[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 4: Food for thought #5952

The way Phd assessment is done in Antwerp University is good. I like the way the University manages the progress of Doctoral research. It is done by the faculty/institute. The institute can follow the progress of its students and reduce drop out rate. The mandatory doctoral study programme at University of Antwerp is key in preparing the candidates for thesis writing. In our University, the supervisor tracks the progress of the student that he/she is supervising.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 3: Coaching and Mentoring #5902

Mentoring is a long term process based on mutual trust between the supervisor and supervisee. Coaching, on the other hand, is a short term process which is structured and is focused on improving the behavior of the student. Mentorship optimizes on having a helping nature of interaction between the supervisor and supervisee. Mentoring focuses on the individual while coaching focuses on performance. Coaching is a formal approach and has a specific agenda.
Both coaching and mentoring are used by the supervisor in the process of supervision. Each of the two complements each other. The supervisor comes with authority and a specific agenda to guide the student in the research process. The supervisor acts as a role model, a mentor and a coach as he/she does his/ her supervision which may be a short or long term process.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 1: Ethics in Research #5899

There are ethical issues that are particularly pertinent in my field i.e. education. Education researchers ensure that they allocate credit by citing the source of information for the work obtained from other sources. Honesty in interpretation and reporting of research is another key area of concern in education research. Plagiarism is another important area considered as an ethical issue in the field of education. Furthermore, only data collected after ethical approval has been given can be approved for use.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Research approach and design #5896

It is important for a researcher to know and understand the existing worldviews. Having this knowledge will enable the student to choose the appropriate research worldview, approach and finally design according to their discipline. As a supervisor and also the postgraduate classes in our universities, should expose students to various worldviews which will enable them to have a wide choice on the areas of research according to their discipline.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 4: EPE resources’ assessment #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.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 3: Zoom discussion of key readings #5699

Reading journal is an important area for a supervisor and supervisee. This is important because as a supervisor I am able to guide my post graduate student to develop a reading culture and to be able to easily review literature. It will help them and me to learn about how to be original, avoiding plagiarism by summarizing key points in their/my own words after reading a journal. This will lead to creation of new knowledge.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Scholarly community of practice #5695

A scholar is a learned person. A person who is an expert as a result of acquiring knowledge and skill in research. In this case a PhD student who has just completed his/ her doctorate is a scholar.
Scholarship is an expert in the field of research and has knowledge, experience and skill in doing research. In this case, the supervisor, who is an active researcher have scholarship skill which enable him/her to guide and mentor the PhD student.

To be active in an academic community means participating in supervision of students, examining thesis, being available for consultation by students. It also means working well with fellow supervisors by doing research together.

The student should be introduced to the academic commmunity by making him/her participate in research, i.e, to become research asssisstant, also to analyse data, to review literature and to publish their work.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Scholarly community of practice #5694

A scholar is a learned person. A person who is an expert as a result of acquiring knowledge and skill in research. In this case a PhD student who has just completed his/ her doctorate is a scholar.
Scholarship is an expert in the field of research and has knowledge, experience and skill in doing research. In this case, the supervisor, who is an active researcher have scholarship skill which enable him/her to guide and mentor the PhD student.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 4: National Policies #5655

The key national documents that guide standards and processes around post graduate education in Kenya are:
(a) National policy on university post graduate research and training in Kenya. This policy document was prepared by commission for university in 2016.The policy identifies thematic areas which aims to address the following areas:
• Institutional policies and regulations
• The learning environment
• Institutional support systems
• Funding. The commission for university education(CUE) envisages that learning institutions continuously improves its services and outputs.
(b) Moi University has its on policy document on rules and regulations governing post graduate studies. The document has details on; establishment of the school of graduate studies. It also states the membership of the post graduate faculty and the committees formed at various levels. The document further states the admission requirements and examination grading system for the post graduate students.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 3: Models of supervision #5451

Having many supervisors(Group Supervision) may help cater for various stages of supervision in the research process for the post graduate student. Every supervisor will provide expertise in their areas of expertise. However, sometimes this can be confusing to the student being supervised since not all the supervisors see things in the same manner. In terms of methodology, some supervisors lean more on Quantitative approach, others on Qualitative approach while others Qual/Quant. Also in analyzing data there could arise disagreements on the best method to use.

I prefer when two supervisors do the work together like the way it is done in most universities in Kenya. Two supervisors can agree on the advice they give to the student. It assists the student not to get confused. Furthermore, during examining of the final thesis, the student will be further guided by three examiners.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 2: Supervision with a humanizing pedagogy #5417

The future should be open to all post graduate students, in that, social exclusion should be minimized. The supervisor should allow the student to freely explore knowledge without a lot of interference. The responsibility of the supervisor is to offer guidance and allow the student to have a lot of freedom to exploit knowledge maximumly. It also involves understanding students as social beings and being allowed to express themselves the way they think and not being excluded.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 2: Variables and dynamics in the supervision process #5411

Supervision of politicians and senior members of the society is sometimes a challenge. Some don’t cooperate with the supervisor since they know that they earn better salary and are of higher status than the supervisor. It is important to have an induction at the beginning of supervision so that it can reduce such challenges.

In terms of topic/field, sometimes the supervisor is asked to supervise an area which the supervisor is not interested in or does not have knowledge in that field.

Communication style also affects supervision. The supervisee may request to see the supervisor but sometimes the supervisor doesn’t respond to the student’s messages. This affects the length of supervision. The process may take very long and the student may give up consulting the supervisor. Some even drop out of their studies.

[Emily Bomet]

in reply to: Module 1, Session: Discussion #5371

It is very interesting to learn that other countries do not have private Universities and that they fund all the post graduate studies in public universities. If this can be borrowed by our countries in Africa, like Kenya, post graduate enrollment of students will increase. Currently the numbers of postgraduate students joining public universities have reduced tremendously. The private Universities charge high fees but sometimes students prefer pursuing their studies there since they are likely to complete their studies early. The high cost of postgraduate studies, because it is self sponsored, makes majority of the students not to finish their studies within the required time.

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