Module 2, Session 4: EPE resources’ assessment

[CPC Admin]

#4850

There are many online resources to support supervisors and postgraduate students. In this session, you are requested to visit the website and take a look at what is available there.

You are then asked to post a forum message in which you indicate which resource was particularly useful for your context, or which you believed was not applicable, or what particular materials you might be willing to add to this open access resource.

Remember to click “subscribe” (top right corner) to receive responses to your comments via email.

[John Mambambo]

#5500

Plagiarism now sounds like a cliché in academic circles but the ability of a student to avoid plagiarizing and adding their original voice to their writing without a dishonest use of others’ work cannot be overemphasized. I there found all the resources important but “How to avoid plagiarism” would be a student’s plagiarism avoidance “bible” for lack of a better word. “What is intentional Plagiarism?” becomes a critical question that unveils and exposes a dishonest academic intent to exploit other people’s resources without acknowledging their effort. How does this make one different from a conventional “thief”? It’s only that this one is a “thief of ideas.” It’s also important for one to develop “Understanding of the PG Journey and Process” prior to their commitment to this noble cause. Of course, students can leverage and take be articulate in “Using To Your Advantage: Mendeley (Part 1-6). “Keeping a Research Journal” has then become critical. If a student has to be honest, “Ethical Research Supervision” cannot be overemphasized too. These and more are fascinating tools to engage with as one satiates their academic supervision curiosity.

[Phemelo Hellemann]

#5521

I enjoyed watching and reading about how to choose examiners and how examiners read a thesis. I have never engaged in the process of choosing examiners before, and I am nervous about it. But I am also excited to be an examiner, so the resources shared were very useful and insightful. I will definitely revisit them again when the time comes for me to choose examiners or be an examiner. Drawing on my own recent PhD experience, I remember how my supervisor and I had a discussion on this, we did not necessarily discuss who the examiners were but as we were nearing the end, we would read the thesis from a point of view of the examiner and use that lens as a way to identify gaps or flag any issues that could be picked up by examiners.

I also found the information on publishing very useful. I think often students also want to start publishing but they don’t know where to start. Having been there myself, I think the information provided here would definitely save a novice publisher some time, especially on figuring out how to respond to reviewer feedback. I think this is also so useful for me as well, I often find it very challenging to respond to reviewer feedback especially if its a rejection-type feedback, hence it takes me even longer to get back to it.

I will definitely recommend the formatting of your thesis resource to my students. As one of the procedures in PhD writing, formatting can be intimidating, especially if you have limited tech knowledge. The video is a quick access guide that summarises how to format well.

[Josephine Karuri]

#5549

Thank you so much for availing these very useful resources for our quick access and use. For the purpose of this forum I want to focus on the resources provided under the section titled “Predatory Journals: How To Identify And Avoid Them”. The issue of selecting a suitable journal to publish one’s work can be quite challenging both for the student and supervisor. It is especially so when one is a relatively new researcher and thus has not had opportunity to interact with many journals in their field of research. This is because there are too many journals available out there and, as pointed out in this section, many will have very similar titles. In addition, even predatory journals portray themselves as respectable journals with an editorial board and the practice of subjecting all the submitted papers to serious peer review.
The predatory journal sometime look very attractive to unsuspecting authors because they promise a quick turnaround time from the time one submits their article to the time it is published – this could be as short as a few weeks compared to the more established and reputable journals which sometimes takes many months before even sending the first set of reviews to authors. Perhaps a reduction of this turnaround time by reputable journals would be one step in the right direction of discouraging publishing in predatory journals. I found the advice given in the blog titled ““Dear Esteemed Author:” Spotting a Predatory Publisher in 10 Easy Steps” to be a useful quick guide for avoiding these predatory journals.

[Thivhulawi Malwela]

#5551

Thank you for the resources they are so full of useful information. the sections I read were on the development of a questionnaire, I learned that language is very important. the use of fancy language should be avoided, avoiding of double-barrel questions, and asking personal questions politely. secondly, I was very fond of responding to the reviewers, I learned that is good to understand the journal guidelines correctly to avoid disappointment. as an author, I need to respect the comments and always say thank you. I also learned that publishing needs hard work and patience

[Mical ONGACHI]

#5555

Thank you for the useful information. That part of the theory was very interesting. Its the lens to look through all the sections of the research. And the lens are of different types and they see what cannot be seen without the lens. Theories are so useful in the social sciences and they should be applied. Strategies that postgraduate students should deal with and the challenges they encounter was very inspirational. I need to do proper orientation for post graduate students in the department where I am housed because at times I overlook and imagine that they know because this is not their first time.

[Mical ONGACHI]

#5556

The part of noting down ideas, arguments, struggles, good and bad days, questions, connections between bodies of literature, theory and data in the research journal was key to me in relation to other advice the post graduate students need to practice.

[Kwak Seohee]

#5558

Thank you for making such great resources accessible. In particular, I enjoyed reading and watching videos on research design, for instance, guidelines on literature review and theoretical framework. Even though this course is for postgraduate supervision, my experience with bachelor-level students led me to recognize how much students get lost or have difficulties with conducting literature review and setting up a theoretical framework. Those resources helped me a lot to think about a more effective way to guide students through their study.

[Fiona Hagenbeek]

#5563

In general, I’m not a fan that most of the information is offered as a video, I much prefer something written to watching something. There also seems to be a number of ‘articles’ that are included in more than one domain, while that might be helpful if you don’t think about searching for something across domains, it gives an inflated sense of resource in general. I feel like a lot of the tips cover how-to yourself, while currently, I’m more interested in topics from a supervisor’s point of view.

[Stephen Nguthi]

#5583

The resources provided are of a great value. In particular, I find writing and scholarship development; examination and assessment (particularly higher degrees and Viva examination); starting postgraduate study; research design; and, dissemination and publication.

[Faith Kandie]

#5599

Thank you for providing such a vast array of information for us to peruse and learn. They are really useful. The issue of plagiarism cannot be under or overestimated and learners should be well informed of. In addition, the social inclusion aspect was a real eye opener. As instructors, we tend to assume that learners have already built in information and therefore making their learning more burdensome. I happened to have this experience while undertaking my masters degree where the instructor assumed we had sufficient background for the topic despite the class being so diverse with learners from every continent. This aspect is very important and I will definitely consider it in my journey as a supervisor.

[Philomena Ngugi]

#5610

I found all the resources quite valuable though for some the narration volume is overpowered by the background music.

[Nelly Akinyi Juma]

#5611

While I appreciate the vast resources provided in this section. The segment on how to avoid plagiarism was eye opening. additional component on what is intentional plagiarism and why people do it was also informative

[Philippa Irvine]

#5613

This is, quite honestly, an amazing resource. I teach the Honours level ‘Research Philosophy and Methodology’ course in my department. The videos and worksheets available here are fantastic and I would love to direct my students to these so that they can cement their understanding of what we cover. As academics who are teaching and supervising at various levels, we just don’t have the time to put these kind of resources together, but they are so helpful. I have been wanting to put similar resources together for a while.

[Marina Cadaval Narezo]

#5619

The website on Enhancing Postgraduate Environments is a robust source of information to engage with multiple topics on the supervision journey. As an early carrear researcher I can connect with several of the materials that are giving me a lot to think about as reseracher and as potential supervisor. For me, most of the materials and readings are very relevant to understand not only the contexts, struggles, positions, education structures, expectations, etc. of the students, but also the own’s supervisors’. Supervision is about a process of constant reflection not only of the academic development, but specially about the human engagment with others.

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