Graduate School Research Articles

Deliberate Practice with Motivational Interviewing: Basic Listening Skills for Undergraduates

Background Training in professional psychology is moving beyond knowledge-based education and toward competency-based education. Similarly, experiential learning, focused more on skills than facts, is emphasized in undergraduate education. Few studies, however, have investigated the use of skill-based learning for clinically relevant skills in undergraduate psychology courses. Objective This study investigated deliberate practice as a skill-based method for training undergraduates to use basic Motivational Interviewing and reflective listening skills. Method In an upper-level undergraduate clinical psychology course, students were randomly assigned to an MI workshop that included deliberate practice to learn basic reflective listening skills or a waitlist control group. Results In both between (workshop versus waitlist) and within (pre versus post) group comparisons, students’ ability to use reflective listening improved as evaluated by raters, blind to condition, and in self-report measures of MI knowledge and skill. Conclusion Deliberate practice may be effectively incorporated into undergraduate courses to prepare novice helpers with basic listening skills. Teaching Implications Competency-based training in listening skills may help undergraduate students prepare for graduate school in the helping professions or any of multiple post-graduation professions not requiring professional training and licensure.

Mother knows best: how working mothers influence gender and racial differences in educational expectations for graduate school

Educational expectations have increased over time in the United States. Most adolescents expect to earn a bachelor’s degree and a graduate or professional degree. Although past research has generally agreed on the status-attainment perspective to understand educational expectations, these frameworks are limited in terms of the type of parental resources they address, as well as inattention to the intersection of gender and race over time. We address these gaps and investigate variations in youths’ expectations for graduate school by mother’s employment status, gender, and race using Monitoring the Future data from twelfth graders from 1976 to 2019. We find that mother’s employment status positively influences women’s graduate school expectations more than men’s across all racial groups we examine with young Black women holding the highest graduate school expectations. We also find that maternal employment patterns graduate school expectations over time but only for White respondents. Black respondents hold higher expectations, but this trend is stable across maternal employment status.

Teaching Computer Programming Using Mathematics: Examples from Middle-School and Graduate School

Teaching Computer Programming Using Mathematics: Examples from Middle-School and Graduate School

Reformation of Graduate School Education at Gunma University

Reformation of Graduate School Education at Gunma University

Advanced Financial Management Competencies of Graduate School Students in Business Administration: A Case Study

Advanced Financial Management Competencies of Graduate School Students in Business Administration: A Case Study

국내 시각예술계열 일반대와 전문대 교육과정의 정합성 연구

Objectives In this study, I explored the consistency of the curricula of Universities and Colleges in the field of visu-al arts in Korea based on the educational goals of the Higher Education Act. Methods The analysis framework of the consistency study is composed of three areas: ‘suitability, interpenetration, and dynamics’. For suitability, the educational goals of cases were analyzed, for interpenetration, the interdiscipli-nary system was analyzed, and for dynamics, the trend of the times such as institutional change and major form of cases was analyzed. The scope of the study was limited to the field of visual arts, and 13 universities and 13 Colleges were selected and analyzed. Results As the results, all educational goals of cultivating ‘artists’ for Universities and ‘professional workers’ for Colleges were comprehensively suitable. However, the interdisciplinary system showed interoperability with Universities due to the ‘upgrade of degrees’ of Junior Colleges, and most Universities showed graduate school uplift by opening practical doctoral courses. And it was very dynamic in that both Cases actively reflected the con-temporary demand of fierce competition. In particular, all Cases are characterized by the revitalization of con-vergence majors and the reinforcement of multilateral support systems and systems conscious of employment rates. Conclusions Overall, the curricula of Colleges and Universities has some problems of ‘suitability’ and ‘interpenetration’. However, in terms of dynamics, this is an inevitable change in the response of both Cases to a highly educated society, social change and on-site demand, and intensifying competition. Therefore, this problem is a problem of the times that goes beyond simply diagnosing superficial consistency, and the issue of identity as a higher educa-tion institution remains a task in the future.

Current Status and Challenges of Korean Medical School Admissions Policies

Medical school admission policies vary from country to country. In Korea, medical school admission policies reflect the policy choices made by the Ministry of Education. After the Korean War, universities implemented their own entrance exams, and since then, various admissions processes have been implemented with consideration of the fairness of the exam and the increase in private education expenses. The introduction of the medical graduate school system has led many universities to implement tests separate from the academic ability test. Currently, 40 medical schools have been approved by the government and are responsible for providing medical education, but there is a growing movement to open new medical schools in various regions. The excessive interest in medical school admissions in Korea is creating an unfavorable social atmosphere, where academies are even being operated for elementary school students to help them achieve an eventual goal of entering medical school. Furthermore, an irresponsible and sudden increase in the number of students admitted to medical school is causing a disruption in medical education. Medical schools need unconditional government support to strengthen their role in the community and the nation, and policy consideration is needed to ensure that universities are as autonomous as possible.

Benjamin Elling.

"My biggest motivation is to leave the world with more than I've taken from it… A key experience in my education was failing my first exam in graduate school. It quickly taught me that you can either take failure as a sign that you're not good enough or you believe in yourself enough to hit the books and try again…" Find out more about Benjamin Elling in his Introducing… Profile.

Experiences of LGBTQ+ graduate students in research-focused doctoral programs: a scoping review

Students of sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities have long been underserved in higher education, and the limited research thus far has focused on undergraduates. There is a large gap in understanding the outcomes and experiences of LGBTQ+ graduate students, particularly in STEM. We undertook the first scoping review to examine the available literature on LGBTQ+ student experiences in research-focused doctoral programs. A scoping review methodology was utilized to compile a broad set of publications for a narrative review of emergent themes. A comprehensive search of 5 bibliographic databases yielded 1,971 unique studies, which were screened by two independent reviewers for data on LGBTQ+ doctoral students in non-clinical fields. Eighty-two publications were included in the analysis, over half of which were published in the past 5 years. Thirteen themes emerged from analyzing the included publications. LGBTQ+ ientities can continue evolving during graduate school, and some students incorporated SGM identities in their research (“mesearch”). Though students expected academia to be welcoming, many encountered repeated anti-LGBTQ+ bias that impacted their perceived safety for coming out. Nearly half of the studies mentioned intersectionality with other marginalized identities, including race/ethnicity, religion, disability, and others. Based on the information presented, we outline recommendations for practitioners to improve doctoral education, such as preparing teaching assistants to manage discriminatory classroom conduct.

Performative Facework During Graduate School: International Graduate Student Parents’ Navigation of Work and Family Precarities

This paper examined how international graduate student parents (IGSPs) engage in performative facework to deal with their non-normative parent identity in graduate schools in the United States. Participants engaged in sedimentary facework to perform the ideal graduate student face. IGSPs’ sedimentary facework perpetuated their own marginalization as they disciplined themselves to “hide the children” and avoid receiving “special favors.” Nevertheless, sedimentary facework provided face cover that enabled IGSPs to actually have children in practice. A few IGSPs worked with mentors who advocated work–family integration and engaged in subversive facework that disrupted the child-free norm of graduate students, thus cultivating the potential for individual resistance and structural change. Taking a feminist intersectional lens, we unveil how participants’ performances of the ideal graduate student face are entrenched in intersectional precarities to problematize the dominating workplace ideology privileging neoliberal productivity over personal and family well-being.

Evaluating Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge of Functional Speech Disorders

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to offer an evaluation of speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') experiences with and knowledge of functional speech disorders. Functional speech disorders occur as a part of functional neurological disorders, a complex disorder that is often overlooked and misdiagnosed. Through an assessment of experience with and common myths about functional speech disorders among SLPs, the importance of providing education to SLPs about this patient population is discussed. Method: As a part of the presentation about functional speech disorders during the 2023 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Health Care Summit, 122 participants were asked to anonymously respond to a series of questions that outlined their demographics, training in functional speech disorders, and experiences with this patient population. Descriptive data are presented. Results and Conclusions: Among attendees, 58% were exposed to functional speech disorders in graduate school while 75% had seen a patient with a functional speech disorder, most of whom had also diagnosed the patients' communication disorder. This study highlights the role of the SLP in identifying and managing functional speech disorders and the increased attention this patient population has received over time, as well as the work yet to be done. Functional speech disorders are a legitimate clinical entity, for which a diagnosis can be made based on positive clinical features (i.e., is not a diagnosis of exclusion). The call to action includes guidance for clinicians, educators, and academic training programs to support this patient population. See the Appendix for a plain language summary.

Researcher of national history

The article highlights the problems of scientific research, the creative biography of the great Tatar historian Salyam Khatipovich Alishev, who, having entered graduate school at the age of 34, achieved outstanding success thanks to his determination and enormous diligence, love for the craft of a historian and the desire to learn and write the true history of his native people. In the 1970–1980s, when the planned scientific topics of the majority of the employees of the sector of history were limited to the Soviet period, the achievements and successes of the Institute of Language, Literature and History in the study of the past of the Tatar people of the 15th – 19th centuries were largely determined by the works of S.Kh. Alishev. For citation: Zagidullin I.K. Researcher of national history. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2024, vol.14, no.3, pp.172–185. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2024-14-3.172-185 (In Russian)

«Моя работа… прошла не даром»

The publication is a commentary and texts of three previously unknown letters written to each other by N.I. Vorobyev and R.K. Gareeva (Urazmanova), who would later become the leading specialist in Tatar rites and holidays. The conducted analysis of the document revealed the peculiarities of scholarly communication between these individuals, the emotions of an inexperienced but science-minded young school teacher who was involved in the research work, and the influence of Marxist-Leninist ideology on the understanding of the importance of the ethnography science in the Soviet times. Gareeva’s first letter was written on January 23, 1961. In the letter, she shared her concerns about not understanding the need for ethnography. Vorobyev wrote her a detailed response in February of the same year. Nikolai Iosifovich divided the letter into sections. In the first part, when discussing the age of science and technology, he points out the spiritual needs. In his opinion, culture and art are no less important for people than material needs. When reflecting on the importance of ethnographic science, the scholar emphasises the need for a comprehensive study of the ‘development’ of the culture of different peoples, when old skills can be useful for meeting the modern needs. In the last section, he argues that a new generation of researchers is necessary to ensure the continuity of academic knowledge. The geographical education received by R.K. Gareeva, as N.I. Vorobyev is convinced, will help her look at traditional culture much more broadly. The second letter of Rufa (Raufa) Karimovna is not as worrisome as the first one. She expressed gratitude to Vorobyev for the answer and, inspired, she reports on her research plans to collect ethnographic materials on the culture of the Tatars and on preparation for entering graduate school. The revealed epistolary documents made it possible to reveal the subtle aspects of the formation and development of ethnological science in the Volga region, the importance of the individual/teacher in the professional development of researchers of the traditional culture of the peoples of the region.

First person – Takayuki Miyaki

ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Takayuki Miyaki is first author on ‘ Ultrastructural analysis of whole glomeruli using array tomography’, published in JCS. Takayuki is an Assistant professor in the lab of Koichiro Ichimura at Department of Anatomy and Life Structure, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, investigating 3D ultrastructural analysis of cells and tissues, especially podocytes and glomeruli, using volume electron microscopy.

ChatGPT and scientific research in university higher education

In the present study, the influence of ChatGPT on scientific research in university higher education was determined. The deductive method, quantitative approach, explanatory level, and pre-experimental design were used. The sample consisted of 36 students coursing a Master's Degree in University Research and Teaching at the Graduate School of the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Puno, Peru. The results showed that ChatGPT significantly influences scientific research, with an increase in results from the pretest of 2.8% to the posttest of 80.6%. In conclusion, ChatGPT has a positive impact on the formulation of scientific research, demonstrating its potential to improve the academic quality and impact of research papers.

Using virtual fieldwork to support interprofessional and community-based learning: students from four faculties investigate life on a remote island in Japan

IntroductionThe Mishima Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, are remote islands designated as medically underserved. Supporting the people living in such remote islands requires a multifaceted examination of the livelihoods of the residents, including their health, work, and living environment.MethodsStudents from the faculties of nursing, veterinary science, agriculture, and engineering participated in a 3-day virtual fieldwork session held synchronously from the campus of Kagoshima University and on a remote island in the Mishima Mura island group in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Coursework and post-course surveys were analyzed to determine student engagement and learning. In particular, the analysis considered learning in relation to interprofessional learning and community-based learning.Results and discussionStudents expressed being able to conduct fieldwork online, collaborate with students from multiple faculties and graduate schools, and apply their expertise. These outcomes were reflected in the five-point Likert scale evaluation responses, highlighting a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Virtual fieldwork can contribute to student learning by introducing new concepts and allowing them to consider development issues in remote areas from multiple perspectives.

An MBA capstone that's out of this world: Commercializing NASA patents

AbstractCapstone classes can help MBA programs achieve student learning goals and meet accreditation standards. However, such programs often fail to build the skills they are intended to develop. Technology transfer projects can be an effective way to build these skills while creating a positive economic impact. This article describes Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College's MBA program's integrative capstone experience that partners with NASA to allow student teams to commercialize unused or underutilized NASA patents to develop new products and create business startups using a 4Ps model. First, students examine Patents for intellectual property that could be transferred to new applications with commercial potential. Next, they develop a knowledge network of Partners who could assist them to commercialize the technology. Then, students identify Prospects for the proposed commercial use of the technology. Finally, they Package a newly developed, market‐ready product with strategy, financial, sales and marketing plans, and pitch these to angel investors who might fund the startup and assist them in starting the business. This article details the 20 steps in the 4Ps model and discusses student outcomes, as well as the business focus of the 29 teams that have completed the course since 2012. Benefits, challenges, and advice for delivering the 4Ps model are discussed.

Training Needs for School Staff Supporting Students Returning to School After a Psychiatric Hospitalization

AbstractSupporting students returning to school after a mental health crisis often involves more training than many school staff members receive. With the increase in youth mental health diagnoses, there has also been an increase in the number of youth requiring psychiatric emergency department visits and hospitalizations. As such, this study employed a basic qualitative design to gather the perspectives of school staff who support students’ mental health about their experiences and training needs related to supporting youth returning to school after psychiatric hospitalization. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 school mental health professionals or administrators. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Three themes were identified: (1) most participants received minimal formal training in graduate school on hospital-to-school transition, (2) most participants learned about hospital-to-school transition on the job, and (3) participants made recommendations and identified specific training needs. Implications for training are discussed including a need for variety (e.g., some practitioners need basic training while others need more advanced training) and different format preferences (in-person may be preferred but online asynchronous is more convenient).

The impact of resilience on academic performance with a focus on mature learners

BackgroundResilience is an essential psychological trait that empowers individuals to adapt and thrive in the face of challenges. Although it is acknowledged that health professionals need to possess high levels of resilience, there has been limited research comparing how different groups of health students, particularly school leaver undergraduates and mature age graduate entry students, develop resilience in their coursework.MethodsThis study combines both objective (academic grades with validated survey results) and subjective data (interviews) to compare how resilience is related to academic coursework performance for two groups of pharmacy students: the mature age graduate entry (GE, N = 64) learners and school leaver undergraduate (UG, N = 208) learners. We employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods design using surveys, academic performance data and semi-structured interviews. The survey tapped constructs related to resilience (burnout, stressors and coping methods) while the interviews elicited a more nuanced understanding of individual and environmental factors.ResultsAlthough there was no statistical difference in burnout experience between the two groups, GE students exhibited more positive resilience attitudes than UG when selecting resilience statements on the survey. Both cohorts indicated in the survey that engaging in distraction activities (physical exercise, sleeping, listening to music, anything other than the stressor) was their most preferred method of relieving stress. Within UG student survey responses, those who indicated support from partners, friends and family had better academic performance, while those who did not report coping methods did worse academically. The three key environmental factors we identified that contributed to both undergraduate and graduate entry resilience were workload, feedback provision and psychosocial support.ConclusionsCurrently, there is still a need for resilience programs geared at academic success to be implemented in higher education. This study provides objective evidence of academic success coupled with exploration into the nuances of resilience amongst different student groups. It not only highlights the differing resilience development strategies and burnout coping mechanisms in emerging health professionals, but showcases the juxtaposition of two different learner groups (UG and GE students) within a discipline. The cross-cohort facilitation of learning as in the discipline-specific strategies identified can help both groups develop resilience and inform future innovations. By comparing mature-age graduate students and younger-in-age undergraduate students, we identified a wider range of strategies and more positive attitudes to burnout in mature-age students. Health and clinical educators in university health degrees, clinical placements and clinical workplaces can develop effective training materials based on findings from this study to 1) assist undergraduate younger-age health students with developing resilience and 2) further refine mature-age health students’ and practicing health professionals’ resilience in today’s fast-paced clinical workplaces.

7906 Nanoencapsulated Curcumin-Piperine Complex: A Breakthrough In Targeting CYP17A1 For Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Therapy

Abstract Disclosure: J. Yakubu: None. Nanoencapsulated Curcumin-Piperine Complex: A Breakthrough in Targeting CYP17A1 for Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Therapy. Jibira Yakubu a,b,c, Oya Taritd, Evangelos Natsaridisd, Amit V. Pandey a,ba Translational Hormone Research Program, Department of Biomedical Research, Faculty of Medicine, b Paediatric Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, University Children’s Hospital, Inselspital, Bern, c Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. d Biointerfaces, Institute of Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Life Sciences FHNW, Muttenz, Switzerland. Abstract: Androgens play a pivotal role in prostate cell survival and are implicated in both early-stage and advanced, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). In CRPC patients on CYP17A1 inhibitors, the development of drug resistance and hypertensive crisis through the inhibition of CYP21A2 and or its substrate are a recognized challenge. Given its crucial role in androgen production, CYP17A1 has become a major target for cancer therapies. In this study, we employed a mini-evaporation technique to nanoencapsulate curcumin, exploring its impact on CYP17A1 activity in human adrenal NCI-H295R cells. We performed steroid profiling with LC-MS, as well as gene and protein expression studies. Initial results demonstrated that curcumin nanoparticles exhibited superior efficacy in reducing CYP17A1 activity compared to known drug Abiraterone acetate. Curcumin and piperine combined in nano-capsules greatly increased the inhibitory effects on CYP17A1 activity. Furthermore, ongoing studies include western blot investigation of the drug's interaction with the CYP17A1 protein and cell cycle effects. We confirmed the efficacy of our nano formulation by testing its impact on the growth of androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cell lines. Notably, nanoencapsulation improved curcumin's inhibitory effects on DHEA production via CYP17A1. Surprisingly, the curcumin-piperine nano-capsules enhanced these effects while having no effect on CYP21A2, offering a promising option for prostate cancer treatment. Our study reveals the promise of nanoencapsulated curcumin-piperine as a game-changing method for targeting CYP17A1 for improved prostate cancer therapy. The synergistic benefits observed in our study open new avenues for addressing the difficulties associated with androgen deprivation therapy. Funding: Cancer Research Switzerland grant number: KFS 5557-02-2022 Presentation: 6/3/2024