Many universities assess postgraduate studies in writing and orally. These materials will help anybody responsible for such implementation.

The “Questions to ask” series draws from literature and institutional experience worldwide. They offer a set of questions to be posed when implementing or evaluating a practice, in this case, the implementation of a viva voce (oral examination). Answering these questions should assist curriculum developers and others ensure best practice in their context. The short video introduces the “Key Questions To Ask When Implementing a Viva”.

The post Implementing an Oral Exam or Viva appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Introducing Post-Graduate Students

1) Graduate Attribute: Broad Knowledge

2) Graduate Attribute: Specialised Knowledge

3) Graduate Attribute: Insights into Related Fields

4) Graduate Attribute: Ethical Awareness

5) Graduate Attribute: Original Contributions

6) Graduate Attribute: Appropriate Methodologies

7) Graduate Attribute: Reflection and Autonomy

8) Graduate Attribute: Communication and Digital Literacy Skills

9) Graduate Attribute: Critical Thinking for Problem Solving

10) Advice for postgraduate students from postgraduate students

The post What attributes should a postgraduate candidate have once they graduate? appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

The post What is theory? appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi, Sioux McKenna, and Shiloh Marsh

Here’s a few questions that might guide your viewing:

1. Grant Cyster points out that trusting someone doesn’t mean you trust them to always get everything right, rather it means trusting them to try with integrity. What does the relationship between trust and creating space to make mistakes mean for postgraduate supervision?
2. Chrissie Boughey distinguishes between leading the academic project and managing the university. How does this distinction pertain to postgraduate education?
3. Anthea Adams makes a connection between trust and being seen and valued. How does this play out in higher education?
4. A few speakers indicate how trust is significant because education is a relationship. What are the implications of this for postgraduate supervision?
5. Masixole Booi indicates that trust is needed if universities are to decolonise. How can we be open to diverse forms of knowledge and making knowledge while maintaining a strong critical perspective?
6. Patrick Onyango points out that the university is an eco-system. What aspects of the university inspire trust in you, and which foster mistrust?

Video 2: Why do we need trust in higher education?

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi, Sioux McKenna, and Shiloh Marsh

Here’s a few questions that might guide your viewing:

1. Abongile Sonkosi suggests that students need to be careful in placing trust in the university. What are your views on this?
2. Jan McArthur suggests that students are often deliberately mistrusted and asks how they then learn to be trustworthy. How can we explicitly build trust in supervisory relationships to ensure that trustworthiness is a graduate attribute?
3. Olebogeng Mokgantshang suggests that universities do not inspire or instil trust and calls for us to reflect on how to address this. What examples can you think of where universities undermine trust in our postgraduate students?
4. Marike Kluyts suggests that our focus on the knowledge content is sometimes at the cost of building trust in the university as a social good. Do you agree?
5. Disa Mogashana calls for universities to shape an inner person who is trustworthy. Is this part of our role?
6. Yanela Ndabula suggests that sometimes mistrust emerges because we do not make our expectations and peculiar ‘ways of doing’ explicit to students. How can we build trust through more transparency about the postgraduate journey?

Thanks to all who attended the Higher Education Close Up conference and provided their inputs into this video. Visit the conference website to learn more about the theme of Trust: https://tinyurl.com/hecu11

The post Trust in Postgraduate Education appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi. Thanks to all who provided their inputs into this video.

The post Challenges in Postgraduate Education appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

In this video, the focus is on how we develop a postgraduate curriculum. The reliance on postgraduate students simply finding their own way through their studies as a ‘lonely scholar’ reliant entirely on their supervisor for guidance is challenged.

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi. Thanks to all who provided their inputs into this video.

• Briefly Speaking 25 – Models of Postgraduate Supervision – this short piece outlines the international move to more collaborative and structured postgraduate models.

Who might find this useful?

This might be a useful video to include in a supervision development course, along with the ‘Briefly Speaking’ above.

The post Postgraduate Curriculum appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

In this video, the focus is on how the disposition of the postgraduate student. Professor Notyatyambo Pearl Dastile from Walter Sisulu University shares her views on the student dispositions needed for success.

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi. Thanks to Professor Notyatyambo Pearl Dastile

Who might find this useful?

This might be a useful video for a supervision development course.

The post The ‘being’ of the postgraduate student appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

In this video, the focus is on the oral exam or viva voce. The oral exam is only used in some universities in South Africa though the report from the national review of the doctorate by the Council on Higher Education now recommends it for all. This video looks at some of the key issues.

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi. Thanks to all who provided their inputs into this video.

Who might find this useful?

This might be a useful video for a supervision development course.

The post The Viva (Oral Defence) appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

In this video, the focus is on how the purpose of postgraduate education. There are a number of private and public goods associated with postgraduate study: the individual becomes more knowledgeable and more employable, they are able to contribute their knowledge to society, the knowledge created can benefit people and the planet. But these purposes of postgraduate education are often in tension with the commodification of knowledge and the enormous pressures on candidates to complete in regulation time.

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi. Thanks to all who provided their inputs into this video.

Explore these additional resources

• Briefly Speaking 25 – Models of Postgraduate Supervision – this short piece outlines the international move to more collaborative and structured postgraduate models.

Who might find this useful?

This might be a useful video to include in a supervision development course, along with the ‘Briefly Speaking’ above.

The post Purpose of Postgraduate Education appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Explore these additional resources

• Just write – how to get better at academic writing
• Keeping a reading journal
• Working with literature
• The Thesis as Argument

Who might find this useful?

This video is made for postgraduate scholars and supervisors but might be useful for undergraduates too.

The post What is a research question and how do I write one? appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.