The purposes and processes of master's thesis supervision: a comparison of Chinese and Dutch supervisors

The number of international Chinese students enrolled in research programmes in Western universities is growing. To provide effective research supervision to these students, it is helpful to understand the similarities and differences in the supervision process between the host country and their home country. We explored which learning outcomes supervisors of master's theses aim for in two cultures, China and the Netherlands, and how they help their students to achieve these learning outcomes. Semi-structured interviews with 10 Chinese and 10 Dutch supervisors revealed, besides a strong resemblance, some clear differences between the two groups. For example, the Chinese supervisors aim to prepare their students for future jobs and use explicit assessment and regulation to monitor student progress, while the Dutch supervisors aim to enhance student well-being and use implicit regulation, emotional support and frequent posing of questions to facilitate student learning. Implications for cross-cultural and international education are provided.     

Pushing too Little,Praising too Much? Intercultural Misunderstandings between a Chinese Doctoral Student and a Dutch Supervisor

To understand the challenges and their causes in interactions between Western supervisors and international doctoral students, we conducted a self-study of our experiences as a Chinese international student and her Dutch supervisor during her doctoral research project. We found the supervisor and the student to differ in their expectations of the learning goals and procedure for the doctoral program. We analyze three types of misunderstandings, regarding how formal the supervision should be, how feedback and assessment should be provided and understood (e.g. strict versus implicit critiques, open praise for excellence versus praise to encourage), and how the student is expected to learn (e.g. expecting answers versus providing questions, learning from modeling versus learning by trial and error). We also illustrate how implicit these misunderstandings were in daily supervision interactions and how deeply they were rooted in the cultural (i.e. power distance, individualism, masculinity, and indulgence) and educational (i.e. education oriented toward qualification versus personal development, level of competition, and degree of teacher regulation) differences between the supervisor and the student.     

Students’ use of a rubric for research theses

A rubric for research theses was developed, based on the manual of the American Psychological Association, to be used as an assessment tool for teachers and students. The aim was to make students aware of what is expected, get familiar with criteria, and interpret teacher and peer feedback. In two studies, it was examined whether students use and value these functions. In the first study, a rubric was provided to 105 Educational Sciences students working on their bachelor’s thesis. Questionnaire data indicated that students did value the rubric for the intended functions, although rubric use was not related to ability. In a panel interview, teachers stated that the number of proficiency levels should be increased to be able to distinguish between good and excellent students adequately, and that a criterion concerning student’s role during supervision should be added. Therefore, in the second study, 11 teachers were interviewed about their motives to give high grades and about the supervision process. This lead to an extra criterion concerning student’s role during supervision and an additional proficiency level to assess excellent performance. It is argued that an adequate course organisation is conditional for the rubric’s effectiveness.     

英国继续教育督导框架与实践——以休贝尔德学院为例

教育督导是英国对继续教育质量进行监督和管理的重要手段。在继续教育督导框架的指导下,对一些提供继续教育的教学单位进行督导评估,能够帮助其全面了解自身情况,提高一些薄弱环节的质量,从而更好地满足当地学习者和雇主的需求。通过对英国继续教育督导框架和实践的总结和分析,能够帮助我们厘清国内继续教育督导工作存在的问题和不足,促进继续教育督导发挥其应有的作用。     

A Framework for Naming the Scope and Nature of Teacher Candidate Supervision in Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation: Tasks,High-Leverage Practices,and Pedagogical Routines of Practice

Abstract

This study introduces the scope and nature of teacher candidate (TC) supervision in an era of clinically-based teacher preparation. The findings emerged from a qualitative meta-analysis of 82 articles related to TC supervision published between 2001 and 2017. The study recognizes core supervision concepts drawn from decades of empirical literature yet moves the field substantially forward by identifying a framework that includes: (1) tasks, (2) high-leverage practices, and (3) pedagogical routines of supervisory practice. This framework defines a new understanding of how supervisors support TC learning throughout their clinical experiences. By naming the scope and nature of TC supervision, the framework of tasks, high-leverage practices, and pedagogical routines of supervisory practice can help supervisors become more conscious and more skilled about their practice to develop their professional vision of supervision. The framework can also guide the evaluation and re-design of TC supervision within clinically based teacher preparation.     

The Practicum: student‐teacher perceptions of teacher supervision styles

This paper describes a study of 28 student‐teachers during a three‐week practicum in which participating students were asked to keep an unstructured journal describing their experiences and reactions to the practicum. The paper examines the perceptions that these students had of the supervision provided by their cooperating teachers. It identifies four distinct styles of teacher supervision, ranging from neglectful practices which alienate students from the practicum experience, to collegial practices which prove to be empowering. The paper concludes that supervision which is collegial is more likely to facilitate the professional growth of student‐teachers and enhance reflective action.     

在化学实验教学评价中开展学生互评的思考

在化学实验教学评价中,引入学生互评机制,使学生真正成为实验教学的主体.学生在理解互评指标时,知道教学目标和行为规范的具体要求,明确了学习中努力的方向;在评价他人时,认识自己的智能结构,产生学习需求的欲望,帮助自身潜能的激发;通过评价过程,实现学生相互督促、相互学习,促进自身多元智能的协调发展,使评价活动助推教学改革,促进学生全面发展的功能得到发挥.     

The second-year slump – now you see it,now you don’t: using DREEM-S to monitor changes in student perception of their educational environment

Recent studies have indicated that the ‘sophomore slump’ (dissatisfaction and disengagement of second year students in the US) may also be observed in other countries, including the UK. However, no studies have reported on the effects of support interventions on student perceptions. This study used the DREEM-S survey, a modification of the validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure, to monitor changes in student perceptions of their educational environment over a three-year period for 690 students in a large UK faculty. While the initial survey detected decreased satisfaction in all areas of their educational environment amongst second-year students, the follow-up study, after the introduction of additional support resources, no longer showed this decrease. Other changes in student perception, notably increased stress and tiredness reported by first-year students, were also observed during this time period. Other areas of concern, particularly the factual content of programmes and the ability of students to memorise all that they need, were identified as issues to be addressed. While this study may indicate the effectiveness of introducing on-line support resources to help students adapt to the increased requirements of second-year study, further studies are needed to determine whether the ‘second-year slump’ is as persistent a feature of UK higher education as it is in the US. This study highlights the value of educational environment surveys in identifying areas of educational practice that would benefit from closer attention, as well as the changes in student perceptions across and between years.     

Blended e-learning skeleton of conversation: Improving formative assessment in undergraduate dissertation supervision

The supervision of undergraduate student dissertations is an area in need of research. Although some studies have already addressed this, these are primarily based on academic staff responses.
This study contributes to knowledge by gathering the responses of students and focusing on formative electronic assessment. Data was collected using a student focus group and student questionnaire.
Unsurprisingly, the findings suggest that good supervisor–student communication is crucial to the supervision process and a number of students felt unhappy with this aspect. However, to facilitate this communication, the perceived absolute necessity of regular supervisor–student meetings is being questioned and a combination of technology-enabled communication is advocated. It is suggested that to improve the undergraduate student dissertation experience, a combination of face-to-face and electronic formative assessment is used. In addition, the blended e-learning skeleton of conversation model provides a sound theoretical framework that could guide supervisors and students in the supervision process. This model is advocated for use in dissertation module design and in supervisor development.     

Readiness,Instruction, and Learning to be a Kindergartner

As children enter school they learn to take on the role of student. This qualitative study describes how the children in one classroom learned what it meant to be a kindergartner in the context of a community meaning of readiness for school. Analysis of classroom observations and parent, teacher, and student interviews indicate that this school community held a coherent meaning of readiness. This meaning provided the framework for instructional activities and served to help parents understand their children as students. Finally, it helped to frame students' interpretations of their first public school experience through their involvement in classroom tasks.     

Student Perceptions of the Way that they are Supervised during Work Experience: an instrument and some findings

This paper is intended as a contribution to the debate and evaluation activity which in the UK is following Dearing's recommendation that more work experience should be provided for more higher education students. The paper gives an instrument for researching students’ perceptions of the roles their workplace supervisors play. Two surveys using the instrument and involving a total of 669 students on different courses in the field of teacher education are reported. In the surveys, the responses of many students suggested that they had received ‘good’ (i.e. theoretically desirable) supervision in the workplace but this was not the case for all students. There were for example clear differences across courses and, in addition, the course whose students appeared to have experienced the least desirable kind of supervision subsequently suffered the highest rate of student drop‐out. In contrast, students who had apparently received the ‘best’ kind of workplace supervision tended to be happier with their workplace experience as a whole. In discussing the findings, the paper draws attention to their limitations, pointing out that much more needs to be known about the work experience which is offered to HE students across the disciplines and across the country. The paper suggests that specific as well as general instruments will probably need to be developed for researching this and suggests that, since it is general, the instrument described in the paper might be useful to other HE researchers who wish to evaluate their students’ work experience. The paper concludes by situating the increasing interest in work experience for higher education students in the wider context in which links between ‘work’ and ‘education’ are becoming increasingly blurred.     

英国高校教学卓越评审的实践、走向与思考

在新自由主义深刻影响高等教育治理领域,受教育者和市场对高等教育信息透明化需求日益迫切,政府越发关切高校办学水平和教学质量,新公共管理理念加快高等教育改革的节奏等背景下,为进一步提高高等教育教学质量,英国政府于2017—2019年在全国推行教学卓越评审。第一轮评审虽然在鼓励高校为学生提供优质教学、引导高校改善学生体验、助力高中毕业生有效选择高校和专业等方面取得了一定成效,但其在指标设计的科学性、评审数据信效度、结果等级设置合理性等方面还存在一定不足。为此,新一轮的教学卓越评审将进一步丰富评审指标的内涵、增强评审数据的科学性、提高评审结果使用的效率。英国高校教学卓越评审的系列改革可为我国进一步完善本科教学质量评估和保障体系提供一些借鉴参考:高度重视教学质量,强化育人功能;突出学生视角,兼顾公平与卓越;整合多方数据,增强数据的科学性和代表性;理性运用评审结果,监督和奖励并行。     

Inspire to aspire: raising aspirational outcomes through a student well-being curricular focus

Australian Government policy initiatives to increase young peoples' participation in higher education are pursued in this paper. It argues that pedagogy and curriculum have a direct influence on student engagement. The interrelationships between pedagogical practices, curriculum based on a well-being framework, and the shaping of subjectivities and aspirations of young people in a region characterised by socio-economic challenge are explored. This 2-year case study used action research by university academics, school-based teachers and school students in an R-12 school in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Findings drawn from narratives, field notes, student work samples and professional conversations, situate well-being as central to young people's self-awareness of their aspirations. The themes of: Pedagogies and learning activities; Relationships, caring and connections, and; Places, spaces and belonging help to arrange the argument that concludes that young people living in low socio-economic areas do have aspirations for the future. Furthermore, the educational implications highlight the significance of the role of the teacher within the social and emotional domains which connect student life-worlds within their particular contexts, building cultural capital and broadening capabilities, self-awareness, aspirations and achievement.     

‘Being dyslexic doesn't make me less of a teacher’. School placement experiences of student teachers with dyslexia: strengths,challenges and a model for support

This research investigated the school practice placement experiences of six student teachers with dyslexia representing each year of a 3‐year initial teacher training course at a UK university. Placement performance and outcome has enormous implications for student teachers in demonstrating their professional competence and ability to meet the Training and Development Agency for Schools Professional Standards for Teachers and obtain qualified teacher status. The research focused thematically on student strengths, challenges and management strategies using a case research approach. Findings indicate student teachers with dyslexia bring unacknowledged strengths to placements but face a number of challenges despite proactive adoption of management strategies. A model of placement support to enhance student effectiveness has been developed. Conclusions indicate the importance of listening to the student's voice to understand individual placement requirements and co‐ordinate and implement specific reasonable adjustments as required by UK legislation 1 .     

Enthusiasm vs. experience in mentoring: a comparison of turkish novice and experienced teachers in fulfilling supervisory roles

his study investigates how trainee teachers perceive their supervising teachers’ supervisory competency. Through a questionnaire that was specifically developed for this study and which contained open-ended questions, student teacher candidates were asked to comment on their supervising teachers’ competency in preparation for supervision, instructional planning and reflection, and collegial supervision and effective mentoring. Data for this study was gathered from 690 student teachers who were in their last year in college pursuing a teaching credential. The results indicated that the student teachers rated their supervising teachers’ competency in supervision as poor to partially competent. Although there is no significant relation found between the gender and fulfillment of supervisory duties, the main significant finding was between supervising teachers’ experience in teaching and completion of the supervisory role. The results showed that the younger or less experienced supervising teachers demonstrated better supervisory skills. Furthermore, our results indicated that although experience is important, it should not be the only criterion for selecting supervising teachers for supervisory duty.     

基于自主管理模式的高校机房学生管理员培养方法研究

计算机机房是高校重要的实践教学场所,用户对机房的服务需求不断提高。通过自适应学习能力、团队协作能力的培养,建设了一支具有自我管理、自主学习能力的学生管理员队伍。学生管理员协助老师提高机房管理和维护效率的同时,其自身的计算机专业实践能力和综合素质得到了提高。     

‘They don't realise how hard it is’. Investigating the lived experiences of higher education students with parental responsibilities during the Covid-19 pandemic

Anecdotal reports of student parents’ challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic prompted this explorative study; investigating the lived experiences of UK student parents and the provision of Higher Education support. Data was derived from 91 online surveys, 20 follow-up interviews, and analysis of 100 university websites. This occurred during the pandemic lockdowns whenthe stresses, challenges and opportunities of balancing their simultaneous roles of parent and student were intensified due to school closures. The Double ABC-X model provided a framework for examining participant's lived experiences, and the role that Higher Education institutions could play in effecting positive coping and adaptation. Findings indicate that universities need to implement strategies to enhance support for this sector, including greater awareness of the vulnerabilities and challenges involved, more flexibility and adaptability in the university ethos, formal and informal policies and structures to provide more effective support and advice for juggling these simultaneous demands.     

Opportunities to develop adaptive teaching expertise during supervisory conferences

Adaptive teaching expertise is a critical component of quality teaching. University-based supervisors should employ specific supervision styles and discourse types during post-lesson observation conferences to help student teachers develop adaptive competencies such as, justifying decision-making, balancing experimentation and risk to pupils, and discussing instructional adaptations to address pupils' contextualized-needs. Findings from a sixteen-week, multiple-case study suggest that student teachers and supervisors (N = 6) do not use critical discourse to capitalize on opportunities to develop adaptive teaching expertise. If student teachers are expected to become adaptive experts, teacher educators must learn how to leverage discourse to promote development of adaptive teaching expertise.