Graduate Professional Development Research Articles

Ethical and effortful: workshopping human and generative AI academic writing collaborations

The launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT in 2022 caused a furore within higher education. While initial reactions were negative – educators imagined the end of the undergraduate essay and an acceleration in academic integrity departures – more recent conversations have emphasised how these tools might enhance teaching and learning experiences. This paper explores one possibility for approaching student use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, by considering their use in relation to academic skill development. It focuses on a set of workshops conducted within a graduate professional development course at Queen’s University (Canada) in early 2024. The first workshop examined commonalities in Western, English academic writing structures; identified how demystifying these structures supports academic writing and reading practices; and considered how GenAI tools that utilise large language models (LLMs) mimic these structures to enhance students’ awareness of GenAI’s potential applications and limitations, and to identify the processes inherent in academic work. In the second workshop, students critiqued discipline-specific examples of AI-generated academic assignments. By exploring the qualities of academic writing alongside GenAI outputs, the workshop series invited students to explore the possibilities of what might be achieved through human-AI collaboration and to articulate what can never be replicated by a tool without embodied knowledge. This paper presented this set of workshops as a possible model for discussing GenAI tools with students—a model that demonstrates how GenAI tools might be integrated into students’ academic practices in ways that are ethical and effortful and which support, rather than stifle, student creativity.

Doctoral Teaching and Mentoring in Digital Humanities: Changing Approaches to Graduate Pedagogy in Times of Multiple Crises

Focusing on graduate student education and professional development in the humanities, we examine how crises of the last few years – COVID-19, precarious employment and racial reckoning, among others – exposed iniquities in digital humanities (DH) and pedagogical training. This article explores how Emory Center for Digital Scholarship’s (ECDS) outreach initiatives operated through and responded to recent years’ crises post-2020. ECDS is committed to creating equitable opportunities for DH and pedagogical training for graduate students through long-term training, six-week intensives and an evolving open educational repository. The Digital Scholarship Training Program (DSTP) is a paid training programme for graduate students to learn digital skills through project-based learning. For students who cannot commit to a long-term practicum, ECDS offers two six-week intensives to provide equal opportunities for pedagogical training with emphasis on digital methods and tools. Currently, ECDS is building a repository hosted on WordPress to provide more flexible graduate training opportunities. By attuning ECDS offerings to varying levels of time and access, this suite of options aims to create equitable opportunities for graduate professional development that could serve as examples for other institutions. We conclude that DH methods and modalities can be deployed effectively to help address gaps in graduate student training.

Understanding the Uzbekistani higher education context through the lens of reorientation

Numerous university graduates are actively looking for professional learning development (PLD) possibilities to help them adapt to a wide range of professional roles and responsibilities. For these reasons, this paper aims to create a research-based framework for graduate professional development that considers the shifting nature of the labour market. The purpose of this paper was to summarize and build upon prior research on graduates’ PLD through an integrative theoretical translation approach. To develop a strategy for PLD, the author consulted with relevant parties and analyzed data gleaned from surveys, interviews, and scholarly articles. The four essential pillars of the PLD framework are acculturation, career skills, astuteness, and competence. There are 16 categories under each of the four primary domains, each representing a different collection of abilities and skills that a graduate can acquire once they leave university. Graduates, their supervisors, and higher education institutions can use the framework to better prepare students for post-graduation life and job.

Peer Mentoring: the Missing Piece in Graduate Professional Development

Many academic institutions offer professional development programs to prepare graduate students to meet the changing expectations of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty. Peer mentoring is not widely adopted in graduate professional development, yet incorporating this approach can better facilitate the transition from graduate student to faculty member. Using evidence from experience as peer mentors (2011-2017), we examine established characteristics of peer mentoring and evaluate their strengths in the context of a future faculty professional development program. Peer mentors coached mentees by sharing common experiences related to teaching and learning, provided a safe space for mentees to discuss their experiences, and acted as a liaison between mentees and faculty advisors. These benefits translate into increased competency for future faculty to engage in research, teaching, and mentoring.

Physical educators’ engagement in online adapted physical education graduate professional development

The purpose of this study was to investigate in-service physical education teachers’ engagement during online adapted physical education (APE) graduate professional development. This study was based on andragogy theory. All participants were in-service physical education teachers enrolled in a state-approved online APE endorsement program at a Midwestern public university in the United States. The program includes two online courses (Introduction of APE and Practicum in APE). Data collection included face-to-face open-ended interviews, peer-review feedback assignments, practicum experience reports and bulletin board discussion logs. As supplement material, this study used a demographic questionnaire which included questions pertaining to the participants’ personal characteristics (e.g. race, age, sex) and current teaching experiences. A constant comparative method was used to interpret the data, and this allowed themes to emerge from the data as well as from the theoretical framework. Four interrelated themes emerged from the physical education teachers’ narratives: interactions with online APE professor; peer interaction in online APE practicum courses; assessment practices with peers; and sharing through online discussion. This study recommends that online course instructors may consider changing their instructional style (pedagogical orientation) to problem-solving learning styles (andragogy orientation) that enhance teachers’ engagement in online learning.

Supporting new graduate professional development: a clinical learning framework.

New graduate occupational therapists are required to competently deliver health-care practices within complex care environments. An occupational therapy clinical education programme within a large public sector health service sought to investigate methods to support new graduates in their clinical learning and professional development. Three cycles of an insider action research approach each using the steps of planning, action, critical observation and reflection were undertaken to investigate new graduate learning strategies, develop a learning framework and pilot its utility. Qualitative research methods were used to analyse data gathered during the action research cycles. Action research identified variations in current practices to support new graduate learning and to the development of the Occupational Therapy Clinical Learning Framework (OTCLF). Investigation into the utility of the OTCLF revealed two themes associated with its implementation namely (i) contribution to learning goal development and (ii) compatibility with existing learning supports. The action research cycles aimed to review current practices to support new graduate learning. The learning framework developed encourages reflection to identify learning needs and the review, discussion of, and engagement in, goal setting and learning strategies. Preliminary evidence indicates that the OTCLF has potential as an approach to guide new graduate goal development supported by supervision. Future opportunity to implement a similar learning framework in other allied health professions was identified, enabling a continuation of the cyclical nature of enquiry, integral to this research approach within the workplace.

Lessons learned from the landscape: an integrated approach

This article presents a multidisciplinary pedagogy that integrates art education and ecological studies toward the goal of fostering affection for the landscape. This approach to designing art curriculum was based on ecological and outdoor education Expeditionary Principles. Learning objectives that are common to art education and Expeditionary Principles are discussed. A model for teaching environmental education through art was incorporated in the design of a graduate professional development course for teachers. Environment was utilized as context and content, highlighting art-making from natural materials, multidisciplinary connections and multiple perspectives. The outcomes, lessons learned from moving beyond the classroom into the landscape are reviewed. Finally, utilization of materials from the natural environment and, perhaps more significantly, sustaining the environment through purposeful use of resources in the curriculum, are discussed.

Library Instruction and Graduate Professional Development: Exploring the Effect of Learning Environments on Self-Efficacy and Learning Outcomes

Library Instruction and Graduate Professional Development: Exploring the Effect of Learning Environments on Self-Efficacy and Learning Outcomes

A case study of graduate professional development in the TAFE sector

There has been very little provision of professional development for teachers of mathematics in the technical and further education (TAFE) sector and even less evaluation and reporting on such programs. This paper presents a model for a professional development program in mathematics that was designed for TAFE teachers, as well as those from the K-12 sector. It is a case study that describes the implementation of the model with a group of TAFE teachers, considering such issues as the professional development needs perceived by the teachers, the components included in the program, and the evidence for the short- and long-term effectiveness of the program. The flexible structure of the program and the qualitative research base for the evaluation could be used as a model for professional development in other TAFE curriculum areas.