A profissão e formação do psicólogo vêm sendo discutidas na literatura, assim como o papel do profissional de Psicologia junto à sociedade brasileira, principalmente, a partir de 1975, publicação do estudo pioneiro de Sylvia Leser de Mello. Naquela época, demonstrava-se a preocupação existente em torno das áreas de aplicação da Psicologia e suas funções sociais, mostrando a escassa participação de profissionais fora da clínica. Também se apontava a inadequação do Ensino Superior, que tinha um caráter excessivamente teórico. A crítica ao papel da instituição universitária na formação continua presente em vários estudos mais atuais relativos a este tema. Atualmente, os estudos abordam desde necessidades sociais e o significado social da atuação do psicólogo, até discussões sobre as relações entre concepções ou imagens do psicólogo com o currículo de formação e o efeito sobre a atuação. Alguns autores questionam as formas cristalizadas de saber, que excluem o aluno do processo de construção do conhecimento e impedem a politização do que foi aprendido. Os objetivos deste trabalho consistem em identificar as concepções e relatos de experiências vividas de alunos de Psicologia a respeito de seu curso e sua formação, visando compreender um pouco melhor este universo amplo que gera relevante mobilização no meio acadêmico da Psicologia. Os participantes da pesquisa são estudantes de terceiro a quinto ano de graduação de Psicologia de uma Universidade Pública. Os procedimentos de coleta de dados são entrevistas individuais, que oferecem temas como disparadores de uma associação por parte dos estudantes e entrevistas em Grupos Focais. Para a análise dos dados, utilizou-se a Análise de Conteúdo, em uma abordagem qualitativa. Os resultados demonstram críticas dos alunos com relação à carga horária mal distribuída do curso, às aulas pouco satisfatórias, à falta de prática e excesso de teoria descontextualizada nos primeiros anos de formação, além da desarticulação entre os professores e do conteúdo do curso. Os alunos também apontam a necessidade de transformação do sistema de avaliação que deve conter maior coerência e sentido. Sobre o curso em geral, afirmam que é um espaço subjetivo e valorizam as experiências fora de sala de aula. Além disso, relatam sobre um modo de ser próprio do psicólogo que surge ao longo da formação e da necessidade de um espaço que deveria ser oferecido pela instituição universitária aos alunos para o acolhimento e elaboração de suas dificuldades relacionadas ao curso. Os dados permitem a confirmação de algumas constatações da literatura e discordam de outras. Além disso, permitem uma reflexão da análise da instituição e de suas relações em detrimento da análise apenas de situações pontuais. Assim, foi possível concluir que os alunos demonstram insatisfação com aspectos centrais do curso, tais como: aulas, avaliações, carga horária, conteúdos, atividade prática e a inexistência de um serviço de apoio psicológico dirigido aos próprios estudantes. Estes elementos apontam para uma necessidade de transformação por parte da instituição, visando não somente uma modificação isolada dos aspectos citados, mas a criação de espaços de análise da instituição como um todo. / The profession and training of psychologists have been discussed in literature, as well as the role of psychologists inside Brazilian society, particularly, from 1975, when was published a pioneering study of Sylvia Leser de Mello. At that time, there were concerns around the areas of application of Psychology and its social functions, showing the limited participation of professionals outside the clinic. It was also pointed out the inadequacy of graduation at university, which had a character too theoretical. The critical role of the university graduating continues lately in several studies on this subject. Currently, there are the studies that show the social needs and social significance of the role of psychologist, and also studies that discuss relations between the concepts or images of psychologist, comparing them to the curriculum and the effect on performance. Some authors criticize the crystallized knowledge, which exclude the student of the construction of this knowledge and obstruct the politicization of what was learned. The objectives of this study are to identify the concepts and reports of experiences of students of Psychology about their course and their training, aiming to understand a little better this universe that generates relevant broad mobilization in the midst of academic psychology. The Participants of the survey are students of the third to fifth year of graduation of Psychology of a public university. The procedures for data collection are personal interviews and Focal Groups interviews. For the analysis of data, it was used Content Analysis, in a qualitative way. The results show critical of students about the working hours and its distribution across the course, the students also criticized the unsatisfactory lessons and the lack of practice and excess of theory out of context in the first years of graduation, in addition to the disconnection between the teachers and the content of the course. Students also suggest the need for transformation of the system of assessment, which should contain greater coherence. About the course in general, they say that it is a subjective space and they also value the experiences outside the classroom. Moreover, the students report that exists a style of the psychologists who comes along the graduation and a need for a space that should be offered to students by the university for the development of their host and difficulties related to the course. The data allows the confirmation of some findings of literature and disagrees with others. It also reflects an analysis of the institution and its relations contrasting to the analysis of isolated situations. It was possible to conclude that students demonstrate dissatisfaction with some important aspects of the course, such as: classes, evaluations, working hours, content, practical activity and the lack of a service of psychological support for those students themselves. These factors point to a need for the institution to promote a transformation, seeking not only a change isolated from this, but the creation of spaces for analysis of the institution as a whole.

Nisbet's theory of alienation entails three propositions: 1) alienation is a unidimensional phenomenon; 2) alienation is a generalized phenomenon; and 3) power relations foster loss of community which engenders alienation. All three propositions were tested on a population of graduate students at a university in the Pacific Northwest.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 115-122). Also available in print.

Thesis supervisor: Judy Polumbaum. Includes bibliographic references (p. 232-241).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-193). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-178).

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to come to an understanding of the meaning and experience of community for undergraduate students at a research-intensive university. It was assumed that exploring community bounded by disciplinary affiliation would be a valuable approach to understanding this phenomenon within the context of the researchintensive university. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 third year Psychology students pursuing either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree, and a survey designed to explore key aspects of interviewees' experiences was administered to a larger cohort of such students. Students' experiences were examined through the lens of constitutive and individualistic community frameworks, and ideal and actual experiences were compared. The results of this study show that a focus on disciplinary affiliation was a useful approach to understanding the meaning of community. Results document the significant influences of disciplinary affiliation on community membership and belonging. This exploration revealed that issues of community membership, involvement, and belonging were longitudinal processes that entailed complex patterns of participation and modes of exclusion that were influenced by students' aspirations and obligations as well as structural characteristics of the Psychology department and of the research-intensive university.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of cultural factors, such as self-construal, and social beliefs, on coping for U.S. and Chinese college students. Data from 325 U.S. and 321 Chinese college students were used for the analyses. It was found that independent self-construal, beliefs in reward for application and social complexity predicted task-oriented coping and self-regulation for both the U.S. and Chinese students. It was also found that beliefs in both fate control and social cynicism were associated with avoidance and emotion-focused coping in both groups. These two patterns of relationships were also observed across gender in each sample. Differences were also noted between the two countries. For the U.S. students, independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal contributed equally to task-oriented coping and self regulation, whereas for the Chinese students, only independent self-construal predicted these coping strategies. Moreover, religiosity was associated with emotion-focused coping and self regulation for the Chinese participants, while this pattern was not found in the U.S. student sample. The results of this study support the transactional model of coping. Consistent with previous findings, significant associations were found between three of the cultural variables (independent self-construal, beliefs in social complexity, and reward in application) and taskoriented coping. In contrast to prior research, the current study indicates that both independent and interdependent self-construal predicted task-oriented coping for the U.S. students. This contradicts Lam and Zane’s (2004) findings which suggested that these two dimensions of selfconstrual affect coping differently. Moreover, the current study found associations in the U.S. sample between self-construal, social beliefs, and coping dimensions which were originally identified in Chinese populations (i.e., self-regulation and help seeking). Similarly, the current research illuminated relationships in the Chinese sample between self-construal, social beliefs, and coping dimensions which were originally identified in the West (i.e., task-oriented and emotion-oriented coping). These findings suggest that current conceptualizations of coping in the West and China may not fully capture important aspects of coping in these two cultures. These results were discussed in relation to past findings in the literature, as well as the cultural contexts of the U.S. and China. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Within the framework of social cognitive theory, the influence of self-efficacy beliefs and metacognitive prompting on genetics problem solving ability among high school students in Kenya was examined through a mixed methods research design. A quasi-experimental study, supplemented by focus group interviews, was conducted to investigate both the outcomes and the processes of students’ genetics problem-solving ability. Focus group interviews substantiated and supported findings from the quantitative instruments. The study was conducted in 17 high schools in Western Province, Kenya. A total of 2,138 high school students were purposively sampled. A sub-sample of 48 students participated in focus group interviews to understand their perspectives and experiences during the study so as to corroborate the quantitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, zero-order correlations, 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA,, and sequential hierarchical multiple regressions. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded, and reported thematically. Results revealed metacognitive prompts had significant positive effects on student problem-solving ability independent of gender. Self-efficacy and metacognitive prompting significantly predicted genetics problem-solving ability. Gender differences were revealed, with girls outperforming boys on the genetics problem-solving test. Furthermore, self-efficacy moderated the relationship between metacognitive prompting and genetics problem-solving ability. This study established a foundation for instructional methods for biology teachers and recommendations are made for implementing metacognitive prompting in a problem-based learning environment in high schools and science teacher education programs in Kenya. / Department of Biology