Instruction Of Graduate Students Research Articles

Students’ experiences with graduate education in Brazil A confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach

Assessing graduate student education is a complex task. After all, graduate education is the result of a complex process involving course experiences, teaching, engagement in learning, mastery of skills, the ability to work with others and satisfaction with what is learned. This paper reports the results of a study seeking to document underlying dimensions of student experiences with their graduate education programs in Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis reveals that student experiences with graduate education underscore three interrelated constructs: Engagement in learning, Collaborative Learning, and Intellectual Growth. The survey instrument that informed this study can contribute to the self-assessment of Graduate Programs in Education by accreditation agencies as the Brazilian’s Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). Assessing graduate student instruction is a complex task. After all, graduate education is the result of an intricate exercise involving course experiences, teaching, learning engagement, skill-building, collaboration, and learning satisfaction. This article presents the results of a study seeking to assist in the assessment of graduate education in Brazil through a survey about graduate education experiences. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), performed on 462 graduate students of various master’s and doctoral programs from six Brazilian universities, indicates that student experiences with graduate education underscore three interrelated processes: Engagement in Learning, Collaborative Learning, and Intellectual Growth. The survey that informs this study can contribute to the self-assessment of graduate programs in Education at different faculties and universities, while also facilitating regular graduate education assessment by accreditation agencies such as the Brazilian’s Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

Information Literacy and Instruction: Building a Multi-Format Graduate Student Information Literacy Program

College and university library instruction programs often focus on providing information literacy instruction for undergraduate students. In this article, Kathy Christie Anders shares how she has developed an information literacy program specifically aimed at graduate students. She discusses the challenges of embedding information literacy into graduate and professional school curricula, particularly across degree programs. She also discusses the advantages of taking a multi-pronged approach to instruction for graduate students, especially in an instructional context that makes programmatic implementation a challenge.—Editor

SHARPGrads: Development and Assessment of a Research Skills Workshop Program for Graduate Students at the University of South Carolina

INTRODUCTION Academic libraries are placing increasing emphasis on the provision of instruction for graduate students in non-traditional research skills and competencies such as scholarly communication concepts, data management and visualization, and text mining. Since proficiency in these concepts is often expected of graduate students but training may not be offered in the classroom, the library is a natural home for such instruction. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Librarians at the University of South Carolina created a two-day workshop series for graduate students called SHARPGrads. This paper describes the planning process, survey method used to develop and assess the program, and findings obtained from attendance and survey responses. A successful collaboration with the university’s Graduate School led to higher than expected registration. Post-assessment feedback demonstrates that targeting training to graduate students early in their program of study is advantageous. Furthermore, students in social sciences and humanities disciplines reported that SHARPGrads met their expectations to a higher degree than students in the sciences and health sciences. Although a number of survey respondents reported that the training program was too short, participant retention during day two of the program dropped significantly. NEXT STEPS An evaluation of the range of second day training opportunities is considered for the next iteration of the program. Results taken from this study and recommendations for future programs will be useful for librarians involved in the development and implementation of workshops for graduate students.

The Effectiveness of Library Instruction for Graduate/Professional Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract
 Objective - This study sought to assess the effectiveness of library instruction for increasing information literacy skills and/or knowledge among graduate and professional students.
 Methods - A search was conducted in Library Literature and Information Science Index (H. W. Wilson); Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; Medline; CINAHL; ERIC; Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA); and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. Studies were included if they were published between 2000 and 2019, in English, reported on library instruction for graduate or professional students, and objectively measured change in information literacy knowledge/skills.
 Results - Sixteen studies were included in the systematic review; 12 of the 16 studies included sufficient information to be included in the meta-analysis. The overall effect of library instruction was significant [SMD = 1.03, SE=0.19, z=5.49, P<.0001, 95% CI=0.66-1.40], meaning that on average, a student scored about one standard deviation higher on an information literacy assessment after library instruction. High heterogeneity indicated a need for subgroup analysis, which showed a significant moderation of effect by discipline of students, but none by format of instruction. However, subgroup analysis must be viewed with caution due to the small number of studies in several of the subgroups.
 Conclusions - This meta-analysis indicates that library instruction for graduate students is effective in increasing information literacy knowledge and/or skills. However, to strengthen the accuracy of results of future meta-analyses, there is a need for more precise descriptions of instructional sessions as well as more complete data reporting by authors of primary studies. There is also a need for the publication of more studies, particularly studies of hybrid and online instruction.

Experiences in the Practice of English Medium Instruction for Graduate Students

English Medium Instruction (EMI) is an ongoing graduates teaching reform program for domestic universities to accommodate the upcoming international enrollments and educations. Presented in this paper are my many years of experiences in the practice of the EMI of ‘Introduction to the Theory of Elasticity’ for the graduate students major in process equipment and control engineering at Zhengzhou University. These experiences involve the preparations for setting up the EMI course, making syllabus, selecting textbook, writing lesson plan, preparing for classes, class lecturing, homework and examinations. The purpose is to share them with all EMI colleagues, hoping to initiate a discussion on this topic, get responses from other colleagues, facilitate exchanges of teaching experiences, promote common improvements, and contribute to the extending and spreading of the EMI for graduate students in China.

Graduate-level research writing instruction: Two Chinese EAP teachers’ localized ESP genre-based pedagogy

Genre-oriented graduate-level research writing instruction is increasingly being implemented in universities around the world, to cater for the widely-felt demand to provide graduate writing support to student populations of immensely diverse compositions. In China, where research writing instruction for graduate students across disciplines is urgently needed, emerging EAP teachers are learning the ropes of genre-based pedagogies through practice. This paper reports a case study of how two novice EAP teachers, who had attended a professional development program, went about conducting research writing instruction to doctoral students at their own universities in China. Our dataset consisted of audio-recordings of the focal teachers’ classroom instruction, various types of documentary data, and interview data. We present the findings with a comparison between the two cases of pedagogical practices, by highlighting the distinguishing features of the focal teachers’ classroom instruction, and illuminating their instruction on language. Our study contributes to the limited literature on EAP research writing instruction and will inform EAP teachers’ training and professional development.

Online active-learning: information literacy instruction for graduate students

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges of teaching information literacy online to graduate students and evaluate software that supports using active learning techniques. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper analyzes different software tools and their functionality to aid in active learning, as well as describes elements of online teaching that facilitate active learning for information literacy. Findings Although software serves as the delivery tool, there is not one standalone product that provides all the needed aids to conduct active learning. Many other digital tools are needed in addition to the tutorial software to create active learning activities. Practical implications This paper provides activities and ideas to incorporate into the online information literacy session that contain active learning elements. Originality/value Although there is a wealth of literature about active learning of information literacy, very little surrounds teaching it online to graduate students. This paper focuses on this specific element of teaching information literacy through active learning methods in an online environment to graduate students.

Information literacy assessment of incoming students in an information studies graduate program

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the information literacy (IL) competencies of incoming graduate students in the information studies masters’ degree program at Kuwait University.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 37 students through an IL assessment containing 43 questions associated with four Association of College and Research Libraries’ higher education competency standards. Based on the assessment results and semi-structured interviews, a SWOT analysis was performed.FindingsAfter normalizing students’ scores to 100 per cent, the average score was 44.46 per cent. Students were unable to identify key concepts, construct effective search strategies, understand the scope and purpose of information sources and determine the quality of sources; their knowledge about information management systems was also weak. By contrast, students were better able to define an information need, had a general understanding of plagiarism and had reasonable knowledge about a website’s credibility. The SWOT analysis suggested that language difficulties and unfamiliarity with library conventions partly contribute to students’ lack of information knowledge and skills.Originality/valueNo study has tested the IL competencies of library and information studies graduate students in a Gulf Cooperation Council country. This study’s results provide a baseline assessment of graduate students’ IL needs, based on realistic data and achievable outcomes, and aiming to increase student learning. The findings will start a dialogue in relation to IL education within academic communities, especially those in developing countries, leading to instructional programs that impact on educators, administrators, information professionals and (most importantly) students. In the global arena, this research is also of value and interest to educators and professionals who are responsible for creating and improving IL instruction for graduate students who are non-native English speakers. To complete the assessment, a second study is underway covering standard four based on a written term paper.

An Analysis of Selected Data Practices: A Case Study of the Purdue College of Agriculture.

This paper describes a survey of data practices given to the Purdue College of Agriculture. Data practices are a concern for many researchers with new governmental funding mandates that require data management plans, and for the institution providing resources to comply with these mandates. The survey attempted to answer these questions: What are the characteristics of the data held by respondents? What tools do the respondents use in managing, analyzing, or manipulating their data? Where do students primarily learn research data management skills? The survey documents that there is a statistically significant difference in data holding sizes between faculty and graduate students, and that MS-Excel is still the analysis tool of choice. Results also showed that many researchers in the College were not thinking of the Libraries as a resource for data management practices, preservation, or data literacy instruction for graduate students. The survey results may inform the Libraries in developing new data services and instruction, while also highlighting the need for additional research into data practices for specific disciplinary areas or types of researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Opportunities for AJPE Authors

The goal of the Editorial Team and Editorial Board is to advance the important role AJPE plays in providing a forum for communication of relevant information for pharmacy educators and all others interested in the advancement of pharmacy education. (1) Throughout the last year, we evaluated and revised our instructions to authors with a focus on assisting authors in their submission process. We combined this process with a revision of manuscript categories to accommodate the broad array of scholarly work being conducted in the academy. We know how important it is for our colleagues to have a peer-review forum to share their scholarship of teaching and learning and to provide commentary on current topics in the academy. We believe the updated instructions to the authors, as well as an author checklist, will provide the tools to guide new and previous authors in the manuscript submission process. In addition, more explicit requirements and expectations for authors can serve to enhance the initial review process for editors, provide better guidance for peer reviewers, and assist in the final preparation of manuscripts for publication. We also know the importance of the timely release of the peer reviewed results/findings of scholarly work for advancing the academy given the rapid and exciting changes in educating future pharmacists. Thus, we will be introducing ahead of print for manuscripts accepted for publication in AJPE (AJPEPAP). This process enables accepted publications to be published on AJPE's website prior to the final copyediting process. Papers released in this format will be assigned a unique digital object identifier (DOI) number that will enable others to locate this paper as well as the final paper once it is assigned to an issue. It is essential to remember that these manuscripts will not be the same as the final published paper in AJPE. The AJPEPAP manuscript will be removed following the posting of the final paper on the AJPE website. We will provide more details on this advancement in a future Commentary. The development of revised manuscript categories was based on the belief that the scholarship of teaching and learning should reflect the well-grounded foundations for the presentation of scholarly work. Updated categories for AJPE papers will include Reviews, Research, Briefs, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor. Reviews are comprehensive, well-referenced descriptive papers on teaching or research topics directly related to entry-level and graduate or postgraduate education and training or skill development, as well as the history of pharmacy education. Reviews should be no longer than 25 double-spaced pages for all components and should be systematic, include all relevant data, and not influenced by opinions and biases of the authors. All Reviews are peer-reviewed. The papers related to new scholarly work are Research articles, Research Briefs, or Educational Briefs. Research articles describe experimental or observational investigations that used formal methods for data collection and reporting of results of studies directly related to pharmacy education. This category also includes novel methods for professional and graduate student instruction (lectures, laboratories, practice experiences, or courses), or informational manuscripts on programmatic and curriculum development (formerly the Instructional Design and Assessment category) and must be no longer than 25 double-spaced pages for all components. …

Academic Librarians in Data Information Literacy Instruction: A Case Study in Meteorology

E-science has reshaped meteorology due to the rate data is generated, collected, analyzed, and stored and brought data skills to a new prominence. Data information literacy—the skills needed to understand, use, manage, share, work with, and produce data—reflects the confluence of data skills with information literacy competencies. This research assessed perceptions of data information literacy and attitudes on its instruction for graduate students in meteorology. As academic librarians have traditionally provided information literacy instruction, the research determined if they were perceived as having a role in data information literacy instruction. The modified Delphi method was applied to obtain the perspectives of a panel of experts, representing students, librarians, professors, and researchers, for the purpose of forecasting and consensus-making. Through the consideration of the University of Oslo’s Department of Geosciences’ Meteorology Section, the research found that data information literacy skills were relevant to the work of meteorology students. Stakeholders perceived that academic librarians could play a future role in general instruction but that they would have to overcome obstacles to be involved in data information literacy instruction. For librarians to enter this domain, they would need to improve their technical skills, enhance their discipline-specific knowledge, or rely on collaborations. The significance of these findings was limited by the modest target population under examination; as a consequence, the results were strongly linked to the specific setting. Further studies would be necessary to determine their generalizability.

Providing Information Literacy Instruction to Graduate Students through Literature Review Workshops

As future professionals, graduate students must be information literate; however, information literacy instruction of graduate students is often neglected. To address this need, we created literature review workshops to serve graduate students from a wide range of subject disciplines at a point of shared need. Not only did this strategy prove to be successful in reaching a large number of students from a wide range of subject disciplines, the data gathered from the students identified some of the gaps graduate students have in their knowledge about library services.

Assessing, Analyzing, and Adapting: Improving a Graduate Student Instruction Program Through Needs Assessment

This article highlights an assessment of library instruction needs among graduate students in the social sciences. The article addresses the development and implementation of the assessment and the application of assessment results to an established set of library instruction workshops. The article provides a detailed summary of assessment findings and a discussion of how the findings were successfully used to create a user-centered instruction program. The findings were used to make significant changes in workshop content, as well as refinements in the overall number and format of workshops offered, schedule of workshops, and marketing of the instruction program.

Stories Are Like Water: An Academic Writing Workshop for Nurses.

Traditionally, there is very little formal instruction in academic writing for nurses in graduate programs. We, the writing scholar and a nurse educator and PhD student at a major Canadian university, describe how we collaborated on developing and delivering a 1-day academic writing workshop for incoming master of nursing students. By sharing this description, we hope to motivate nursing faculty to offer similar workshops to address the dearth of writing instruction for graduate students in nursing and to improve scholarship outcomes.

Using WebQuests to Facilitate Task-based English Reading Instruction for Graduate Students

The WebQuest is a process involving students using the Web to learn about a topic or solve a problem. The WebQuest as an instructional tool has gained popularity in the education field across subjects and settings, and is generally well received by both teachers and students. This paper presents an instructional design integrating WebQuests into teaching English reading to graduate students (non-English majors) in a Chinese university in attempt to examine the efficacy of this particular design, that is, to examine whether using WebQuests facilitates task-based English reading instruction for graduate students. This instructional design was implemented in a setting where the task-based teaching method was adopted through the entire course. After three months’ implementation, a survey was conducted on students’ responses to WebQuests utilization. Results indicate that students’ perception is that WebQuests facilitates their learning. The interview with the instructor also reveals alignment with the students’ responses.

Providing Information Literacy Instruction to Graduate Students through Literature Review.

As future professionals, graduate students must be information literate; however, information literacy instruction of graduate students is often neglected. To address this need, we created literature review workshops to serve graduate students from a wide range of subject disciplines at a point of shared need. Not only did this strategy prove to be successful in reaching a large number of students from a wide range of subject disciplines, the data gathered from the students identified some of the gaps graduate students have in their knowledge about library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Best of the Literature: Graduate Student Instruction

Best of the Literature: Graduate Student Instruction

InfoIQ: Targeting Information and Technology Lifelong Needs

SUMMARY The evolution of information literacy instruction for graduate students at the UCLA Anderson School of Management is described. The emphasis is on the need for instruction that develops student competencies with an eye toward the long view-a lifetime of learning. Key success factors are leveraging partnerships with key stakeholders, and developing just-in-time interventions at significant events in the student life cycle. An Information Literacy Campaign helped define the needs and competencies, and the subsequent pilot program, InfoIQ, has been successful in integrating information literacy instruction into the core MBA experience.

Anatomy for biomedical engineers

There is a perceived need for anatomy instruction for graduate students enrolled in a biomedical engineering program. This appeared especially important for students interested in and using medical images. These students typically did not have a strong background in biology. The authors arranged for students to dissect regions of the body that were of particular interest to them. Following completion of all the dissections, the students presented what they had learned to the entire class in the anatomy laboratory. This course has fulfilled an important need for our students.

Your class meets where? Library instruction for business and education graduate students at off‐campus centers

Provides insight into one university library's experience in delivering library instruction to off‐campus students in the School of Business and the School of Education while also exploring such issues as library instruction for graduate students, face‐to‐face instruction at off‐campus centers, uses of technology, faculty interaction, student needs, and librarian logistics. Examines the literature on this topic, to: review the current services offered to off‐campus students, review how the off‐campus library instruction takes place, discuss developments for the future, and present recommendations for improving the service. Finds that, at the University of Redlands, off‐campus library services are experiencing a time of growth. A goal of the library and the University to provide personalized library instruction to graduate students is gradually being realized. The off‐campus students are beginning to receive services equal to library services received by on‐campus students. Proposes that this study could be used to assist other colleges and universities in developing a program for library instruction for off‐campus students.