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.

The aim of this resource is to provide a starting point for such a discussion between postgraduate student and supervisor. The content given here is meant to serve as a prompt for things to include in one’s own agreement, and supervisors/students are encouraged to make as many changes as needed during their discussions. In its current form, this MoU template should not be regarded as policy or even as a fixed template. Each supervisor-student relationship is unique and the outcome of this discussion will be a personalised and adapted version of this MoU.

Having said that, it may be the case that your faculty or department already has its own MoU template. It may even be compulsory for you to complete such an MoU, according to your departmental requirements. In that case, please see this document as an additional prompt for issues you might want to discuss with your supervisor/postgraduate student at the start of your relationship. Departments and faculties are also welcome to use and adapt this template. It is then up to individual departments or faculties to explain the “status” of the MoU, e.g. whether it is compulsory, recommended or optional.

Who might find this useful?

This resource might also be useful to postgraduate studies support divisions and faculties or departments that co-ordinate postgraduate supervision and that may not have an official MoU in place.

The following open questions are posed at the end of the video:

• How do you feel about an MoU?
• Does your department have one?
• How do you intend to establish a healthy postgraduate/supervisor relationship?
• Have you considered all aspects of how the different stages of the research project will be handled?
• Have you agreed on the type and frequency of communication that needs to take place to maintain a good relationship?
• Are you prepared to be flexible in your approach – to adapt the MoU contents if necessary as you progress along the research journey together?

Explore these additional resources

• MoU template (PDF)
• MoU template (.doc)
• MoU video dialogue

Additional reading for supervisors:

• Van Schalkwyk, S.C., Murdoch-Eaton, D., Tekian, A., van der Vleuten, C. and Cilliers, F. (2016)  The supervisor’s toolkit: A framework for doctoral supervision in health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 104, Medical Teacher, 38:5, 436, DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2016.1142517
• https://theconversation.com/ten-types-of-phd-supervisor-relationships-which-is-yours-52967

The post A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Between Supervisor and Postgraduate appeared first on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments.

Who might find this useful?

This video is an important resource for all supervisors and postgraduate scholars and should be viewed relatively early in the journey to ensure that it is understood that Turnitin and similar software provides very useful writing development opportunities. It will also be of use to those who draft academic integrity policies or who sit on plagiarism committees.

Explore these additional resources

Turnitin has lots of uses in developing postgraduate writing.

• You can look through some of their videos on YouTube on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TurnitinAcademy

Two excellent books on this issue are:

• Sutherland-Smith, W. (2008) Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning: Improving Academic Integrity. New York: Routledge
• Angélil-Carter, S. (2000) Stolen language? Plagiarism in writing. Harlow, UK: Longman.

All supervisors are encouraged to read these.

• Mphahlele, A and McKenna, S (2015) ‘Policing plagiarism could make universities miss the real problem’ The Conversation https://theconversation.com/policing-plagiarism-could-make-universities-miss-the-real-problems-45172
• Are You Plagiarizing Without Knowing It? https://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2017/09/05/unintentional-plagiarism/
• Ultimate Guide to Copyright for Students https://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/student-copyright/#page-2

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