[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 5, Session 1: Project Management and Time Planning #5813

Project management is journey both for the student and the supervisor. This journey has got challenges that could emanate from both the supervisor or the student. Studies have reveled that PhD students failure could be at the beginning of the project or at the end of the project. The project that entails time and what should be taking place from the time the journey of PhD starts is key because it gives direction at what should be happening at every stage and I was impressed by that part that required 4 weeks rest because the journey of PhD is quite demanding for both the supervisor and the student. Its demanding particularly when the work load has increased for teaching in my university where I work which demand that I must teach five undergraduate units with no reference to post graduate workload. The issue of the scope was also interesting so that the student does not concentrate on studying even what may not be relevant for the study project in progress for example looking at theories from another field that only one may be relevant yet the time spent on it is beyond the scope

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 4: dive deeper #5794

Several papers show that there is no set of well-defined, universal evaluation criteria for assessing a PhD thesis, but that certain topics keep recurring therefore the evaluation criteria in my opinion that is important should be inclusive in terms of the composition of the jury. That is the supervisors of the PhD student, at least two representative members of the faculty where the PhD is situated and who are PhD holder, one external senior PhD examiners with relevant knowledge of the research area, and the chair at the school of post graduate studies. This is inclusive because both internal and external are coopted. In my opinion publications should be part of (and guarantee) a quality PhD thesis because if the findings are accepted in credible publishing journals and the findings are shared through the publication then this knowledge can reach many and that is the essence of a scholar. To increase increase/guarantee the reliability of the evaluation of PhD theses is by being ethical and objective with the verdict depending on the issues deliberated of course guided by a marking scheme. Divergent assessments by different evaluators at times may not work well on the verdict but it is important to understand that knowledge differs so research also differs and this brings in the Horizontal and the hierarchical dimensions. The bottom line is that knowledge gap must clearly be seen to have been generated or filled
The paper on cognitive change shows that a PhD track involves a learning path for both the student and the supervisor (where their knowledge structures can take different paths, e.g. grow towards each other or not) and that supervisors and students look at a PhD differently: This implications can make the work delay and drug if clear harmonization is not taken care of. The supervisor should be a mentor and a coach in this case when the views are diverging

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 4: Food for thought #5793

The way the PhD assessment is done in Antwerp is objective because the Doctoral education and research are assessed separately. In my opinion the Doctoral education will lead to quality research. Because a student needs the education knowledge in order to apply it relevantly in research. The combination of (bi)yearly evaluation and final evaluation is to enable the progress of the final document to be quality work and to keep the student on check by yearly evaluation. The composition of the IPC and jury is inclusive because it captures the internal and external views in the evaluation of the thesis. Neutrality of the jury can be guaranteed by the faculty when the diverging views do not confuse the student from the line of thought and derail the student hence making the student even to start a fresh. It also depends largely on the way the student convinces the panelist on the new knowledge generated. There is added value in my opinion on pre-defense and the public defense because it makes the student have a feel on what to expect in the final defense. There might be clamoring mistakes that the student and the supervisors may have not seen that can be cleaned at the pre -defense. Where I work is more less like the University of Antwerp

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 4: Food for thought #5743

Several papers show that there is no set of well-defined, universal evaluation criteria for assessing a PhD thesis, but that certain topics keep recurring therefore the evaluation criteria in my opinion that is important should be inclusive in terms of the composition of the jury. That is the supervisors of the PhD student, at least two representative members of the faculty where the PhD is situated and who are PhD holder, one external senior PhD examiners with relevant knowledge of the research area, and the chair at the school of post graduate studies. This is inclusive because both internal and external are coopted. In my opinion publications should be part of (and guarantee) a quality PhD thesis because if the findings are accepted in credible publishing journals and the findings are shared through the publication then this knowledge can reach many and that is the essence of a scholar. To increase increase/guarantee the reliability of the evaluation of PhD theses is by being ethical and objective with the verdict depending on the issues deliberated of course guided by a marking scheme. Divergent assessments by different evaluators at times may not work well on the verdict but it is important to understand that knowledge differs so research also differs and this brings in the Horizontal and the hierarchical dimensions. The bottom line is that knowledge gap must clearly be seen to have been generated or filled
The paper on cognitive change shows that a PhD track involves a learning path for both the student and the supervisor (where their knowledge structures can take different paths, e.g. grow towards each other or not) and that supervisors and students look at a PhD differently: This implications can make the work delay and drug if clear harmonization is not taken care of. The supervisor should be a mentor and a coach in this case when the views are diverge.  

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 3: Coaching and Mentoring #5685

Coaching and mentoring are different given the different roles each play. When utilized strategically by the supervisor the students gains a lot. When I was doing my post graduate masters degree, the supervisor provided all the information I needed for me to complete my course within the required time. I was encouraged by my supervisor to frequent the school of post graduate and get the dates the students from my school were to do the defenses and ensure that I attend them. He encouraged me to make use of their library so that I could come up with good writeup of both the thesis and proposal. He was a friend kind of because I could reach him with ease and was always available to attend to issues pertaining to my studies. He prompted questions that could make me improve on my write up and gave me feedback on time. The supervisor played the two roles in my life that made me proceed with my PhD studies on completion of my masters degree.

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 1: Ethics in Research #5657

I am a social scientist who while carrying out my masters and PhD research data collection I used human beings and it was accompanied with me taking photographs to further clarify my findings. I got clearance from my university and my supervisor then asked me to get a letter from institutions that I visited showing that they allowed me collect data and they did not experience any harm and the information they released was confidential and used for the purpose intended. Since nurturing practices entails to support, encourage, care and protect, once I receive post graduate students to teach I normally start by supporting and instilling in the students the ethics surrounding the humanity, animal and environmental ethics to be observed. This way the students might be encouraged to practice the same, care and support the ethics that surround the three in research. In my institution the issues of ethical considerations starts the day of orientation when we tell them about plagiarism as they will be undertaking any project or research and this is reinforced with proposal writing that has a component on ethical consideration which we encourage them to be honest in all the research processes. Once the proposal has been past at the department, faculty, then school of graduate studies the document undergoes a further thorough scrutiny with the ethics committee a body that has been assigned by my university to look into all the proposals in the university on matters pertaining the human, animal and environmental ethical considerations from our students .

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Research approach and design #5649

My input on the questions for reflection regarding research approach and design is that they were quite challenging because they meant application of what I had listed to. It is indeed true that research design is a road map that needs to be used relevantly depending on the issue under study for the effective analysis and completion of the research. I am trying to think of if I use a wrong map to give direction to my destination. It may not be easy for me to reach where I wanted to go

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Research approach and design #5648

My reflection regarding the four world view is that they just need to be applied relevantly to research areas by the PhD students I supervise and this can only be achieved when my students are well grounded in what positivism, transformative, constructivism and pragmatic entails. It came out clearly that the natural sciences lean more on experimental designs nd none experimental designs where as the social science embrace the narrative, ground theory, among others, the so called qualitative and mixed methods. I am a social science person and the PhD students I supervised and graduated last year used the mixed method because it take care of the strength and weakness of the other when it comes to methodology application.

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Disciplinary differences #5647

As a social science person I have been enlightened so much with the fact that knowledge differs so also research differs. We have the natural sciences that take the hierarchical perspective and the humanities or social sciences that take the horizontal perspectives. Research can be mono, multi, inter-and transdisciplinary. As a social science person I my research normally takes the mono approach because its conducted from one discipline but there are other approaches like multi disciplinary which provides for example more view points to a problem. It was also interesting to understand the research designs under the three areas of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. As a social science person in my line we utilize more qualitative design and mixed methods designs. Mixed methods helps in terms of managing the strength and weakness of the two

[Mical ONGACHI]

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

[Mical ONGACHI]

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

in reply to: Module 1, Session 2: Variables and dynamics in the supervision process #5448

Supervision needs the two who are from different ethnic, race, age difference to work in a kind of relationship and understanding. The challenge comes when communication/ responses form either side talk too long.

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Scholarly community of practice #5446

A scholar in my view is an academician who has read widely and is still researching in order to generate new knowledge from the findings. The research can be with students the scholar is supervising, own research, or collaborative research that is interdisciplinary. Scholarship is the financial support offered to students to further their studies. This could be internal or external depending on the convenient of the student. Scholarships may be offered by institutions of learning or foundations.
To be active in an academic community is being involved in research, imparting knowledge to students, connecting students to attend and present papers in seminar, writing funding proposals that may benefit postgraduate students in research, and mentoring students in the academic journey by ensuring that they sail smoothly to the end in their studies. Holding students hands by providing direction on how to fish knowledge through both the physical and the online library in my institution, exposing students on how to use various referencing styles and of course I need to be proficient in the use of reference software management tools, such as RefWorks, EndNote, Procite, Mendeley, Zotero, or Paperpile. To be active means I should ensure that my student should know how to ravel and review literature, introduce them to the institution librarian who should take them through the various software’s that the university have that can help them review their literature. Through the University librarian I should be on toes on new developments in soft wares for research. I should be aware of the trends and pitfalls of academic publishing, and issues such as open access and institutional repositories. Introduce students to high impact journals and ensure that they publish papers in them. Respond to students mails immediately. My students should join this community by registering immediately with ORCID and when there is a funded project they should be part of it. This is part of the role of the supervisor because I am the one to set the ball rolling. I play my part and the student play their part. Post Graduate supervisor’s support network provides the student with all that the student needs in order to fit in the world of research as elaborated above. This network can be built by continuously writing proposals to attract research funding, and exposing the students through mutual relationship on research and how, where, why the process should proceed in that direction. Academic jealousy arose when I keep on writing proposals for funding and they do not yield fruits. They do not go through while for others it goes through and they are not creating that environment to enable me know how theirs go through. Yet for one to become a professor in the university where I work that is one of the items they peg it on for one to be promoted. I hope one day I will get funding. I can contribute to a more respectful and generous support network by making sure that many get to know how to attract funding for research from the day I will get one.

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 1, Session: Discussion #5402

‘The private Universities charge high fees but sometimes students prefer pursuing their studies there since they are likely to complete their studies early’ This is interesting and therefore exposing the challenges post graduate studies face particularly in Kenya. If though the public universities charge less fess than private universities, still students prefer private because they finish early. This implies that public universities have other challenges including home issues because most of these students have families, and they tend to be carried away with matters of home that they must just attend to making their finishing drug so much to more than the stipulated years. In private universities they charge the students for extra years if they do not complete within the stipulated time

[Mical ONGACHI]

in reply to: Module 1, Session 4: National Policies #5356

In Kenya the key national documents that guides the postgraduate standards and processes around post graduate education is the National Policy on Post Graduate Research and Training in Kenya. The National Policy on University Post-Graduate Research and Training covers a number of thematic areas. Institutional Policies and Regulations; the Students Admission process; the Learning Environment; Institutional Support Systems; and Funding.
This policy therefore advocates that universities should:
1. Collectively increase the number of post-graduate programmes in the ISCED2011 framework areas of Health and Welfare, Agriculture, and Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction; and
2. Align their research agendas to the national development priority areas and sustainable development goals
Universities have graduate school policies and regulations to guide the training of postgraduate students. These policies and regulations also serve as the main documents guiding postgraduate education, providing direction to both faculty and students on institutional expectations and requirements for successful completion of the students’ programmes. We also have development of research policies that further emphasize the research component of postgraduate training. Most policies are however not readily accessible by students and staff. In addition, many of the universities’ research policies tend to be inward looking with little emphasis on multi-institutional research collaboration, a key ingredient in today’s research landscape. Further, a look at individual policies shows identification of institutional research priority areas that tend to be a reflection of the various institutional academic programmes with little emphasis on collaborative research outputs or any specific reference to national research priorities as captured in the national development agenda. Minimum admission requirements for post-graduate training in Kenya are similar across all universities for example requirement for doctor of Philosophy is a Masters degree from recognized institutions;
Supervision is central to post-graduate research training. A number of challenges exist in relation to supervision. For instance in the process of matching supervisors and candidates. Some academic units select supervisors with little input from the candidates. In these cases, there seems to be no standard criteria adopted other than the willingness of the supervisors to work with the students. In addition, there is often a mismatch between the students’ research areas and the supervisors’ areas of expertise. This is especially true in programmes where there is a large number of students as compared to supervisors. Further, universities either do not have or do not adhere to supervision load limits. With the growing number of post-graduate students there has not been commensurate growth in staff numbers especially in the social sciences. Supervisors are forced to handle the large undergraduate numbers, coupled with a sizeable number of postgraduate students. Admissions into post-graduate programmes rarely take into account supervision capacity, resulting in many programmes, especially in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences having faculty supervising students’ numbers far in excess of the recommended
Universities are striving to provide support infrastructure for graduate students. This includes specialized libraries or carrels in libraries, research and computer laboratories, and internet access. The older public universities provide internet access to all students, usually on wireless networks. There are also significant electronic resource material available through a consortium of universities libraries that provides a wealth or research literature. In the older universities there is limited space provided for graduate students, usually in the library. There are few dedicated research laboratories and so science students make do with the general laboratories. This is especially critical where students are enrolled into laboratory-based research post-graduate programmes, without the necessary research laboratory facilities. Libraries rarely have special services for graduate students and with graduate students competing with large number of undergraduate students for the limited facilities. In an attempt to mitigate for the lack of adequate spaces, libraries are now emphasizing e-resources made accessible to graduate students. This is working well in the established universities. The younger universities are still struggling to provide these basic facilities, with students often lacking access to the latest e-journals and e-books, a minimum requirement for quality research. Publications of research results form a key component of research training, yet prior to post-graduate work, the majority of students have no experience or exposure on how to right a journal paper. The challenges in distilling research results from theses and dissertations into conference or journal publications, has been a significant contributor to the low conversion rate.
Universities are currently torn between the need to maintain quality in research training by admitting the appropriate number of students in relation to the post-graduate staff, on the one hand, and the need to raise revenue for the day to day operations of the university on the other. In addition, universities are unable to provide scholarships to the large number of graduate students. A few scholarships are available in the form of Graduate Assistants and Tutorial Fellows that are offered as part of staff development in public universities. Some universities have been able to establish research funds to support research activities. For the majority of universities, their research funding portfolios as a percentage of their total budget remains very small. Further, for cases where research funds have been received, faculty members often experience challenges in accessing those funds when required.

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