Creating an environment that encourages both extensive and intense threaded dialogue The growth of discussion threads and the size of the class

2022 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hilliard ◽  
Madeline Ledger ◽  
Natasha Power
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Class Size ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Asynchronous Discussion ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Discussion Threads

The purpose of this research is to investigate the beginning and development of asynchronous discussion threads in various class sizes over the course of 25 graduate-level courses and 22 interviews. The paper also aims to create some recommendations for promoting threaded discourse during the initiation, advancement, summary, and evaluation phases of a discussion thread from pedagogical, technological, and theoretical viewpoints. The statistical analysis revealed that class size did influence the number of threads and the length of threads created by students and instructors, which showed the importance of certain themes in the conversation. The majority of participants said that it was difficult to follow threaded conversations in order to establish meaningful cooperation in huge classrooms. Instructors and graduate students each expressed a preference as to whether they should begin or follow a conversation. Some pedagogical tactics were used by the instructors to facilitate the commencement and growth of discussion threads. This research may have consequences for both practitioners and academics in terms of developing new software features and designing efficient educational tactics in order to produce more successful comprehensive and intense knowledge-building discourse in the classroom.

scholarly journals I’ll Go to the Library Later: The Relationship between Academic Procrastination and Library Anxiety

2000 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie ◽  
Qun G. Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Anxiety Reduction ◽  
Fear Of Failure ◽  
Academic Procrastination ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Academic Tasks ◽  
Library Anxiety ◽  
Term Papers ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Task

Approximately 95 percent of college students procrastinate on academic tasks such as writing term papers, studying for examinations, and keeping up with weekly reading assignments. At the graduate level, an estimated 60 percent of students procrastinate on academic tasks. Academic procrastination stems primarily from fear of failure and task aversiveness. It has been theorized, though not tested empirically, that highly anxious graduate students typically procrastinate while engaged in library-related tasks. This study investigated the relationship between academic procrastination and library anxiety at the graduate level. Participants included 135 graduate students enrolled in three sections of a required introductory-level educational research course. Findings revealed that, overall, academic procrastination was significantly positively related to the following dimensions of library anxiety: affective barriers, comfort with the library, and mechanical barriers. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that academic procrastination resulting from both fear of failure and task aversiveness was related significantly to barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Implications for library anxiety reduction as a procrastination intervention are discussed.

A Winning Combination in Computer Education: Learning and Serving

1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-342
Author(s):  
Warren Rose ◽  
George C. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
Science Instruction ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Funded Research ◽  
Administrative Unit ◽  
Computer Based

This article features an imaginative use of graduate students in developing a computer-based information system to assist an administrative unit of a university. The project involves the development of a dual, automated, fiscal reporting system to handle the budgetary problems associated with funded research contracts by the College of Medicine. The roles and contributions of graduate students, faculty members, and users are assessed as they relate to improving the learning and serving functions of a university. The case example also identifies the problems to be overcome as well as the benefits to be gained from incorporating this technique in computer science instruction and programs at the graduate level.

Perceptions of Stress, Mindfulness, and Occupational Engagement Among Graduate-Level OT Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 7512505140p1-7512505140p1
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Henton ◽  
Acacia Gambrel ◽  
Jerome Klah ◽  
Catherine Rink ◽  
Caroline Targonski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
Occupational Engagement ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Primary Author

Abstract Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. The exploratory mixed-methods study of 490 OT graduate students revealed that high levels of reported stress along with limited coping strategies impacted students’ perceived occupational engagement and quality of life. Students identified mindfulness as an effective coping mechanism; however, its reported use did not appear to alter quality of life. The study supported a link between mindfulness and occupational engagement and has broad implications for the field of OT. Primary Author and Speaker: Patricia A. Henton Additional Authors and Speakers: Acacia Gambrel, Jerome Klah, Catherine Rink, Caroline Targonski, and Sarah Wirtz

Unpacking the monolith

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 661-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Miner
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
International Students ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa

Purpose The term STEM often remains an undifferentiated category, especially at the graduate level. Conceptualizing STEM as a monolithic category, rather than as a combination of distinct fields, prevents researchers from understanding and documenting the full range of persistent inequality within scientific disciplines at the graduate level and throughout the lifespan. The purpose of this paper is to address two oversights prior to degree completion within the context of the USA by asking two specific questions: To what extent is gender associated with choice of discipline within STEM graduate education? In the USA, do gender differences in STEM fields depend on citizenship status? Design/methodology/approach Using data from the 2015 International STEM Graduate Student in the US Survey, this study employs multinomial logistic regression analyses and presents predicted probabilities to assess differences of enrollment in STEM fields by gender and citizenship status. Findings Results show that domestic women were less likely to enroll in computer sciences and engineering when compared to domestic men. However, in contrast to domestic students, there were no gender differences among international students’ enrollment in engineering. Research limitations/implications This paper shows the importance and complexity of how gender intersects with citizenship status in enrollment patterns in STEM graduate fields. The survey included the top 10 universities in the USA based on the total enrollment of international students, and it is unclear if there exists differences in these selected students and schools when compared to students at colleges and universities that enroll less international graduate students. Originality/value The author makes the case to disaggregate STEM to better assess how specific fields can be modified to attract graduate students worldwide. This paper accentuates the significance of gender and citizenship status for understanding differences in choice of discipline among graduate students in STEM.

Seeking and sharing information dialogically

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-549
Author(s):  
Reijo Savolainen
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Asynchronous Discussion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Interaction ◽  
Discussion Threads ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
Discussion Topic

Purpose Drawing on the ideas of conversation analysis (CA), the purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of dialogical information seeking and sharing. To this end, information seeking and sharing are approached as interactive online talk occurring in an asynchronous discussion forum. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual framework is based on the elaboration of Schegloff’s model for sequence organisation in spoken conversation. As a result, ten categories constitutive of asynchronous online talk were identified. It was further examined how online talk of this type is structured by expanded question – answers adjacency pairs and how such pairs are constitutive of dialogical information seeking and sharing. This question was explored by scrutinising 20 discussion threads downloaded from a do-it-yourself related online forum. Findings Four ideal typical patterns of asynchronous online talk were identified. Answering the question is a basic pattern of online talk, based on the provision of responses to an individual request. Specifying the answer, broadening the discussion topic and challenging the answer represent more sophisticated patterns incorporating post-expansions of diverse kind. Research limitations/implications As the study focusses on four patterns constitutive of online talk occurring in a particular domain, the findings cannot be generalised to depict the phenomena of dialogical information interaction as a whole. Further research is needed to scrutiny the particular features of asynchronous online talk in the context of dialogical information interaction. Originality/value The paper pioneers by examining the potential of CA in the micro-level study of dialogical information seeking and sharing structured by expanded adjacency pairs. The findings also identify the limitations of the conversation analytic methodology in the study of asynchronous online discourse.

Supplementing Basic Graduate Level Courses With Conference-Based Research Communication Experiences

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Reid Bush ◽  
Sam Leitkam ◽  
Craig Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Basic Material ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Research Communication ◽  
Life Problems

Two difficulties are commonly identified for early graduate-level students that hinder their growth in the academic community. First, students in graduate school engineering courses find the basic material difficult to relate to real-life problems. Second, early career graduate students have little practice at presenting research in a professional format (e.g. ASME conference).

scholarly journals Nanocourses: A Short Course Format as an Educational Tool in a Biological Sciences Graduate Curriculum

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Bentley ◽  
Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas ◽  
Jennifer S. Stanford
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Academic Science ◽  
Faculty Involvement ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Graduate Curriculum ◽  
New Graduate ◽  
Course Length ◽  
Course Format

Traditional courses for graduate students in the biological sciences typically span a semester, are organized around the fundamental concepts of a single discipline, and are aimed at the needs of incoming students. Such courses demand significant time commitment from both faculty and course participants; thus, they are avoided by a subset of the academic science community. Course length and the high barrier to course development are inhibitory to the creation of new courses, especially in emerging areas of biology that may not merit a full-semester approach. Here, we describe the implementation of a new, graduate-level course format, created to allow for rapid development of courses, provide meaningful educational experiences for both junior and senior graduate students and other members of our community, and increase the breadth of faculty involvement in teaching. These courses are greatly abbreviated, and thus termed “nanocourses.” Based on experience from the first three semesters, nanocourses seem to accomplish the initial goals that we set. Importantly, nanocourses engaged students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and others, thus providing a new mechanism to educate our community in response to rapid advances in biology. In our view, nanocourses are a useful tool that can supplement graduate-level curricula in varied ways.

scholarly journals Roles matter: Graduate student perceptions of active learning in the STEM courses they take and those they teach

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 003685042110335
Author(s):  
Lorelei Patrick ◽  
Leigh Anne Howell ◽  
Everett William Wischusen
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Undergraduate Science ◽  
The Right

Despite many calls to reform undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to incorporate active learning into classes, there has been little attention paid to graduate level classrooms or courses taught by graduate students. Here, we set out to understand if and how STEM graduate students’ perceptions of active learning change in the classes they take versus those they teach. We found that graduate students had taken relatively few graduate level classes using active learning and they felt that more time should be devoted to active learning in the courses they were taking. Teaching assistants felt that they were devoting the right amount of class time to active learning in the classes they taught. Graduate students also felt that they were using teaching methods in the classes they taught that were different from those they thought should be used when teaching undergraduates and were different from how they preferred to learn when taking classes.

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