Graduate Student Advisement in Addis Ababa University: Perceived Level of Advising and Advisor Credibility in the College of Education and Behavioral Studies
Keywords:
quality of higher education, graduate education, graduate advisement, adviser credibility
Abstract
Graduate education is a postgraduate program characterized by a learning environment that is less structured, more individualized, and independent. Ingrained in this program are opportunities for students to pass through mentoring and supervision experiences that are developmentally organized to uplift them from a state of dependency to autonomy. However, the way these opportunities are organized is far from uniform across universities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the core component of graduate education (graduate student advisement) that appeared to significantly impact on quality in higher education. It specifically attempted to examine perceived level of advising and advisor credibility (competence, character, and caring) with a sample of 77 graduate students in the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University. Eight additional participants were also drawn from all relevant stakeholders (students, advisors/ internal examiners, an external examiner, and department chair) to secure more recent data for triangulation. Data were collected using McCroskey and Teven‟s (1999) Credibility Measure; Wrench and Punyanunt‟s (2004) „Graduate Student‟s Mentoring Scale and Berk and colleagues‟ (2005) Mentorship Effectiveness Scale. Qualitative data were also collected through interviewing eight concerned individuals. Findings indicated that graduate advisees had negative perception of their advisors‟ credibility (i.e. competence, caring and character) and reported a low level advising from their thesis or dissertation advisors. A strong and positive correlation was found between advisees‟ perception of advisor credibility and level of advising obtained. It was also found that the combined predictive efficacy of all the three dimensions of credibility (competence, caring and character) measures was significant. However, the independent contribution of only two of the credibility dimensions (competence and caring) was significant. Finally, implications of the findings were discussed.
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References
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Befekadu Zeleke (2000). The educational research gap in the Education Faculty of Addis Ababa University. In Amare Asgedom, Derebssa Dufera, and Zenebe Baraki (eds). PP. 161-176, Current issues of educational research in Ethiopia. Proceedings of National Conference held in Nazereth, March 10-11. Berhanu Mathews (2006). Linking educational research and quality of education: The case of Addis Ababa University. In Elizabeth Ayalew (ed.), PP.392-401, Proceedings of the Conference on Teacher Education for Sustainable Development in Ethiopia, May 5-6, 2006. Berk, A. R., Berg, J., Mortimer, R., Walton-Moss, B., Yeo, T.P. (2005). Measuring the effectiveness of faculty mentoring relationships. Academic Medicine, 80(1):66–71. Coran-Hillix, T., Genshiemer, L. K., Coran-Hillix, W. A., & Davidson, W. S. (1986). Students’ views of mentors in psychology graduate training. Teaching of Psychology,13(3):123–28. Daniel Desta (2004). Observations and reflections of higher education teachers on the quality of teaching and learning in higher education in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education,1(1):63-81. Derebssa Dufera (2000). Factors influencing research undertaking in the Institution of Educational Research (IER). In Amare Asgedom, Derebssa Dufera, and Zenebe Baraki (eds.), PP. 177-198, Current issues of educational research in Ethiopia. Proceedings of National Conference held in Nazereth, March 10-11.
Desalegn Chalchisa (2006). Integrating teaching and research to enhance the quality of education. Journal of Education for Development,1(1):80-111. Desalegn Chalchisa (2009). Perceptions of graduate students about the assessment of learning outcomes in the College of Education Addis Ababa University. Proceedings of the 1st international Conference on educational research for development, II:367-386. Faghihi, F. Y. (1998). A study of factors related to dissertation progress among doctoral candidates: Focus on student research self-efficacy as a result of their research training and experiences. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, 59(5-A):1456. Ferreira, L.M., Furtado, F., & Silveira, T. S., (2009). Advisor-advisee relationship: The multiplier knowledge. Special Article. Acta Cirúrgica Brasileira, 24 (3):167-172 Habtamu Wondimu (2004). Gender and regional disparities in opportunities to higher education in Ethiopia: challenges for the promotion of social justice. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, I (2):1-16. Hill, S. K., Bahniuk, M. H., Hilton, M., & Dobos, J. (1989). The impact of mentoring and collegial support on faculty success: An analysis of support behavior, information adequacy, and communication apprehension. Communication Education, 38(1):15–33. Luna, G., & Cullen, D.L. (1998). Do graduate students need mentoring? College student Journal, 32:322-330.
McCroskey, J. C. (1998). An Introduction to Communication in the Classroom (2nd Ed.). Acton, MA: Tapestry Press.
McCroskey, J. C., & Teven, J. J. (1999). Goodwill: A reexamination of the construct and its measurement. Communication Monographs, (66): 90-103. Mekasha Kassaye (2005). Ensuring the quality of Ethiopian higher education in the face of the challenges of the 21st century. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, II (2):103-131. Monsour, M., & Corman, S. (1991). Social and task functions of the dissertation partner: One way to avoid terminal ABD status. Communication Education, 40:180-186. Myers, S. A. (2004). The Relationship between perceived instructor credibility and college student in-class and out-of-class communication. Communication Reports. 17. Office of the Graduate Program of the Academic Vice President. (July 2014). Graduates of 2014. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Printing Press. Peacock, S. Y. (1996). The timely completion of the dissertation among graduates of five Ph.D. programs at Saint Louis University: The relationships among psychological type, life experiences, support group participation, and perceptions of advisor/advisee relationships. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences. 56:3474. Saint, W. (2004). Higher education in Ethiopia: the vision and its challenges. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 2(3): 83-113.
Schlosser, L. Z., Knox, S., Moskovitz, A. R., & Hill, C. E. (2003). A qualitative study of the graduate advising relationship: The advisee perspective. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50:178-188.
Schlosser, L. Z., Lyons, H. Z., Talleyrand, R. M., Kim, S. K. & Johnson, W. B. (2010). Advisor-advisee relationships in graduate training programs. Journal of Career Development, 38(1):3-18. Shimelis Tsegaye (2004). The Introduction of cost-sharing at the Addis Ababa University and the inevitable concomitant demands for good academic governance: preliminary observations. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, I (1):105-141. Tefera, B. (2011). Research methods: A modular approach. College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University. Tesfaye Semela (2006). Higher education expansion and the gender question in Ethiopia: A case study for women in a public university. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, III (1):63-86. Teshome Yizengaw (2004). The status and challenges of Ethiopian higher education system and its contribution to development. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, I (1):1-19. Thweatt, K. S., & McCroskey, J. C. (1998). The impact of teacher immediacy and misbehaviors on teacher credibility. Communication Education, 47:348-358. Tsegay Berhe (2000). Factors affecting the conduct of educational research in the Addis Ababa University. In Amare Asgedom, Derebssa Dufera, and Zenebe Baraki (eds.), PP. 199-218, Current issues of educational research in Ethiopia. Proceedings of National Conference held in Nazereth, March 10-11. Tsigie Gebre-Mariam (2010). Post-graduate programs and university research. FSS, Addis Ababa.
Waldeck, J.H., Orrego, V.O., Plax, T.G., and Kearny, P. (1997). Graduate student/faculty mentoring relationships: Who gets mentored, how it happens, and to what end. Communication Quarterly, 45: 93-103. Wanna Leka (2004). Cost sharing in higher education: the international experience and lessons to be learned. The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education, I (2):1-16. Wossenu Yimam (2009). Thesis examination process in the College of Education Addis Ababa University: graduate students’ reflection. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on educational research for development, II: 258-275. Wossenu Yimam and Zenebe Baraki (2000). Research fund allocation practice of the School of Graduate Studies/ Addis Ababa University. In Amare Asgedom, Derebssa Dufera, and Zenebe Baraki (eds.), PP. 219-234, Current issues of educational research in Ethiopia. Proceedings of National Conference held in Nazereth. March 10-11. Wrench, J. S., & Punyanunt, N. M. (2004). Advisee-advisor communication: An exploratory study examining interpersonal communication variables in the advisor-advisee relationship. Communication Quarterly, 52(3):224–236. Wrench, J., and Punyanunt-Carter, N. M. (2008). Advisor-advisee three: Graduate students’ perceptions of verbal aggression, credibility, and conflict styles in the advising relationship. Education, 28 (4):579-587. Wrench. J. & Punyanunt-Carter, N.M. (2O05). Advisor-advisee communication two: The influence of verbal aggression and humor assessment on advisee's perception of advisee credibility and affective learning. Communication Research Reports, 22:303-313.
Published
2014-06-02
Section
Articles