Postgraduate Education

Objective: To recognize postgraduate stressors and their intensity among doctors doing post-graduation in the fields of academic and clinical medicine, using the Postgraduate Stressor Questionnaire (PSQ). Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted where the target population were postgraduate students. The PSQ was administered, a twenty-eight item questionnaire to identify and measure intensities of stressors. Questionnaires were administered to ninety post-graduate students, forty-five from each field. Data was entered on SPSS version 20. After descriptive analysis and checking the data for normality independent sample t-test and ANOVA were applied for numerical data, and chi square was applied for categorical data. Results: The mean age of the students was 30.97 (SD=6.52) years. Majority of the students were females. It was seen that academic related stressors were greatest among the two fields of medicine. Higher levels of stress were seen in students who were training in cli...

Veterinary professionals working in partnership with other competent persons are essential for a successful animal care and use programme. A veterinarian's primary responsibilities are defined by their own professional regulatory bodies, but in this area of work there are further opportunities for contribution, which will assist in safeguarding the health and welfare of animals used in research. These guidelines are aimed not only at veterinarians to explain their duties, and outline the opportunities to improve the health and welfare of animals under their care, but also at employers and regulators to help them meet their responsibilities. They describe the desirability for postgraduate education towards specialization in laboratory animal medicine and detail the many competencies necessary to fulfil the role of the laboratory animal veterinarian. They detail the need for veterinary expertise to promote good health and good welfare of animals used in biomedical research during husbandry as well as when under experimental procedures. Regulatory and ethical aspects are covered as are the involvement of the veterinarian in education and training of others working in the animal care and use programme. Managerial aspects, including occupational health and safety, are also areas where the veterinarian's input can assist in the successful implementation of the programme.

Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) is a new innovation-oriented research university in Moscow, established in collaboration with MIT. Its post-graduate education will prepare students for engineering, research and innovation including entrepreneurship. This paper describes a consultation process with stakeholders, to understand their needs and develop consensus around the educational mission of Skoltech. The desired learning outcomes were discussed in 38 deep interviews with representatives of industry, universities, research institutes and governmental organizations in Russia, EU and USA. Inherent tensions and limitations of stakeholder engagement are discussed, offering methodological considerations. Finally, the resulting Learning Outcomes Framework is presented.

The report is focused on the transformation process in pregraduate education of nurses in the Czech Republic. The all-society changes taking place in the last decades of the 20th century have opened the way for implementation of changes in the Czech nursing as well. Nursing is becoming an independent scientific discipline, the role of the nurses and their position in the society are changing and the professional preparation is gradually shifting to colleges and universities. After 15 years of effort to implement the planned transformation changes in nursing education, the Czech Republic's joining of the European Union has helped us. In connection with fulfillment of Bologna declaration, Master study in nursing has been gradually developing in education of nurses in the Czech Republic as well. In order to create a structured study in nursing according to the above mentioned declaration, a postgraduate doctor program must be implemented too. The implementation of all types of university education of nurses is very important and it will positively contribute to the development of nursing in our republic as a full-bodied scientific discipline and to the creation of its high-quality scientific-research base.

Objectives 1. To determine whether DIALOG, a multimedia interactive CD-ROM designed for postgraduate education, was achieving its educational aim; 2. to assess DIALOG as a computer-assisted learning tool by evaluating its design, presentation, usability, effective use of multimedia and interactions and availability; 3. to measure end user satisfaction and the impact of DIALOG in achieving an improvement in clinical practice as an index of educational value. Methods Postal questionnaires were sent out to 150 users of DIALOG. A combination of the CIPP model, the CRISIS criteria and Kirkpatrick's model was used to design the evaluation questionnaire. Results There was a 61.3% response rate to the questionnaire. Overall, 86.9% of respondents were happy with the use of DIALOG, 60.8% had a positive comment on the concept of distance learning using DIALOG and computer-assisted learning, 50% agreed that it had helped sharpen their analytic skills and 45.6% reported an improvement in clinical practice after using DIALOG. Conclusion This assessment proved to be a useful formative assessment of DIALOG. It has provided feedback on the availability and use of DIALOG and has highlighted the potential areas of improvement for future issues.

The aim of Postgraduate Study in Aotearoa New Zealand: Surviving and Succeeding is to help postgraduates in their studies. What sets it apart from other books currently available is its focus on studies in an Aotearoa New Zealand context. Its authors share narrative, advice and wisdom in practical and down-to-earth ways. Many share their raw feelings and vulnerability with you, especially as they work to deadlines, at a distance, in isolation, under pressure, while sick or with English as a second language. Postgraduate Study in Aotearoa New Zealand : Surviving and Succeeding is written primarily for postgraduates in the social sciences, with applicability to the humanities, rather than the sciences.

The premise of each chapter was simple (and was the remit given to each contributor by the editors of the book): “If you could go back in time to when you started your postgraduate studies, what would you tell your younger, less experienced self? What advice could you give to prospective or current postgraduate students now, with the wisdom of your hindsight?”

Key features of the book include supervision, preparing for the viva voce, writing and publishing, maintaining wellness, working full time, juggling life’s many challenges, and navigating culture.

Christopher McMaster is completing a PhD in education based on a critical ethnography of developing inclusive culture in an Aotearoa New Zealand high school. He designed a thesis topic that incorporated two of his passions—community activism and inclusion—and builds on the experience of 15 years as a teacher and 25 years as a parent. He received a Master of Arts from the University of London, specialising in post-war United States foreign policy, before becoming a primary teacher in the UK. Returning to his native US he specialised in special education, earning a postgraduate diploma from the University of Alaska Southeast. He emigrated to New Zealand over 7 years ago, where he has taught at the primary and secondary level, and has worked for the Ministry of Education as a special education adviser and as a Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour.

Caterina Murphy (PhD) has had an interest in the stories and aspirations of postgraduates since she first became one herself in 2001. That period in her career was pivotal: she published early, conducted small research studies, enjoyed the complexities of higher-level study, and gained confidence in her research capability. She has completed two theses. A Master of Education (Hons), undertaken at Massey University, utilised case study methodology and focused on giftedness in the early years. Her PhD in indigenous studies, undertaken at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, focused on how knowledge transmission through cooking traditions is perceived and interpreted across cultures. That study utilised an oral history methodology and was guided by a kaupapa Māori ethic of care. Caterina has been a recipient of Ako Aotearoa funding, has 14 years of experience in tertiary education across a range of academic roles, and enjoys motivating and mentoring others.

Much research has been conducted on the "Community of Inquiry" (CoI) framework in education however only a few studies have focused on the postgraduate context specifically. To address this gap, this paper reports the development of a CoI in a postgraduate course in Knowledge Management (KM) in a blended learning environment, through the design of holistic curriculum, learning resources, and assessment and feedback strategies. Using a case study approach, key lessons learned are reported including the importance of providing flexible, work-relevant curricular and assessment; feed forward and feedback strategies; and student co-contribution to learning. These lessons serve as useful guidance for educators whom may consider using the CoI framework to underpin their future postgraduate teaching practice. The paper concludes with suggestions for future work.

The main purpose of this study was to determine the self-efficacy beliefs of the student-teachers in the context of Sri Lanka. The respondents consisted of 471 student-teachers from seven study centres of Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)

From a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspective, this paper reports on the findings of an exploratory study examining the features of the academic texts produced by three groups of postgraduates: native speakers of Turkish (TL1), English (EL1) and Turkish speakers of English (EL2). To this end, the study involves a microdiscourse analysis of a corpus of ninety discussion sections of dissertations to identify and classify the choices made by the authors for expressing commitment/detachment in presenting knowledge claims. The results indicated interesting similarities and differences across the groups in the ways in which writers qualified their level of commitment to a higher level and detachment from the claims in their writing. In other words, this can be described as a cline from the highest to the lowest, even intentionally withholding their commitment. By looking at the hedging and boosting devices contributing to the interactive side of academic writing, the discourse constructed by Turkish L1 writers appeared to be slightly less interpersonal but highly authoritative overall. In contrast, the results suggested that the Turkish writers of English were similar to their English L1 counterparts in terms of building a significantly more cautious strategy for presenting knowledge claims and making use of relatively fewer boosting devices when presenting their claims. It is hoped that the implications of the findings can be useful for teaching of academic writing to postgraduates within the contexts of the study.


Keywords: Postgraduate academic writing, Metadiscourse, Hedges and boosters, Discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, Commitment and detachment

This paper considers how the Mining Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is addressing the need to integrate sustainable development into mining engineering on behalf of industry and society. In particular, it considers the evolution of an interdisciplinary model, the Sustainability Working Group (SWG), which has brought together a diverse array of disciplines from academia, industry, government, NGOs and mining communities. The operational mechanisms and structure of SWG have enabled momentum to be gained through several initiatives. These aim to impact on undergraduate and postgraduate education, lifelong learning and research.

The purpose of the study was to examine the challenges and prospects of funding post-graduate education and research. The study adopted the descriptive survey design involving the use of quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection.  The sample was 330. This comprised 310 Master of Philosophy Students, 16 Heads of Department of and 4 Deans of Schools of Graduate Studies. Data was collected through questionnaire and interview schedule. The SPSS software was used to analyze the qualitative data while the interpretative and discourse approach were used to analyze the qualitative data.  The study concluded that postgraduate education and research are prerequisites for accelerated national development but the residential system, methods of teaching and cost involved is depriving many eligible undergraduates. The study recommended policy regulation to reduce over reliance on government budgetary allocation as the primary source of funding for higher education. Encourage more private sector fellowships and sponsorships for postgraduate education and research.

Keywords: Post-graduate education, funding, research

This paper constitutes a summary of the consensus documents agreed at the First European Workshop on Implant Dentistry University Education held in Prague on 19-22 June 2008. Implant dentistry is becoming increasingly important treatment alternative for the restoration of missing teeth, as patients expectations and demands increase. Furthermore, implant related complications such as peri-implantitis are presenting more frequently in the dental surgery. This consensus paper recommends that implant dentistry should be an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum. Whilst few schools will achieve student competence in the surgical placement of implants this should not preclude the inclusion of the fundamental principles of implant dentistry in the undergraduate curriculum such as the evidence base for their use, indications and contraindications and treatment of the complications that may arise. The consensus paper sets out the rationale for the introduction of implant dentistry in the dental curriculum and the knowledge base for an undergraduate programme in the subject. It lists the competencies that might be sought without expectations of surgical placement of implants at this stage and the assessment methods that might be employed.

Since the National Curriculum made Shakespeare compulsory for all school children in 1989, there has been a steady stream of texts published in which arts professionals, teachers and lecturers share their experience of and thoughts on how to teach Shakespeare. Usually these publications will address cursorily and positively the reasons why they believe it is important to study Shakespeare. Anyone seeking a more detailed discussion of his value in schools is advised to start with the National Curriculum for English’s chairman’s account of his committee’s decision-making process in 1988–89, C.B. Cox’s Cox on Cox: the Battle for the english Curriculum. Additionally, a handful of academics have dealt in extended way with the issue of his value, including Jonathan Bate’s the Genius of Shakespeare, Catherine Belsey’s Why Shakespeare?, and projects such as ‘Interrogating cultural value’ at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, which investigated constructions of his value in publicly-funded theatre, schools and tourism.  Notably absent from the available literature are discussions of why postgraduate students choose to take master’s or doctoral degrees specialising in Shakespeare.

This prestigious three year PhD studentship is available beginning 1st October 2015. The new Rehabilitation and Recovery Service for People with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Needs was introduced in January 2015. The service aims to better support service user recovery through more enhanced community support, and less reliance on inpatient care. It is a radically different prototype emphasising collaborative team working across statutory and third sector providers, and a philosophy focused on the community recovery element of the service in-reaching into the inpatient ward to provide more holistic and intensive support. It is anticipated that this model will help avoid institutionalisation and will promote better outcomes for service users (core of around n=50 p/yr) who may be characterised as ‘high need’ and ‘slow moving’. It is anticipated, that this model of community service will be more widely implemented across other Trust community services. A partnership evaluation is on-going and consists of a questionnaire at 1mnth, 6mnths, and 12mnths.
The project will provide a complementary, qualitative evaluation of the service using ‘photo elicitation’. Photo elicitation is a developing method of inquiry in which participants are invited to take photographs which help them to express something of their experience around the topic of investigation. The researcher provides a structure by having an introductory meeting to clarify the topic of investigation, to answer questions, and provide a digital camera, if one is needed - participants can use their own phone/tablet if they like. A time-frame is agreed for the photos to be taken and sent to the researcher (e.g., by e-mail attachment) and for the participant and researcher to meet to discuss the meaning of the photos in an audio-recorded research interview. The research entails undertaking photo elicitation with service users (n~16) about their experience of the new service and to include purposefully sampled staff as well (n~8 including inpatient service and community partners). The aims are to provide:
• an in-depth understanding of the experience of service users and staff to complement the quantitative service evaluation currently ongoing in the Trust;
• an understanding of the strengths of the service and areas requiring further development, from the perspective of both service users and staff;
• an evidence-base from which to develop the service, for example, through exploring the possibility of integrating the method in an on-going cycle of service evaluation and service use technology skill development;
• to provide a platform to apply for additional funding for a public engagement and knowledge transfer/dissemination to other services.

Background: The role of residents as educators is increasingly recognized, since it impacts residents, interns, medical students and other healthcare professionals. A widespread implementation of resident-as-teacher courses in developed countries' medical schools has occurred, with variable results. There is a dearth of information about this theme in developing countries. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Faculty of Medicine has more than 50% of the residency programs' physician population in Mexico. This report describes a needs assessment survey for a resident as teacher program at our institution. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was developed based on a review of the available literature and discussion by an expert multidisciplinary committee. The goal was to identify the residents' attitudes, academic needs and preferred educational strategies regarding resident-as-teacher activities throughout the residency. The survey was piloted and modified accordingly. The paper anonymous survey was sent to 7,685 residents, the total population of medical residents in UNAM programs in the country. Results: There was a 65.7% return rate (5,186 questionnaires), a broad and representative sample of the student population. The residents felt they had knowledge and were competent in medical education, but the majority felt a need to improve their knowledge and skills in this discipline. Most residents (92.5%) felt that their role as educators of medical students, interns and other residents was important/very important. They estimated that 45.5% of their learning came from other residents. Ninety percent stated that it was necessary to be trained in teaching skills. The themes identified to include in the educational intervention were mostly clinically oriented. The educational strategies in order of preference were interactive lectures with a professor, small groups with a moderator, material available in a website for self-learning, printed material for self-study and homework, and small group web-based learning.

The low proportion of women within the subject areas of Theology and Religious Studies has long been observed, and is increasingly recognised as a serious problem for staff and students. In this new study, Mathew Guest, Sonya Sharma and Robert Song chart patterns of gender imbalance among staff and students across UK TRS departments, exploring why such patterns remain so persistent. Drawing on interviews with TRS academics across the country, the report examines the professional life of female university staff, and makes recommendations for how universities might address the inequalities of opportunity and practice that emerge.

Background: There is a significant deficit in the research capacity of nurses and
internationally, in order to meet future healthcare demands, there is a call to double the
number of nurses and healthcare professionals with a PhD.
Aim: The aim of this research was to evaluate the implementation of a national PhD
capacity-building programme for academic and practice-based nurses and other healthcare
professionals.
Method: An implementation science framework was used to evaluate the process of
implementing a national PhD capacity-building programme across South Africa.
Implementation of the programme across two national, longitudinal cohorts of participants
was studied. Evidence of enablers and barriers to implementation was obtained from a
range of data sources. These sources included the curriculum for the programme, regular
evaluation reports from programme participants and programme facilitators after each
stage of the PhD curriculum delivery, and meeting notes. Supplementary sources included
measureable and quantifiable impact metric rates on PhD candidate recruitment, retention
and successful completion.
Results: Evidence of the presence of most enablers for successful implementation was
found, including stakeholder consultation and buy-in, leadership, resources, staff capacity
and implementation teams. There was, however, no evidence of an implementation plan, a
supportive organisational culture or of effective ongoing communication at stage four of the
implementation process. Evidence was found for the presence of the barriers of external
environmental factors, resistance to change, and vested interests.
Discussion: Within the context of a recognised worldwide shortage of nursing scientists, the
application of an implementation science framework to evaluate the initial stages of a
Manuscript (Including Abstract, References and Figure Legends)
2
national PhD development programme roll-out provided evidence on how the effective
implementation of the programme can be strengthened and how barriers to success can be
overcome.

Objective: To recognize postgraduate stressors and their intensity among doctors doing post-graduation in the fields of academic and clinical medicine, using the Postgraduate Stressor Questionnaire (PSQ). Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted where the target population were postgraduate students. The PSQ was administered, a twenty-eight item questionnaire to identify and measure intensities of stressors. Questionnaires were administered to ninety postgraduate students, forty-five from each field. Data was entered on SPSS version 20. After descriptive analysis and checking the data for normality independent sample t-test and ANOVA were applied for numerical data, and chi square was applied for categorical data. Results: The mean age of the students was 30.97 (SD=6.52) years. Majority of the students were females. It was seen that academic related stressors were greatest among the two fields of medicine. Higher levels of stress were seen in students who were training in clinical medicine (mean=13.30, SD=4.84) than academic medicine (mean=12.27, SD=5.47). Conclusion: Postgraduate medical training is a highly stressful environment encountered by students. Academic related stressors were found to have its greatest impact in both the fields of medicine; this stress arises from scholastic, academic or educational events. Highest amounts of stress were seen in students enrolled in clinical medicine.

The growing demand for integrative (interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary) approaches in the field of environmental and landscape change has increased the number of PhD students working in this area. Yet, the motivations to join integrative projects and the challenges for PhD students have so far not been investigated. The aims of this paper were to identify the understanding of PhD students with regard to integrative research, their motivations to join integrative projects, their expectations in terms of integration and results, and to reveal the challenges they face in integrative projects. We collected data by a questionnaire survey of 104 PhD students attending five PhD Master Classes held from 2003 to 2006. We used manual content analysis to analyse the free-text answers. The results revealed that students lack a differentiated understanding of integrative approaches. The main motivations to join integrative projects were the dissertation subject, the practical relevance of the project, the intellectual stimulation of working with different disciplines, and the belief that integrative research is more innovative. Expectations in terms of integration were high. Core challenges for integration included intellectual and external challenges such as lack of knowledge of other disciplines, knowledge transfer, reaching depth, supervision, lack of exchange with other students and time demands. To improve the situation for PhD students, we suggest improving knowledge on integrative approaches, balancing practical applicability with theoretical advancement, providing formal introductions to other fields of research, and enhancing institutional support for integrative PhD projects.

Özet Bu araştırmanın amacı eğitim bilimlerinde lisansüstü eğitimlerini tamamlayan ilk ve ortaöğretimde görevli öğretmenlerin lisansüstü eğitim yapmaya karar vermelerinde etkili olan faktörleri belirleyip bunları çeşitli açılardan incelemek ve lisansüstü eğitimleri süreçlerinde karşılaştıkları sorunları belirlemektir. Bu amaçla, öğretmenlerin lisansüstü programı tercih sebepleri, programdan ne umduklarını, programın beklentilerini ne derece karşıladığı ve karşılaştıkları sorunları kendi söylemlerinden hareketle çeşitli açılardan incelenmiştir. Nitel bir durum çalışması olan bu araştırmada tarama modeli kullanılmış olup katılımcıların belirlenmesinde amaçlı örnekleme yöntemlerinden maksimum çeşitlilik örneklemesi kullanılmıştır. Verilerin toplanmasında uzman görüşleri alınarak hazırlanan " Lisansüstü Eğitime İlişkin Görüşme Formu " kullanılmıştır. 2010-2011 Eğitim-Öğretim yılında farklı illerde görev yapan, farklı mesleki deneyime sahip, farklı üniversitelerin lisansüstü eğitim programlarından mezun olmuş 30 öğretmen ile görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Veriler, içerik analizi yaklaşımı ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre, öğretmenler, genel olarak lisansüstü eğitimi " kişisel gelişim, meslekî kıdemde kolaylık sağlaması ve akademik personel olmak " için tercih etmektedirler. Kaydoldukları programı tercih sebeplerini ise " alanlarında ileri düzey bilgi edinme ve yeni öğretim yöntem ve tekniklerini anlama " olarak belirtmişler, eğitim sürecinde karşılaştıkları problemleri ise temelde, " yükseköğretimden kaynaklanan danışmanlık ile ilgili sorunlar, görev yaptıkları okullarda ise okul yöneticilerinin ders saatlerini düzensiz planlaması " olarak belirtmişlerdir.

The dramatic increase in the number of overseas students studying in the United Kingdom and other Western countries has required academics to reevaluate many aspects of their own, and their institutions', practices. This article considers differing cultural values among overseas students toward plagiarism and the implications this may have for postgraduate education in a Western context. Based on focus-group interviews, questionnaires, and informal discussions, we report the views of plagiarism among students in 2 postgraduate management programs, both of which had a high constituency of overseas students. We show that plagiarist practices are often the outcome of many complex and culturally situated influences. We suggest that educators need to appreciate these differing cultural assumptions if they are to act in an ethical manner when responding to issues of plagiarism among international students.

Disciplinary status is valued by scholars working in most academic
fields. It brings status and organisational benefits both for the field and
also for those working within it. The scholarship of doctoral education
is a new academic area that has expanded significantly over the last
three decades and this article argues that it can now be considered a
discipline in its own right. Rejecting strong essentialist approaches to
the identification of a discipline, it adopts an approach drawing on
Trowler’s moderate essentialism and other writings on the nature of
disciplines. Indicators of the presence of a discipline are identified and
the development of the scholarship of doctoral education is then
discussed in the context of these indicators. The conclusion that doctoral education does constitute an academic discipline is drawn and a series of directions for future research identified.

Impostor phenomenon (IP) refers to an overwhelming feeling of intellectual fraudulence and affects individuals across a number of fields. Academia provides an environment in which these feelings can flourish, particularly within postgraduate students. In spite of the research exploring these feelings, we know little about how to reduce them in academia. Clinical research has identified guiding principles to assist those affected, particularly through mentorship. This article describes a series of interventions for postgraduates adapted from clinical research. These four interventions identified IP and its consequences, explored disciplinary and academic literacies strategies, and taught postgraduate students how to read academic journal articles and use literacy strategies to write literature reviews. Parametric and nonparametric analyses show that impostor feelings reduced by 23% relative to a control group. This research suggests that programmes could use similar interventions in academic skill sets to help reduce IP feelings in their postgraduate students.

In June and July of 2016 the CEU summer school offers a wide range of high-level, research-oriented, interdisciplinary academic one- and two-week long courses in the social sciences and humanities as well as workshops on policy issues for professional development, taught by internationally renowned scholars and policy experts.

Application from all over the world is encouraged. Financial aid is available for most courses. Course-specific information about deadlines, fees, etc. can be found at http://summeruniversity.ceu.edu/.

Contact email: [email protected] .

Latest news and updates: https://www.facebook.com/ceu.summer .

The purpose of the study was to examine the challenges and prospects of funding post-graduate education and research. The study adopted the descriptive survey design involving the use of quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection.  The sample was 330. This comprised 310 Master of Philosophy Students, 16 Heads of Department of and 4 Deans of Schools of Graduate Studies. Data was collected through questionnaire and interview schedule. The SPSS software was used to analyze the quantitative data while the interpretative and discourse approach were used to analyze the qualitative data.  The study concluded that postgraduate education and research are prerequisites for accelerated national development but the residential system, methods of teaching and cost involved is depriving many eligible undergraduates. The study recommended policy regulation to reduce over reliance on government budgetary allocation as the primary source of funding for higher education. Finally, Govern...

Background: Educational preparation for critical care nursing in Australia varies considerably in terms of the level of qualification resulting in a lack of clarity for key stakeholders about student outcomes. Objectives: The study aim was to identify and reach consensus regarding the desired learning outcomes from Australian post-registration critical care education programs as demonstrated through the graduate's knowledge, skills and attitudes. Design: A Delphi technique was used to establish consensus between educators, managers, clinicians and students regarding learning outcomes expected of graduates with a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Master level qualification in critical care nursing. Participants: A total of 164 critical care nurses (66 clinicians, 48 educators, 32 managers and 18 students) participated and 99 questionnaires were returned in the first * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 9351 0638; fax: +61 2 9351 0615.

Impostor phenomenon refers to an overwhelming feeling of being an intellectual fraud despite evidence to the contrary and affects highly capable individuals in many fields, including those in postgraduate education. This project sought to answer the following question: in what ways do postgraduate students enrolled in a large, American institution experience impostor phenomenon during their postgraduate education? Interviews and a survey showed that the majority of the participants experienced impostor phenomenon, and that many of those feelings related to the participants feeling academically-unprepared, including concerns related to reading, writing, and discussing academic work. This paper explores this connection between impostor phenomenon and participants feeling like they lacked sufficient academic skill sets to succeed in their programmes. The results build a case for doing literacy work as a way to address impostor phenomenon among postgraduate students.

Step Up to Postgraduate Study in Arts is a taught, blended module designed to support students at the point of transition into postgraduate study (i.e. Master’s/level 7) across the various disciplines of Arts offered at Birkbeck.

Chapter 9: Formative Assessment for Postgraduate Academic Skills Development in Arts
In: Assessment, Feedback and Technology: Contexts and Case Studies in Bloomsbury. Edited by Leo Havemann and Sarah Sherman.
London: Bloomsbury Learning Environment, 2017
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.5315224


Book synopsis:
In 2014, the Bloomsbury Learning Environment (BLE) Consortium initiated a wide-ranging, two-year-long research and dissemination project focusing on the use of technology in assessment and feedback. Our aim was to understand and improve processes, practices, opportunities and tools available to the institutional members of the BLE Consortium. From the project, we produced three research papers investigating current practice and 21 case studies describing both technology-enabled pedagogy and technical development. Now presented as a free ebook, co-edited by Leo Havemann and Sarah Sherman, we offer the flavour of the variety and breadth of the BLE’s activities relating to the project theme as a contribution to the education sector’s widening conversation about the interplay of assessment, feedback, pedagogy and technology.

http://www.ble.ac.uk/ebook
http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5315224

The article describes the students' experiences of taking a blended learning postgraduate programme in a school of nursing and midwifery. The indications to date are that blended learning as a pedagogical tool has the potential to contribute and improve nursing and midwifery practice and enhance student learning. Little is reported about the students' experiences to date. Focus groups were conducted with students in the first year of introducing blended learning. The two main themes that were identified from the data were (1) the benefits of blended learning and (2) the challenges to blended learning. The blended learning experience was received positively by the students. A significant finding that was not reported in previous research was that the online component meant little time away from study for the students suggesting that it was more invasive on their everyday life. It is envisaged that the outcomes of the study will assist educators who are considering delivering programmes through blended learning. It should provide guidance for further developments and improvements in using Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and blended learning in nurse education.

Objective: Communication skills represent an essential component of clinical competence. In the field of pediatrics, communication between physicians and patients' parents is characterized by particular difficulties. To investigate the effects of a parent-physician communication skills training program on OSCE performance and self-efficacy in a group control design. Methods: Parallel to their daily work in the outpatient department, intervention-group experienced clinicians in practice (n = 14) participated in a communication training with standardized parents. Control-group physicians (n = 14) did not receive any training beyond their daily work. Performance was assessed by independent video ratings of an OSCE. Both groups rated their self-efficacy prior to and following training. Results: Regarding OSCE performance, the intervention group demonstrated superior skills in building relationships with parents (p < .024) and tended to perform better in exploring parents' problems (p < .081). The communication training program led to significant improvement in self-efficacy with respect to the specific training objectives in the intervention group (p < .046). Conclusion: Even in physicians with considerable experience, structured communication training with standardized parents leads to significant improvement in OSCE performance and self-efficacy. Practise implications: Briefness and tight structure make the presented communication training program applicable even for experienced physicians in daily clinical practice. ß

Models of doctoral education in Africa remained similar to those in European universities, well into the 2000s. However, there has been an increasing realisation that such programmes
are ill-suited for the African realities. With recent efforts to revitalise higher education in Africa, considerable attention has been placed on the need to explore more effective models of doctoral education, better suited to the African context. Doctoral education is key to this rebuilding as it offers the potential for developing skilled staff for academic and research institutions, and is central to the development of much-needed
locally relevant knowledge in Africa. In the last decade, innovative programmes have emerged that make use of partnerships to achieve more than individual institutions could,
working alone. This paper examines the constraints, challenges and opportunities in African doctoral education and identifies critical elements of doctoral education that have particular nuances in the African context. We propose a framework for evaluating the suitability of the structure and practices of such programmes. We review two of the more successful collaborative Ph.D. programmes with reference to this framework.
Higher Education Policy (2014) 27, 155–174. doi:10.1057/hep.2014.1

Background and objectives: Evidence-based health care requires clinicians to engage with use of evidence in decision-making at the workplace. A learner-centred, problem-based course that integrates e-learning in the clinical setting has been developed for application in obstetrics and gynaecology units. The course content uses the WHO reproductive health library (RHL) as the resource for systematic reviews. This project aims to evaluate a clinically integrated teaching programme for incorporation of evidence provided through the WHO RHL. The hypothesis is that the RHL-EBM (clinically integrated e-learning) course will improve participants' knowledge, skills and attitudes, as well as institutional practice and educational environment, as compared to the use of standard postgraduate educational resources for EBM teaching that are not clinically integrated. Methods: The study will be a multicentre, cluster randomized controlled trial, carried out in seven countries (Argentina,

This paper addresses to assess the critical thinking ability of postgraduate students. The target population was the male and female students at University level in Pakistan. A small sample of 45 male and 45 female students was selected randomly from The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Cornell Critical Thinking Test Series, The Cornell Class-Reasoning Test, Form X developed by Ennis (1964) were used to assess the students' critical thinking ability. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data. The percentage was calculated to assess the students' critical thinking ability. The t-test was used to make comparison of the students' ability on gender bases. The analysis, based on t-value, revealed an insignificant difference between the critical thinking ability of male and female students. Recommendations were furnished in order to improve the students' critical thinking skills.

a b s t r a c t Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 151 (2008) 263-271 ☆ With the special participation of Natacha C. Santos, CNPq, Brasília, Brazil. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 61 3307 2043, +55 61 3307 3270; tel./fax: +55 61 3307 3202.

El artículo propone la herramienta de autor eduWeb para la publicación de formas organizativas de la Educación  de  Posgrado  en  formato  Web  docente  por  profesores  sin  conocimientos  en  programación computacional.  Fue  desarrollada  en  la  Universidad  Central  "Marta  Abreu"  de  Las  Villas  en  el  año  2009  como resultado investigativo que consideró las necesidades de los  profesores y las insuficiencias de las herramientas existentes. Para su elaboración, se emplearon bibliotecas libres que exoneran de la obligatoriedad de pago de licencias en su utilización. Se fundamenta en la estructuración curricular y conducción didác tica de la educación, la consideración de la función mediadora de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje, así como en factores referidos a la facilidad de uso, el enriquecimiento del proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje, la disponibilidad, la transportabilidad y las posibilidades de extensibilidad. Su contribución al perfeccionamiento de la educación de posgrado fue evidenciado en la evaluación realizada por expertos y a través de las experiencias que se están obteniendo a partir de su generalización en los Centros de Educación Superior.

In this study, I examined the hypothesis that undergraduate research enhances the educational experience of science undergraduates, attracts and retains talented students to careers in science, and acts as a pathway for minority students into science careers. Undergraduates from 41 institutions participated in an online survey on the benefits of undergraduate research experiences. Participants indicated gains on 20 potential benefits and reported on career plans. Over 83% of 1,135 participants began or continued to plan for postgraduate education in the sciences. A group of 51 students who discontinued their plans for postgraduate science education reported significantly lower gains than continuing students. Women and men reported similar levels of benefits and similar patterns of career plans. Ethnic groups did not significantly differ in reported levels of benefits or plans to continue with postgraduate education.