Students’ experiences with graduate education in Brazil A confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach
Abstract
Assessing graduate student education is a complex task. After all, graduate education is the result of a complex process involving course experiences, teaching, engagement in learning, mastery of skills, the ability to work with others and satisfaction with what is learned. This paper reports the results of a study seeking to document underlying dimensions of student experiences with their graduate education programs in Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis reveals that student experiences with graduate education underscore three interrelated constructs: Engagement in learning, Collaborative Learning, and Intellectual Growth. The survey instrument that informed this study can contribute to the self-assessment of Graduate Programs in Education by accreditation agencies as the Brazilian’s Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).
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