ERIC Number: EJ1374395
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-May
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1045-1595
EISSN: EISSN-2162-4070
Using Group Messaging to Facilitate Peer Support among Early Doctoral Students: A Thematic Analysis of One Cohort's Text Messages
Galliart, Julie M.; Thornton, Elaine; Freeman, Robin; Bradley Pospisil, Susan; Csaposs, Brendan; Dorn, Kathleen; Eller, James; Grover, Kenda S.
Adult Learning, v34 n2 p101-110 May 2023
Students face multiple stressors while earning their doctorates. Since peer support is a common recommendation for easing this stress, we realized graduate students, faculty, and academic program administrators might have interest in how our cohort used group messaging to facilitate peer support early in our studies. We conducted a thematic analysis examining how group messaging helped new doctoral students in a hybrid program maintain ongoing engagement with course content and build interpersonal relationships. McClusky's Theory of Margin provided a theoretical framework for this project. Results of thematic analysis emphasize that students utilized this communication medium to reach out to peers for support and to form interpersonal relationships with peers at a distance.
Descriptors: Peer Relationship, Social Support Groups, Doctoral Students, Grouping (Instructional Purposes), Telecommunications, Computer Mediated Communication, Sense of Community
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A