APA 1999 Convention Coverage Presentations by Division 49: Mentoring Between Faculty and Doctoral and Master's Students

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to determine whether engineering master’s students at a medium-sized university use library-provided abstracting and indexing (A&I) services (e.g. Compendex), and if they do, to what extent, in what manner and for what purposes. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methodology approach was used to explore electronic information-seeking patterns of engineering master’s students at New Mexico State University. Usage statistics, a focus group and a Web-based survey were used, the latter composed of 17 questions using a critical incident approach and direct questions to probe: reasons for and method of search, types of materials used (with relative frequencies), means of obtaining materials and evaluations of the usefulness of five library-provided A&I services. Findings – Only 15 per cent of respondents used a subscription A&I service such as Compendex when searching specific terms. The majority of sources used were located through known term searches, and master’s learned of these information resources through article citations or conversations with colleagues. Half the respondents reported using Google Scholar to find the last scholarly article they had read. Engineering master’s students – similar to practicing engineers – evaluate the costs associated with obtaining information, and may “satisfice”. Even so, students expressed interest in increasing their knowledge of skills and strategies to find worthwhile electronic information. Originality/value – This study sheds light on engineering master’s students’ use of A&I services, and examines their perceptions of five of these services commonly provided by academic libraries.

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Collaboration with Master’s Students in Home Health Care Research

Home Health Care Management & Practice ◽

10.1177/1084822302238111 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 59-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carol Hall Ellenbecker ◽

Joanne M. Dalton ◽

Kristine Beyerman Alster

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Home Health Care ◽

Health Care Research ◽

Home Health ◽

Master's Students ◽

Care Research

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The development of meaningful interactions on a blog used for the learning of English as a Foreign Language

ReCALL ◽

10.1017/s0958344010000200 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 376-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Annick Rivens Mompean

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Learning Community ◽

Real Life ◽

Added Value ◽

Written Expression ◽

Learning Activity ◽

Critical Element ◽

Publication Online ◽

Master's Students ◽

Real Activity

AbstractThe use of a blog as a pedagogical aid for the learning of foreign languages is gaining support among teachers’ communities (Soubrié, 2006; Tomé, 2007) as it can help students develop online interactions and authentic productions. The current study is analysing the use of such a multimedia setting in a group of Master’s students in France, studying English as a Foreign Language, who had to keep a blog in groups of three or four, dealing with a specific topic of their interest. The introduction of such a tool was meant to motivate learners to practise written expression with an added value: the authenticity of the posted message, aimed not only at the teacher and the learning community but also made visible to the outside world.The aim of this article is to measure the pedagogical added value of such a blog for the development of written expression more specifically, and to see the potential to transform a real activity which is well-known to the younger learners’ community1 into a learning activity for the learning of English. The aims are in agreement with the principles of the Common European Framework of References for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001), which establishes specific goals for language learners with the implementation of ICT: task-based learning, authentic interactions or collaborative learning (Wenger, 1998).Three main aspects have been considered in this article:(i) a description of the way the interactions take place on the blog;(ii) an analysis of the motivating factors for such a publication online;(iii) reflection on the role of the tutor and on the place for feedback.A quantitative analysis of the interactions shows that the project is quite successful in terms of participation, as there are more posts on average than required in the pedagogical contract. Yet there are some disparities, concerning the level of activity from one blog to another and among the participants, that can be related to the role they undertake within the blog (do they prefer to post messages or comments, who are these for and why are they posted?) and to their level of motivation. Qualitatively, the project is also positively perceived: although the blog is not considered as a “real-life” one (the activity is perceived as a pedagogical one), the interactions are meaningful because they make sense for the learners who are fully engaged in the writing process and in the interactions. Finally, the place for feedback needs to be discussed, as the corrections online, although described as necessary, are also very often perceived as inhibiting and appear to be a critical element of the project.

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Negotiating Intelligence, Nerdiness, and Status in Physics Master’s studies

Research in Science Education ◽

10.1007/s11165-018-9786-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 50 (6) ◽

pp. 2419-2440 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anders Johansson

Keyword(s):

Physics Education ◽

Theoretical Physics ◽

Master's Students ◽

Perceived Norms ◽

High Regard

AbstractMotivated by widespread concerns for representation and equity in physics education, this study investigates negotiations of identity positions of master’s students in physics. The goal is to explore how sociocultural features of physics can structure the possibilities for becoming a physicist. Interviews with international master’s students in physics were analyzed focusing on perceived norms about physics and how students responded to and negotiated these in crafting a position as competent physicists-to-be. The results show how physics master’s students from varying backgrounds have to negotiate stereotypes of intelligence and nerdiness, as well as an implicit ranking of physics specializations. The stereotype that physicists are intelligent and nerdy is further complicated in physics studies, as some specializations—the more pure and theoretical—are viewed as more intellectually demanding and are in this way accorded a higher status. Students on these specializations are simultaneously seen as more intelligent and more nerdy, while a perception that students who choose other subjects do this just because they are not good enough to do theoretical physics is perpetuated. These notions become significant in relation to western society’s high regard of authentic intelligence and idolization of geniuses, ideas that can serve as powerful ideals in physics. This study gives novel insight about how well-known norms and stereotypes about physics come to matter in physics master’s students’ negotiations to become recognized as competent physicists.

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Developing Master’s Students Professional Communicative Skills While Teaching Foreign Languages

Integrating Engineering Education and Humanities for Global Intercultural Perspectives - Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-47415-7_20 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 188-198

Author(s):

Maria A. Fedorova ◽

Margarita V. Tsyguleva

Keyword(s):

Foreign Languages ◽

Master's Students ◽

Communicative Skills

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What do Master's students' structured reflections say about the learning processes involved in commencing a research project?

Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice ◽

10.53761/1.17.1.7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 92-107

Author(s):

Richard Warner ◽

◽

Michelle Picard ◽

Keyword(s):

Reflective Practice ◽

Learning Processes ◽

Early Career ◽

Multidisciplinary Research ◽

Project Proposal ◽

Research Project ◽

Master's Students ◽

Early Career Researchers ◽

Multidisciplinary Perspective ◽

Learning Ecology

This study aims to unpack the reflective learning processes involved in developing a Masters’ research project proposal as part of a multidisciplinary Research Design course. Using inductive analysis, we explored students’ reflective blogs written over a period of a semester and defined the reflections according to an adaptation of Hatton and Smith’s (1995) framework. Our findings are that the nature of each individual blog topic affected the quality and level of reflection, which in turn is affected by the ‘learning ecology’ (Harvey, Coulson, & McMaugh, 2016 p. 12). More highly scaffolded blogs showed greater evidence of reflective practice. Likewise the nature of the practice (starting research) influenced reflection, since many processes are internal rather than requiring explicit practice to reflect on. In addition, as nascent practitioner researchers, the students are also involved in reflexivity rather than reflection and therefore some topics encouraged this form of reflection more than others did. This study is significant in that it explores reflection in research and practitioner contexts, focuses on early career researchers/practitioners and brings a multidisciplinary perspective.

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