Publications

2023
Y. Yacoby, J. Girash, and D. C. Parkes, “Empowering First-Year Computer Science Ph.D. Students to Create a Culture that Values Community and Mental Health,” in SIGCSE 2023, SIGCSE ’23, March 15–18, 2023, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2023.Abstract

Doctoral programs often have high rates of depression, anxiety, isolation, and imposter phenomenon. Consequently, graduating students may feel inadequately prepared for research-focused ca- reers, contributing to an attrition of talent. Prior work identifies an important contributing factor to maladjustment: even with prior exposure to research, entering Ph.D. students often have problemat- ically idealized views of science. These preconceptions can become obstacles for students in their own professional growth. Unfor- tunately, existing curricular and extracurricular programming in many doctoral programs fail to include mechanisms to systemati- cally address students’ misconceptions of their profession. In this work, we describe a new initiative at our institution that aims to address Ph.D. mental health via a mandatory seminar for entering doctoral students. The seminar is designed to build professional resilience in students by (1) increasing self-regulatory competence, and (2) teaching students to proactively examine academic cultural values and to participate in shaping them. Our evaluation indicates that students improved in both areas after completing the seminar.

2208.12650.pdf
2014
Metacognition and Instruction
J. Girash, “Metacognition and Instruction,” in Applying the Science of Learning in Education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum, V. A. Benassi, C. E. Overson, and C. M. Hakala, Ed. Society for the Teaching of Psychology (American Psychological Association, Division 2), 2014, pp. 152-168.
2011
Reflections on Old, New, and Renewed Centers for Teaching and Learning
J. Girash, “Reflections on Old, New, and Renewed Centers for Teaching and Learning,” in Inovações Curriculares 2011, Experiências no Ensino Superior, E. M. A. de Pereira, D. M. Grassi-Kassisse, and G. Celani, Ed. Sao Paulo, Brazil: Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2011, pp. 37-57. PDF E-Book unicamp-jgirash-v2.pdf
J. Girash, “Talking with Faculty About Cognitive Science and Learning,” Essays on Teaching Excellence, vol. 22, no. 3, 2011. The POD Network Teaching Excellence Essay Series jgirash-pod_essay_v22n3v2.pdf
1997
J. Girash, “A Fokker-Planck Model of Rotating Stellar Clusters,” in The 12th `Kingston Meeting' on Theoretical Astrophysics: Computational Astrophysics, Halifax, NS, 1997.