Module 2, Session 4: EPE resources’ assessment

[Kerry-Ann Van der Walt]

#5628

I found these postgraduate environment resources very useful and I am definitely going to pass this on to my students, as they are at the PhD level, and I think many of these resources will help them structure, plan and organize their research. Additionally, I think it will give them the confidence to tackle difficult sections of their research like formulating a good research question. I enjoyed this resource of formulating a good research question as I find, especially in science, the foundation of a good research question allows students as well as supervisors to direct and focus the research in the direction they plan to go. Often you come across research questions that are too vague or too over explained with jargon, it was enlightening to find a way to achieve this along some middle ground.

[Gollaz Moran Azucena]

#5629

I found the website Enhancing Postgraduate Environments to be a very interesting collection of resources for engaging with the supervision task at different levels. I think it was great that the resources are organized by stages and was amazing to see all the diversity of resources in every one of them. Definitely is a page to visit constantly to enhance your supervision practice.

[Wangamati Murumba]

#5642

I found the section on All resources and Tags highly valuable.

[Chantel Elston]

#5654

I do think a lot of the content is aimed more at the student level, rather than the supervisor level. So I will definitely be sharing this resource with my students, but I did not find much of it helpful in my own personal development, apart from the ‘Examination and assessment’ phase which directly speaks to the supervisor’s role of choosing examiners etc. It would maybe be nice to add a topic outlining what supervisor’s should keep in mind when selecting a potential student or other aspects of the student selection process.

[George Erick Omondi]

#5679

How to avoid plagiarism is very key especially in this era of technological advancement.

[Stella Onyiego]

#5687

most of the materials are useful for engaging the supervisor and the students. The materials on plagiarism are very informative. The approach used by most of the supervisors makes students scared of referencing for fear of being accused of “stealing”. The other materials I found interesting is how to identify predatory journals and how to identify good supervisors.

[Peter Kamoni]

#5692

Most of the resources are very insightful. I have found Working with Literature particularly interesting. In My academic journey, Literature review was quite challenging on the onset. almost all postgraduate students find this area hectic due to the amount of reading, and the demand to offer insights into the literature as part of the thesis writing.

[Emily Bomet]

#5756

• The resource on ‘how to avoid plagiarism and why we reference in academic writing’ is very useful to me. It stresses on the need for keeping a reading journal, practicing many times until one masters the art of academic writing and reducing plagiarism. The main reason for referencing is to join the knowledge conversation and to substantiate our claims. The above are important to the supervisor and the postgraduate student, it will assist the student to easily write a good literature review.

[Gideon Rotich]

#5757

The resource website is beneficial, especially for postgraduate students. I particularly single out how to develop a research question and how to avoid plagiarism. Most students struggle to publish because of plagiarism. These resources are beneficial to them.

[Mary Sambu]

#5766

All the resources are useful and valuable to me. They are quite informative and insightful.

[Quinter Migunde]

#5772

I have learnt alot on enhancing postgraduate environments resources. There are three things that standout for me. The first is that i cannot distance who i am from my research. As a result i have to consider who i am before i engage in any particular research. Secondly, as a supervisor i can enhance my students information literacy by providing them with information sources and linking them with support available in my institution. Lastly,when selecting examiners for theses we need to consider a spread of expertice. From my experience most of the time we tend to focus more on the discipline of the examiner than the expertice on various areas of the theses.

[Wendy Rop]

#5782

Information Literacy: How Supervisors Can Help Students Develop Their Information Literacy Skills resonated with me.

[Bimbo Fafowora]

#5789

I found most of the collection of resources on the Enhancing Postgraduate Environments website very useful for postgraduate students and especially for a newbie postgraduate supervisor. Of particular interest to me is the resource material on researcher positionality. The listening to the video made reflect on my position as a researcher and supervisor in relation to my supervisees positions. The material made me more aware of the need to be aware and take cognisance of one’s positionality in relation to that of other researchers in one’s field of study.

[Tracey Feltham-King]

#5792

Thank you for reminding me about this resource. I have used it often. In my opinion it works best to watch videos with students followed by discussions. Like all of us, if I simply refer to the resources students often don’t make the time to go through everything. The human interaction, conversations and discussions are still the most useful too even when we have fabulous resources like these.

[Eunice Namuyenga Toko]

#5846

At my level as a young researcher, all the resources available on this website are key. Developing excellent research questions is paramount in developing a good research proposal. My ability to identify bad research questions gives me the expertise in coming up with effective, implementable research questions that have the ability to guide and focus my intended research activities.
Intentional and unintentional plagiarism in scientific writing by gradually learning where and why referencing is done and constantly practicing writing. In addition, positionality and reflexivity influence research findings. In this regard, it is important to respect people’s knowledge and appreciate what they do understand and embrace different cultural practices, and do research with your participants but not conduct research on them.

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