Expanding the Research Horizon in Higher Education: Master's Students' Perceptions of Research Assistantships

There is increasing recognition of the importance of supporting graduate students' development as researchers, especially for those who intend to pursue academic careers. Educating future researchers requires research learning opportunities that go beyond taking research methods courses and completing theses. Research assistantships provide a distinctive space where graduate students can exercise their theoretical knowledge in a practical environment and where novice researchers can be nurtured and shaped. This book illustrates qualitative research study that employed grounded theory research design to represent the experiences and perceptions of 7 graduate student research assistants from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. Consistent with grounded theory design, the emerging theory reflects a particular practice grounded in reality and as a result the findings are relevant to that practice. This book, therefore illustrates findings which provide evidence that research assistantships may effectively impart methods, skills, and attitudes that provide an important foundation for the next generation of competent, confident, and capable researchers.