Tracking New Directions in the Evaluation of Postgraduate Supervision (original) (raw)
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Students’ Perspectives of Postgraduate Supervision: Desirable and undesirable practices
Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 2020
The current global completion rate for postgraduates stands at 60 per cent, and one of the main problems cited is poor supervisory practices among postgraduate supervisors. Therefore, this qualitative study presents the views of nine PhD scholars on postgraduate supervisory practices from four universities in Malaysia. The thematic qualitative analysis categorized the supervisory practices into three main aspects, namely desirable, undesirable, and appalling practices. The findings of this study though not conclusive do shed some light on current supervisory practices. The findings imply that training and perhaps the call for accreditation of postgraduate supervisors is in order. Keywords: postgraduate study; supervisory practices; feedback; learning community; Supervisor-student interaction. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativeco...
A Pilot Study on Postgraduate Supervision
Procedia Engineering, 2013
The postgraduate education is considered to be important as it provides the educational institutions opportunities to build their research capabilities, enhance academic reputations and financial gain. The success and quality of post graduate education largely depends on effective and efficient supervision of postgraduate students. Despite its immense importance, the teaching and learning through postgraduate supervision is not still fully understood. As the expectation of high quality postgraduate supervision is increasing, the supervisory role is becoming more challenging due to the fact that most postgraduate students are coming from various ethnic, cultural, political, economical, linguistic and educational backgrounds and their attraction and retention are paramount for educational institutions. The primary objective of this work is to undertake a study on postgraduate supervision experience to provide better support for improving timely research completion, quality supervision, retention rate, student satisfaction, research environment and administrative support services. The research was undertaken based on questions based surveys. A set of anonymous questionnaires was distributed among postgraduate students studying at 3 universities in Australia. The study indicated ways to improve timely completion, quality thesis writing and scientific publications. The role of the supervisor plays a crucial role to the overall satisfaction, retention and completion.
Effective Graduate Thesis Supervision in Faculties of Education: Constraints and Standards
The Researcher's Journal: A Journal of Contemporary Educational Research (TRJ), 2018
As a result of the imperative need for uniformity in Nigerian faculties of education standard, the study investigated the level of effective graduate thesis supervision in Nigerian universities as well as variation in standard measures used. It also identified the constraints to proper graduate supervision. The study adopted survey design. The population consisted of all universities (federal and state) in the southsouth geopolitical zone in Nigeria. A sample of 60 academics was selected from 3 Faculties of Education in the selected universities in South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria (20 academic staff from Faculty of Education were selected using accidental sampling technique from each of the selected universities used in the study). An instrument titled "Graduate thesis Supervision and Uniformity in Standard Questionnaire" (GTSUSQ) was developed by the researchers and validated by two experts in measurement and evaluation was used to collect data. The GTSUSQ reliability index yielded .84 which was determined using Cronbach Alpha technique. The data was collected by the researchers and research assistants and was analyzed using percentages and Relative Significance Index (RSI).The findings of the study among others indicated the need for common standard adjudged by eggheads from universities. The recommendations include among others the need for all the universities to hold conference where best brains should brainstorm and articulate uniform standard for all graduates across the universities that should be followed as models.
Increased demands on academics due to the changing work and higher educational environments challenge traditional approaches to postgraduate supervision. Supervisors often tend to follow the apprenticeship approach uncritically. Supervisors therefore need to be aware of alternative approaches to supervision and of the need for structured planning for the postgraduate supervisory process. A framework for planning for complementary approaches to postgraduate supervision was designed based on the characteristics and benefits of alternative approaches to supervision identified in the literature. This framework or grid helps to plot the roles of supervisors and the processes and activities for students during the course of their postgraduate studies. Application of this grid in planning and the identification of various role players in the supervision process may help to alleviate the pressure placed on individual supervisors. Structured planning within a specific context will contribute to quality, efficiency and sustainability of supervision in the postgraduate process.
Postgraduate Supervision: Comparing Student Perspectives from Malaysia and the United Kingdom
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
Postgraduate supervision is a much explored field and a subject of close scrutiny in the West but there is scant empirical research in Asia; particularly in Malaysia. It was against this uncharted background that the current study was conducted to compare and contrast postgraduate supervision practices from the perspectives of supervisees from both Malaysia and the United Kingdom. The study involved 66 postgraduate students from Malaysia and 33 postgraduates from the UK. Data were collected via a questionnaire and semi structured interviews. Findings indicated that there was a significant difference between Malaysian and the UK supervisees' expectations of the roles and responsibilities of their supervisors. Supervisees from Malaysia looked for a 'people' oriented supervisor who was a motivator and confidence booster whilst respondents from the UK stressed the need for a supervisor to be an expert in their specific field of study. Respondents from Malaysia were also more dependent and had higher expectations of their supervisors when compared to their counterparts in the UK. With regards to supervisory practices, there was no significant difference between supervisory practices of supervisors in both countries. Since there exists two different world cultures of supervisors and the supervisees, it is pertinent to conduct in-depth studies involving both parties to help develop a comprehensive supervision model where students can be guided into professional research communities.
SUPERVISION OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
Supervision can be defined as a dynamic facilitative process that encourages a set of tasks and responsibilities which are performed in different domains. In research context, supervision involves supervisors’ and post graduate students ‘tasks and responsibilities in the supervision process. This paper will therefore concentrate on the four pillars of strengthening post graduate supervision namely: power relations, scholarship, practices and processes involved in being a supervisor. Power relations deal with the relationship between supervisors and supervisees. It focuses on how we go about creating an inclusive and participatory learning environment that enables students to acquire and further develop knowledge, methodological skills and writing practices during the research process. Scholarship deals with the strategies used to induct students into an academic community. It also deals with supervisors’ engagement with the scholarly academic community in order to develop a sense of being an effective supervisor. Practices in supervision refer to roles, responsibilities and activities of supervisors and students that enhance students’ development. Supervision processes involved in being a supervisor focus on the logistics of managing supervision with institutional requirements. The supervisors’ roles and students ‘responsibilities and expectations will be discussed under this pillar. Couching and mentoring in supervision as well as conventional and alternative approaches to supervision will be illuminated. Challenges in supervision and possible solutions will be discussed. Recommendations on how to improve the supervision process will be provided. It is hoped that this paper will shed more light on how supervisors should go about the supervision process. As a result, it is expected that supervisors will engage in effective and meaningful supervision.
Postgraduate Supervision: Exploring Malaysian Students’ Experiences
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
Postgraduate supervision has been a subject of close scrutiny all around the globe demanding transparency, parity and rigour as students cross international boundaries, prompting reflection and critical analysis of the student-centered paradigm shift in higher education. Therefore, this study investigated supervisees' experiences of postgraduate supervision in Malaysia. The study involved 66 postgraduate students from two public universities in Malaysia. Data were collected via a questionnaire and semi structured interviews. Initial findings revealed supervisees were only moderately satisfied with postgraduate supervision. Respondents indicated that an effective supervisor is a 'people' oriented person who is a motivator, a confidence booster and one who respects the student as a fellow researcher. Besides being an expert in his/her area of interest, the supervisor must be willing to transfer his/her knowledge and skills to the student in a flexible and non-threatening learning environment. Findings further revealed that supervisors displayed highest levels of competency and supervision providing most help and guidance at the initial stage of writing the research proposal. Supervision lessens after the acceptance of the proposal and less guidance is given at later stages. Supervisees highlighted they encounter most problems and challenges during the final stage of their research -i.e. the thesis writing, viva and correction stages. Respondents also felt that institutional support was below average and suggested the need for better run postgraduate centres and more flexible financial packages to create learning communities for postgraduates. The implications of the study suggest that it is imperative for supervisors to understand a range of postgraduate supervisory approaches to cater to the varying needs and expectations of students.
2016
The supervision of a doctoral student engages the supervisor/s and the candidate in a professional learning and teaching relationship, described by some as the pedagogy of supervision (Grant, 2005; Nulty, Kiley, & Meyer, 2009). In the past few decades, many universities have developed ‘supervisor training’ programs and other innovations to support supervisors. These programs are designed to cultivate the necessary knowledge and skills to support academic and research staff to supervise postgraduate student(s) (Carton & Kelly, 2014; Carton, O’Farrell, & Kelly, 2013; Luca et al., 2013). As part of a project that was funded by an Of ce for Learning and Teaching (OLT) Extension Grant, such a Framework was recently designed and implemented at Avondale College of Higher Education, a small higher education institution in the early phases of postgraduate program development (Petrie et al., 2015). The effectiveness of such initiatives is often dif cult to measure in small institutions such a...
The nature of supervisory relationship is dynamic that changes over the course of candidacy. Subsequently, the supervision demands of supervisees also change to help them in performing certain tasks at specific research stages. In this context, this research is proposed to investigate the supervision experiences of supervisees in four different research stages (i.e. Stage 1: developing synopsis, Stage 2: collecting data, Stage 3: writing thesis and Stage 4: submitted thesis). In the light of six supervision aspects (i.e. Project management, Intellectual support, pertinent research skills, Inter-personal communication skills, Workload management and Supportive skills) the quality of supervision was assessed from supervisees' perspective. Cross-sectional survey design was used to assess the supervision experiences of (N=422) supervisees in four distinct stages of research supervision. The data were collected from 12 public and private universities of the Punjab. For this study, a multi-sectioned, self-constructed Supervisor-Supervisee Relationship Questionnaire (Saleem, 2014) was used. The findings of the study highlighted the need to train the supervisors to manage their time not just in terms of teaching and supervision of research students, but also keeping the stages of their research in mind. By addressing the stage specific needs of supervisees the quality of supervision could be improved.
JMSP (Jurnal Manajemen dan Supervisi Pendidikan) , 2024
This study examined the role of supervisors in supporting postgraduate students from the students' perspective. Through interviews with postgraduate students at two universities, the research aimed to understand how students perceive and experience guidance from their supervisors. The factors examined included meeting frequency, feedback, and guidance received by students from supervisors. The analysis identified strengths in supervisory support in these areas, as well as areas needing improvement. Results indicated quality feedback and regular communication had the greatest positive impact. However, many students desired more hands-on help with methodology and writing. The study recommends supervisor training programs focused on writing guidance and supervision skills. By implementing such programs, universities can enable supervisors to provide optimal student support, thereby improving experiences and outcomes. This research provides key insights into strengthening student-supervisor relationships.