Vol. 47, Issue 2, p. 16
March 2009
The Graduate Lounge
Top 10 Reasons for graduate students to go to NERA
(By the Graduate Student Issues Committee)
- It’s a great opportunity to present your research and get feedback.
- There are many opportunities for students to get involved with the NERA community (e.g., join a committee, build relationships with professionals and other graduate students in the field, collaborate on educational research endeavors).
- Registration for NERA graduate students is FREE! (On average at other conferences, student conference registration is $100 or more.)
- NERA is a great opportunity for professional development. As a graduate student you can take advantage of: learning from other people’s paper/poster sessions, the FREE pre-conference and in-conference sessions, the graduate student sponsored sessions, and the mentoring program.
- Because NERA is a smaller conference, it is easier to network and meet professionals in the
field. - There are special hotel quad rates just for NERA graduate students (this includes the hotel room and all three meals).
- There will be FREE appetizers at the Graduate Student Social.
- NERA is low-stress, the organization is known for its inviting and supportive attitude toward graduate students.
- Graduate students get FREE drink tickets.
- Help eat NERA’s 40th birthday cake!
The Graduate Student Issues Committee (GSIC) of the Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA) would like to congratulate Megan France from James Madison University for winning the 2008 Best Paper by a Graduate Student Award Competition. The winning paper is entitled “What Matters in the Measurement of Mattering? A Confirmatory Factor Analysis”. The abstract of the paper appears below.
We would like to thank the graduate students who participated in this competition, as well as all the NERA members who volunteered to review the papers. All papers were of high quality. Special thanks to Asil Ozdogru, who initiated and coordinated this award, and to Lynn Shelley (GSIC Advisor) for her support and guidance.
Paper title: What Matters in the Measurement of Mattering? A Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Author: Megan K. France Co-author: Sara J. Finney
Abstract: Universities are increasingly concerned with issues of student mental health. Fostering a sense of mattering within students may help to decrease these mental health issues. Mattering is the feeling that we are significant and make a difference in the lives of others. However, the measurement of mattering has been lacking. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure of mattering. Using CFA, five theoretically-based competing models were tested. The results supported a four-factor model. Recommendations for improvement of the measure are made, as well as the necessity for gathering external validity.
