Experiences Of Graduate Students Research Articles

Being the Wizard behind the Curtain: Teaching Experiences of Graduate Teaching Assistants with Disabilities at U.S. Universities

This study investigated the teaching experiences of graduate students with disabilities, using 12 semi-structured in-person and phone interviews. We selected participants using stratified random sampling representing diverse disabilities, degree programs, and regions of the United States. Findings suggest that students engage in complex self-accommodation influenced by their dual roles as students and employees. Students also discussed their development as instructors and the need for mentoring and campus spaces for disability. We utilize the metaphor of the “wizard behind the curtain” to explain how these students actively navigate graduate school.

Educational Aspiration and the Initial College Experience of High School Graduate Students in Aguascalientes, Mexico

Educational Aspiration and the Initial College Experience of High School Graduate Students in Aguascalientes, Mexico

Conquering the “Lumbering Dinosaur”: Graduate Student Experiences at Political Science Conferences

Conquering the “Lumbering Dinosaur”: Graduate Student Experiences at Political Science Conferences

Exploring the Adjustment Problems among International Graduate Students in Hawaii

Due to the advance of technology, the American society has become more diverse. A huge population of international students in the U.S. faces unique issues. According to the existing literature, the top-rated anxieties international student faces are generally caused by anxiety, cultural adjustments, and learning differences and barriers. In the university campus that is being studied in Hawaii, the highest population of students is Asian. As a matter of fact, Hawaii is the only state in USA that does not have a majority of white population. This research study examined anxiety levels as international graduate students living in Hawaii, U.S. This study emphasizes on the wide variety of factors and whether it has an influence on the predicators of anxiety. Learning difficulties and life challenges for international graduate students in Hawaii were also examined. Communication ability, interactions with professors, limited options, and course content difficulty were the most experienced learning difficulties. Financial crisis, quality of accommodation, relationship with people, and language were the most experienced life challenges. Understanding the experiences of the international graduate students is important on creating supporting programs to help them personally and academically to fit in the environment.

A Narrative Inquiry Into Academic Experiences of Female Saudi Graduate Students at a Comprehensive Doctoral University

Saudi student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities has nearly tripled since 2009-2010, in large part due to the King Abdullah Scholarship Program. The representation of Saudi females is also increasing due to the loosening of Saudi Arabia’s long-standing restrictions on women’s travel and acceptable fields of study and careers. This constructivist study highlights some of the academic experiences of female Saudi graduate students at a Comprehensive Doctoral University in the western United States. Challenges related to students’ insufficient English language skills, differences in their comfort levels interacting with American and Saudi men, positive relationships with both male and female faculty members, and generally positive feelings about their experiences at their university of choice emerged as themes within the data. The participants’ varied prior experiences with mixed-gendered educational environments led to differing levels of comfort with developing relationships with men.

Linking Learners for Life Where They Live (L4): Developing a Global Health Initiative for Student Engagement.

This article describes a graduate student learning experience as part of an international nursing collaborative working together to develop an academic partnership for global health education in the circumpolar north. The experience provided an opportunity to conduct a pilot project in a rural, remote, northern community using an indigenous, global context. Building on the Canadian-Siberian collaboration, the graduate student attended an academic institution in Siberia, where she focused on the sharing of expertise, knowledge, and insights in order to address the challenges facing indigenous people in achieving optimal health and well-being in the circumpolar north. The goal was to create a foundation for "putting health into place" in a northern context, with the hope of creating shared learning opportunities for undergraduate students between the 2 countries.The intent is to share the approach used by the graduate student to use a conceptual model to assess the feasibility of creating a context-relevant global health experience for northern nursing education.

Master of Business Administration (MBA) student outcomes in Vietnam

Purpose – Exploratory insights into the graduate student experiences of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam are presented. Students are considered key stakeholders in the higher education (HE) debate, and their views were sought in light of recent shifts in HE worldwide, associated business education changes, nagging questions around the quality of MBA programmes, and the need to consider how all these factors might influence the MBA student experience in a developing economy such as Vietnam. The literature confirms a disconnection between what management education providers offer in MBA programmes and what management education users (here, students) are actually receiving, especially when compared to student expectations, needs and outcomes. Here, a portion of the findings from a larger exploratory, descriptive qualitative study, located in Vietnam, is presented. Graduate students’ views as to what they were seeking when enroling in offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam, and how the programme subsequently met their needs, are shared. Recommendations are made as to potential improvements in curricula design, review, administration, and processes in response to these findings. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Findings from an exploratory, descriptive qualitative study, located in Vietnam, are presented. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with graduates of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam, drawn from the graduates of three case study HE provider organisations. Interviews were transcribed verbatim in Vietnamese, then translated into English. Findings – Graduates’ views as stakeholders in the provision of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam are shared. Qualitative analysis revealed evidence of their attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge relating to offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam. The narratives and interpretations offer insights into both the perceived benefits and limitations, and empirical evidence as to whether graduates’ original expectations were met. Research limitations/implications – This was a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive study, deliberately undertaken in the absence of others like it in the literature. The research relies upon interview and focus group data gathered from three case study organisations and exploring the perceptions of three different stakeholder groups: graduates of offshore MBA programmes (findings shared here); employers of offshore MBA graduates; and MBA programme providers (including programme managers, administrators and/or teaching staff). This paper includes only the perspective of graduates of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam, on the basis that rich exploratory information can be derived from a few cases (Perry, 1998). Practical implications – The literature confirms a potential for disconnection between what management education providers offer in MBA programmes and what management education graduates actually receive, compared to graduate’s original expectations, needs and wants. Here, empirical evidence of this intersection is examined. Social implications – The graduate narratives share crucial exploratory evidence offering a better understanding of the needs and expectations of MBA graduates who might be considering enroling in offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam. These findings are especially important with regard to understanding the sustainability and value of offshore MBA programmes being delivered in Vietnam, especially given the country’s current state of economic, political and cultural transition, and the associated need for businesses and workers to be able to operate successfully in an international business environment. Originality/value – No previous studies evaluating the value of MBA programmes in Vietnam have been located. At a time when Vietnam is in economic, cultural, and political transition, knowledge to assist and support their HE sector is crucial. Recommendations are made as to potential improvements in Vietnamese offshore MBA programme curricula design, review, administration, and processes in response to these findings.

Master of business administration (MBA) student outcomes in Vietnam : graduate student insights from a qualitative study

Purpose – Exploratory insights into the graduate student experiences of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam are presented. Students are considered key stakeholders in the higher education (HE) debate, and their views were sought in light of recent shifts in HE worldwide, associated business education changes, nagging questions around the quality of MBA programmes, and the need to consider how all these factors might influence the MBA student experience in a developing economy such as Vietnam. The literature confirms a disconnection between what management education providers offer in MBA programmes and what management education users (here, students) are actually receiving, especially when compared to student expectations, needs and outcomes. Here, a portion of the findings from a larger exploratory, descriptive qualitative study, located in Vietnam, is presented. Graduate students’ views as to what they were seeking when enroling in offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam, and how the programme subsequently met their needs, are shared. Recommendations are made as to potential improvements in curricula design, review, administration, and processes in response to these findings. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Findings from an exploratory, descriptive qualitative study, located in Vietnam, are presented. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with graduates of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam, drawn from the graduates of three case study HE provider organisations. Interviews were transcribed verbatim in Vietnamese, then translated into English. Findings – Graduates’ views as stakeholders in the provision of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam are shared. Qualitative analysis revealed evidence of their attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge relating to offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam. The narratives and interpretations offer insights into both the perceived benefits and limitations, and empirical evidence as to whether graduates’ original expectations were met. Research limitations/implications – This was a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive study, deliberately undertaken in the absence of others like it in the literature. The research relies upon interview and focus group data gathered from three case study organisations and exploring the perceptions of three different stakeholder groups: graduates of offshore MBA programmes (findings shared here); employers of offshore MBA graduates; and MBA programme providers (including programme managers, administrators and/or teaching staff). This paper includes only the perspective of graduates of offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam, on the basis that rich exploratory information can be derived from a few cases (Perry, 1998). Practical implications – The literature confirms a potential for disconnection between what management education providers offer in MBA programmes and what management education graduates actually receive, compared to graduate’s original expectations, needs and wants. Here, empirical evidence of this intersection is examined. Social implications – The graduate narratives share crucial exploratory evidence offering a better understanding of the needs and expectations of MBA graduates who might be considering enroling in offshore MBA programmes in Vietnam. These findings are especially important with regard to understanding the sustainability and value of offshore MBA programmes being delivered in Vietnam, especially given the country’s current state of economic, political and cultural transition, and the associated need for businesses and workers to be able to operate successfully in an international business environment. Originality/value – No previous studies evaluating the value of MBA programmes in Vietnam have been located. At a time when Vietnam is in economic, cultural, and political transition, knowledge to assist and support their HE sector is crucial. Recommendations are made as to potential improvements in Vietnamese offshore MBA programme curricula design, review, administration, and processes in response to these findings.

Getting the Most Out of Dual-Listed Courses: Involving Undergraduate Students in Discussion Through Active Learning Techniques

Because of institutional resource constraints, dual-listed courses will persist in most universities’ programs of study. The pedagogical differences between undergraduate and graduate STEM student groups and the underlying distinction in intellectual development levels between the two student groups complicate the inclusion of undergraduates in dual-listed courses. Active learning techniques are a possible remedy to the hardships undergraduate students experience in graduate-level courses. Through an analysis of both undergraduate and graduate student experiences while enrolled in a dual-listed course, the authors implemented a variety of learning techniques used to complement the learning of both student groups and enhance deep discussion. This manuscript provides readers with details concerning the implementation of four active learning techniques used to help undergraduate students critically discuss primary literature. On the basis of undergraduate and graduate student perceptions and experiences, the authors suggest techniques to enhance the quality of dual-listed courses and provide an outline for easing the transition of these techniques into any science classroom. Getting the Most Out of Dual-Listed Courses: Involving Undergraduate Students in Discussion Through Active Learning Techniques

The Relationship between School/Department Rankings, Student Achievements, and Student Experiences: The Case of Psychology

What predicts academic success during graduate school? What are the experiences of graduate students in terms of happiness, stress level, relationships in the program, and feelings of autonomy/competence? Responses from 3,311 graduate students from all psychological disciplines in the US and Canada were collected to answer questions involving (1) the relationship between student-level variables and department/school rankings (US News & World Report, Carnegie Foundation, National Research Council), (2) the determinants of important student-level variables such as number of publications, posters, and life satisfaction, and (3) examining the variables year-by-year in the program to explain changes over time at different points in the graduate career. Results reveal the degree to which certain aspects of higher ranked departments/schools impact student achievements such as number of publications and teaching experience. The results also reveal a unique year-by-year progression including a consistent decrease of happiness for every year in graduate school. While the findings were collected in psychology, the answers to these questions may resonate with graduate students across disciplines that are experiencing similar forces that characterize the graduate school experience. The results can also inform current conversations about the direction of higher education and the value of the graduate school experience.

The Graduate Student Experience in Long Beach

The Graduate Student Experience in Long Beach

Plurilingual teachers and their experiences navigating the academy

Drawing on qualitative data collected from plurilingual teachers in the context of three research studies conducted at the University of Toronto between 2004 and 2015, this paper critically examines, through a dialogue between the three researchers, the experiences of plurilingual teacher candidates and graduate students in Education as they navigate the academy. A trioethnographic methodology is used, unpacking the underlying tensions of roles and positions held by each of the researchers in the Student Success Centre (SSC) which offers a range of support services and provides a space where plurilingual teacher learners can interact with plurilingual tutors during their academic journey which may include practica and internships. We relate our findings focussed on the SSC to the literature on diverse teachers in universities as well as writing centre research calling for significant changes in how to support plurilingual students in the academy in order to highlight lessons and strategies for equity.

How Patient Educators Teach Students: “Giving a Face to a Story”

Patient Educators are persons with specific pathologies that have participated in an education program in which they learn how to instruct students on physical examinations. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of graduate student experiences with Patient Educators during coursework on occupational therapy clinical internships. A phenomenological design was used to explore the lived experiences of students through a qualitative interview. As participants described their experiences with the Patient Educators, three primary themes emerged: (a) self-awareness, (b) confidence, and (c) empathy. The quotes from the transcriptions were organized into four sequential plot categories: (a) Before the Interaction, (b) During the Interaction, (c) Immediate Change, and (d) Impact on Clinical Internship. The results reveal a narrative of the learning process experienced by students from before the Patient Educators lab through clinical internships. These results suggest that incorporating Patient Educators in the classroom could be a critical component in preparing students for clinical internship and future clinical practice.

Rolling With the Punches: Examining the Socialization Experiences of Kinesiology Doctoral Students

Purpose: An increasing body of literature examines the socialization experiences of graduate students on a myriad of topics across academic disciplines. However, relatively absent from these discussions are the perspectives of kinesiology doctoral students. Using Weidman, Twale, and Stein's framework for graduate and professional student socialization, this research examined the doctoral education and socialization perspectives of 12 kinesiology students at 3 research institutions. Method: A phenomenological case-study approach incorporating interviews, both individual and focus group, and journals served to obtain participants' perspectives. Traditional data analysis, coding, thematic category development, and interpretation techniques were used. Results: Participants provided critical experiences, enlightening perspectives, and specific recommendations regarding their socialization into the kinesiology academic field and profession. Four major thematic categories were derived from the data: (a) transition, when participants highlighted professional, academic, or personal shifts in perspectives occurring during studies; (b) negotiation, when participants pointed out experiences when significant consideration was given to the consequences, risk, and rewards of formal and informal interactions with peers, faculty, and administrators; (c) balance, during which participants described their struggles and successes with meeting academic, professional, and personal obligations; and (d) support, when participants identified emotional, financial, and professional resources that impacted their socialization. Conclusions: The authenticity and sameness of the participants' experiences call for further scrutiny and discussion of kinesiology doctoral student socialization policies and practices. Suggestions for future research and administrative initiatives are discussed.

일 대학 신설간호학과 1회 졸업예정자들의 대학생활 경험에 관한 연구

일 대학 신설간호학과 1회 졸업예정자들의 대학생활 경험에 관한 연구

School Practicum Supervision: Encouraging A Successful Experience and A Positive Attitude

Public school practicum is an extraordinary experience for graduate students. Regardless of where students see themselves working after graduation, there is much to be learned about children in the educational environment, and how speech-language services are delivered in the most natural of all settings. This unique perspective will be invaluable in planning treatments that merge a focus on communication needs with a realistic understanding of how the child is part of the entire educational milieu. Appropriate supervision during the school practicum maximizes the student teacher's experience both during student teaching, and as a future form of reference. The purpose of this paper is to describe a successful school practicum program.

How stable is the core discussion network?

Researchers have paid increasing attention to the core discussion network, the set of people we turn to when discussing important matters. Because the core discussion network is theorized to be composed of people's closest ties, not fleeting acquaintances, it is expected to be largely stable, evolving slowly over the span of people's lives. However, recent studies have shown that networks are strongly affected by the contexts in which people interact with others, and as people experience life course transitions, they also often enter new contexts – school, college, work, marriage, and retirement. We ask whether, as actors enter new social contexts, the core discussion network remains stable or changes rapidly. Based on original, longitudinal, qualitative and quantitative data on the experience of first-year graduate students in three academic departments in a large university, we examine the stability of the core discussion network over the first 6 and 12 months in this new context. We test four competing hypotheses that focus on strength of ties, new opportunities, obligations, and routine activity and predict, respectively, stasis, expansion, shedding, and substitution. We find that the core discussion network changes remarkably quickly, with little or no lag, and that it appears to do so because both the obligations that people face and the routine activities they engage in are transformed by new institutional environments. Findings suggest that core discussion network may be less a “core” network than a highly contextual support network in which people are added and dropped as actors shift from environment to environment.

Kenneth G. Wilson: Renormalized After-Dinner Anecdotes

This is the transcript of the after-dinner talk I gave at the close of the 16 Nov 2013 symposium "Celebrating the Science of Kenneth Geddes Wilson" [1] at Cornell University (see Fig. 1 for the poster). The video of my talk is on-line [2], and this transcript is more or less verbatim, with the slides used included as figures. I've also annotated it with a few clarifying footnotes, and provided references to the source materials where available. The talk itself pulls together anecdotes from various points in his career, discusses my own graduate student experiences with him, and finishes with some video excerpts from an interview he did in 2010.

Sanos y Fuertes: Translating Lessons Learned Through Local Childhood Obesity Prevention to Address the Global Epidemic

To present the findings from community-based participatory research (CBPR) with Latino families and the applied learning experience of graduate students. Sanos y Fuertes supports USDA's ‘Nutrition and Health’ goal by implementing obesity prevention with 100 families annually; it also provides experiential student learning to a cross-disciplinary cohort. Evaluation demonstrates statistically significant changes in nutrition-related knowledge, intention, and behavior. The combination of applied learning, CBPR methods, and multidisciplinary teams is an effective approach to prepare highly-qualified future professionals to address the global obesity epidemic.

University of Virginia Graduate Mentoring Institute: A Model Program for Graduate Student Success

This study examines an innovative model program for the mentorship of diverse graduate students entitled the Inter-Ethnic/Interdisciplinary Mentoring Institute for Graduate Education (i.e., Mentoring Institute), which was established by the Graduate Student Diversity Programs in the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Virginia (UVa). The Mentoring Institute was created to promote an inclusive environment for graduate students from diverse backgrounds as well as to provide support for and increase the number of students of color who successfully matriculate and graduate from UVa. A comprehensive program evaluation was conducted that assesses the mentoring experiences of UVa graduate students who participate in the Mentoring Institute. The evaluation data reveals how graduate students’ involvement in the Mentoring Institute has positively impacted their academic and social experiences as well as their feelings of connectedness to UVa's professional community. The evaluation also assesses ongoing activities, professional trainings, workshops, and other support mechanisms provided for graduate students by the Mentoring Institute. In all, graduate students who participated in the Mentoring Institute evaluation indicated that the program has contributed significantly to their academic success, social well being, and feelings of connectedness to the UVa graduate school community. This study should particularly benefit administrators, faculty, students, and higher education professionals who are interested in multicultural graduate student development at predominately White institutions of higher education.