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1 – 10 of over 81000Jumoke Ladeji-Osias, Christine Hohmann, Stella Hargett, Lisa Brown, Cleo Hughes-Darden and Michel Reece
Morgan State University (Morgan) is a leading undergraduate institution for black science and engineering doctoral degree recipients. Morgan also is a leader in the production of…
Abstract
Morgan State University (Morgan) is a leading undergraduate institution for black science and engineering doctoral degree recipients. Morgan also is a leader in the production of black engineering degree recipients in the United States. This chapter provides a historic overview of the major programs with a tie to the impact on the institutional metrics, a discussion of the process for developing researchers in science and engineering, and alumni perspectives. The undergraduate research development models used in engineering at Morgan are compared and contrasted with the life sciences and physical sciences. The programs focus on developing communities of engineering practice and communities of science, thereby enhancing students’ self-efficacy and resilience, shaping disciplinary identity, and creating learning communities. These approaches are critical for the success of minority students and are supported by the social science literature. Best practices have been adopted at varying levels by the School of Engineering, the School of Computer Mathematics and Natural Science and the Behavioral Science departments that have netted these Ph.D. outcomes including multiyear mentored research, research training courses, and participation in professional meetings. Multiple approaches to student development, when matched with the disciplinary culture, are shown to result in national impact.
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The Wellcome Trust has reviewed the provision of PhD training from the viewpoint of the students and supervisors it funds; this paper presents evidence from these reviews. A…
Abstract
The Wellcome Trust has reviewed the provision of PhD training from the viewpoint of the students and supervisors it funds; this paper presents evidence from these reviews. A number of factors affect the “success” of the PhD training experience; what is considered good (i.e. fit for purpose) PhD research training may be different for the student and the supervisor. Compares and contrasts the views of PhD students and PhD supervisors on a number of issues including reasons for doing a PhD, the purpose of PhD training and perceptions of the quality of PhD research training. Suggests that to support the different needs of students, supervisors and the science base, a flexible yet quality assured approach to PhD research training is required.
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Ahmed Al Kuwaiti and Arun Vijay Subbarayalu
– The purpose of this paper was to examine the perceptions of students of health sciences on research training programs offered at Saudi universities.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to examine the perceptions of students of health sciences on research training programs offered at Saudi universities.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey design was adopted to capture the perceptions of health science students about research training programs offered at selected Saudi universities. A criterion-based sampling technique was adopted, and accordingly, 630 students were selected to participate in the study. A pre-tested questionnaire tool titled, “Students Attitude towards Research (SAR) questionnaire ”, was used to capture student responses on a five-point Likert scale with respect to three dimensions, namely, extent of research activities offered in their college, involvement of faculty in research and the infrastructural facilities offered by the college for research. The students’ attitudes with respect to various components of research training programs were analyzed using mean and cumulative percentage of students satisfied with the training. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to study whether there is any significant difference in attitudes among the students belonging to four health science programs of the seven selected universities.
Findings
The results of this study demonstrate that only less than 50 per cent of the students from the selected health science colleges are satisfied with the existing research training programs. There are significant differences in the students’ attitude toward research training programs offered in seven selected Saudi universities.
Originality/value
This is the first Saudi Arabia-based study that provides an alarming signal to educational-policy planners on students’ perceptions and attitudes toward research training programs offered in Saudi higher education institutions.
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This paper presents the findings from a UK study of one hundred part‐time research students. The participants were students attending one of a series of training days provided…
Abstract
This paper presents the findings from a UK study of one hundred part‐time research students. The participants were students attending one of a series of training days provided specifically for part‐time research students. Free text responses were collected on: what it’s like being a part‐time research student; what they would like from training events; and what they thought of this series of training days. The students were particularly appreciative of the opportunity to meet fellow part‐time research students, albeit in different disciplines and at different stages of their PhD. Rather than solely listing specific research skills they would like covered, most of their ideas for future training sessions concerned more nebulous personal and emotional aspects of the experience of studying for a PhD on a part‐time basis. Four dimensions of training need were identified: research techniques; research skills; engagement with the part‐time PhD process; and engagement with their part‐time peers. It is suggested that research training involving part‐time research students, could usefully build in time to focus explicitly on some aspect(s) of the more personal and emotional elements of the parttime doctoral experience, as well as on technical aspects of research work.
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Jane Pritchard, Jane MacKenzie and Maggie Cusack
Training in both employability and discipline‐specific skills has been provided and expanded over a number of years for post‐graduate research students, (PGRs) in the Faculty of…
Abstract
Training in both employability and discipline‐specific skills has been provided and expanded over a number of years for post‐graduate research students, (PGRs) in the Faculty of Physical Sciences administered by the Physical Sciences Graduate School (PSGS) at the University of Glasgow. This project explored the training provided in 2005/06 with a view to further developing a programme that students and faculty alike consider appropriate, timely and developmental for the needs of research students. The training provided by the PSGS had grown over a number of years in response to suggestions from academic staff in the Faculty of Physical Sciences. Data were collected from Postgraduate Research students (PGRs) from all the stages of the 3 year PhD process to enable a complete map of views to emerge. In particular, the way PGR students perceive the training they undergo in relation to their core PhD research and career progression was examined. The students in our study also identified clearly where they perceived they were developing such transferable skills, and training sessions are not seen as the sole or even major source; the research group itself would appear to play a major role. The authors believe the finding could inform the provision of PGR training in other UK institutions.
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This paper compares the learning experiences of full‐time PhD students in 28 Education Departments and 31 Chemistry Departments in British universities. A questionnaire composed…
Abstract
This paper compares the learning experiences of full‐time PhD students in 28 Education Departments and 31 Chemistry Departments in British universities. A questionnaire composed of two major dimensions of the learning experiences, supervision and research environment for doctoral students, was distributed to about 2,200 students. It is found that Chemistry departments are seen as offering better doctoral education as perceived by students than Education departments on most counts, especially regarding academic culture of facilitation, intercultural facilitation of research for foreign students and research facilities in research environment for doctoral students. Supervision is perceived to be more satisfactory in Chemistry than in Education especially in aspects of supervisor’s knowledge, supervisor’s research workload, supervisor’s student‐load and supervisor’s helpfulness in finding funding. A theoretical framework of the Teamwork and Individualist research training structures to discuss the possible causes of these findings is offered. It is proposed that disciplinary diversity in effectiveness of doctoral education is engendered by the two distinct research training structures.
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Guoqing Tang and Caesar R. Jackson
In this chapter, we present our ongoing efforts in developing and sustaining interdisciplinary STEM undergraduate programs at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T) – a…
Abstract
In this chapter, we present our ongoing efforts in developing and sustaining interdisciplinary STEM undergraduate programs at North Carolina A&T State University (NCA&T) – a state-supported HBCU and National Science Foundation (NSF) Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) Institutional Implementation Project grantee. Through three rounds of NSF HBCU-UP implementation grants, a concerted effort has been made in developing interdisciplinary STEM undergraduate research programs in geophysical and environmental science (in round 1), geospatial, computational, and information science (in round 2), and mathematical and computational biology (in round 3) on NCA&T campus. We first present a brief history and background information about the interdisciplinary STEM undergraduate research programs developed and sustained at NCA&T, giving rationales on how these programs had been conceived, and summarizing what have been achieved. Next we give a detailed description on the development of undergraduate research infrastructure including building research facilities through multiple and leveraged funding sources, and engaging a core of committed faculty mentors and research collaborators. We then present, as case studies, some sample interdisciplinary research projects in which STEM undergraduate students were engaged and project outcomes. Successes associated to our endeavor in developing undergraduate research programs as well as challenges and opportunities on implementing and sustaining these efforts are discussed. Finally, we discuss the impact of well-structured undergraduate research training on student success in terms of academic performance, graduation rate and continuing graduate study, and summarize many of the learnings we have gained from implementation and delivery of undergraduate research experiences at HBCUs.
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Formal opportunities for psychology undergraduates to carry out research training are starting to emerge. In spite of the fact that such training programmes would have a high…
Abstract
Purpose
Formal opportunities for psychology undergraduates to carry out research training are starting to emerge. In spite of the fact that such training programmes would have a high authentic learning component little is known of undergraduate expectations and attitudes towards such programmes. This paper aims to focus on the issues.
Methodology/design/approach
In total, 108 undergraduate participants were surveyed in two experiments that recorded both the prospective and retrospective attitudes towards research training participation. Questionnaires and focus groups were employed and the data were triangulated together to converge on an understanding of student expectations towards authentic learning programmes.
Findings
While psychology undergraduates expect to be trained in contemporary research techniques it is the sense of community development that is the prime motivator for participation.
Originality/value
The paper places these findings within the context of increasing the employability profile of the undergraduate cohort.
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Zezhong Xiao and Venancio Tauringana
This paper reports the findings of a study of how new universities train research students in accounting and finance from a student perspective. The purpose is to provide evidence…
Abstract
This paper reports the findings of a study of how new universities train research students in accounting and finance from a student perspective. The purpose is to provide evidence of the problems faced by the new universities in offering research degrees in accounting and finance, and how these problems are addressed. It was found that the new universities have made a major commitment to research students’ training since 1992. Financial incentives were offered to attract research students. Experienced supervisors were borrowed from other subject areas and established universities to make up for the internal shortage. Despite these efforts, students might suffer from a lack of an appropriate research culture and environment. Nearly half the students could not obtain advice from persons other than their supervisors, and more than half the number of students responding to the questionnaire did not take any formal research method course. The majority of the students found it relatively hard to surprise their supervisors by progress, to make their relationship with their supervisors amicable and enjoyable, to make a workable time schedule, and hard to obtain advice from non‐supervisors. They also expressed their wish for their supervisors to treat supervision as a higher priority, and be more knowledgeable and more available when needed.
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