This study explored the extent to which graduate students enrolled in Higher Education courses were proficient at writing. While writing proficiency has been extensively studied in elementary students, high school students, and undergraduates, little attention has been paid to formally evaluating graduate student proficiency. Despite the relatively new idea of assessing graduate student writing, it is a concern for graduate faculty and a valid area for study. This study was based on a sample of graduate students enrolled in at least one course in Higher Education at public institutions of higher education in the United States. A total sample size of 97 students was obtained. Two instruments were administered to the participants: A General Information and Writing Experience Questionnaire (G-WEQ) and the SAT II: Writing Test, Part B. The G-WEQ was designed to capture demographic information about the participants, as well as allow participants to provide a self-assessment of writing and describe the writing experiences they are currently encountering in graduate school. To assess writing proficiency for the participants, the SAT II: Writing Test, Part B was used. The purpose of the test is to "measure [test takers'] ability to...recognize faults in usage and structure, and to use language with sensitivity to meaning" (Educational Testing Service, 1999-2000, p.7). The z-Statistic for a Single Sample Mean significance test was used to determine whether the sample mean scored significantly higher than the population mean on the SAT II: Writing Test. This was not the case (z=0.295, p<0.38). The graduate students in this sample did not score significantly higher on the SAT II: Writing Test, Part B than the typical high school senior whose scores enter into the norm group.

The first purpose of this study was to ascertain the gains in vocabulary of three selected groups of graduate students presented material by different methods: audio, visual, and audio-visual. The second purpose of this study was to determine whether these gains were maintained after a lapse of time of four weeks.

While the literature on the experiences of women in academe generaly, is growing, the experiences of women student mothers in post-secondary education are rarely explored. Given the increasing number of women students enroling in university and the fact that the student population is aging, there is a greater likelihood of these students being mothers. A study of these women is timely and crucial to understanding their needs and chalenges within the university. The purpose of the research was to examine the experiences of doctoral student mothers living at the intersection of studenthood and motherhood as it was expected that the demands from the family and university would create specific chalenges. The study delineates the women's understanding of and the degree to which they accepted the dominant North American ideology of intensive mothering and the ideology of the good student. Further, the study sought to ascertain whether the student mothers experienced contradiction between the two ideologies similar to that experienced by the women in Hay's (1996) study of employed and stay-at-home mothers. The study utilizes the concept of the public/private dichotomy and the notions of greedy institutions and competing urgencies in its framework. The design consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews with seventeen mothers at various stages in their doctoral programme. The women range in age from thirty-three to forty-seven and have at least one child, under age of thirteen, living with them full-time. Findings noted that the women were able to articulate the dominant definitions of the good mother and the good student but, for the most part, they rejected them. They preferred to be balanced both as mothers and as students, although almost all of them insisted their children were their first priority. The women experienced a contradiction between the two ideologies and, using the concept of ideological work developed by Berger (1981), their experiences were explored. The women engaged in ideological work to support their alternative definitions of the good mother and the good student. When they were not as able to sustain their ideological work they tended to revert to the dominant definitions.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that may affect counseling psychology doctoral students' tendencies to seek professional psychological help for their personal problems. The study had the following specific goals: (a) to identify psychology students' reasons for seeking professional help, (b) to identify psychology students' reasons for hesitating to seek professional help, (c) to determine the incidence of personal distress among psychology students, (d) to determine the incidence of professional psychological help seeking, and (e) to begin to examine the impact that training environments have on the development of psychologists' attitudes toward seeking personal psychotherapy.The population of this study was doctoral students in APA-approved programs in Counseling Psychology during their internship phase of training. The sample consisted of 178 pre-doctoral interns. Students were mailed a survey developed by the researcher. The survey instrument consisted of questions about psychological problems experienced and the extent to which students had sought or would seek help for these problems. The survey also addressed students' perceptions about whether or not personal help seeking was advocated in their training programs and extent to which the topic of personal psychotherapy was included in their graduate curriculum.Data were analyzed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative procedures. Grounded theory analysis techniques, frequency distributions and multiple regression analyses were utilized.The study reveals that the decision to seek help is a complex one. While most students had sought or would be willing to seek help in the future, many would hesitate to do so. Conclusions drawn are that psychologists (in training) may prefer to turn to professional help as a last resort, and that there are barriers that prevent trainees from obtaining psychological services including finances, availability of therapists, and concerns about confidentiality. Trainees who have had positive experiences with therapy or who value it for personal or professional growth are more likely to seek help. Trainees who perceive that help seeking is normative among their peers are also more likely to seek help. The topic of "psychologists' seeking help for themselves" is not consistently addressed as a part of counseling psychologists' formal training. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The purpose of this embedded case study was to describe the academic experiences of international graduate students at Ball State University. Purposive and snowball sampling procedures were used to select nine international graduate students for this study. Their countries of origin were Ghana, Kenya, China, Iceland, Greece, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Ball State University was the case in this study and the nine international graduate students the units of analysis. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed by means of constant comparison and cross-unit analysis. The findings of the study revealed the reasons why these international graduate students came to Ball State University to pursue their education, the students’ assessments of their academic experiences, and descriptions of their personal and professional development as outcomes of their educational experiences at Ball State University. The main reasons why the international graduate students came to Ball State University were, due to connections they already had with someone affiliated with the university, the quality of the programs offered at Ball State University, and through the award of scholarships. The international graduate students described their academic experiences as beneficial to their development in a number of ways including, development of research and publication skills, increased competence in the use of technological aids to enhance teaching and learning, and the opportunity to put into practice the skills and knowledge they had acquired through practica and internships. The study participants also expressed that they acquired skills that made them competent to perform in the areas they were trained, for example, therapeutic skills or team skills. They shared that they had grown as individuals because of the experience that they gained at Ball State University. In addition, some stated that their worldview had expanded, and their self-confidence had increased. The study discusses the findings in the light of the current literature on international graduate student education in the U.S., as well as the implications for future research. The study makes recommendations as to how Ball State University can make use of this new information to better market itself as a first class institution of higher learning, and to make the experiences of international graduate students at Ball State University a more appealing choice to prospective international graduate students. / Department of Educational Studies

This study is an exploration of the educational experiences of women from the Caribbean island of Barbados who traveled to the USA to pursue higher education. An autoethnography research methodology was used in order to capture each woman’s educational experiences. Autoethnography also supported the inclusion of the researcher’s voice and interpretations as a Barbadian woman fitting the criteria for participation. These educational journeys represented the field and cultural world under study. Through analysis, themes emerged from each woman's description of Influential Others; Protagonist Self; and Educational Settings within her storied journey. Storied experiences in relation to race, ethnicity, and being women and the role American Higher Education had in each woman's life were also analyzed. The emergent themes supported the existence of a web of interacting narratives spun first in Barbados and extending to American Higher Education. Through the educational settings each woman interacted with, this web of narratives linked her educational journey to the narratives of the people who went before her; beside her; and after her. This web of narratives also supports each woman’s storied understanding of self, others, and settings within that journey. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 305-313).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-200).

Dissertation (Ph. D.)--University of Akron, Dept. of Counseling (Counselor Education & Supervision), 2009. / "August, 2009." Title from electronic dissertation title page (viewed 9/2/2009) Advisor, Cynthia A. Reynolds; Committee members, John E. Queener, Robert C. Schwartz, Fred H. Ziegler, Huey-Li Li; Department Chair, Karin Jordan; Dean of the College, ; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-49).