Article Critque

Article Critique Graduate student enrollment has increased in recent years, but these students face

many challenges on their path to a degree. Researchers have noted that graduate students

experience anxiety and stress that may be connected to high attrition rates (Poock, 2002). In

the article “Student anxiety: Effects of a new graduate student orientation program,” Megan

Hullinger and Dr. R. Lance Hogan (2014) examined the impact of an online orientation

program on student anxiety. While this article produced significant results showing that an

orientation program could reduce anxiety of new graduate students there are limitations

related to the replicability, sample, and generalizability of results.

Hullinger and Hogan (2014) used a sample of 32 incoming graduate students to

examine the impact of an online orientation program designed to connect new students with

resources across the university. The researchers collected demographic information of

participants and used the State Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure anxiety before and after

the orientation program. Using t-tests, Hullinger and Hogan found that the participants

experienced a significant reduction in anxiety following the completion of the online

orientation program.

The researchers discussed an important topic, as administrators continue to attempt to

improve retention efforts in higher education. The approach of an online orientation program

could be useful for students as it would allow them to have important information at their

fingertips, regardless of if they are on campus or not. However, Hullinger and Hogan (2014)

did not provide key information about the orientation program they used in their study. This

lack of detail would make it difficult to replicate their program in order to further expand the

research on this kind of program.

Introduce your reader to the title of the article, the authors, and the main point of the article.

Include a thesis

statement.

First, provide a

brief summary

of the article in your own

words.

Begin the critique next. This can be multiple paragraphs, but follow any specific guidelines from your instructor.

Format your paper according to your assignment instructions: APA, MLA, Chicago Style

The following sample includes APA Style citations and references.

Significant results were noted in the results of this study, but there are limitations to

these findings. First, the sample size was small. Out of 802 incoming students who were

invited to participate, only 32 students completed the pre- and post- anxiety inventory. With

such a small sample size it is difficult to generalize these findings to the larger graduate

student population. Also, all participants in this study were from a state university in the

Midwest; this also limits the generalizability of these findings to the larger student

population. While Hullinger and Hogan (2014) stated that the study should be replicated with

a larger population and at other schools, the authors did not discuss how these factors of their

study were limitations.

This article focused on an important topic within higher education, as administrators

need to find solutions to improve retention. One of the barriers graduate students face is

anxiety, so an online orientation designed to reduce anxiety could be one useful tool to

address this problem. Hullinger and Hogan (2014) shared encouraging results of an online

orientation program designed to connect incoming graduate students with university

resources. However, this study did not adequately describe this orientation program so that

future researchers can replicate this program in other samples. Furthermore, the small sample

size and lack of diversity among participants limits the generalizability of these findings.

Future research on online orientation programs with a clear description of the program

among a larger more diverse sample is necessary to provide evidence of the impact of online

orientation programs.

Use specific examples to strengthen your critique.

Summarize the key

points of the article and your analysis.

This closing sentence provides direction for future research.

References

Hullinger, M., & Hogan. R. L. (2014). Student anxiety: Effects of a new graduate student

orientation program. Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice, and

Research, 4(2), 27-34. https://doi.org/10.5929/2014.4.2.3

Poock, M. C. (2002). Graduate student orientation: Assessing need and methods of

delivery. Journal of College Student Development, 43(2), 231-245.