Across time and space: Examiner and candidate experiences of online doctoral vivas

Many countries have doctoral viva examinations, mostly conducted in-person until the COVID-19 pandemic. This article explores the changing processes and experiences of doctoral vivas forced online, from the perspectives of three examiners (two Uk, one NZ) and one recent candidate (UK). It sheds light on remote viva examinations exploring experiences of examination rigour, opportunities to evidence 'doctorateness' and challenges and affordances of remoteness, home location and technology. We use autoethnography, focusing on our experiences including the personal, learning and institutional dimensions. We found virtual spaces had advantages (comfort) and disadvantages (emotional difficulties), and levels of worry were often higher, especially regarding IT. Online formats still enabled examiners to rigorously assess 'doctorateness', but duty of care is needed for candidates with anxiety exacerbated by the pandemic, or technology. Our study offers insiders' insights into the remote online viva itself with recommendations for candidates, examiners and institutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on PhD candidates' study progress and study wellbeing

The COVID-19 pandemic has had its impact on research and researchers, and hence potentially on the future of academia. Yet, empirical evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on PhD candidates is limited. This study explores the influences of the pandemic on PhD candidates' progress and wellbeing. In addition, the aim is to identify potentially particularly vulnerable candidate groups. In total, 768 PhD candidates from a Finnish research-intensive multidisciplinary university participated in the mixed method study in spring 2021. The data were collected with the doctoral experience survey. In general, the PhD candidates estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic had hindered their progress and decreased their study wellbeing. The negative impact boiled down to the reduced access to data or participants, erosion of scholarly support networks, reduced access to the institutional resources, poor work-life balance and mental health problems. Results further implied that the international candidates, those studying at the university full-time, engaging in research teams, candidates from natural sciences and those at the mid-phase of their studies employed increased risk of suffering from negative COVID-19 pandemic influences. Results can be used in building well-fitted re-creative actions in supporting the PhD candidates to overcome challenges set by the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Mediators of the relationship between psychology doctoral students? Perceived stress and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: Self-care and social support

It has been well established that psychology doctoral students experience an inordinate amount of stress. Extant literature has proposed that engaging in self-care and feeling socially supported by peers and faculty has resulted in decreased stress levels and an improved quality of life (e.g., E. Ayala et al., 2017;Bamonti et al., 2014;Colman et al., 2016;Rummell, 2015).This study explored the relationship between perceived stress due to COVID-19 and perceived quality of life and via two mediators: self-care practices and perceived social support. Limited research has investigated psychology doctoral students' perceived quality of life during wave one of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected using a quantitative online survey that also included two open-response items focused on quality of life and perceived social support. The sample included 350 health service psychology doctoral students aged 18 years and older. A parallel multiple mediator analysis revealed: (a) perceived stress was negatively related to quality of life;(b) a direct effect of stress due to COVID-19 on quality of life when controlling for self-care practices and perceived social support;(c) perceived stress was inversely related to self-care practices and perceived social support;(d) self-care practices and perceived social support were significantly and positively related to perceived quality of life;and (e) self-care practice and perceived social support significantly mediated the effects of perceived stress due to COVID-19. Results supported the importance of psychology doctoral students engaging in self-care practices and being provided ongoing social support from their doctoral programs and faculty to mitigate the deleterious effects of stress on quality of life. This research has advanced the field of education and training in applied psychology doctoral programs by elucidating the importance of professional and personal social support for trainees? quality-of-life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The relationship among stressors and mental health and the impact on grade point average for doctoral students during a pandemic

The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study will be to explore the relationship between stressors and mental health, the impact mental health has on grade point average (GPA), and determine if stressors and mental health moderate GPA for doctoral students during a pandemic. There is evidence that stress impacts mental health and school performance;however, there is little data based on doctoral students. Participants were recruited via a recruitment flyer sent out to all doctoral students attending The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Southern California campuses. While additional factors need to be accounted for, this study found that having children had a statistically significant relationship with mental health while other stressors did not. The data provided evidence that there is a significant difference between participants who have children under the age of 18 and participants who do not regarding mental health scores. The other stressors, employment status, hours of sleep per night, hours spent a week completing homework, and contracting COVID-19, did not have a statistically significant relationship with mental health. The research also showed mental health does not impact GPA for doctoral students. However, results showed that having children under the age of 18 was a statistically significant predictor of GPA and that there was a relationship between mental health scores moderated by hours of sleep per night in predicting GPA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

A closer look at the experiences of international graduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Connections to wellbeing

Graduate education, especially at the doctoral level, provides students with opportunities to learn, grow, and gain independence as scholars, as well as gives rise to a certain degree of stress. The stress level that the program itself generates as a matter of course scales up with additional challenges for some graduate students, including deficient academic engagement or, in some cases, poor relationships with their supervisors. Other additional stressors can be counted, like a reverted work-life balance, financial difficulties, a lack of permanent employment, the pressure to publish in high-impact journals and participate in conferences or congresses, and the feeling of an uncertain future. This chapter is a collaborative autoethnographic study seeking to explore the authors experiences as international doctoral students leading transnational lives in Canada. They are three international Turkish, Chinese, and Vietnamese doctoral students in a Joint Ph.D. in Educational Studies program at a Canadian university. Acknowledging the diverse demographic backgrounds-including gender, race, ethnicity, and class-the chapter aims to situate the collaboration in a critical discussion on different challenges the authors faced and resources they used while learning and sustaining doctoral studies amidst a global crisis, which are emerging themes in their findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychology doctoral students' satisfaction with virtual supervision during COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic necessitated an abrupt move to virtual modalities of training and supervision for many psychology doctoral students across the U.S. completing a practicum or externship experience. As supervision is critical to the development of psychology trainees, it is imperative to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on supervisory practices, particularly with virtual supervision. The present study examined psychology doctoral students' self-reported satisfaction with virtual supervision during COVID-19, their supervision format preference, and the supervision format they perceived to be most effective. Results indicated that participants (N = 129) were satisfied with the overall virtual supervision they received during COVID-19;however, there was a significant decrease in the degree of satisfaction with supervision received before and during COVID-19. The majority of participants indicated that they both preferred in-person supervision and perceived it to be the most effective supervision format. The present study discusses variables (e.g., change in individual supervision hours, number of supervision methods used) that predicted or impacted satisfaction, format preference, and perceived effectiveness, and quantified the supervisory experience of psychology doctoral students completing a practicum or externship. Participants reported a decrease in practicum hours (65%), concern about accruing hours for internship (54%), and change in the nature of practicum activities (68%). The majority of participants reported no change in their individual supervision hours (64%). As virtual supervision is a modality that supervisors may continue using beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study provides potential guidelines for supervisors to increase trainee satisfaction when using virtual supervision. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Public Significance Statement-Although the use of virtual supervision has been documented in the literature, little is known about the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on clinical supervision for psychology doctoral students. The present study quantifies trainees' self-reported experiences and satisfaction with virtual supervision during this unprecedented time. As supervision is critical in the clinical development of psychology doctoral trainees, and virtual supervision practices may continue, the present study has the potential to influence future supervisory practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

An Evaluation of Online Education Efficacy and the Measures to Improve It From the Perspectives of Management Students in the Wake of COVID-19

The forced change to adopt the online mode of education delivery for postgraduate students has posed novel challenges. The efficacy of adopted online education in the wake of COVID-19 needs to be examined. The influence of individual student behaviour-related variables such as nutrition behaviour, physical activity behaviour, and social media usage on perceived online education efficacy and attainment of a learning goal is examined in the current study. A total of 185 post-graduate healthcare management students from different educational institutions of India were surveyed. Path analysis is performed to test the conceptual model. The results highlight that the effect of exercise on the attainment of a learning goal is best at the higher levels of self-study hours, and at the lower levels, there is a negative relationship between the two. The impact of social media on self-learning hours and the online education efficacy is negative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The techniques doctoral level clinical psychology programs use to teach administration and scoring of cognitive assessment measures

American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs across the United States were surveyed to gather information on typical practices used to teach administration and scoring of cognitive assessment measures in the introductory cognitive assessment course. The 48-item survey included the following areas: program information, instructor information, course setup, cognitive assessment measures and practice administrations, course assignments, feedback and evaluation of students, and teleassessment training. Fifty-three instructors from these programs (21% response rate) completed the survey. Findings indicated that the measures taught with greatest frequency are the most recent versions of the Wechsler scales and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities. Assignments utilized in the course include observations of administrations, practice administrations, written reports, previously administered protocols, vignettes, manual familiarization assignments, and assignments to increase students' verbal response scoring skills. Programs utilize a variety of methods to provide feedback to students on practice administrations and scoring, including live in-the-moment feedback. Evaluation methods include midterm and final exams as well as other exams and quizzes. The majority of programs also require students to complete a final competency check of their administration and scoring skills. There were no significant differences between the course offered in Ph.D. vs. Psy.D. programs. When compared with previous findings, current results suggest clinical psychology doctoral programs are incorporating training techniques that are consistent with the body of knowledge regarding the teaching of cognitive assessment measures. Generalizability of the results may be limited due to the lower response rate and the current COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Persistence in a pandemic: Maintaining a growth mindset in an online Ed.D. Program

The goal of this qualitative study was to learn more about how online Ed.D. students are persistent and resilient in pursuing their academic goals during the Coronavirus pandemic. With the ongoing pandemic and remote learning circumstances, doctoral students are facing more challenges they must overcome to stay on track with their academics. More specifically, the researcher sought to understand what doctoral students believe are their biggest barriers to completion during the pandemic. To do so, the researcher interviewed 10 current students in the program who were within six credits of completing their program course requirements in order to learn more about their persistence and the factors they felt contributed to keeping them motivated and optimistic about maintaining a growth mindset, despite pre-existing and new pandemic-related challenges they encountered. Understanding students' potential barriers to completion can help with future implications for practice within the program and the implementation of necessary student resources for support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Feasibility study for otoacoustic emission hearing assessment of classical music students

Since the introduction and enforcement of the Control of Noise at Work Regulations in 2008 continuing research has been undertaken on more than five thousand students of the Royal Academy of Music to understand their hearing acuity. Standard pure tone audiometric screening methods were employed for both entry and exit testing for the undergraduate and postgraduate students. Due to COVID-19 standard audiometry was not possible, however it presented an opportunity to trial an otoacoustic emission based hearing assessment. A feasibility study was undertaken in July 2021 involving 119 classical music students. The results showed very similar trends in hearing and thus provide reassurance that OAE can be used to assess the hearing of music students. © 2022 Internoise 2022 - 51st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering. All rights reserved.

The research experience of postgraduate students: a mixed-methods study

Research experience is widely used in quality assurance exercises to benchmark postgraduate education at the institutional level. However, individual differences in students' research experience have been largely neglected. Furthermore, little is known about how differences in students' research experience are associated with skill development and overall satisfaction. This study addressed these gaps using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Study 1 was a quantitative study that involved surveying 590 research postgraduate students (i.e. 421 PhD and 168 MPhil students). A person-centered approach, specifically latent profile analysis, was used to analyze the data. Our findings revealed that students could be divided into three groups based on their research experience: rewarding, ordinary, and unsatisfactory. Those with a rewarding research experience experienced greater development in their skills and higher levels of satisfaction, while those in the unsatisfactory group demonstrated the worst outcomes. Study 2 was a qualitative study that involved interviews with 10 PhD students. The qualitative findings largely triangulated the quantitative results but also uncovered emerging themes, including the importance of student-supervisor misfit, publication pressure, and the COVID-19 pandemic context. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Telemental health experiences of doctoral students in counseling psychology programs

The central focus of this dissertation is to provide an overview of many areas of telepsychology and the lived experiences of doctoral students using teletherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the origins of telemental health, and its development since the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed. The cost and benefit of these services is explored along with the possible directions in in the field of telepsychology. This is an important topic considering the steadily increasing reliance on technology. Teletherapy is especially pertinent to psychology doctoral students who are learning how to deliver psychology services, reduce stigma, and widen access in the best ways possible. Current trends suggest this form of service delivery will likely become more popular. For this reason, it is important to understand the experiences of doctoral students with this mode of service delivery. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis design was used to examine the experiences of 4 doctoral level counseling psychology students. Each of these students had at least some experience providing telehealth services to varying degrees. Each participant discussed their experiences providing services, the feedback they have received from clients about their experiences, and how their educational experience was impacted by learning virtually during the pandemic. These results provide insight into the participants' challenges, benefits, and future areas of growth associated with providing telemental health services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Lifestyle of Chilean teachers - postgraduate students in the COVID-19 pandemic

Teachers who work in educational establishments either as classroom teachers or in management positions and who are also studying for a postgraduate degree must make an additional effort to perform in all roles;This, added to the changes required as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile, I urge you to deploy adaptation strategies to this new scenario;Therefore, this article aims to characterize the lifestyle of professors who take a Postgraduate course in universities in central and southern Chile, during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The survey was used as a research technique through the FANTASTIC questionnaire. The study population was 69 professors, who during the year 2021 were studying a Postgraduate degree at Chilean universities, in the Ñuble, Bio-Bio, O'Higgins, La Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions. The main findings indicate that according to the score obtained in the FANTASTIC questionnaire the percentage distribution that characterizes the lifestyle of the study subjects is over 50%, for indicators associated with a lifestyle considered adequate. 40.6% "Good job, you are on the right track" and 15.9% "Adequate, you are fine", however, it was found that 34.8% obtain "Somewhat low, you could improve" evidencing that the group studied, in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, maintains a lifestyle that is within acceptable ranges. © 2023 Federacion Espanola de Docentes de Educacion Fisica. All rights reserved.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate and postgraduate students: A cross-sectional survey.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many facets of life. This study focuses on undergraduate and postgraduate students in China to explore how the pandemic has affected health status, daily life, learning situations, graduation-related situations, and their studies or work planning. Methods: This study sent online questionnaires to 2,395 participants to investigate the extent to which they were affected by the epidemic in the various aspects mentioned above and to understand what help they tend to get in the face of these effects. Results: A total of 2,000 valid questionnaires were collected. The physical health of 82.90% of the respondents was affected to varying degrees, with male students, non-medical students, and graduates being more affected than female students, students with medical majors, and non-graduates, respectively. The proportion of students affected by mental health, the total amount of physical exercise, emotional life, and interpersonal communication was 86.35, 88.65, 80.15, and 90.15%, respectively. Compared with medical students and non-graduates, non-medical students and graduates were more affected. In addition, students' learning and graduation conditions have also been affected to a certain extent: 13.07% of students may not be able to graduate on time, and the proportion of postgraduate students' graduations affected was higher than that of undergraduate students. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health status of students, their daily lives, learning situations, and so on to varying degrees. We need to pay attention to the issues, provide practical solutions, and provide a basis for better responses to similar epidemics in the future.

Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Online Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics Labs

In recent years, online laboratories have become highly integrated into the educational process due to the development of distance learning tools as well as circumstances associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of a master's degree program in bioinformatics and neuroinformatics, in the academic years 2020–2021 and 2021–2022, the mandatory module "Laboratory Education (LE)” included 9 labs which transitioned to online delivery. A questionnaire was administered to all participants examining their self-reported learning as well as their satisfaction with each lab, the educational material associated with each lab, as well as the facilitator in each lab. A total of 73 postgraduate students completed the questionnaire. According to the results, the overall satisfaction from each laboratory ranged from 3.94 to 4.49/5.00. Furthermore, there is a variety of values in self-reported learning ranging from 23 to 50/50. Finally, although 7 out of 10 students indicated they are satisfied with the distance structure of LE, 8 out of 10 say they prefer LE to be carried out with a physical presence in the labs. © 2023,International journal of online and biomedical engineering. All Rights Reserved.

The Impact of Emergency Remote Teaching on Postgraduate Engineering Students

Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) resulted in postgraduate (PG) students moving from working closely within institutions, to working from home. The implicit assumption was that PG students would adapt more easily to ERT measures than undergraduate students, as a result of being more mature, academically experienced, and more resilient. This study sought to explore how ERT implemented during Covid-19 lockdowns impacted on the progress of PG students, and to provide a nuanced view on the factors that lead to student success. Through considering roads to success, enablers, as well as blocks and bottlenecks, the experience of ERT might provide insights into how to structure future (in person) PG experiences for improved productivity, self-efficacy and progress. A collation of three surveys, analysed using consideration of factors split into the cognitive, affective and systemic, highlighted factors that influence wellbeing and productivity and the relationship between the two. Respondents provide insights into how Higher Education institutions might improve support to their postgraduate cohorts. Within the systemic arena, PG students noted that success requires sufficient access to physical infrastructure, data, power and other physical enablers. In the cognitive space, respondents highlighted (amongst other points) that the blurring of work times and non-work times can result in unproductive (and stressful) time wasted;an idea which can be pulled through to future PG students: clearly delineate work and leisure times. The area which was reported to have the largest impact on PG student success was in the affective space. PG students require support (from peers, supervisors, friends and family) to thrive. The normal PG program evidently does well at supporting both systemic and cognitive needs in postgraduates, however, further attention might be paid to their affective needs. © 2022 IEEE.

Persistence in a pandemic: Maintaining a growth mindset in an online Ed.D. Program

The goal of this qualitative study was to learn more about how online Ed.D. students are persistent and resilient in pursuing their academic goals during the Coronavirus pandemic. With the ongoing pandemic and remote learning circumstances, doctoral students are facing more challenges they must overcome to stay on track with their academics. More specifically, the researcher sought to understand what doctoral students believe are their biggest barriers to completion during the pandemic. To do so, the researcher interviewed 10 current students in the program who were within six credits of completing their program course requirements in order to learn more about their persistence and the factors they felt contributed to keeping them motivated and optimistic about maintaining a growth mindset, despite pre-existing and new pandemic-related challenges they encountered. Understanding students' potential barriers to completion can help with future implications for practice within the program and the implementation of necessary student resources for support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Strategies to reduce academic stress in postgraduate students in the distance education modality in times of COVID-19

The current context of a pandemic associated with a new remote educational modality has generated various effects on the world population. University students, and specifically postgraduate students, face various challenges to adapt to this new reality, which could generate certain levels of academic stress. This research of mixed nature sought, first, to determine the main frequencies of the dimensions of academic stress in 67 students of the master's degree in Education of a private university of Lima for which the Inventory of Academic Stress SISCO SV adapted to this context was applied. Secondly, it aimed to propose and evaluate strategies aimed at improving the psychological well-being of these students based on a focus group made to the students. In the initial findings, certain stressors perceived by the students were identified, such as the overload of tasks and works, the manner of evaluation of the teachers, and the perception about the limited time to do the works. In addition, among the most recurrent symptoms, are chronic fatigue, drowsiness or increased need for sleep, restlessness, and anxiety. From the application of strategies of an emotional and academic nature, there was an improvement in the perception declared by the students, which favored their psychological well-being. © 2022 IEEE.

The techniques doctoral level clinical psychology programs use to teach administration and scoring of cognitive assessment measures

American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs across the United States were surveyed to gather information on typical practices used to teach administration and scoring of cognitive assessment measures in the introductory cognitive assessment course. The 48-item survey included the following areas: program information, instructor information, course setup, cognitive assessment measures and practice administrations, course assignments, feedback and evaluation of students, and teleassessment training. Fifty-three instructors from these programs (21% response rate) completed the survey. Findings indicated that the measures taught with greatest frequency are the most recent versions of the Wechsler scales and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities. Assignments utilized in the course include observations of administrations, practice administrations, written reports, previously administered protocols, vignettes, manual familiarization assignments, and assignments to increase students' verbal response scoring skills. Programs utilize a variety of methods to provide feedback to students on practice administrations and scoring, including live in-the-moment feedback. Evaluation methods include midterm and final exams as well as other exams and quizzes. The majority of programs also require students to complete a final competency check of their administration and scoring skills. There were no significant differences between the course offered in Ph.D. vs. Psy.D. programs. When compared with previous findings, current results suggest clinical psychology doctoral programs are incorporating training techniques that are consistent with the body of knowledge regarding the teaching of cognitive assessment measures. Generalizability of the results may be limited due to the lower response rate and the current COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Lifestyle of Chilean teachers - postgraduate students in the COVID-19 pandemic Lifestyle of Chilean teachers - postgraduate students in the COVID-19 pandemic

Teachers who work in educational establishments either as classroom teachers or in management positions and who are also studying for a postgraduate degree must make an additional effort to perform in all roles;This, added to the changes required as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile, I urge you to deploy adaptation strategies to this new scenario;Therefore, this article aims to characterize the lifestyle of professors who take a Postgraduate course in universities in central and southern Chile, during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The survey was used as a research technique through the FANTASTIC questionnaire. The study population was 69 professors, who during the year 2021 were studying a Postgraduate degree at Chilean universities, in the Nuble, Bio-Bio, O'Higgins, La Araucania, Los Rios and Los Lagos regions. The main findings indicate that according to the score obtained in the FANTASTIC questionnaire, the percentage distribution that characterizes the lifestyle of the study subjects is over 50%, for indicators associated with a lifestyle considered adequate. 40.6% "Good job, you are on the right track " and 15.9% "Adequate, you are fine ", however, it was found that 34.8% obtain "Somewhat low, you could improve " evidencing that the group studied, in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, main-tains a lifestyle that is within acceptable ranges.