Postgraduate Coursework Research Articles

Supporting a mentally healthy place of study: Examining the relationship between mental well-being, stress, and protective factors among university students.

Students can expect to experience stressors associated with their studies that can have detrimental effects on their mental well-being if not properly managed. Drawing on a positive psychology paradigm, protective factors can help students to counter study-related stressors and contribute to their mental well-being and academic success. The relationship between protective factors, such as maintaining perspective and building networks, with stress severity and positive mental well-being was examined in a sample of Australian university students undertaking postgraduate coursework. Students completed a survey measuring stress from the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), positive mental well-being from the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS), and seven protective factors from the Resilience at University (RAU) scale. Bivariate correlations were calculated for the RAU protective factors with stress and mental well-being. ANOVA examined the RAU protective factors in relation to mental well-being and stress severity groupings. All seven protective factors had a positive and significant relationship with positive mental well-being, and six of the seven protective factors had a negative and significant relationship with stress. A statistically significant difference was found for six of the seven RAU protective factors according to mental well-being group, and three of the seven RAU protective factors group according to stress severity group. A linear effect emerged between level of protective factor and mental well-being group, with participants in the high well-being group having the highest level of protective factors. Universities should focus on the development of protective factors to support students' well-being and help them to flourish in their studies.

Impact of work-integrated learning and co-curricular activities on graduate labour force outcomes

ABSTRACT The explicit linking of institutional funding to in-curricular industry engagement and graduate employment affirms the strategic importance of enhancing graduate employability in Australia. Key strategies to enhance graduate employability and employment outcomes are work-integrated learning (WIL) (where students engage with industry as part of their formal learning and assessment) and co-curricular activities (e.g. volunteering, leadership/award, and mentoring programmes), which are facilitated by the university but not embedded into curricula. While WIL is widely recognised for enhancing different aspects of student employability, the impact of co-curricular activities is less well-known. Further, there is a lack of empirical analysis on the nuanced impact of different forms of WIL and co-curricular activities on graduate outcomes. This research sought to explore the impact of a range of WIL and co-curricular activities on labour force outcomes among new higher education graduates. Findings are informed by national survey data for 51,883 domestic graduates of both coursework and research degrees in Australia. They point to a strong labour market advantage from work-based WIL for Bachelor graduates, while undergraduate participation in co-curricular activities appeared to have less effect on labour force outcomes. However, there were consistent, positive results for industry mentoring and leadership/award programmes for increasing the chances of securing full-time work and reducing the likelihood of perceived overqualification among Bachelor and postgraduate coursework graduates. Implications for stakeholders and practice are discussed, as well as directions for future research.

O047 An online sleep education workshop for trainee psychologists improves sleep knowledge, skills, and confidence to treat insomnia: A waitlist comparison study

Abstract Introduction Despite the clear influence of poor sleep on mental health, nearly half of trainee psychologists receive no sleep education. This limits their ability to manage common sleep disorders, such as insomnia, that adversely impact mental health. This study examined the effectiveness of an online sleep education workshop for improving trainee psychologists’ sleep knowledge and their skills and confidence to deliver evidence-based interventions for insomnia. Methods Trainee psychologists enrolled in a six-hour online sleep education workshop (n=186, M age=32, 80% female) or waitlist comparison group (n=70, M age=32, 81% female) offered at their university as part of their postgraduate coursework or a voluntary workshop. Sleep education assessments were completed at pre-and post-intervention (2-4 weeks) and long-term follow-up (12 months). Results Workshop attendees demonstrated significant improvements in sleep knowledge post-intervention (pre: 55% vs. post: 80% correct) relative to the waitlist comparison group (pre: 52% vs. post: 51% correct; p<.001). Post-intervention, workshop attendees reported increased confidence in treating insomnia using an evidence-based approach compared to the waitlist group (p<.001). At 12 months post-intervention, 92% of trainees reported utilizing the knowledge and skills learned in the sleep education workshop in their clinical practice. Discussion Psychologists are front-line mental health service providers, yet sleep education is missing from the psychology curriculum. Online sleep education workshops provide trainee psychologists with the essential sleep knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to manage insomnia in clinical practice. Such online workshops can be scaled to deliver cost-effective training to psychologists nationally and successfully bridge the evidence-practice gap.

Life-on-campus or my-time-and-screen: identity and agency in online postgraduate courses

ABSTRACT Numbers of online postgraduate coursework students are increasing within higher education and this raises questions of identity – what being a student means to this more mature cohort. This in-depth qualitative investigation explores postgraduate student identities within online learning. We conducted interviews (14) and collected completed longitudinal audio diaries from students (3) enrolled in a range of postgraduate programs. We interpreted two social imaginaries or ‘figured worlds’ that describe participants’ sense of who they ought to be. The life-on-campus figured world projected a ‘traditional’ student who read textbooks, inhabits classrooms and talks with lecturers. Alternatively, my-time-and-screen figured world projected a technologically-enabled student whose world is mediated by software, devices, their own spaces and a sense of self-sufficiency. These insights afford new ways of thinking about the diversity of the student cohort and how course designs might accommodate the multiplicity of ways online postgraduate students view themselves and their studies.

Orthodontic Postgraduate Students’ Perception on Didactics and Clinical Training During the COVID-19 Crisis

Objective: With the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, orthodontic postgraduate students’ education and clinical training might be affected. The objective of this study was to explore their perception on didactics and clinical training. Materials and Methods: A pretested and validated 26-item online survey that addressed COVID-19’s impact on didactic components and clinical management was sent to postgraduate students in the Indian subcontinent. The survey was available for 3 days, and the responses were collected and analyzed. Results: Overall, 165 out of 244 (67.62%) orthodontic postgraduate students completed the survey. Of them, 88.48% noted that orthodontic education and patient management are at stake because of the ensuing crisis. The majority (66.28%) acknowledged that Internet-based education will become the significant part of postgraduate coursework. With regard to patient care, 80% felt that 2-way communication channels and a guarded approach with strict infection control protocols may be the way forward during the crisis. Many preferred attending patients with space closure stage at the follow-up (51.23%) and to postpone new case start-ups until normalcy returns. About 55% of the respondents felt that clear aligners could transform into a popular orthodontic practice regimen if the crisis continues. Conclusions: Orthodontic postgraduate students were concerned that the crisis would go on and affect their education. They perceived transition of face-to-face didactic learning and summative assessments to online settings as a viable approach during the COVID-19 crisis. They felt that orthodontic clinical training would benefit from teleorthodontic approaches and prioritization of care and its alignment with crowd control.

Examination of trauma training for postgraduate psychology students

ABSTRACT Objective: Psychologists are at the forefront of assessing and treating clients who been affected by trauma. This study determined the proportion of Australian postgraduate psychology courses that provide training on trauma in coursework units. Method: Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse the trauma-related contents of online unit handbooks from Masters of Psychology courses that were offered in 2019. Results: Forty-two unit handbooks from 25 courses delivered by 16 institutions explicitly mentioned trauma-related content, equating to 31.65% of courses included in the present study. Of those unit handbooks, 30 were unique (i.e., not duplicates across courses at the same institution). Content analysis of the unit handbooks revealed (a) trauma was most commonly discussed as a disorder (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder, stressor-related disorders) and (b) postgraduate psychology students were often taught about trauma-related assessment, intervention and theory. Conclusions: Trauma training appears limited within postgraduate psychology coursework in Australia. Further research is warranted into how well-prepared psychology graduates are to work with clients who have been exposed to trauma. Such preparedness is vital in the current Australian climate whereby many individuals are impacted by potentially traumatic loss or adversity, for example, due to bushfires and COVID-19. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: The effects of traumatisation are highly variable across individuals and thus psychologists must be well-informed about the different presentations of trauma. Trauma- and stressor-related disorders are often challenging to treat and psychologists must be well-trained in appropriate interventions for doing so. Mental health practitioners often lack the appropriate support and training in addressing the needs of clients who have been affected by traumatising events. What this topic adds: Only a minority of postgraduate psychology courses in Australia appeared to contain information about trauma. Further research is warranted to continue to explore psychologists’ training and competency development in trauma-informed practice. Systemic changes to postgraduate psychology courses are required to ensure all provisional psychologists receive foundational knowledge and skills in supporting clients who have been impacted by trauma.

The impact of postgraduate education in transition to practice programmes on new graduate nurses' knowledge and skills: A pre- post survey design

BackgroundResearch indicates that nurses perceive postgraduate education to have a positive effect on their knowledge and practice. Many jurisdictions offer/require new graduate nurses to undertake postgraduate coursework however the consequences of this are not clear. ObjectivesThis research aims to determine the impact of completing a postgraduate course in clinical assessment on the capabilities of new graduate nurses. DesignA two group pre/post design with a naturally occurring intervention employing an online questionnaire was used to gather data. SettingsTwo metropolitan hospitals in New Zealand delivering new graduate programmes, one inclusive of a postgraduate course and the other not. ParticipantsEighty five nurses completed the questionnaire on commencement of the programme and fifty-two on completion of the programme. MethodsAn online questionnaire was administered to two new graduate cohorts, on commencement and completion of their new graduate programme. ResultsResults showed significant pre/post increases for four out of five factors for those who had completed a postgraduate course compared to only one significant increase for those who had not. In addition, when comparing the scores of the two groups there was no significant differences between groups on the pre-measures. However, on post measures there were significant differences with the postgraduate group scoring higher on three of the five subscales: Knowledge for Practice, Explaining Practice and Applied Diagnostic Reasoning. ConclusionIt is the author's belief that this is the first study that has attempted to quantify new graduate nurses' perceptions of their educational experience in their first year of practice and suggests that the inclusion of the postgraduate course enhanced knowledge for practice and diagnostic reasoning skills.

Developing a postgraduate professional education framework for emergency nursing: a co-design approach

BackgroundHospital and university service providers invest significant but separate resources into preparing registered nurses to work in the emergency department setting. This results in the duplication of both curricula and resource investment in the health and higher education sectors. This paper describes an evidence-based co-designed study with clinical-academic stakeholders from hospital and university settings.MethodsThe study was informed by evidence-based co-design, using emergency nursing as an exemplar. Eighteen hours of co-design workshops were completed with 21 key clinical-academic stakeholders from hospital and university settings.ResultsOutcomes were matrices synchronising professional and regulatory imperatives of postgraduate nursing coursework; mutually-shaped curriculum content, teaching approaches and assessment strategies relevant for postgraduate education; a new University-Industry Academic Integration Framework; five agreed guiding principles of postgraduate curriculum development for university-industry curriculum co-design; and a Graduate Certificate of Emergency Nursing curriculum exemplar.ConclusionIndustry-academic service provider co-design can increase the relevance of postgraduate specialist courses in nursing, strengthening the nexus between both entities to advance learning and employability. The study developed strategies and exemplars for future use in any mutually determined academic-industry education partnership.

Learning environment of a distance and partly-distance postgraduate coursework programs

To provide ongoing learning for busy professionals, universities are increasingly offering postgraduate opportunities by distance and online. This research examined the learning environments of five such subjects. A total of 377 students took part in a wider study into the efficacy of students formally critiquing each other’s work. This article reports students’ preferences for their learning environment, whether the pedagogy met their preferences, differences in preferences by age, gender, previous academic achievement level, distance learning experience, and prior experience in peer critiquing. Research methods involved using direct survey questions on learning preferences, the College and Classroom University Environment Inventory (CUCEI) and qualitative interviews. CUCEI versions were used to measure students’ preferred and then actual perceived learning environment, thereby enabling assessment of environmental fit. We found significant differences in the environment across most demographics. For example, older students preferred more Involvement and Student Cohesiveness and perceived more actual Involvement, Satisfaction and Task Orientation than younger students. Also, students of lower or average prior academic achievement showed significantly better environmental fit compared with students of higher prior achievement. The CUCEI remains a suitable instrument for characterising university pedagogical and demographic differences, even for subjects taught by distance. Encouraged by the incisiveness of the standardised environmental instruments, future work is proposed to benchmark the overall university’s postgraduate distance program using an environment inventory specific to tertiary distance learning and another to online constructivist pedagogy.

Heuristic Algorithm for Multi-Location Lecture Timetabling

This paper studies a real faculty timetabling problem with multi-location consideration. Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, UNIMAS offers a master's program by coursework to postgraduate students. The construction of timetables for all the courses offered is a tedious process due to constraints such as team-teaching allocation, unavailability dates of lecturers, and multi-location considerations. Therefore, a manually designed timetable is not as practical as it is time consuming when operational constraints must be fulfilled. In this paper, a two-stage heuristic algorithm is proposed to solve this postgraduate coursework timetable problem. This is because the heuristic algorithm is easy to apply and able to generate a feasible solution in a short time. The proposed two-stage heuristic algorithm consists of Lecturer Grouping Stage and Group Allocation Stage. In Stage I, the lecturers are assigned into four lecturer groups with the condition of no identical lecturers in each of the groups. Then, in Stage II, these groups are allocated into a set of academic weeks throughout the semester. The timeslot for each course can be allocated, and the team-teaching slot for the lecturers can be assigned in this stage. The result from the two-stage heuristic algorithm shows remarkable improvement over the real timetables solution by analyzing the distribution of lecture sessions of the courses.

Exploring lecturer and student perceptions and use of a learning management system in a postgraduate public health environment

Learning management systems have become a key component of teaching and learning in higher education. However, the evidence on the importance of learning management systems to learning is still in its infancy. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role that the Canvas learning management system played in the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Australia. To do this, we conducted interviews with lecturers ( n = 9) and postgraduate coursework students ( n = 7) from the School during Semester 2, 2018. We analysed the interviews thematically, identifying one overarching theme: that Canvas is predominantly used and perceived as an information repository by teaching academics and students. This means that lecturers place course materials on the learning management system for students to use and are making limited use of other, more interactive features of the learning management system, despite interaction being seen as essential to effective teaching and learning. This use of Canvas was explained by two factors: (1) face-to-face learning is perceived as superior to online learning and (2) the existence of skill and capacity barriers that hinder improved online teaching and learning practice, even where professional development opportunities exist for lecturers. We argue that this represents suboptimal use of a learning management system, especially when online learning is likely to become more significant in the coming years. To address this issue, we recommend employing and appropriately resourcing educational designers within higher education settings. These specialists can aid lecturers in the creation of genuinely interactive online environments so that the benefits of online teaching and learning can be fully realised.

Efficacy of structured peer critiquing in postgraduate coursework

ABSTRACT Increasingly postgraduate courses are delivered online to meet professionals’ demands for life-long learning. The research examined the efficacy of students critiquing each other's seminal work, by either direct exchange or via online fora, as a structured part of their formal assessments. A total of 377 students across three experimental and two control subjects were involved in this comparative study of pedagogy. Mixed methods research included comparing students’ prior achievement with their achievement in these courses, qualitative interviews, and learning environment inventories. The research methods aligned and were statistically significant in finding that structured peer critiquing was more effective for students with lower or average prior achievement and led to improved perceptions of their learning environment. Forums were found to be a more subtle means of structuring critiquing and engagement than direct exchange; however, care is also needed to ensure online debate is incisive. Two revised pedagogical strategies are proposed.

‘I feel I have found a tribe’: Investigating the Moodle discussion board writing of regional postgraduate creative practitioners

As higher education in Australia becomes increasingly distributed geographically, regional universities play a key role in supporting distance education. With innovative online learning and strong student engagement levels continuing to be a priority, this is perhaps even more pronounced in postgraduate coursework degrees in the creative arts, a field in which postgraduate qualifications are unnecessary to secure employment in the sector. This article presents the results of a case study investigation of a regionally based postgraduate creative arts degree program that utilised blended learning principles, included on-campus and distance students, and framed discussion board usage/writing as a formative requirement across the units in the program. Alongside writing about their creative and professional practices, students produced narratives that could be described as examples of engaged reflective practice which, this analysis revealed, focused on aspects of the educational experience that assisted in developing a sense of belonging for this widely dispersed cohort.

Postgraduate work-based learning: a qualitative study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of students and teachers who had participated in a postgraduate work-based praxis course within a Master of mental health practice qualification. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study used an interpretative phenomenological approach to understand the lived experience of students and course convenors participating in a work-based praxis course. Seven students and two convenors were recruited. Interview and reflective portfolio data were analysed thematically. Findings The main themes identified were the importance of planning, the value of partnerships, the significance of learning in the workplace and how the facilitation of work-based learning differs from coursework. Originality/value Work-based learning within postgraduate coursework qualifications can support higher-level learning, knowledge and skills has received limited attention in the literature. This study supported the value of providing postgraduate students with work-based learning opportunities, resulting in the application of new or advanced skills, within their existing work roles. This study is important, because it provides insights into the student experience of postgraduate work-based learning and the impact of this learning on professional practice.

Challenges experienced by postgraduate nursing students at a South African university.

BackgroundThe increase in nurses enrolling in postgraduate programmes as well as the need to improve their completion requires academics to establish environments conducive for postgraduate studies. The challenges experienced during postgraduate studies have to be identified to establish conducive environments.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to explore and describe the challenges experienced by postgraduate nursing students enrolled in postgraduate coursework and research programmes at a South African university.MethodsAn exploratory, descriptive and qualitative design was used. The study was contextual in nature. Purposive sampling was used. Fifteen honours, master’s and doctoral students participated in the study. Data were analysed through qualitative content analysis and measures to ensure trustworthiness, and ethical implementation of the study were implemented.ResultsThree themes with categories were identified, namely personal challenges (i.e. finances, employment, family and accommodation), academic and institutional challenges (i.e. workload and time constraints, contact sessions, subject information and assessment) and research-related challenges (i.e. information literacy, supervisory relationship and supervisory structure and process).ConclusionInstitutional support addressing personal, academic and research-related challenges should be provided to enhance student experiences and completion.

Introducing Enterprise Risk Management Into the University Classroom: A Case Study

AbstractThis article reports on the challenges faced when enterprise risk management courses (commonly studied by practitioners after several years of actuarial practice) were introduced into a postgraduate coursework degree, and taught concurrently with Actuarial Control Cycle (Part II) units. A small sample of students were interviewed, and the information gleaned from these interviews combined with the reflections provided by teaching staff is used to argue that although not problem‐free, the overall gain to students makes the project worthwhile. Assessment structure and use of class time in particular are examined as key features of the class, and potential improvements are suggested.

Cooking Perfect Cupcakes: Freeing Curricula Context Gives Student-Centred Pedagogy for Course on Experimental Design

A new subject in postgraduate coursework at UNSW Australia at the Australian Defence Force Academy campus provided a curricula opportunity to allow students to do structured collaborative learning and to choose their own context for an investigative research. The student-centred investigation is necessary to reinforce formative knowledge of advanced optimization and test techniques. The course developer knew from his own educational research [1] that such pedagogy should be inherently inclusive of diverse abilities, interests, learning styles, cultures, prior studies and genders; however, the positive effect on this inaugural course was well beyond the expectations of both the teachers and learners. This paper presents the research of just one of the 15 students to exemplify the inclusiveness of such pedagogy in tertiary curriculum development, in this case for gender-inclusion, however other students benefitted who had less ability for such tertiary concepts, and in one student’s case the pedagogy helped overcome significant cultural barriers. The context chosen by the showcased student’s work was to optimize the baking of cupcakes. Ever wondered how to bake the perfect cupcake? Ever wondered if the recipe you are following is actually correct? How did they come up with the temperature and time for cooking? Her normal work is in highly classified and compartmentalized electronic warfare and so she opted instead for a topic that could be shared with her military colleagues and the public; itself an inclusive and possibly reciprocating gesture. Many people who ordinarily do not associate with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, either through gender, academic ability or culture, can relate to trying to perfect baking of a recipe such as cupcakes. As such, this case study offers a timely and interesting reminder of the inclusive benefits of student-centred context in curricula development, particularly for STEM subjects, reinforcing previous research from the literature reviewed.

Language specialists’ views on the academic language and learning abilities of English as an additional language postgraduate coursework students: towards an adjunct tutorial model

ABSTRACTAs in other Anglophone nations, a large percentage of Australia’s postgraduate international students come from English as an additional language (EAL) backgrounds, and many require development of their academic language and learning (ALL) capabilities to successfully navigate a higher degree. This paper investigates those capabilities through the eyes of experienced ALL practitioners (n = 42), whose views on the issue were sourced via an online survey. The paper further explains how the findings were used to implement a trial of an ALL enhancement strategy at one university in the form of adjunct tutorials within selected coursework masters programmes. Both the research and the pedagogical model depart from monolithic conceptualizations of international students by identifying the issues of vertical transition peculiar to EAL postgraduate coursework students, a task that is addressed through the tripartite perspective of the personal, the linguistic and the academic. Findings suggest that, while EAL postgraduates have previous study experience, motivation and maturity, they benefit from opportunities to address disjunctures between the knowledge base they bring to higher study and the expectations of that knowledge base held by universities. Successful transition is also facilitated by explicit (re)orientation to the academic norms of the host institution and nation. Academic writing was noted as a particular area requiring attention, along with the related matters of research skills, information literacy, academic integrity, independent learning, and time management.

Evidence-based Practice Intentions and Long-term Behaviours of Physiotherapy Graduates Following an Intensive Education Programme.

Assisting physiotherapists to implement research evidence into clinical practice is essential to ensure the quality of practice and encourage lifelong learning and professional progression. However, many physiotherapists report barriers to implementing research, and there is little evidence regarding the sustainability of intended evidence-based practice (EBP) behaviours following EBP education programmes. This paper reports on intended and actual long-term EBP behaviours of physiotherapy students who completed an intensive EBP training programme embedded within a post-graduate coursework programme. An intensive 3-week course in quantitative health research methods and EBP was delivered annually from 2007 to 2014 as part of the programme to national and international students. Following the course, students were asked about their intention of using evidence to inform their future clinical practice. An online survey was used to evaluate EBP behaviours of graduates. Of a possible total of 202 students, contact details for 193 students were sourced, and 65 students responded to the survey (34% response rate). At course completion, 174 students (86%) indicated that they intended to use research to guide their clinical decisions at least once a week. At follow-up, most graduates reported frequently using research to inform their clinical practice; indicated by a mean score of 6.5 (±1.9) from a possible range of 0 (not at all) to 10 (all the time). On average, students reported spending 2.2 (±2.2) hours accessing and reading research evidence per week. The most common barriers to implementing evidence were lack of time, limited access to evidence sources and a perceived lack of generalizability of research findings to specific patient groups. Graduates of an intensive EBP training programme embedded within an existing post-graduate physiotherapy programme regularly implemented EBP in clinical practice. Barriers to evidence implementation were time, access to research and perceived lack of generalizability of research findings. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language specialists' views on academic language and learning support mechanisms for EAL postgraduate coursework students: The case for adjunct tutorials

Large numbers of international students are enrolled in postgraduate coursework degrees in English Medium of Instruction (EMI) destinations such as Australia and the UK (AUSSE Research Briefing, 2011; HEFCE, 2014), most of whom have English as an Additional Language (EAL). However, there is a dearth of literature on the types of academic language and learning (ALL) support that best suit this cohort, and few accounts of sustained strategies implemented specifically for them, particularly university-wide. This paper is an account of one university's attempt to fill this gap in terms of both research and practice. The institution's senior executive commissioned a survey of the views of higher education ALL practitioners across Australia (n = 42) on the potential effectiveness of nine archetypal ALL support mechanisms for postgraduate EAL coursework students. Findings took the form of a quantitative rating of the nine mechanisms as well as qualitative comments on pro and con factors. As the paper describes, this data fed into the formation of an executively mandated academic language enhancement strategy for postgraduate coursework EAL students in the form of a two-year trial of adjunct tutorials within core coursework units.