Supervision of doctoral students needs to be improved to increase completion rates, reduce attrition rates (estimated to be at 25% or more) and improve quality of research. The current literature review aimed to explore the contribution that technology can make to higher degree research supervision. The articles selected included empirical studies…

While achieving research independence by becoming a principal investigator (PI) is a key aspiration for many postdocs, little is known of the trajectory from PhD graduation to first PI grant. This interview-based study examined how 16 PIs in science, technology engineering, mathematics or medicine, in the UK and continental Europe, prepared for…

Because almost one half of students enrolled in American doctoral programs do not complete their degrees, the factors that lead to doctoral student attrition need to be identified. Research suggests that the nature of the advisor-advisee relationship contributes to the persistence levels of doctoral students. In this study, we conducted a content…

The "droso4schools" project aims to introduce the fruit fly "Drosophila" as a powerful modern teaching tool to convey curriculum-relevant specifications in biology lessons. Flies are easy and cheap to breed and have been at the forefront of biology research for a century, providing unique conceptual understanding of biology and…

The purpose of this study was to examine music education doctoral students' shifting occupational identity beliefs, career intent and commitment, and overall confidence for teaching in higher education. A total of 124 music education doctoral students, enrolled at 29 institutions of higher education in the United States, completed a onetime,…

In experimental disciplinary fields such as medicine, the writing up of a research paper in English may represent a major hurdle, especially for inexperienced writers and users of EAL (English as an Additional Language), mainly due to a lack of familiarity with international discourse conventions. Despite the efforts of many EAP (English for…

The advent of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has been altering the Higher Education landscape in recent years. This kind of courses are penetrating in an increasing number of universities, the majority of which do not seem to have intentions to stop offering them in the short term. Such courses are generating new educational scenarios to…

Although engineering graduate programs rarely require academic writing courses, the indicators of merit in academic engineering, such as journal publications, successful grants, and doctoral milestones (e.g. theses, dissertations) are based in effective written argumentation and disciplinary discourse. Further, graduate student attrition averages…

A history of change efforts by philanthropic agencies and government organizations directed at graduate schools of education has not produced long-term or sustained changes in their form and function. The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), however, has been able to demonstrate that external change efforts can result in change in…

Ph.D. programs train students to perform quality research but not necessarily to deliver quality undergraduate instruction. For students who want to develop such skills, and for universities interested in creating programs to combine broad disciplinary instruction with specialization in effective pedagogical practices, there is a Ph.D.…

The purpose of this study was to provide information to an online university that offers Ph.D. programs in three formats: knowledge area modules (or KAM, a type of faculty-led, self-directed doctoral study), course-based model, and mixed model (a combination of the KAM and course-based models). The investigators sought to determine why students…

The middle years of schooling (Years 5-9) has emerged as a significant field of educational research in the last two decades but investigation of specialised approaches to middle level teacher education has received little attention. The rationale for specialised programs or units is that middle level teachers require specific preparation to be…

A survey of 241 full professors in journalism and mass communication were asked their views on doctoral education. Results indicated that the expected number of publications students should generate from their dissertations was positively correlated with the number of publications professors produced from their own dissertations, supporting the…

This study explored what faculty members are recommending to counselor education master's students regarding post-master's experience when considering doctoral studies and what the current faculty hiring preferences are in reference to the amount of post-master's experience needed. Advisors in counselor education master's programs encounter these…

Statistical analysis of data gathered from 139 healthcare doctoral students revealed three key findings regarding non-cognitive factor relationships to hybrid doctoral student self-efficacy between online (web-based) and on-campus course components. First, student experiences significantly differed between online and on-campus course components…