Characteristics of the research supervision of postgraduate teachers’ action research

Today, many institutions of higher education support students in conducting practice-oriented research. This research refers to a broad array of approaches geared toward practitioners’ practice. The supervision of such research is of crucial importance, but little is known about its nature and characteristics. This study examined what research supervisors and postgraduate, in-service teacher students perceive are key elements of successful action research supervision. Four action research supervisors and eight postgraduate students were interviewed. Data were analysed by using theory and empirical data. Findings reveal 24 key elements of action research supervision, which refer to supervisors’ (1) skills in supporting knowledge development through and about action research and creating a supportive environment for developing knowledge, (2) knowledge and expertise in supervising action research, (3) attitude in the supervision of action research and (4) the motives driving supervisors’ actions in the student-supervisor relationship.     

Supervision of Higher Degree Students — Problem Areas and Possible Solutions

Supervision of postgraduate students remains an area of concern to university administration, to supervisors, to student unions and the individual research student. Many studies have examined student dissatisfaction with supervision. However, there is also considerable uneasiness among academic staff about the extent of their supervisory role and functions. In a series of workshops in several tertiary institutions problem areas were discussed with supervisors, both experienced and inexperienced; and practices and strategies were explored which facilitate effective supervision. Those provisions for and approaches to supervision which supervisors have found to be effective are presented and discussed as they apply at the institutional, departmental or individual level.     

我国研究生导师专业发展的素质标准探析——基于高校研究生导师任职标准和岗位职责的政策文本分析

研究生导师是研究生培养中的第一责任人,提升研究生培养质量的关键在于推进导师专业发展。研究生导师专业发展的素质标准是研究生导师专业发展的目标与方向。当前我国研究生导师专业发展素质标准包括导师入职标准和导师入职后的发展标准。科研水平是导师入职的主要标准,包括导师学历/学位、职称、科研经验、科研项目与经费等节点,是导师专业发展的前提条件;指导能力是导师入职后发展的主要标准,包括导师指导研究生的岗位职责、指导经验、课程与教学能力等节点,是导师专业发展素质的核心维度;师德修养是导师专业发展素质的基本要求,包括导师政治素质、职业道德、为人师表等节点;导师自我角色认知与管理能力是导师专业发展的基本维度,包括导师不断提升自己思想和业务素质、研究研究生教育等节点。推进我国研究生导师专业发展,不仅需要学校层面的导师专业发展机制,更需要导师自主、自觉地反思自己的指导实践。     

The Impact of University of Zululand Structural and Cultural Contexts on Postgraduate Supervision Practice (2011–2016)

There is a constant interplay between the “people” (agency) and the “parts” (structure and culture), not only in teaching and learning, but also in postgraduate supervision practices globally. However, in South Africa, the tendency to use structure (higher education architecture, institutional history, institutional rules, policies and procedures) to address all challenges related to postgraduate (especially doctoral) studies has resulted in university managers ignoring the role that institutional research culture (social norms, expectations and practice) plays, not only in perpetuating some of these challenges, but also in understanding and resolving them. At the University of Zululand (UniZulu), these factors combine to affect not only the postgraduate supervision practices of supervisors, but also the quality of doctoral throughput (doctorateness) with overall implications for society in general. This article is a critical self-reflection on the author’s postgraduate supervision practice at UniZulu between 2011 and 2016 with a view to highlight how structure and culture combine to impact on his supervision work at the institution. The discussion shows how these factors impact on the quality of doctoral output with implications for the author’s practice and society in general. To deal with the challenges arising from the discussion, the article recommends: establishing a dedicated postgraduate studies unit headed by a director or dean as supervisors and supervisees need a support system that functions optimally; improving staff qualifications and training of supervisors to keep up with best practice in postgraduate supervision; and the Department of Higher Education and Training factoring differentiation realities into its funding modules for universities.     

Enabling connections in postgraduate supervision for an applied eLearning professional development programme

This article describes the practice of postgraduate supervision on a blended professional development programme for academics, and discusses how connectivism has been a useful lens to explore a complex form of instruction. By examining the processes by which supervisors and their students on a two-year part-time masters in Applied eLearning negotiated the blended approach adopted to supervision, it illustrates the conditions that enable connections to occur and flourish. The socio-technical context for supervision was supported using learning technologies (VLE, research wikis and ePortfolios), small group supervision (two to three supervisors and students) and traditional individual supervision. Qualitative data were obtained through surveys and focus groups, and analysed using a framework which drew on connectivist principles. Findings suggest that for increased connections between supervisors and their students, a sense of sanctuary, community and regulation within the supervision process is important; the role of technologies in unifying postgraduate supervision in professional development are discussed.     

Supervision of supervisors: on developing supervision in postgraduate education

During the 1900s, the path to a PhD degree has seen many changes for both postgraduate students as well as their supervisors. The supervisor's duties have increased in scope and the demands made on PhD candidates have augmented. This paper deals with supervision as pedagogic method. Departing from a project aimed at studying ‘supervision on supervision’ through a programme including a special pedagogic model for learning, process‐oriented group supervision as a method of improving doctoral supervision is discussed. In the model used, the supervisors' relationships and the experiences form the basis for reflection process connected to, among others, communication theory and social‐psychological explanatory models. Pointing out the five requirements of trust, theories, tools, training and time, it is concluded that ‘supervision on supervision’ well may serve as a way of improving doctoral supervision.     

Cognitive Style in Counselor Education: A Comparison of Practicum Supervisors and Counselors in Training

The authors compared practicum supervisors and counseling students in training in terms of dominant cognitive style and related cognitive style of counselors in training to supervision process and outcome measures. A sample of 18 supervisors and 46 students completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. After at least six supervision sessions, supervisors rated the counseling students on the Counselor Evaluation Rating Scale and the students rated the quality of the supervision relationship using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory. Supervisors had a stronger Thinking orientation and less variability on the Sensing-Intuiting orientation than did counselors in training. In contrast to previous research, a strong relationship between the cognitive style of counselors in training and supervision process and outcome measures was not detected in this study.     

The (d)(t)oxic lifeworld of early career postgraduate supervisors

In the context of higher education as social space or field in the Bourdieusian sense, exploring the lived experiences of early career postgraduate supervisors allow us to (re)consider the institutionalised rhythms, procedures and practices that shape graduate supervision. At the intersections of, inter alia, increasing numbers postgraduate students, the urgent need to transform SA higher education, and the need for appropriately qualified and experienced supervisors, many early career postgraduate supervisors are caught between understanding the doxa and orthodoxy shaping postgraduate supervision, and the necessary symbolic capital to formulate, engage with and practice heterodoxy. This article employs Bourdieu’s doxic schema (doxa, orthodoxy and heterodoxy) along with symbolic capital to make visible the doxic lifeworld experiences and journeys of early career supervisors. The research found that early career supervisors are often under-prepared, lacking symbolic capital and experiencing (toxic) shame.     

优秀研究生科研能力的影响因素与启示

优秀研究生的科研能力受到智力因素、非智力因素、认知水平、科研实践、社会实践、导师培养、科研条件、科研激励制度、课程质量、学术氛围等10项因素的影响。这10项因素又可分为素质因素和培养因素两类,前者是其科研能力发展的内因和根本动力,后者是其外因和重要条件。调研表明,对优秀研究生的科研能力发展,素质因素所起的作用大于培养因素;在单项因素中,非智力因素和导师培养的作用最为显著;认知水平、科研实践与学术氛围也有较大的促进作用。相比之下,智力因素、科研条件、社会实践的作用不显著;课程设置、科研激励制度的作用比较薄弱。藉此可以对当前的研究生培养体制进行改革。     

Supervision of Doctoral Students in the Natural Sciences: expectations and experiences

Within the natural sciences and engineering, literature relating to postgraduate education, in particular the process of completing a doctorate, remains generally scarce. That which does exist emphasises the role of the supervisor in effecting successful completion and points to a wide range of activities performed by supervisors. There remains, however, little by way of accounts of the actual experiences of supervisors or students when engaged in the process of doctoral supervision. It is these experiences which form the basis of this paper which focuses upon doctoral students and their supervisors in the disciplines of physics, mathematics and engineering science. Data for the paper have been collected, as part of an ESRC funded project, by means of in‐depth interviews with students and supervisors in nine universities in England. In particular, we address students expectations of PhD supervision, the extent to which expectations have been met, and within the context of the ‘career’ of the PhD, the ways in which supervision changes as the doctoral process progresses. Important issues relating to the need for training for PhD supervisors and their capacity to meet the expectations of their students are raised, together with those which question the relationship between the PhD and the culture of academic work.     

School Counseling Site Supervisor Training: An Exploratory Study

This study explored the supervision training needs of site supervisors of master's program school counseling interns via the construct of self‐efficacy. Using the Site Supervisor Self‐Efficacy Survey developed for this study, the authors surveyed school counseling site supervisors in the states of Oregon and Washington (N = 147) regarding their hours of supervision training and their supervisor self‐efficacy. Results indicated that 54% of school counseling site supervisors had little or no counseling supervision training. Supervisor self‐efficacy appeared to be relatively strong, consistently so for school counseling site supervisors with over 40 hours of supervision training. A partial correlation indicated a slightly positive relationship between the hours of supervision training received and perceived self‐efficacy regarding supervision. Implications regarding school counseling site supervisor training and future research are offered.     

Tracking New Directions in the Evaluation of Postgraduate Supervision

This article focuses on the evaluation of thesis supervision and highlights the vast range of problem areas presently documented as significant areas of concern for both graduate students and their supervisors. Additionally, the authors report on a study completed in 1995, which surveyed all Australian universities about current evaluative practices in postgraduate supervision. The conclusion of this study was that the conduct of such evaluations appears to be minimal and is primarily designed to obtain an indicator of the general health of a university's postgraduate supervision rather than to foster improved supervisory practices. As part of the same study, the authors conducted University faculty-based student and supervisor focus groups. Key issues emerging from these focus groups were: (1) the importance of relational aspects of supervision as the student communicates over the long term with one or more supervisors; (2) the importance of systematic feedback, monitoring, and evaluation to the supervisory process; and (3) the lack of strategies to facilitate this evaluative feedback process. On the basis of these findings, the authors designed evaluative strategies to facilitate regular ongoing feedback between students and supervisors.     

Field Supervision of Counselors in Training: A Survey of the North Atlantic Region

Most of the research on supervision has focused on supervisors in academic institutions (faculty members or doctoral students). In this article the authors describe a study in which they examined supervisors in community agencies where master's level counselors were assigned for practicum and internship training. The survey suggested that agencies were heavily invested in supervising graduate level counseling students and providing them with a rich clinical experience. Respondents typically had a master's degree, used various models of supervision, and provided feedback by means of self-report and audiotape or videotape review of counseling sessions. Results suggest that these supervisors had little contact with the concurrent academic supervisor and may have had little formal training in supervision. Implications of this survey include a need for more training for supervisors in graduate counseling programs and a need for more liaison between campus and field supervisors.     

血液科学术型硕士研究生临床思维培养的探索与思考

现阶段,我国的硕士研究生培养类别已划分为学术型研究生和专业型研究生两类。血液病学作为医学专业中一门专科性强、急危重症多的学科,对临床实践要求很高,而血液科学术型硕士研究生的培养普遍存在轻临床实践、重实验技术等问题,不能很好地适应血液病学专业的临床需求,临床思维能力薄弱是较为突出的问题。因此,针对学术型硕士研究生临床思维培养这一重要内容,文章将从完善学科建设与目标规划、夯实理论基础与文献研读、强化临床技能与操作训练、重视MDT模式与临床带教等方面进行探讨,总结提升临床思维能力的策略,促进科研能力与临床思维协同发展,为学术型研究生临床思维培养提供理论基础。     

全面质量观下的硕士研究生学位论文质量优化策略

学位论文质量是研究生科研能力和培养质量的集中体现,保证和提高研究生学位论文质量是研究生教育和管理工作的主要任务。在分析当前硕士研究生学位论文质量的基础上,论述了提升和优化硕士研究生学位论文质量的原则,提出了硕士研究生学位论文质量的优化策略。     

Dual Supervision: A Model for Counseling and Supervision

The counseling practicum is generally accepted as an essential part of a counselor-training program. Likewise, the training of future counselor educators necessitates experiences in supervision of counseling-practicum students. The dual supervision model described in this article is an approach that simultaneously meets the training needs of future counselors and counselor educators. The rationale for the dual supervision model, the results of an exploratory study of the counselor trainees' attitudes toward the dual supervision process, and the counseling-practicum supervisors' reactions to the model are described. Both the students enrolled in their second quarter of counseling practicum and the supervisors had very positive reactions to the dual supervision model.     

研究生培养质量问题及对策思考

随着研究生招生规模不断扩大,研究生培养质量有所下降,这已成为社会普遍关注的问题。结合工作实践,分析研究生培育质量存在的主要问题及影响因素,从提高生源质量、加强导师队伍建设、改进培养过程、培养创新能力、引入研究生培养淘汰机制、加强日常管理与教育六个方面,提出提高研究生培养质量的看法和建议。     

Supervision as mentoring: the role of power and boundary crossing

There is a current consensus in the literature and policy documents on postgraduate supervision that positions mentoring as the most effective supervision strategy. Authors suggest that this approach to supervision overcomes some of the problematic, hierarchical aspects embedded in supervision as a pedagogical practice. They portray supervision as an innocent and collegial pedagogy between autonomous, rational supervisors and students. However, mentoring is a powerful form of normalization and a site of governmentality. Therefore, I argue that rather than removing issues of power from the supervision relationship, describing effective supervision as mentoring only serves to mask the significant role played by power in supervision pedagogy. I have applied Devos’ investigation of mentoring to postgraduate supervision to highlight the work that mentoring does as a form of academic and disciplinary self-reproduction that can have paternalistic impulses located within it. In particular, I argue that supervisors need to be conscious of the operations of power in postgraduate supervision despite their best intentions. I have also begun to explore what implications this more nuanced understanding of supervision might have for people such as me, who are charged with the responsibility of providing academic development programs on supervision.     

Postgraduate supervision: E-mail as an alternative

Abstract

Supervisors at higher education institutions cannot ignore the possibilities created by technology, and for the sake of this article, e-mail, as an aid for supervision on postgraduate level. After completing the modules for the Magister Technologiae (M Tech): Education qualification, students are required to complete a dissertation of limited scope. Many of these students cannot visit their supervisors on a regular basis, because of the time and costs involved in travelling far distances. The only time when some academics meet the students is when they attend the workshops on proposal writing. In this article the authors argue that e-mail supported supervision should be considered as an alternative to traditional one-on-one supervision. The research on which this article is based followed a qualitative design. Data were collected by means of open-ended questionnaires which were sent by e-mail to the participants and their responses were e-mailed back to the authors. The findings indicate the satisfaction of the students with e-mail supervision which enabled them to complete their studies in the prescribed time. The use of e-mail in supervision was found to create opportunities for further study even on postgraduate level.