abstract: The demands and expectations of graduate school can be stressful for any student. Graduate students in a romantic relationship, in particular, contend with both individual and dyadic effects of graduate school stress, as stress has been found to be negatively associated with both individual and relational well-being. Asymmetrical graduate student couples, wherein one partner is in graduate school and the other is not, may be particularly vulnerable to relationship strain because of differences in their experience of graduate school. However, non-student partners can help the graduate student cope with stress through dyadic coping. This study sought to examine whether: a) there were associations between graduate school stress on individual (life satisfaction) and relational (relationship satisfaction) well-being, and b) whether these associations were moderated by positive and negative dyadic coping behaviors. Cross-sectional data from 62 asymmetrical graduate student couples were gathered using an online survey. Data were analyzed using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook 2006). Separate models were conducted to examine overall associations between graduate stress and well-being, and additional analyses were conducted to examine potential moderation effects of perceptions of partner dyadic coping (actor effects) and partner self-reported dyadic coping (partner effects) on the overall associations between stress and life- and relationship satisfaction mentioned above. Results for the overall model suggested that graduate stress is associated with both individual- and relational well-being. Surprisingly, and against prior literature, positive dyadic coping did not buffer the negative association between graduate stress and well-being, and negative dyadic coping did not exacerbate the association. Implications of the findings for future research and for mental health counselors are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling 2017

abstract: Positive psychology focuses on the promotion of well-being (Seligman, & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) have been developed to help facilitate the development of skills needed to flourish and current research suggests that PPIs can help individuals improve their happiness, reduce stress, and become more resilient (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). National surveys highlight that students in higher education are in dire need of interventions aimed at helping them cope with the negative impact of stress (Douce & Keeling, 2014; Marks & Wade, 2015). Research among the graduate student population is scant even though they report high levels of stress and work even more hours than undergraduate students (Wyatt & Oswalt, 2013). PPIs implemented in the graduate student population focus heavily on psychologically-based programs, like psychology and social work, whose students may already be receiving assistance in self-care (Botta, Cadet, & Maramaldi, 2015; Burkhart, 2014; Nelson, Dell'Oliver, Koch, & Buckler, 2001). Thus, this current study is a randomized controlled trial testing an online PPI, adapted from Achor's work in the business industry (2012, 2014), compared with an online informative stress group and a wait list control group among graduate students from various disciplines at a large, public university in the Southwest. Participants were administered pre-, post-, and three-month follow-up tests to determine the impact of the interventions on their levels of perceived stress, happiness, and resilience. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used with covariates of age, gender, race, program of study, and graduate level of study (masters versus doctoral). The main findings of the study included: the students in the PPI group reported significantly higher resilience at the end of the three weeks than did the students in the informative stress or wait list control groups, even though measures of happiness or perceived stress were not impacted; and students from psychologically based programs received the most benefit from treatment, especially from the PPI intervention. All findings, implications, and suggestions for future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2017

It has been taken for granted that being able to lecture presupposes being able to supervise research students, and completing a Master’s or doctoral degree successfully meant that an academic could assume the research supervisor role. However, findings on research into graduate students’ experiences of the research process indicate that in most cases, postgraduate students are dissatisfied with the guidance they receive from their supervisors. In an effort to contribute to finding ways and to continuing the debate on the improvement of postgraduate research supervision, in this study, I aimed to develop a framework that could be used to support postgraduate research supervisors within faculties. To achieve this aim, I conducted a literature review in order to understand what it means to supervise at postgraduate level effectively and also to identify existing support programmes for postgraduate research supervisors. I adopted a phenomenological research design within an interpretive tradition. The technique used to select the sample was purposeful criterion. The sample size was determined by means of data saturation. It consisted of four faculty postgraduate studies committee chairpersons, seven inexperienced and four experienced postgraduate research supervisors. Meetings and semi-structured interviews were employed to generate data. The findings revealed that attempts by faculties to support postgraduate research supervisors have not been systematically documented as they were done, to a large extent, informally. The size of the faculty, lack of resources, heavy workload and timing emerged as factors that impacted positively and/or negatively on the provision of support to postgraduate research supervisors within faculties. Thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed that both the experienced and the inexperienced postgraduate research supervisors view good postgraduate research supervision as a relationship of human beings involving critical engagement between the postgraduate students and their supervisors. A need to mentor postgraduate research students was also highlighted. The findings also indicated that the participants viewed good postgraduate research supervision as a developmental process of co-learning and mutual growth culminating from joint effort by both the student and the research supervisor. Striking the balance between backing off and taking over was highlighted as important linked to the roles of the student and that of the supervisor in the research supervision process. The inexperienced and the experienced supervisors had mixed feelings about the usefulness of the existing support initiatives by faculties that they have been exposed to, citing the duration, the level at which some of them were pitched and the presentation styles of the facilitators as cause for concern. The support needs that were common to both the inexperienced and the experienced supervisors were designated mentors, manageable workload and time. The inexperienced postgraduate supervisors expressed the need for focussed support, briefing sessions, online resources for easy access, good timing, and an extended co-supervision period. The experienced supervisors expressed the need for support that will be at their level, group supervision, time and/or money to buy the time and better prepared postgraduate students. This study contributed the proposed framework informed by the integration of the insights from the literature on postgraduate research supervision, professional development and the findings from this study. The principles of the Transformative Learning Theory are appropriate to guide the implementation of the proposed framework in future applications.

Este trabalho investigou concepções de dez estudantes de doutorado em química de uma Universidade pública paulista, sobre aspectos da filosofia da química. Buscou-se compreender como a química se caracteriza para esse grupo de pesquisadores, a fim de obter subsídios a respeito de como essa ciência pode ser mais bem ensinada e aprendida. Utilizou-se, como referencial teórico, trabalhos das áreas de filosofia da química e ensino de química, abordando as peculiaridades dessa ciência, para analisar o conjunto de transcrições de dois grupos de entrevistas semi-estruturadas realizadas com os doutorandos. A análise dos dados obtidos levou à classificação das concepções dos doutorandos em duas categorias e nove subcategorias. A categoria \"características da área de atuação da química\" foi subdividida em \"presença profissional no setor produtivo\", \"aplicação prática\", \"desenvolvimento de novas formas de explicação\", e \"interfaces com outras ciências\". A segunda categoria, \"características do pensamento químico\", abrangeu as subcategorias \"realismo químico com referência a imagens\", \"realismo químico sem referência a imagens\", \"valorização das evidências experimentais\", \"caráter qualitativo e relacional entre as entidades químicas\", e \"utilização de múltiplos modelos\". Os resultados revelam, entre as características marcantes da química, a valorização da experimentação e sua relação com abordagens realistas para as entidades submicroscópicas. Foi possível observar, também, indicadores de distinção entre a produção de conhecimento em química e o ensinar química, sugerindo a necessidade de explicitar questões filosóficas para promover melhor formação de professores de química. / This study investigated ideas of ten chemistry doctoral students from a public University in São Paulo about aspects of the philosophy of chemistry. Our aim was to gain insight on what chemistry is about for this group of researchers, in order to devise ways in which chemistry could be better taught and learned. Works in the areas of philosophy of chemistry and chemistry education were used to build a theoretical framework, addressing the peculiarities of this science. The set of transcripts of two groups of semi-structured interviews with the graduate students was analyzed using such framework. Data analysis led to the classification of the conceptions of the graduate students in two categories and nine subcategories. The category \"characteristics of the range of chemistry\" was subdivided into \"professional presence in the productive sector\", \"practical application\", \"development of new forms of explanation\", and \"interfaces with other sciences\". The second category, \"characteristics of chemical thinking\", covered the subcategories \"chemical realism with reference to images\", \"chemical realism without reference to images\", \"significance of experimental evidence\", \"qualitative and relational character of chemical entities\", and \"use of multiple models\". Results show the centrality of laboratory experiments and its relation to realistic approaches for submicroscopic entities among the outstanding characteristics of chemistry. Indicators of distinction between the production of chemical knowledge and the teaching of chemistry were also observed, suggesting the need for explicit philosophical discussions to improve chemistry teacher education.

This mixed method, grounded theory study aimed to explore access to Master's level study at Rhodes University, a small, traditional South African university established in 1904, over the ten year period 1999-2008. It also sought to capture the essence of 'postgraduate readiness': the generic (non-certificated) attributes which academics expect graduates to possess in order to undertake Master's degree study. While the majority of students enter Master's level via the formal route (which at Rhodes is an Honours or 4-year bachelor's degree), a significant number are admitted based on the recognition of prior learning (RPL), a practice which is encouraged in South African higher education national policy as a means of widening access and also of acknowledging that learning can take place in ways other than 'formally'. The findings show that while RPL is well defined nationally at the undergraduate level, the concept of RPL at the postgraduate level is vague and largely left to institutional discretion. No national, and few institutional, guidelines are available on which to base the assessment of potential Master's degree students who do not have Honours degrees. Interviews with Deans, supervisors and policy makers at Rhodes indicated that while there is institutional support for admitting alternative access candidates, there is a general perception of deficit compared to those entering the Master's with formal qualifications. However, the statistical findings showed no significant difference in success rates or time taken to completion between students with and without Honours degrees. In addition, comments from supervisors with extensive experience of alternative access students praised the diversity and rich life experience which such students brought to their studies and their peers. The study concludes that an institutional culture characterized by resistance to change, risk and externally imposed regulations at Rhodes has resulted in weak implementation of the University's RPL policy, little marketing or publicizing of alternative access routes to postgraduate study, and low numbers of RPL enrolments at the Master's level. A framework for the assessment of potential Master's candidates - both RPL and formal admissions - for use at Rhodes University and potentially also at other higher education institutions, is proposed in conclusion.

Higher education is a distribution center of knowledge and economic, social, and cultural power (Cervero & Wilson, 2001). A critical approach to understanding a higher education classroom begins with recognizing the instructor’s position of power and authority (Tisdell, Hanley, & Taylor, 2000). The power instructors wield exists mostly unquestioned, allowing for teaching practices that reproduce the existing societal patterns of inequity in the classroom (Brookfield, 2000). The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore students’ experiences with the power of their instructors in a higher education classroom. A hermeneutic phenomenological study intertwines the interpretations of both the participants and the researcher about a lived experience to uncover layers of meaning because the meanings of lived experiences are usually not readily apparent (van Manen, 1990). Fifteen participants were selected using criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling. The primary data gathering method were semi-structured interviews guided by an interview protocol (Creswell, 2003). Data were interpreted using thematic reflection (van Manen, 1990). Three themes emerged from data interpretation: (a) structuring of instructor-student relationships, (b) connecting power to instructor personality, and (c) learning to navigate the terrains of higher education. How interpersonal relationships were structured in a higher education classroom shaped how students perceived power in that higher education classroom. Positive relationships were described using the metaphor of family and a perceived ethic of caring and nurturing by the instructor. As participants were consistently exposed to exercises of instructor power in a higher education classroom, they attributed those exercises of power to particular instructor traits rather than systemic exercises of power. As participants progressed from undergraduate to graduate studies, they perceived the benefits of expertise in content or knowledge development as secondary to expertise in successfully navigating the social, cultural, political, and interpersonal terrains of higher education. Ultimately, participants expressed that higher education is not about what you know; it is about learning how to play the game. Implications for teaching in higher education and considerations for future research conclude the study.

The 21st century has seen nations becoming more competitive yet ironically more interdependent as their future becomes even more dependent on the knowledge, skills, and resourcefulness of its people, creating new opportunities and difficulties for education, (Power, 2000). The education-work-society interdependency has therefore become more important now than ever. It is also because of this triad-interdependency that tertiary education‟s relevance to industry needs has become a crucial issue in societal development. The ever changing needs of South Africa, the unemployment rate, introduction of new technologies and many other ripple effects of globalization have seen more and more pressure mounting on the South African education system as more and more people try to ensure that the education system answers the crucial challenges of the country today and tomorrow.The discussion below provides a detailed account of the context, in which this discourse on curriculum relevance takes place, highlighting some relevant cornerstones of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, (RDP, 1994). Furthermore, this chapter exposes the key research questions and significance of the study. The subsequent chapter 2 gives an account of what other scholars have said on issues of curriculum relevance, development and the South African Higher Education system. Chapter 3 explains the research methodology as a research process used to investigate the problem in question. In this research study the researcher uses both quantitative and qualitative design (online surveys of three groups, these are the graduates, prospective employers and the lecturers). The analysis is based on quantitative data and further substantiated through qualitative data analysis. The subsequent chapter tabulates and lays out the results according to the surveys. The final chapter discusses the findings and makes future recommendations.

In recent years, transformation in South African Universities saw an increase in the number of postgraduate students enrolling for Masters’ research programmes as access and educational opportunities have been widened. The purpose of this research was to investigate research supervision experiences of Masters postgraduate students. A qualitative, contextual, descriptive and phenomenological research design was used to explore the experiences of the 2010 MEd cohort at a purposively chosen university. This was a small scale study of six participants in different stages of their research projects sampled purposively. The preferred phenomenological interview method of gathering information from the subjects was in-depth unstructured interviews. This research study revealed that the postgraduate students at the University under investigation still continue to experience the traditional model of a single supervisor supervising a strictly research based work. The most crucial component of research supervision experiences that emerged was the quality of supervision between supervisors and supervisees which revealed power struggles in supervisory relationships. Such relationships emerged as push and pull, fight or flight amongst different individual participants and their supervisors.

This study explored the experiences of mature women undertaking Master’s degrees at a Historically Disadvantaged Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa. Attaining a Master’s degree is a significant milestone in education and the process may take from one to three, or more, years. The study aims to describe aspects of the women’s experiences of their research journeys and the goal of the study is to present descriptions of these experiences. The methodology is qualitative and uses a critical feminist approach, appropriate to exploring the research questions. A critical feminist stance holds that women experience the world differently to men given the patriarchal structure of society. Emphasis is placed on the primacy of the co-researcher’s perceptions of their experiences. A single method research design was followed using semi-structured interviews. The analysis resulted in the emergence of a number of central themes. Together these reflect the experiences of the co-researchers, although they did not automatically share all the experiences. The findings show that postgraduate study, in the form of a Master’s degree, was found to be transformative, meaningful and worthwhile, although not without difficulties; mainly the demands required of multiple roles within home, community, work, and the university. This study contributes towards the larger body of research within education, in particular in the understanding the experiences of mature women within the field of postgraduate study.

In this exploratory study of 95 counseling program master's students at a large southwestern public university, students' scores on an admissions Group Interview Sociometric Rating did not correlate with their GRE Analytic Writing (GRE-AW) scores nor their basic skills course instructors' end-of-course assessment of students' counseling-related personality traits (Personality) or mastery of basic counseling skills (Mastery). However, Mastery was predicted by both Personality, with a large effect size, and GRE-AW, with a medium effect size. This study provides promising preliminary evidence that counselor educators may use Counselor Personality Assessment Ratings and GRE-AW scores to screen master's applicants by predicting students' abilities to master basic counseling skills early in their counselor preparation. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.