Education Commons^™

Along For The Journey: Graduate Student Perceptions Of Research, Alissa Droog, Kari D. Weaver, Frances Brady

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

Graduate student identities and personal lives are heavily tied to their experiences of research, and many struggle to find, understand, and use information for research purposes. Using a drawing exercise rooted in visual research methods combined with semi-structured interviews, a research team in the United States and Canada explored graduate student perceptions of research with 19 participants. Thematic analysis identified six themes: research is abstract; research is an odyssey; social support makes or breaks the student experience; research is an emotional continuum; interplay between identity/values; information is problematic. The study has implications for how librarians support graduate student research.

Turning Theory Into Practice: An Application Of Queer Family Theory For Graduate Students, Shawn N. Mendez, Samuel H. Allen

Feminist Pedagogy

This paper describes an original teaching activity for instructors of graduate students. Leveraging a critical, transformative, and intersectional pedagogical perspective applied to graduate education, this paper prepares instructors to effectively teach queer theory through an application of the Hegemonic Heteronormativity (HH) model, introduced by Allen and Mendez in 2018. The HH model identifies heteronormativity as a pervasive, three-pronged hegemony, each of which shifts and changes intersectionally and over time. The three-part assignment described in this paper asks students to read the Hegemonic Heteronormativity manuscript independently before reviewing the model with instructor facilitation. Then, students apply the model to real-life examples …

Publishing As Hidden Curriculum: How Learning To Publish Is A Piecemeal Process For Graduate Students, Martha Stuit, Christy Caldwell, Lucia Orlando

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

This presentation will share the results of a survey on what and how graduate students learn about the publishing process at an R1 university. This presentation will build on an earlier poster about our study, called “Making the Publishing Process More Transparent: Identifying a Baseline for Publishing Support through Researching Gaps between Graduate Students and Their Faculty Advisors’ Support,” at Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students (TLGS) 2022 (Stuit 2022). That poster covered our methods, literature review, and research questions. This full-length presentation will cover our findings and takeaways that other librarians may use in their work with graduate students.

Faculty …

Teaching A Credit-Bearing Library Course For Graduate Students: From Proposal To Postmortem, Jill Cirasella

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

For years, library faculty at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York had fantasized about some day offering a credit-bearing course to our master’s and doctoral students. In 2021, we finally transitioned from idle dreams to directed discussion. As we explored how to get a library course on the books at an institution that had never before had one, we had to rethink and rework our plans several times, in unexpected but not unreasonable ways.

For example, we had believed that a one-credit course would be most appropriate—and most palatable to the institution—but we learned that only …

A Test Of The Extended Theoretical Model Of Communal Coping Among Graduate Students: Investigating The Influence Of Communal Coping On Graduate Students’ Psychological Well-Being, Rebekah M. Chiasson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this dissertation was to test the extended theoretical model of communal coping (T. Afifi et al., 2020) in a graduate student sample by exploring predictors and outcomes of communal coping processes among 554 graduate students. The extended theoretical model of communal coping specifies that communal coping occurs when individuals within a community—such as graduate students within an academic program—perceive stressors as shared and are willing to take joint action to overcome those stressors. Results of this dissertation provided evidence that graduate students’ academic stress and the severity of individual academic stressors negatively impacted their psychological well-being. The …

Hosting An International Graduate Student Orientation, Liza Weisbrod, Juliet T. Rumble, Adelia Grabowsky, Isabel Altamirano, Emily Sahib

Journal of Graduate Librarianship

In Fall 2022, Auburn University Libraries faculty and staff hosted an orientation event for newly arrived international graduate students. Highlights of the event included tours of major library service points, a shared meal, and a meet and greet for graduate students and subject librarians. A key takeaway for both groups was an increased awareness of the differences that exist between U.S. academic libraries and those in other countries. The authors discuss elements of the library orientation that worked well, and address lessons learned that will be used to improve future events.

Serving Graduate Students At A Community College Library, Daniel K. Blewett

Journal of Graduate Librarianship

Even though a community college library rarely attempts to offer the same depth of support found at a university, it can still serve the needs of local graduate students in two ways: through the library’s core collection of print and electronic resources, and through its on-site services, spaces, and librarian expertise. Graduate students need to know that these resources are available to them. The knowledge and ability of the librarian is key to supporting this patron group. This article is informed by the author’s experiences at the College of DuPage, a large comprehensive community college in northeastern Illinois.

A Two-Phase Study Examining Graduate Library Student Knowledge Gains And Perceptions Of Information Literacy Modules, Holly S. Hebert, Karen V. Nourse, Kevin S. Krahenbuhl

Journal of Graduate Librarianship

This paper reports the results of a two-phase study examining the effectiveness of a set of five online learning modules in increasing student understanding of information literacy topics. The modules were deployed within the foundational class of an online Master of Library Science program. Using Qualtrics-based surveys, Phase 1 assessed 15 students for their possible knowledge gains as well as their perceptions of their experiences with the instructional content. Through a combination of statistical and qualitative analysis, the researchers found modest knowledge gains as well as positive student perceptions of their instruction. Based upon the moderate success of Phase 1, …

Partners In Graduate Student Retention: A Library-Led Outreach Collaboration, Ashley R. Lierman

Collaborative Librarianship

Past research has indicated that social connection with their community is an important factor in the retention of graduate students. To help address this need, a Rowan University librarian led an interdepartmental team of collaborators from across campus in developing a series of outreach events specifically for graduate students, which evolved over time to include more and richer programming and opportunities for socialization. This article describes the evidence basis for these events’ inception, the essential components of each iteration of the event and its programming, and the results of holding these events, including both their successes and their failures. Recommendations …

Predicting Graduate Students’ Self-Efficacy For Thesis/Dissertation Completion In Sub-Saharan Africa, Millicent A. Oyugi, Mathew Baker, Alexa J. Lamm, Agnes Oywaya Nkurumwa Dr

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Despite the global surge in enrollment for master's and Ph.D. programs worldwide and, to some extent, in Sub-Saharan Africa, a considerable lag in completing theses and dissertations (TD) persists. Personal, situational, and contextual factors, such as supervision arrangements and research abilities, have been correlated with the time taken for TD completion. However, beyond these variables, there remains a significant gap in our understanding of what precisely predicts TD completion. To contribute to this knowledge deficit, we conducted a study to determine the predictive nature of specific information sources on students' self-efficacy regarding TD completion. These sources encompass gender, graduate program …

The Lived Experience Of Counseling Students In Natural Disaster, Amy M. Sirocky-Meck

Dissertations, 2020-current

After natural disaster, survivors may experience moderate to severe signs and symptoms of emotional distress which may subside or worsen as time passes (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2022). Adults pursuing higher education when natural disaster strikes experience an additional array of unique issues which may exacerbate symptoms of emotional distress (Wilkinson et al.,2013). To create and improve curricular and co-curricular structures that meet the needs of their students, educators in many health and mental health disciplines can draw from a variety of quantitative and qualitative studies, particularly those focused on how their disciplines’ students navigate the experience …

Balancing Act: A Study Of Graduate Student-Parents And Their Experiences Navigating Family And Academic Demands At The University Of San Diego., Jessica Rammell

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to learn about the experiences of graduate students who are raising children while enrolled in master’s and PhD programs at the University of San Diego. The question that guided this research was: What do the stories of graduate student parents inform us about the need to improve policies and practices at USD? Three cycles of action research were conducted at the University of San Diego between November 2022 and March 2023, with a total of seven participants. The methods of research included focus groups, interviews, and a creative group session. It was found that …

Breaking The Cycle: Women’S Experience In Postsecondary Agricultural And Extension Education, Lauren L. Cline, Haley Rosson, Penny Pennington Weeks

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

The “leaky educational pipeline” metaphor refers to the steady tapering off of women obtaining graduate degrees and reaching the level of a tenured faculty member, although the number of women earning college degrees has surpassed males since the 1980s. Women are disproportionately represented among faculty and leadership at land-grant institutions and in the agricultural education profession. The purpose of this study was to provide a synthesis of women’s experience in postsecondary agricultural and extension education (AEE) by describing the common and diverging challenges, opportunities, and mentoring experiences of women faculty and graduate students in the profession. The study was a …

How Do Graduate Students Approach College Teaching? Influences Of Professional Development, Teaching Assistantships, And Big Five Personality Traits, Elizabeth S. Che, Patricia J. Brooks, Anna M. Schwartz, Ethlyn S. Saltzman, Ronald C. Whiteman

Publications and Research

Introduction: Graduate students engage in college teaching with varied attitudes and approaches. Their teaching practices may be influenced by professional development experiences related to pedagogy, and their personality traits.

Methods: Through an online survey of graduate students teaching undergraduate courses (N = 109, 69.7% women, M age = 30 years, 59% psychology), we examined whether self-reported participation in professional development related to pedagogy, teaching assistantship (TA) experience, academic discipline (psychology vs. other), and Big Five personality traits were associated with variation in teaching practices.

Results: Participation in professional development correlated positively with years of undergraduate teaching experience and with …

Graduate Student Awareness Of Student Services, Shayla Schumacher

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Studies have shown that student services aid in students’ success while attending college, however many students may not utilize these resources or even know they exist. Furthermore, there is limited research on graduate students’ awareness and usage of these services. Graduate students face different circumstances than other student populations yet may not access these beneficial resources. This study uses a mixed methods survey to examine graduate students’ awareness and usage of student services at a state school. This study shows attending the university as an undergraduate student first contributes to a student’s knowledge and usage of student services.

Unpacking The Graduate Student Research Experience: Findings From A Drawing-Based Interview Study, Alissa Droog, Frances Brady, Kari D. Weaver

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

What do graduate students think research is? How do they come to be scholars and how can we as information professionals better support their needs?

Using a drawing exercise rooted in visual research methods (Hartel, 2017; Doucette & Hoffman, 2019; Bryans & Mavin, 2006), a cross-institutional research team in the United States and Canada explore these questions through an interview-based study of graduate student perceptions of research.

At present, the existing body of knowledge examining student perceptions of research strongly focuses on undergraduates (Griffioen, 2019; Insua et al., 2018), leaving a critical gap in theory and pedagogy needed to support …

Exploration Into The Graduate International Student Narratives, Diana Budoff

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Multiple researchers have conveyed an abundance of problems international students face when choosing to study abroad in the United States. A range of emotional, psychological, and physical issues prevent students from fully succeeding. Every international student faces different challenges, and every educational institution has its own prominent issues. In my study, I examined the challenges graduate international students at the University of San Diego (USD) face that might impede them from fully transitioning and adapting to their new environment. I used a mixed-methods approach (interviews and focus groups) to understand the issues impacting the transition and adaptation of international students …

Leveling Up, Nearly Falling, & Getting Back On The Ladder: Differentiating Library Research, Apa & Endnote Instruction For Even More Online Students While Not Hurting Yourself In The Process, Josette M. Kubicki

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Note to reviewers: This proposal is for a presentation that builds on what I meant to present at the 2021 conference. Due to a storm, a black-out occurred, and I couldn’t get back online in time to present most of it because my computer was so slow. The GICOIL moderator kindly offered me a break-out room at the end of the day, but only two people showed up, and an informal conversation was more suited. This proposal expands on that presentation and elaborates on what I did this year. I have a much faster computer now and will log in …

Scholarly Communications For Librarians: Developing A Mentoring Program To Support Tenure-Track Library Faculty, Anna R. Craft

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Many academic libraries are increasingly called upon to support and provide training and instruction to graduate students on scholarly communications issues such as open access, copyright, research data, identifying legitimate versus predatory publishing opportunities, and related topics. Many of these areas align with needs librarians face in their own work, especially for those whose jobs offer opportunities (or requirements) to participate in tenure and promotion processes. In order to meet their own professional development and career needs while also preparing to support the specialized needs of graduate students, librarians must keep abreast of the changing scholarly communications landscape and seek …

A Degree Of Difference: Haylee Cook Among Ouachita's First Master's Cohort In Aba, Felley Lawson, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

A couple years out of college, Haylee Cook knew her calling. She just didn’t know what it was called. After Cook earned a degree in psychology from Henderson State University, she and her husband, Matthew, a 2014 Ouachita graduate, left Arkadelphia so that he could pursue family ministry at a church in Alabama. When the couple’s daughter, Leland, was born, “I had zero motivation for graduate school,” Cook said. “I wanted to be the best mom I could be, and support Matthew in his ministry.”

Dr. Julyse Horr: A Scientist-Practitioner Led By Faith, Kiki Schleiff Cherry, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Dr. Julyse Migan-Gandonou Horr, Ouachita’s new director of applied behavior analysis, credits her faith with bringing her to where she is today. “I can look back now and see how God was guiding me every step of the way,” said Horr (pronounced “haw”). “In each chapter of my life, he put the right people in place at just the right time.”

Breaking Down Barriers: Using Collaboration To Increase The Accessibility Of Campus Resources For Graduate Students, Caitlin Hayles

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

In this action research project, I explored how the University of San Diego (USD) can better support graduate students, particularly through examining the accessibility of existing campus resources. The primary research question was: How can the Office of Graduate Student Life better meet graduate student needs by making existing campus resources more accessible to students? By collaborating with graduate student leaders and campus administrators, I aimed to improve development and well-being for graduate students at USD by eliminating challenges graduate students face when accessing campus resources. Through this research, I found communication and the breaking down of silos across schools …

Leveling Up: Differentiating Library Research And Apa Instruction For Online Students Into Different Levels And Modes, Josette M. Kubicki

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Over two and a half years, the Department of Teaching and Leading liaison librarian has evolved her virtual instruction to graduate online students by scaffolding it into different levels. What started as advocating for an optional one-shot webinar for groups of students in their asynchronous Master of Education program’s seminal course has organically grown into three different library instruction levels throughout the program: introductory (level 1), intermediate (level 2), and advanced (level 3), and a few levels for APA instruction. These days, all students start on the same level playing field by undertaking level 1 library instruction and level 1 …

Interprofessional Experience For Future Education Professionals: School Psychology And Speech-Language Pathology Students, Shari L. Deveney, Brian Mckevitt

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Educational training programs are tasked with addressing potential barriers to interprofessional practice through experiences that promote interprofessional collaborations. The present study of interprofessional experiences (IPE) had both research and pedagogical purposes. The research purpose was to describe graduate student self-perceptions related to interprofessional teaming/collaboration before and after an IPE involving two educational training programs, school psychology and speech-language pathology. The pedagogical purpose was to convey a detailed description of a case-based IPE offered as a course assignment and offer implementation suggestions. Participants in this course-based IPE were 109 students in the school psychology and speech-language pathology graduate programs at a …

A Grounded Theory Inquiry Into The Pedagogical Socialization Of Graduate Students Within Graduate Quantitative Methods Courses, Amanda Kay Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative methods are one of the most highly technical fields of study within social sciences graduate programs. Although classroom pedagogy is an important factor connected to student success within graduate quantitative methods courses little is known on the pedagogical socialization experiences of masters and doctoral students. The purpose of this grounded theory inquiry was to discover graduate students perspectives on their pedagogical socialization experiences and the norms, values and role expectations transmitted during the teaching and learning of quantitative methods. Narrative data was collected from in-depth interviews among a theoretical sample of 31 masters and doctoral students enrolled in introductory, …

Embodying Integration: A Sociological Study Of Graduate Student Religiosity In Christian Higher Education, Daniel Allen

Faculty Scholarship – Sociology

Social science research has historically posited an inverse relationship between higher education levels and spirituality, but recent research has nuanced this assumption. Faith formation is a celebrated part of Christian higher education in particular, and graduate programs have grown among Protestant Christian institutions in recent years. However, little research addresses graduate student perceptions of the spiritual quality of their experience. This study asks what program-level features correlate with a high-quality spiritual experience for graduate students studying in a Protestant Christian context. Using data collected between 2014-2020 from 3,274 graduate students at a private, not-for-profit Christian university, we find that students …

Librarians In Dissertation Deposit: Infusing An Institutional Ritual With Scholarly Communication Instruction, Roxanne Shirazi, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

Most doctoral students are required to produce a dissertation that makes an original contribution to their field of study in order to fulfill their degree requirements. The scholarly nature of this requirement informs how students and faculty approach doctoral research, but universities often treat the dissertations themselves merely as student records, not scholarly contributions. Librarians, however, are uniquely situated to work with graduate students as emerging participants in the scholarly communication ecosystem and help them prepare their dissertations for an outside audience. Librarians have the expertise to advise students with questions regarding copyright, licensing, fair use, and authors’ rights, as …

Big Ideas, Individual Effort: Graduate Student Writing Retreats As Accelerator For Dissertation Completion, Michael Harris

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

The University of Memphis promotes itself as a major, urban, research institution, but it lacks one thing: Carnegie Research 1 classification. Recently, the University has set a goal to achieve such designation by the year 2023 and has created and supported numerous programs to assist with the success, recruitment, and retention of graduate students. In support of these efforts, the offices of the Graduate School, the Center for Writing and Communication, and the University Libraries have an important role to play. Separately, each represents a phase in process towards graduation, but together, they can serve as a powerful, holistic tool …

Tailoring Boot Camps To Graduate Student Needs, Tim Dodge, Adelia Grabowsky, Juliet T. Rumble, Elizabeth J. Weisbrod

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

In an effort to strengthen the academic and career preparedness of graduate students at their public land grant university, library faculty organized a one-day boot camp, featuring workshops focused on research and scholarly productivity skills. Organizers of the boot camp recognized that the needs of their graduate students extended beyond the discipline-specific curricula of graduate programs and the content of library orientations and one-shots. The workshop series they developed, informed by input from graduate students, focused on skills and strategies needed throughout the research lifecycle. Graduate student response to the weekend boot camp was overwhelmingly positive, and attendance has grown …

Assessing Education Needs Of Graduate Students For Data Management, Judith E. Pasek

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Uncertainty remains as to areas of greatest need for instruction in research data management, and whether perceived needs differ between disciplinary faculty and graduate students. Data sharing requirements of research funders have provided the impetus in recent years for librarians to provide data management services. Instructional approaches ranging from workshops to credit courses are being developed, often without the benefit of first conducting a needs assessment.

A study of education needs in research data management was conducted jointly at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming. Graduate students in science-based programs with research thesis or dissertation requirements …