Technical Publications as Graduate Class Projects: Advantages and Potential Disadvantages

Abstract

Graduate students are rewarded with better job opportunities if they can demonstrate a productive publishing record. In this article we report on a writing program that generated technical publications in a discipline-based graduate class. Seventeen student authors were interviewed about the influence of the experience on their professional development. For many students the most powerful experience was working as a member of a research team. Master's students benefited from being able to transfer research experience into their thesis programs. Doctoral students stretched the definitions of their disciplines and learned new research methods. One cost of the research project was that less discipline-specific content was covered in the course. Overall, students improved soft skills through participation in the project.

Learning by Doing: Student & Faculty Reflections on a Collaborative Model for Conducting and Publishing Mixed Methods Research in a Graduate Course

“…Faculty-student mentorship in research is “one of the richest opportunities for weaving students into the social fabric of the discipline and practicing skills that they will apply in later years” (Page et al, 2014 , p. 20). In a collaborative publishing model, however, the faculty member takes on additional responsibilities that would not be required in less collaborative courses (Copenheaver et al, 2016 ). As noted previously, the model detailed in this study is not a shortcut to a quick publication.…”

“…At the same time, the instructor must relinquish some autonomy and allow students to be responsible for much of their own learning (Sherman & MacDonald, 2009 ). The instructor should also be committed to mentoring and guiding students through the research process and giving them credit in the final product (Copenheaver et al, 2016 ). Whereas mentoring graduate students can be perceived as invisible labor when there is not a tangible product, having an article published in a peer-reviewed journal is an added value for the instructor (O’Hara et al, 2019 ).…”

“…After receiving Institutional Review Board approval to conduct the case study, SSIs according to an interview protocol were conducted with six graduate students and the community partner. The interviews with the graduate students were conducted by the graduate student authors in alignment with Copenheaver et al’s ( 2016 ) recommendations. In addition, a collaborative interview discussion among the three authors took place.…”

“…Yet, Belcher ( 2009 ) noted, “many graduate students outside of the sciences receive little training in performing the most important task of their careers: writing for publication” (p. 190). Students who publish during graduate school also reap other benefits such as the opportunity to network and collaborate with faculty and fellow graduate students on writing projects (Mizzi, 2014 ; Copenheaver et al, 2016 ) and forge stronger relationships with faculty and advisors (Lei & Chuang, 2009 ). In addition, graduate students with publishing records have higher levels of research self-efficacy (Lambie et al, 2014 ), are better prepared and socialized for careers in academia (Anderson & Hosek, 2022 ; Austin, 2002 ), and have an increased chance of completing their degree and becoming a successful career researcher (Castelló et al, 2017 ; Horta & Santos, 2016 ).…”

“…As a result, graduate students often seek out publishing opportunities during their coursework; however, unless the goal of an assignment is a manuscript, it can be difficult to develop a research project for publication in the semester (Copenheaver et al, 2016 ; Hatch & Skipper, 2016 ). This is true especially for part-time graduate students who may be limited in the amount of time they can spend outside of class on additional academic work.…”