The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist between characteristics and attitudes of graduates and those of non-graduates of doctoral programs in education. The subjects were the 256 students who had successfully completed the qualifying examinations in the College of Education at North Texas State University during the years of 1978 through 1980. Although the data findings from this study are too numerous to list within the restrictions of this abstract, the most notable findings include that (1) 74.2 per cent had graduated; (2) graduates were more likely to have selected the dissertation topic before the qualifying examinations; (3) graduates rated personal motivation higher than did non-graduates; and (4) there were no significant differences in Graduate Record Examination scores (verbal, quantitative, or total) between graduates and non-graduates. Among the conclusions drawn from this study are that (1) the process of going through a doctoral program discourages the less serious students before they reach the qualifying examinations and (2) graduates have high personal motivation and receive high support for dissertation efforts from many segments of life (spouse, family, friends, major professor, and doctoral committee). The recommendations drawn from this study are for (1) further research into the personal motivation of the candidate, (2) further research as to the effect of the candidate's attitudes toward and grades for courses in research and statistics, (3) universities to maintain records that allow for determination of completion rates of doctoral students and to consider these rates in the evaluation of doctoral programs, and (4) graduate faculty to encourage doctoral students to give serious consideration to possible dissertation topics early in their graduate programs.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In an exploratory study of graduate students moving expectations, a self-administered survey was utilized to examine the compromises and sacrifices they expect themselves or their potential partners to be making in moving decisions, as well as their willingness to sacrifice or ask their partner to sacrifice in a move. This study focuses on this work-life decision due to its being understudied in previous literature; it aims to start to establish migration decisions as an important work-family balance topic as well as explore what role gender plays in expectations and willingness to move, especially regarding who sacrifices in a moving decision. The study focused on the potential impact of gender on migration orientations, comparing men’s and women’s attitudes. It also looked at the influence of gender ideology, program’s gender composition, perceived transportability, salary, partner’s relative salary and Money as Power attitudes as well as some demographic data. Previous literature has suggested that women are more likely to be willing to sacrifice in a moving decision while men are more willing to ask their partners to do so. Findings from this study generally confirm this. Some individual factors related to being willing to ask the partner to sacrifice more were: holding a traditional gender ideology, being in a male-dominated program, having a higher expected salary, belief in money as power, and belief in moving as important to a career. Results also suggest that this is a fruitful area for further study.

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Academic libraries are increasingly re-envisioning their services to provide expanded outreach and segmented programming for specific user groups. Many academic libraries offer segmented services and programming for undergraduate groups such as first-year experience programs and general education programs. Currently, academic libraries are also identifying and expanding their services and programming to meet the unique needs of graduate groups. In conjunction with this focus, the roles of academic librarians are also expanding in the area of outreach. In essence, academic librarians are becoming more directly involved in aligning library services and programming with academic programs and promoting change within their institutions. Faced with the challenges of outreach and promoting change it is essential that librarians gain deeper insights about the perspectives and needs of graduate programs and graduate groups to effectively plan and align library services. The purpose of this design research study was to explore the organizational factors that influence how library services and library instruction are utilized in two doctoral programs in education at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Using a sequential mixed methods approach, quantitative data was collected in an online survey and qualitative data was collected in audio recorded interviews conducted with students enrolled in two doctoral programs in education, as well as program faculty, and academic librarians. Findings from this study were then used to describe a conjecture for an asynchronous online learning resource that applies elements outlined in Sandoval's (2014) conjecture map model. Findings were also used to make recommendations about future planning for library outreach and the utilization of library services in the doctoral programs.

A wellness paradigm may hold promise for unifying and strengthening the identity of the counseling profession. The construct of wellness may also hold implications for assessment of entering master's-level counseling students, as a tool for continuous evaluation of students, or for overall program evaluation. In this study, the only counseling-based wellness assessment measure, the Five Factor Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle, was tested for its relationship to two other constructs: psychological disturbance and social desirability. In order to test the research hypotheses, a total of nine programs (in five states) and 204 entering master's-level counseling students completed instrumentation packets comprised of the Five-Factor Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and the Outcome Questionnaire – 45.2. The results of the analyses indicated statically significant relationships in 52 out of 55 correlations between the instruments' total scores and subscale scores. The first null hypothesis was rejected in favor of the alternative hypothesis; there was a statistically significant negative relationship between level of psychological disturbance and level of wellness. The results of the study failed to reject null hypothesis two; the relationship between wellness and social desirability was found to have no statistical significance after removing the influence of psychological disturbance. Null hypothesis three was rejected in favor of the alternative hypothesis; there was a statistically significant negative relationship between level of psychological disturbance and social desirability. Number and percent of participants exceeding psychological disturbance cutoff scores was examined. Measures of central tendency and the effects of demographic variables for each of the instruments were presented. Exploratory data analysis revealed that the first-order wellness factor, second-order wellness factors, and social desirability mean scores of those scoring above the cutoff for Severity of Disturbance, difficulty in Interpersonal Relations, Symptom Distress, and Difficulty in Social Roles were lower than those scoring below each cutoff score. Results of the study were summarized, factors to consider in the interpretation of the results were discussed, and implications for counselor education and future research were provided.

The use of computers equipped with Internet access by students during face-toface (F2F) class sessions is perceived as academically beneficial by a growing number of students and faculty members in universities across the United States. Nevertheless, some researchers suggest unstructured computer use detached from the immediate class content may negatively influence student participation, increase distraction levels, minimize recall of recently presented information, and decrease student engagement. This study investigates graduate students’ beliefs about computer use with Internet access during graduate face-to-face lecture classes in which computer use is neither mandated nor integrated in the class and the effect of such use on student recall. Methods include a 44-item questionnaire to investigate graduate students’ beliefs about computers and two experiments to investigate the influence of computer use during a lecture on students’ memory recall. One experimental group (open laptop) used computers during a lecture while the other (closed laptop) did not. Both groups were given the same memory recall test after the lectures, and the resulting scores were analyzed. Two weeks later, a second phase of the experiment was implemented in which laptop groups were reversed. Results from the first experiment indicated no statistically significant difference in recall scores between the open laptop group (M = 54.90, SD = 19.65) and the closed laptop group (M = 42.86, SD = 16.68); t (29) = -1.82, p = .08 (two tailed). Conversely, the second experiment revealed statistically significant differences in scores between the open laptop (M = 39.67, SD = 15.97) and the iv closed laptop group (M = 59.29, SD = 26.88); t (20.89) = 2.37, p = .03 (two tailed). The magnitude of the difference in mean scores (mean difference = 19.62, 95% CI: 2.39 to 36.85) was large (eta squared = 0.17). Multiple regression analysis suggests two factors accounted for 10% of the variance in recall scores: (1) students’ beliefs about distractions from computer use, and (2) beliefs about the influence of computer use on memory recall. Based on survey findings, participants (N=116) viewed computers and Internet access in graduate classes as helpful academic tools, but distractions from computer use were major sources of concern for students who used computers in graduate classes and those who did not. Additionally, participants believed academic productivity would increase if instructors integrated computer use appropriately in the curricula. Results of the survey and experiments suggest unstructured computer use with Internet access in the graduate classroom is strongly correlated with increased student distractions and decreased memory recall. Thus, restricting unstructured computer use is likely to increase existing memory recall levels, and increasing unstructured computer use is likely to reduce memory recall. Recommendations include changes in the way students use computers, pedagogical shifts, computer integration strategies, modified seating arrangements, increased accountability, and improved interaction between instructors and students.

This dissertation looks at the information-seeking practices of doctoral students in the context of their search for a doctoral program and considers the implications for design of the graduate school Web space. Of particular interest is the description of patterns of Web use and the practices related to students' preparation for interactions with technology, the nature of the interactions, and the thinking that occurs. An exploratory study that brings together hypertext theory, contextual, holistic approaches, and information behavior, this research includes a focus group of current undergraduate and graduate students to gather fresh details about information-seeking for a graduate program as a preliminary investigation in this area, eight interviews with current doctoral students admitted in Fall 2007 to capture the specific details of students' information-seeking experiences for a doctoral program by mapping the journeys, and an online survey of current doctoral students admitted in Fall 2007 as further investigation of information-seeking for a doctoral program. Doctoral students who participated in this study rely on the Web as the primary source of prior knowledge of graduate education and graduate school, as well as the source most used to build that knowledge during the information-seeking journey for a graduate program and to prepare them for the start of their graduate study. The eight maps of students' information-seeking journeys for a graduate program show how complex and wide-ranging these journeys are. Based on bits collected through their many Web encounters over six months to two years, students develop a 'feeling' for the people who make up the graduate program, social interactions within this group and research subgroups, and what it would be like to be a student in the program, all contributing to students' decision making. Academic Web sites play a key role as support structures for students and have to do more than make the information available and findable; they must design in order to encourage and sustain engagement, or deep involvement. This study proposes several suggestions for academic Web design.

This paper reports the results of a two-phase study examining the effectiveness of a set of five online learning modules in increasing student understanding of information literacy topics. The modules were deployed within the foundational class of an online Master of Library Science program. Using Qualtrics-based surveys, Phase 1 assessed 15 students for their possible knowledge gains as well as their perceptions of their experiences with the instructional content. Through a combination of statistical and qualitative analysis, the researchers found modest knowledge gains as well as positive student perceptions of their instruction. Based upon the moderate success of Phase 1, the online learning modules were retained in subsequent offerings of the course. Three years after the Phase 1 study, a Phase 2 study was conducted with 30 students over two semesters to examine student knowledge and perception changes possibly occurring after utilization of the modules. Through the analysis of student reflection writings, the researchers found that all students presented with a minimum desired level of competency postinstruction. Furthermore, the researchers found that knowledge gains were reported primarily within the area of information search strategies. Findings suggest that online learning modules on information literacy topics can be a welcome addition to the first course in a Master of Library Science program sequence and can help instill confidence in new students who are studying to become library science professionals.