Athough graduate students may undergo a fairly rigorous vetting process during their application to a doctoral program, many find the combined demands of teaching, research, and coursework to be a difficult balancing act. Some studies have suggested that doctoral programs can help their students adjust to the discipline and can increase the program’s retention by providing opportunities for socialization. Socialization helps graduate students adjust to academic life by showing them the importance of being a member of the community of scholars and by encouraging them to participate in peer groups to share information, concerns, and ideas.
Social network analysis indicates that fostering relationships between graduate students should help the students accomplish tasks and meet goals. In particular, the work and friendship ties of peer groups often help graduate students learn how to study, teach, research, write, and perform other necessary tasks through informal conversations, observation, and even formal teamwork. In fact, a four-year longitudinal study of doctoral students revealed that they learn as much from interactions with peers as they do from observing, listening, and interacting with faculty (Austin 2002), suggesting that structured opportunities to interact with peers is as important as meetings with faculty advisors.
Pedagogy Portal is an experimental website designed to foster social networks among composition teaching assistants and faculty at Iowa State University. Currently in development and beta testing, Pedagogy Portal will provide a space for online collaboration, networking, and community building. This presentation will discuss the purpose and design of the site and review the preliminary results of testing.