This study explored the relationship between perceived stress and perceived need for social support among doctoral psychology students attending a distance education university. Although small sample size conceivably prevented identification of a direct correlation between these two factors, female doctoral students perceiving greater levels of…

Despite the best attempts of academic staff to teach students the mechanics of citation, the rules of referencing continue to be broken, particularly by those new to Western university systems (either first-year undergraduate students or international students from different cultural backgrounds). In late 2003, 16 postgraduate international…

Service learning is a teaching method used by business faculty to link the learning goals and objectives of an academic course with meaningful community service. Although service learning has been advanced in business education in the United States and other Western countries, little has been reported on its use outside the Western context. In…

Graduate students from a variety of agricultural and natural resource fields are incorporating geographic information systems (GIS) analysis into their graduate research, creating a need for teaching methodologies that help students understand advanced GIS topics for use in their own research. Graduate-level GIS exercises help students understand…

This paper offers an examination of the holistic assessment used for the Graduation Writing Test (GWT) at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona for nonnative speakers of English. Holistic assessment is a widely accepted method of evaluating student writing at the university level for administration, placement, proficiency, and…

This paper examines the "brain drain" phenomenon particularly in the context of Chinese students studying in the United States and the People's Republic of China's attempts to respond. An opening section critiques the "brain drain" notion arguing that it is an inadequate construct for the actual flow of personnel and ideas…

This report presents a summary of the 1991-92 results of the national Survey of Earned Doctorates conducted each year since 1958. The report presents an analysis of the numbers of doctorate recipients including data with regard to number of degrees by selected characteristics (gender, citizenship, minority groups), fields, time-to-degree,…

This study examined the distinctive characteristics of colleges and universities shown to be exceptionally successful in sending underrepresented minorities on to doctoral study in science and engineering. The minorities referred to include Indian, Hispanic, and Black Americans. Primary data for the study were generated by the National Research…

The unique bond between mentors and mentees is a complex dyad with unusual strength and trust. It is a relationship of special importance to African American graduate students, who have cited mentor relationships as vital to their persistence in graduate school. African American graduate students do face great difficulties in finding adequate…

The transition from undergraduate to graduate school is a point when female students may lose interest in pursuing engineering degrees, and the percentage of women enrolled in engineering graduate programs is small in comparison to that of males. To attempt to mitigate the potential isolation of women graduate engineering students, the Women in…

This study, conducted at the University of Memphis (Tennessee), compared the effects of a self-paced method of instruction on the attitudes and perceptions of students enrolled in an undergraduate statistics course with those of a comparable group of students taking statistics in a traditional lecture setting. The non-traditional course used a…

This paper offers an overview of the telecommunications and delivery techniques involved in providing distance education to graduate students in doctoral programs. Good distance education should ensure variety of format and successful communication; it can come via audiobridge, videotapes, audiotapes, the telephone, electronic mail, electronic…

Although reliability and validity are characteristics of test data, social scientists often attribute reliability and validity erroneously to the tests themselves. To determine the extent to which this problem exists, 150 reliability and validity studies selected from 3 prominent social science measurement journals over a 3-year period were…

This report describes a mentoring program at D'Youville College designed to better meet the learning needs of graduate students in special education. The program began in the 1994-95 academic year with the original purpose of giving students a head start on developing ideas and conducting research for their theses. The program has grown, however,…

For any student, the first semester of graduate school is the most traumatic experience in his or her career as a graduate student. Fortunately, there are some things that can be done to make the transition for these students easier. Getting undergraduate students involved in the classrooms in positions of pedagogical responsibility is the most…