Peer to peer support: the disappearing work in the doctoral student experience

This paper reflects on the importance of study groups in contributing to a positive postgraduate experience and explores specific concepts, such as ‘disappearing behaviours’ in contrasting the ‘official’ languages of universities with the beneficial behaviours found through study groups. Additionally the paper advocates the systematic inclusion of strategies such as study groups in the postgraduate experience. Funding arrangements and research frameworks for higher education in Australia focus on student progress and completion, as well as comparison of research quality within and between universities. As a result, there is a significant emphasis on timely completion of postgraduate degrees. This paper posits that there is an apparent contradiction between the indicators of success in this area, such as completion rates and annual progress reports and the positive contribution that study groups can make to the doctoral student experience.     

Book Reviews

Horace Mann: Educational Statesman. By E. I. F. Williams. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 354 pp. $1.50.

Recollections and Reflections. By J. J. Thomson. The Macmillan Co. 451 pp. $4.00.

The Woodrow Wilsons. By Eleanor Wilson McAdoo in collaboration with Margaret Y. Gaffey. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 301 pp. $3.50.

Glimpses into the Long Ago and a Brave Young Land. By Edna McGuire. First two volumes in a series of History texts for the Elementary School. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 333 and 392 pp. $.96 and $1.08.

Measuring Intelligence. A Guide to the Administration of the New Revised Stanford-Binet Tests of Intelligence. By Lewis M. Terman and Maud A. Merrill. Houghton Mifflin Co. 461 pp. $2.25.

My Typewriter and I. By Nellie Louise Merrick, Robert Frederick Bown, and August Dvorak. Foreword by Alfred L. Hall-Quest. American Book Co. 363 pp. $2.20.

Naturalism in American Education. By Geoffrey O'Connell. The Catholic University of America. 219 pp.

Philosophy of Education. By Rupert C. Lodge. Harper and Brothers. 328 pp. $2.00.

Secondary School Teaching. By J. G. Umstattd. Ginn and Co. 459 pp. $3.00.

As of the Gods. By Walter Rollo Brown. D. Appleton-Century Co. 237 pp. $2.00.

Death Stops the Rehearsal. By Richard M. Baker. Charles Scribner's Sons. 335 pp. $2.00.

Notable Short Stories. Selected and Edited by Raymond McFarland. The Macmillan Co. 423 pp. $1.00.

Storm in a Teacup. By Gus March-Phillips. E. P. Dutton and Co. 304 pp. $2.00.

The Long Death. By George Dyer. A Catalyst Club Mystery. Charles Scribner's Sons. 250 pp. $2.00.

Dine at Home with Rector: A Book on What Men Like, Why They Like It, and How to Cook It. By George Rector. Preface by Arthur “Bugs” Baer. E. P. Dutton and Co. 248 pp. $2.50.

For Readers Only. By J. Penn. Cartoons by Low. E. P. Dutton and Co. 289 pp. $2.50.

Forty Years on Main Street. By William Allen White. Illustrated. Farrar and Reinhart. 409 pp. $3.00.

Look Through the Bars. By Ernst Toller. Farrar and Rinehart. 310 pp. $2.75.

Suns Go Down. By Flannery Lewis. The Macmillan Co. 226 pp. $2.00.

A Declaration of Interdependence. By H. A. Overstreet. W. W. Norton and Co. 284 pp. $3.00.

The Dangerous Sea. By George Slocomb. The Macmillan Co. 286 pp. $2.50.     

Idle chatter or compelling conversation? The potential of the social media-based #NGSSchat network for supporting science education reform efforts

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) chat (#NGSSchat) is a social media-based professional network used to discuss topics related to the NGSS in the United States. While successful reforms involve and coordinate the work of multiple stakeholders, recent research points out a striking lack of coordination between the individuals working in different educational roles—to the detriment of intended changes in the system. In this study, we analyzed more than 7,000 posts from individuals participating in #NGSSchat on Twitter (n = 247) during 2 years of 1-hr synchronous discussions. We studied the depth and types of conversations that took place, the extent to which the involvement of teachers, administrators, researchers, and organizations was balanced, and what explains participation in the network over time. Using a mixed-methods approach involving social network analysis, we found that conversations were primarily transactional, or social, and substantive, or providing opportunities for sense-making about the standards or for participants to transform their practice and that individuals from diverse roles participated, with teachers comprising the plurality of those involved. Additionally, researchers, administrators, and teachers were the most active in the network, with no differences in both initiating, or sending, and being the recipients of, or receiving, replies as a part of conversations. Finally, we found that being a teacher or administrator, as well as receiving replies from individuals who were important in the network, were positively related to sustained involvement in the network in the following year. We discuss how #NGSSchat—as a social media-based professional network—demonstrates similar features in other effective networks, and how social media-based networks invite new visions for how to implement ambitious, large-scale changes in science education.