Mentoring Undergraduates' Professional Skills by Graduate Students in Research Contexts

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. Shore
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Professional Skills

scholarly journals Improvisation as a Teaching Tool for Improving Oral Communication Skills in Premedical and Pre-Biomedical Graduate Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 238212052110064
Author(s):  
Marianne Phelps ◽  
Catrina White ◽  
Lin Xiang ◽  
Hollie I Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Empathy Quotient ◽  
The Impact

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between training in theatre improvisation and empathy, communication, and other professional skills. Methods: Undergraduate and graduate students who were participants of a 10-week summer undergraduate research program engaged in theatre improvisation techniques during a 3-hour workshop. In Study #1, a de-identified, self-report questionnaire (known as the Empathy Quotient) was administered prior to and following the workshop. Paired sample 2-tailed t-tests were performed to evaluate pre- and post-test scores. To identify additional benefits of engaging in theatre improvisation techniques, Study #2 was performed. Here, a survey was administered to the participants following their completion of the workshop to assess the impact on their personal growth and professional skills. An additional survey was administered at the end of the 10-week program to evaluate all program activities. Results: Study #1. Paired t-test analyses indicated that pre-test versus post-test Empathy Quotient scores were not significantly different, implying that participation in the theatre improvisation workshop did not impact empathy. Study #2. Survey results indicate that participation in the theatre improvisation workshop encouraged feelings of support by peers and creative thinking as well as increasing communication skills. Conclusion: Incorporating a theatre improvisation workshop into educational programs for pre-medical and pre-biomedical students is of value for enhancing self-confidence, oral communication skills and ability to think creatively.

scholarly journals Online Graduate Student Identity and Professional Skills Development

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-55
Author(s):  
Deborah Hurst ◽  
Martha Cleveland-Innes ◽  
Pamela Hawranik ◽  
Sarah Gauvreau
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Student Identity ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Academic Tasks ◽  
Online Learning Communities ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Skill Building

Graduate students are assumed to develop skills in oral and written communication and collegial relationships that are complementary to formal graduate programs. However, it appears only a small number of universities provide such professional development opportunities alongside academic programs, and even fewer do so online. There appears to be an assumption in higher education that students develop professional skills by virtue of learning through required academic tasks and having proximity to other students and faculty. Skeptics of online study raise questions about whether graduate students studying online can participate fully in such graduate communities and access these informal professional skill-building opportunities. It is possible that such activities may have to be designed and delivered for online graduate students. This paper presents preliminary qualitative findings from a project that developed, offered, and evaluated such online opportunities. Findings suggest that while online graduate students can and do develop professional skills while navigating their studies, building relationships, and participating in online learning communities, they are keen to develop such professional skills in a more deliberate way.  

scholarly journals Improving The Professional Skills Of Engineering Graduate Students Through Capstone Project Mentoring In Ieworks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Beyerlein ◽  
Robert Drew ◽  
Matthew Walker ◽  
Karl Rink ◽  
Dan Gerbus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Capstone Project

scholarly journals Online Professional Skills Workshops: Perspectives from Distance Education Graduate Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Anne Gauvreau ◽  
Deborah Hurst ◽  
Martha Cleveland-Innes ◽  
Pamela Hawranik
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Analytical Thinking

<p class="3">While many online graduate students are gaining academic and scholarly knowledge, the opportunities for students to develop and hone professional skills essential for the workplace are lacking. Given the virtual environment of distance learning, graduate students are often expected to glean professional skills such as analytical thinking, self-awareness, flexibility, team-building, and problem-solving inherently through informal means (Cleveland-Innes &amp; Ally, 2012). The goal of this study was to evaluate the experiences of online graduate students participating in synchronous online professional skills workshops. Students attended the sessions from the various graduate programs at an online Canadian university. The discussions from the focus group held at the end of the project were used to achieve the research goals. This paper used a phenomenological lens to accomplish its research goals. The participants reported that they experienced a “sense of community” and learned skills that were not included in their academic programs.</p>

scholarly journals Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Professional Skills Development Program: The Case of Concordia University’s GradProSkills

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-53
Author(s):  
Vivek Venkatesh ◽  
Jihan Rabah ◽  
Laurie Lamoureux-Scholes ◽  
Ildiko Pelczer ◽  
Kathryn Urbaniak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Graduate Studies ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Administrative Structures ◽  
Workshop Evaluation

The Graduate and Professional Skills (GradProSkills) program is an initiative developed and run by Concordia University’s School of Graduate Studies and the university’s Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies. This paper presents a case study in which we describe the development, implementation, and evaluative components of the GradProSkills program. Drawing on data from a rigorously validated workshop evaluation tool and from attendance figures spanning a period of a little over two and a half years, we provide a picture of how Concordia’s graduate students are benefiting from the GradProSkills program. We present the results of both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses run on a pilot group of registrants who provided evaluation data (n = 3,292). Our case study contributes an empirically derived model of extracurricular programming, with contextualizing details of administrative structures, curriculum-development initiatives, and partnership efforts that have been used in operating the GradProSkills program.   

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