Browsing by Subject "Graduate students"
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Item Do international and non-international students experience graduate coursework differently : the relationship of learning community to self-determined motivation(2012-08) Karacul, Fikriye Eda; Schallert, Diane L.; Svinicki, Marilla D.This study attempted to explore the effect of inter- and intra-personal perceptions and practices of graduate students on their academic motivation from a Self Determination Theory perspective. Students in a large research university were surveyed to determine whether there is any association between their sense of learning community, the need for relatedness, and their reasons to be in graduate school. This study provides evidence to support the importance of the fulfillment of the need to belong in learning community. Differences between international and non-international students represented when they were engaged in their coursework as analyzed by using Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self Determination and Tajfel and Turner’s (1979) Social Identity Theory.Item Examining the activism experiences of Black women graduate students(2018-04-24) Lowe, Tracie Ann Jeannette; Reddick, Richard, 1972-; Holme, Jennifer; Green, Terrance; Smith, StellaThe purpose of this study was to examine the activism experiences of Black women graduate students. Understanding how these women defined activism in their terms, as well as factors that influenced their activism, were important topics for investigation. This qualitative investigation employed a phenomenological approach to "discover and describe the meaning or essence of participants' lived experiences, or knowledge as it appears to consciousness" (Hays & Singh, 2014, p. 50). The conceptual framework used for this study was Black feminist thought, expressly the dimensions of Black women's activism (Collins, 2009). One dimension of the framework is struggles for group survival which consist of daily actions within Black women’s social spheres to influence change (Collins, 2009). Institutional transformation, the second dimension, involves actions taken to challenge and eliminate discrimination within public institutions (Collins, 2009). In total, there were 17 findings which are as follows: 1) defining activism is complex; 2) activism happens in different ways along a continuum; 3) activism comes with expectations 4) recognizing injustice and understanding identity; 5) learning and developing the language; 6) observing and testing the waters; 7) performing activism; 8) burnout and introspection; 9) reconciliation and expanded perspectives; 10) activism came with challenges and consequences; 11) personal characteristics shaped their activism; 12) the influence of others shaped their activism; and 13) social media influenced their activism; 14) activism and the student experience was interconnected and inseparable; 15) race and gender influenced their activism; 16) activism required a sacrifice of time and energy; and 17) they gained new skills and knowledge that they passed to others.Item Graduate students’ discourse activity in synchronous online classroom discussion(2010-12) Park, Yangjoo; Resta, Paul E.This study is about graduate students’ discourse practices in a classroom text-based synchronous computer-mediated discussion (SCMD). Cultural historical activity theory (in short, Activity Theory) is the primary theoretical lens through which the data are analyzed. Engeström’s (1987) Activity System model among the various theoretical positions or perspectives of activity theorists has guided the overall process of the study, especially having the researcher focus on the identification and description of the model’s six key elements: subject, object, tool, community, rule, and division of labor. Several emerging themes were identified. An activity system in SCMD is situated in multiple dimensions of context: physical/biological, cultural/institutional, social/ emotional, and cognitive/intellectual dimensions; instead of a single utterance, a topical pair needs to be investigated as a unit of analysis in SCMD research; a collective unit of actions emerges through the discourse activity; and, finally, an ecological view is needed to understand an activity system as a whole. Based on these emerging themes, I conclude with a modified model of the activity system in the situation of dialogical transactions such as SCMD.Item Religion, spirituality, and identity : a study on the experience of graduate student identity development(2017-12-12) Burchett, Matthew Paul; Somers, Patricia (Patricia A.); Sharpe, Edwin Reese; Reddick, Richard; Glanzer, PerryThe exploration of religious and spiritual identity in higher education is a critical and often misunderstood component of graduate preparation. The problem is whether spirituality or religion is provided equal academic consideration as other aspects of both a graduate students’ personal identity or their preparation to assist students with their own process of exploration. Prominent scholars have joined a collective dialogue, and studies of religion and spirituality are slowly gaining traction in the higher education landscape (see Astin, Astin, & Lindholm, 2011a & 2011b; Chickering, Dalton, & Auerbach, 2006; Dalton & Crosby, 2006). This increased attention to matters of spirituality and religion on college campuses has also identified gaps in the research: What are colleges and universities doing to prepare personnel, particularly student affairs professionals, to engage students on matters of religion and spirituality? Are aspiring professionals attaining a similar knowledge foundation of religious and spiritual identity development as they are of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation? This study focused primarily on the experiences and aspirations of second-year graduate students in elite Masters of Education programs with an emphasis on higher education or college student personnel services. The study was concerned with their religious or non-religious background, its relationship to the student-participant worldview, and their decision to enter the field. This was particularly important in comparison to participants’ perceived importance of other components of identity development (gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation) as perceptions will shape the work of these future practitioners.Item Subjective well-being : its structure, prevalence, and association with distress, suicidality, and adverse childhood experiences in undergraduate and graduate students(2021-11-10) Irvin, Stuart Alan; Ainslie, Ricardo C.; Brownson, Christopher Granger, 1971-; Drum, David J; Sanchez, Delida; Schallert, Diane LPrevious psychological research on college student populations has largely focused on mental illness and ignored the experiences of graduate students. Using Corey Keyes’s operationalization of mental health as subjective well-being, this study utilized the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) to investigate four research topics among a large sample of undergraduate and graduate students. First, the factor structure of the MHC-SF was explored through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Second, the prevalence of MHC-SF diagnoses was estimated among each student sample. Lastly, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to explore the association between subjective well-being and 1) distress and suicidality and 2) adverse childhood experiences, while controlling for certain demographic variables. Exclusive to this study, the traditional MHC-SF diagnoses were expanded from three categories (e.g., languishing, flourishing, moderate) to five categories (e.g., languishing, flourishing, moderate plus, moderate: low hedonic, moderate: low eudaimonic) to explore additional variance within the traditional diagnosis of moderate mental health. This study used data from a 2016 survey of 6,711 undergraduate students and 2,882 graduate students from 18 four-year colleges and universities across the nation. CFA results indicated that a four-factor model of subjective well-being fit the data best. Using the expanded MHC-SF diagnoses, the majority of undergraduate and graduate students met criteria for flourishing mental health, and nearly as many met criteria for moderate plus mental health. ANCOVA results revealed that distress and suicidality was highest among languishing undergraduate and graduate students and lowest among flourishing undergraduate and graduate students. Lastly, languishing students reported the greatest number of adverse childhood experiences while flourishing students reported the fewest number of adverse childhood experiences. Findings from this study suggest mental health, or subjective well-being, is best conceptualized when the construct is broken down into four distinct, but correlated factors: emotional well-being, psychological well-being, social well-being (experiential), and social well-being (philosophical). Results suggest higher levels of subjective well-being (e.g., flourishing mental health, moderate plus mental health) are protective against distress and suicidality and lower levels of subjective well-being (e.g., languishing mental health, moderate: low hedonic, moderate: low eudaimonic) act as a risk factor for distress and suicidality. Findings also demonstrate that higher levels of subjective well-being are associated with fewer reported adverse childhood experiences and lower levels of subjective well-being are associated with more reported adverse childhood experiences. These results have several important implications for the development and provision of interventions designed to promote and protect the mental health of undergraduate and graduate students on college and university campuses.