade Penal Ambiental na Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988, sob um olhar eminentemente acadêmico, eis que visa a atender um dos critérios de avaliação para o aproveitamento do discente na disciplina Teoria do Estado e da Constituição do curso de doutorado em Ciência Jurídica da Univali. Demonstra-se os conceitos operacionais sobre as categorias Constituição, Meio Ambiente e Responsabilidade Penal Ambiental. Aborda-se a relevância do próprio tema aqui proposto para a proposta acadêmica, bem como a sua relevância para as conscientização da Sociedade sobre os efeitos da responsabilização penal aos poluidores previstos no art. 225, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988.

Determination of Competency to Stand Trial (Fitness to Plead): An Exploratory Study in Hong Kong

Competency to stand trial (CST) is related to the defendant's capacity to engage in a satisfactory level of participation in the court process. While the extant studies focus mainly on assessment-related issues such as assessment methods, guidelines for competency evaluations, and quality of competency evaluations, another area of considerable interest is the indicators of CST as well as legal decision-making relating to CST. This study canvasses some proposed indicators of CST from the literature and examines whether these psycho-legal abilities are relevant to finding a defendant incompetent to stand trial. Secondly, the study investigates factors likely to influence legal decision-making in competency determination. Using a cross-sectional survey and a self-report methodology, 197 participants from a legal Juris Doctoral course responded to measures of CST, punitiveness, and legal authoritarianism, anti-authoritarianism and egalitarianism. The results show that the majority of the items canvassed from the literature are considered relevant in finding the defendant incompetent to stand trial. With respect to factors influencing competent decision-making, females are more likely to regard defendants as incompetent. Additionally, participants with strong punishment-oriented attitudes (i.e. legal authoritarianism and punitiveness) are significantly more likely to find the defendant competent to stand trial, as opposed to those high in non-punishment-oriented attitudes (i.e. anti-authoritarianism and egalitarianism). The study concludes that biased legal decision-making can occur regardless of the background of the decision-makers, in this case participants undergoing legal training. The findings are discussed and implications of the study are proposed.

Quality evaluation in post-graduate diploma courses from the students' perspective: An exploratory study in Brazil

This article aims to evaluate the quality perceived, from the perspective of students, in post-graduate diploma courses in the Brazilian context. Post-graduate diploma courses in Brazil are called lato sensu courses as opposed to stricto sensu courses, which is a term used for Master's Degree and Doctorate courses. Based on the literature on quality in services, the main constructs regarding quality in this field were addressed, in addition to studies that investigated the quality of services in Higher Education Institutions. A questionnaire with 32 items was applied to 358 individuals at a major university in the northeast of Brazil. By means of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, five dimensions relating to SERVQUAL attributes were formed: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. As a contribution to the field, this study suggests the validity of quality perception indicators analyzed in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and their adaptation to the robust SERVQUAL methodology.

Redeeming the rejected: Curious George and evidence-based approaches

The author’s recent participation in a doctoral course on epistemology and the nature of social work knowledge produced an inner struggle regarding the validity of positivist and evidence-based approaches to social work practice and research. This article seeks to share some of this struggle as many social workers, students, and researchers have and continue to encounter debates regarding the use of evidence-based approaches in social work practice and research. The dichotomous nature these debates often take has often resulted in the exclusive embracing, defending and perpetuation of evidence-based approaches or the complete rejection and discarding of such approaches. The author suggests in this article that social workers, researchers, and academics consider an alternative approach to the debate.

Effects of the Self-esteem Program on Underachieving Children's Reading and Writing Abilities

The purpose of this study is to analyze and review the self-esteem program on underachieving children's reading and writing and academic achievement. The self-esteem program was carried out five times for two male fourth graders and two male fifth graders at S elementary school in Gwangju as the subject of this study. Self Esteem program was a preand post-test two sessions, five sessions arbitration. Program content is organized into to present yourself, to be announced likes and dislikes, know their strengths and weaknesses, to announce plans for the future, etc. The result of this study showed that the self-esteem program affected underachieving children's reading ability. This can be interpreted as the result of the Received (May 16, 2016), Review Result (May 30, 2016) Accepted (June 7, 2016), Published (July 31, 2016) 506-706 Dept. Special Education, NamBu Univ., 23 Chumdan Jungang-ro, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, Korea email: psoongil@nambu.ac.kr (Corresponding Author) 506-706 Doctor's Course, Dept. Special Education, NamBu Univ., 23 Chumdan Jungang-ro, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, Korea email: ljw@hanmail.net * 이 논문은 정부재원(교육부 인문사회연구역량강화사업비)으로 한국연구재단의 지원을 받았음(2013S1A3A2054928). Effects of the self-esteem program on underachieving children's reading and writing abilities Copyright c 2016 HSST 260 confidence gained through such a program announced in self-esteem. Second, the underachieving children's writing ability was improved through the self-esteem program. It can be said that the announcement is related to trying to see down the front of your friends likes and dislikes in a self-esteem program. Third, while the self-esteem program was being carried out, the overall attitude of four students was changed significantly.

Social work doctoral education: Are doctoral students being prepared to teach?

SummaryLongstanding tensions exist around the purpose of social work doctoral programs, particularly around the extent to which doctoral program should prepare their students to teach. Indeed, social work programs in the United States have been criticized for failing to prepare graduates for teaching; however, it has been a number of years since doctoral curricula have been reviewed. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which US social work doctoral programs are training their students to teach by assessing the extent to which pedagogical training is explicitly integrated into doctoral curricula and examining the scope and content of required doctoral courses on teaching. Content analysis of social work doctoral program curricula ( n = 72) and teaching and learning related course syllabi ( n = 24) was conducted by two coders. Syllabi were coded and analyzed to produce a profile of course objectives, readings, teaching strategies, assessment methods, and course content.FindingsOf the 72 PhD programs, 90% included a goal related to the preparation of their students for teaching; however, only 37 (51%) required a course on teaching. Course content, teaching, and assessment methods were found to vary across courses.ApplicationsTraining the next generation of social work practitioners to engage in effective social work practice is critical to the profession; however, the preparation of doctoral students to provide quality education to future social work practitioners seems to be largely neglected. Implications for doctoral education are discussed.

Professional identity formation in the transition from medical school to working life: a qualitative study of group-coaching courses for junior doctors.

BackgroundThe transition from student to medical doctor is challenging and stressful to many junior doctors. To practice with confidence and professionalism the junior doctors have to develop a strong professional identity. Various suggestions on how to facilitate formation of professional identity have been offered including the possible positive effect of group-coaching courses. The purpose of this study was to explore how group-coaching might facilitate professional identity formation among junior doctors in the transition period.MethodsGroup-coaching courses comprising three whole-day sessions and five 2 h sessions during a period of 4 months were offered to junior doctors in the first years after graduation. The purpose was to support the participants’ professional development, ability to relate to patients, relatives and staff and career development. The coaches in this study had a background as health professionals combined with coaching educations. Data was obtained through observations, open-ended questionnaires and interviews. A generic thematic analysis was applied.ResultsForty-five doctors participated in six coaching groups. The three main themes emerging in the sessions were: Adoption to medical culture, career planning, and work/life-balance. The junior doctors found the coaching intervention highly useful in order to cope with these challenges. Furthermore, the group was a forum where the junior doctors could share thoughts and feelings with colleagues without being afraid that this would endanger their professional career. Many found new ways to respond to everyday challenges mainly through a new awareness of patterns of thinking and feeling.ConclusionsThe participants found that the group-coaching course supported their professional identity formation (thinking, feeling and acting as a doctor), adoption to medical culture, career planning and managing a healthy work/life-balance. Further studies in different contexts are recommended as well as studies using other methods to test the results of this qualitative study.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0684-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Programa de Iniciação Cientifica: influência no aumento quantitativo e qualitativo da produção científica

The participation of the graduate student in Undergraduate Research Program provides learning the scientific method and can improve their performance in particularly graduate in master's and doctoral courses. The aim of this study was to investigate the scientific production of students who participated in the strict sense of scientific research programs. To answer the question posed developed a documental descriptive research. We analyzed the curricula of the Lattes platform of the students enrolled in the six UNOPAR Masters Courses from July to August 2015. To carry out the proposed analysis were collected data on: updating the curriculum; participation or not in I.C. programs and teaching experience. Data were analyzed using data collected quantitatively and compared in relation to the production of articles of the students who participated or not, IC programs In this study we found that: the 135 students enrolled in the strict sense graduate programs 85.2% had updated curricula; most of the students who participated in I.C. programs have scientific articles published in scientific journals evaluated indicative of quality layers, and other scientific production; and the scientific production of students who pursue teaching is superior to the non-teaching staff. The data found in this study do not differ from other studies on the subject in relation to the value of scientific research and encouraging the formation and quality of the work produced by the students. Concern about the quality of published work, through the Qualis of the survey, is a differential of this study that adds value to scientific research as a path to scientific publication quality.

The case for behavioural change counselling for the prevention of NCDs and improvement of self-management of chronic conditions

Brief behaviour change counselling (BBCC) that is integrated into routine health care has been shown to be effective in helping patients modify risk behaviours for non-communicable disease (NCD), improve self-management of chronic conditions, as well as produce clinically meaningful improvements in biological outcomes. Capacitating healthcare providers to effectively assist patients in lifestyle modification and self-management has been recognised by the South African Department of Health as an important strategic objective in its stated intention to ‘re-orientate’ the primary health care system to prevent NCDs more effectively and improve the quality of care for chronic conditions. However, primary care providers in South Africa are currently poorly trained for behaviour change counselling. The University of Stellenbosch, in partnership with the Chronic Disease Initiative for Africa (CDIA), has recently developed a training course for doctors and nurses that is offered as a CPD accredited course every ye...

Internacionalização de Cursos stricto sensu: uma investigação sobre a distância psíquica e as práticas adotadas

A internacionalização como estratégia de inserção em mercados externos não é um fenômeno restrito aos negócios. Nota-se, também, que as Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) estão cada vez se inserindo no mercado global para o desenvolvimento de estratégias específicas para dar suporte às suas políticas de ensino, pesquisa e extensão. A internacionalização deste tipo de organizações não é recente, no entanto, cada vez mais as IES vêm adotando esta estratégia, especialmente no caso de cursos de pós-graduação stricto sensu. Objetivando verificar se a distância psíquica interfere na escolha dos parceiros de universidades estrangeiras, realizou-se uma pesquisa exploratória e qualitativa com sete cursos stricto sensu de uma universidade localizada no sul do Brasil. Os resultados revelam que a distância psíquica não determina a escolha dos países envolvidos, e sim, a rede de relação dos professores. A rede de relações na literatura de Negócios Internacionais foi considerada como um fator importante para minimizar os efeitos negativos da distância psíquica, proporcionando condições para adquirir conhecimento e competências. Mostrou-se ainda, que os cursos stricto sensu se inserem no mercado internacional de educação superior com um relativo baixo grau de conhecimento. Contudo, numa trajetória gradativa, as IES vão adquirindo o conhecimento e as competências necessárias para a cooperação com programas de pós-graduação de universidades estrangeiras utilizando-se de suas redes estabelecidas por professores e pesquisadores.

Ancestral Knowledge Systems: A conceptual framework for decolonizing research in social science

Building on the seminal work of Linda T. Smith in decolonizing research methodologies, this paper introduces Ancestral Knowledge Systems (AKS) as a conceptual framework for social science research methodologies. We use autoethnography and critical self-reflection throughout the article to make visible the components of AKS. First, we lay out the context in which AKS was re-created after a doctoral course on decolonizing research methodologies. We unpack internalized colonization to address the need to go beyond identity politics and towards AKS thinking as an approach to promote a multiplicity of knowledge systems. Next, we discuss family epistemologies and collective memories as methods for reconnecting accountability systems to ancestral homeland(s). Finally, we discuss our visions for AKS across learning ecologies. The scholarly significance of our research is twofold: (1) it develops a framework for critical introspection and connectivity for decolonizing research, and (2) it promotes a multiplicity of knowledge systems in the academy.

Themes at the intersections of theory and practice in online and blended education

This is a reflexive account of my experiences teaching online and blended doctoral research methodology courses and seminars. Vacillating between skepticism and affirmation, my thoughts mirror the many issues that arise from my daily professional practice and from what I have discovered in my quest to better understand the nature and workings of online and blended education through scholarly discourse. The purpose of sharing my experiences and points of view is to test a set of my truths among the community of experts on the subject. I refer to these truths as evocative discourses – emergent themes at the intersection of theory and practice of online and blended teaching and learning.