Email Archives - Enhancing Postgraduate Environments

The Examination Process: assessment of written theses or dissertations

PostGrad — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 11:58:38 +0000

Research degrees in South Africa are assessed by a written thesis or dissertation. This EPE material leads you in an interactive way through various steps of examination process. It stimulates – through a varied range of interactive exercises, resource texts, videos and real life examples – both supervisors and graduate students to think about their tasks and roles in the examinations process. This material aims to contribute to creating a fair and safe examination environment. The first chapter is about the examination process in South Africa and deals with the general features of the examination process; the national standards for master’s and PhD and an example of the examination process at one of the universities in South Africa. The second chapter is about choosing the examiners. It leads you through various considerations when choosing examiners and it pays special attention whether or not to involve students in that choice. The third chapter is about how to examine a research degree. It reviews opposing approaches to examination. Subsequently it focuses on the key element of examination, i.e. the examination report, and how to think about communicating the outcome, compiling the report, the content of the report itself and how to provide meaningful feedback. The fourth chapter deals with orals (vivas), a phenomenon not very common in South African universities but the standard elsewhere in the world academic. This chapter first explains the phenomenon and then leads you through two important considerations, i.e. how to create a safe setting and how prepare for the oral.

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Developed by Ms Ronel Steyn (PhD candidate, Rhodes University, South Africa) and Professor Leo de Haan (International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands). Thanks to Colette Gerards (VU), Cristina Sathyamala (ISS), Daniel Steyn (AFDA), Henk van den Heuvel (VU), Hennie Lötter (UJ), Joanna Baskott (ISS), Johan Hattingh (SU), Liezel Frick (SU), Mandy Hlengwa (RU), Melanie Petersen (SU), Rachel Kurian (ISS), Sanne Huesken (ISS), Sioux McKenna (RU), Tristen Yaylor (UJ) and Wil Hout (ISS).

Who might find this useful?

Postgraduate supervisors and postgraduate students.

The post The Examination Process: assessment of written theses or dissertations appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Formative feedback (for supervisors)

PostGrad — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 09:37:37 +0000

Feedback is a contentious topic in higher education: it’s purpose is understood as to give student writers direction and advice on developing their writing. But it also has a more tacit role in helping student writers to develop their thinking, and their ability to be critical, analytical and increasingly independent in their writing and research, especially at postgraduate level. At this level, supervisors provide the bulk of feedback students need to work with. This happens over an extended period of time, and the feedback needs to vary in form, tone and content, depending on which stage of the research journey students are in. Most supervisors are not coached in feedback-giving, and it is not always easy to know what kind of feedback to give, and when. This material outlines what formative feedback is, and what role in plays in student-writer development at this level. It also includes a screencast with an example of a ‘feedback conversation’ between a student and her supervisors, to illustrate the way formative feedback can be given, and responded to, in a student/supervisor relationship. Ultimately, the material encouraged supervisors to use their feedback to enable meta-reflection, so that students can develop their immediate writing, as well as their capacity as writers and thinkers.

Developed by Sherran Clarence, Independent higher education consultant. Thanks to Martina van Heerden for the narration.

Who might find this useful?

This material is for individual use postgraduate supervisors, and writing coaches or mentors, or in workshops facilitated for postgraduate supervisors on the role and work of supervision in PG research.

Explore these additional resources

Useful blogposts:

Additional reading:

NPF report on best practice for supervisors (https://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/download/ng/file/group-1659/best-practice-in-supervisor-feedback-to-thesis-students.pdf)
Catherine Manathunga (2007) Supervision as mentoring: The role of power and boundary crossing. Studies in Continuing education, 29:2, 207-221, DOI: 10.1080/01580370701424650.
Nickola C. Overall, Kelsey L. Deane & Elizabeth R. Peterson (2011) Promoting doctoral students’ research self-efficacy: combining academic guidance with autonomy support, Higher Education Research & Development, 30:6, 791-805, DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2010.535508

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Getting the feedback you need (for students)

PostGrad — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 10:40:47 +0000

Feedback on our written work is something that we tend to have mixed feelings about: we want and need it, but we dread what supervisors, reviewers or peers may say about our writing. It is difficult not to take critique personally. Sometimes, we anticipate constructive feedback, and get far less than that, and this lack of guidance and advice from supervisors or mentors can make it difficult to progress, and grow in ability and confidence as researchers and writers. We cannot always choose out supervisors at postgraduate level, or induce them to give us the feedback we want in the tone we want it in. But we can, where possible, become proactive feedback seekers through focusing on developing an awareness of who and where we are as writers in the research process. It is an important part of our development as researchers to learn not just how to respond constructively to feedback, but also how to ask for feedback that will prompt us to develop as writers and thinkers. This presentation takes students through the different kinds of feedback they could ask for at different stages of the research process, and offers advice and a few examples students could use to guide them in seeking feedback from their own supervisors and mentors proactively and constructively.

Developed by Sherran Clarence, independent higher education consultant.

Who might find this useful?

This material is primarily for postgraduate scholars, to assist them in reflecting on what kinds of feedback they need and want on their writing, and to offer advice on how to proactively look for this feedback from supervisors and mentors.

Questions for users:

For supervisors/PG support staff: Consider offering your students opportunities to ask you for particular kinds of feedback – show them that these kinds of requests would be welcome. Encouraging your students to become more proactive will benefit you in the longer run, as they will likely feel more ownership of, and responsibility for, their writing and research. Consider watching the related video on giving formative feedback, designed for supervisors and mentors.
For students: what kinds of feedback have you been getting? How has it helped you, and how could it be improved in terms of being useful to you? Consider translating these reflections into an approach to your relationship with your supervisor that shows them: your willingness to receive feedback; your awareness of where you are in your research process and what feedback you feel you need; and your ability to respond to the feedback effectively.

Explore these additional resources

Why does feedback hurt? https://thesiswhisperer.com/2014/05/28/why-does-feedback-hurt-sometimes/
Coping with harsh feedback http://jameshaytonphd.com/how-to-cope-with-harsh-supervisor-feedback/
Getting what you need from feedback: https://doctoralwriting.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/feedback-on-writing-not-getting-what-you-need/; http://wp.me/p3VNfn-5A
On being braver in asking for feedback: https://thesiswhisperer.com/2014/02/05/are-research-students-a-bit-like-meerkats/
Seeing feedback as a gift: http://wp.me/p3VNfn-aE
Deciphering your supervisor’s feedback: http://wp.me/p3VNfn-4j

The post Getting the feedback you need (for students) appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Just Write

PostGrad — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 14:59:02 +0000

The key to strong academic writing is to write for yourself first and often. You need to have a good sense of your own position in relation to what you’re writing about before you try to craft a piece for a reader. Supervisors and PhD scholars share writing advice in this video and focus on the need to ‘Just Write’!

Developed by Sioux McKenna – Rhodes University. Thanks to Dinah Arnott for video editing, Sabela Cuba for filming, and all the supervisors and PhD scholars who contributed to this video.

Explore these additional resources

The Rhodes University Postgraduate Writing Sourcebook has loads of useful tips and tasks to enhance your writing
The University of Witwatersrand guidelines for writing reading responses
The Doctoral Writing Blog includes lots of useful advice on academic writing
The Thesis Whisperer has lots of useful advice on academic writing

Who might find this useful?

This video is suitable for anyone interested in academic writing. It would make a good addition to a writing workshop.

Supervisors who want to find out more about how to support their students’ writing development are encouraged to read ‘Risk in Academic Writing’ by Lucia Thesen and Linda Cooper (2013). This highly recommended text brings together the voices of postgraduate supervisors and students as they discuss the making of knowledge in writing.

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