STEM graduate students go through various stages in their development as researchers. Specifically, Ph.D. students are expected to complete coursework, work on their research, help with projects in the lab they are working in, maintain equipment, mentor other researchers, and fulfill departmental requirements. In this dissertation, I have explored…

The purpose of this single case study was to determine how a project-based learning approach to instructional design supported education doctorate students' acquisition of new knowledge and practical application of skills in their current and future professions. Participants included 58 students in an online EdD instructional design course. We…

Even though effective teaching is required when doctoral students assume positions in higher education, few doctoral programs have courses or formalized experiences designed around pedagogy for undergraduate and graduate students. The lack of pedagogical emphasis is especially concerning for newly minted doctoral students who will be preparing…

This Writers' Forum piece addresses the importance and impact of community within the graduate experience through inception and evolution of a virtual writing group by six doctoral students attending geographically distant universities. By acknowledging relevant academic literature and sharing our experiences as best practices, we propose that…

The introduction of the occupational therapy doctoral (OTD) program to the field of occupational therapy (OT) education was intended to advance the field by developing future leaders, increasing advanced practice, and promoting scholarship in practice. Limited information to date is available regarding outcomes of the OTD program related to the…

Doctoral writing has burgeoned as a field of inquiry in the past decade. However, questions still remain as to how doctoral researchers navigate their writing trajectories, the strategies they deploy to deal with challenges, and what and who helps to shape their writing experiences. These questions may have resulted from the rather snapshot…

In early 2020, the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions meant that doctoral programmes which depended on face-to-face models for teaching, learning, and interaction needed to quickly reconsider their established practices. Of particular concern was the impact of pandemic restrictions upon the development of a sense of community among doctoral…

Ph.D. dropout is a persistent and challenging issue in higher education, with significant implications for individual students, academic institutions, and the broader society. This research paper aims to explore the factors contributing to Ph.D. students' decision to dropout and their interrelationships. For this purpose, we employed the hybrid…

Educational professionals are not ordinary everyday critics using experiential expertise to comment on practice. Instead, they are critical researchers who are concerned with debates about the purposes of education, social justice and equity, and how research is vital to understanding and explaining change. Using the reflexive views of six…

This study investigates the design method of integrating design resources and design materials with an explanation of the foundations of cultural psychology. It focuses on the integration of design resources and design materials in product creative design. This article outlines the design process of integrating design resources and design…

We provide a composite counter story based on our own experiences grappling with investigating elementary Latinx learners' experiences and how we have leaned on each other to resist the whiteness of learning to do research in pursuit of a Ph.D. As the counterstory shows, we collectively worked together to write our own continuations of the story…

Given a myriad of recent contemporary challenges graduate students are facing as well as long-standing issues with student attrition, there is a pressing need to reexamine models of doctoral student progress. While existing research commonly examines departure or failure to meet milestones as the outcome of interest, by the time students leave…

Fieldwork (FW) education is integral to occupational therapy (OT) education and enables the transition of a student to an entry-level practitioner. Clinicians who serve as FW educators play a significant role in this process. To deliver OT education, universities must support FW educators and address their needs and concerns. This study surveyed…

Articulating the rules, roles, and values that are expected of undergraduate researchers is important as we strive to create a more accessible path into the scientific community. Rules refer to skills required of scientists, roles refer to behaviors consistent with the expectations of a scientist, and values refer to beliefs of the scientific…

The responses of higher education (HE) institutions towards the climate crisis and escalating social inequalities have been researched from either 'top-down' (i.e. institutionally-led) or 'bottom-up' (i.e. student-led) perspectives. As scholars call for enhanced insight into the space between these two poles, this paper provides an…