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Just like projects. postgraduate studies have scheduled time frames within which they must be conducted to completion. As such, there must be a degree of planning the stages in the process against available time. It is our role as supervisors to guide candidates but more so, a candidate must take the personal initiative to work under the set time-frames.
There are many factors that may hinder or delay completion, but i believe at each stage there must be time to reflect on the progress and determine causes of delay and or improve thereof. In my experience, most PhD candidates have other responsibilities whether administrative or family related but there must be a deliberate strike of balance if the PhD progress is not to be compromised or delayed.
Despite the fact that supervisors play a key role in determining progress, the burden must be tagged to the candidates interest since often during the study, some tend to take a break when various milestones are not met hence demotivating. Ideally, just as projects, PhD study is not immune to hurdles, hence candidates must prepare themselves for a journey whose stages are not cast in stone and be sufficiently mentored on how to forge on when there seems to be minimal or no progress.
in reply to: Module 4, Session 4: Food for thought #6046It is interesting to note the challenges cut across the continents especially considering thesis examination is a very emotional besides being academic and intended to be very objective. I saw many similarities in the paper by Holbrook et. al on consistency and inconsistency. As a matter of fact, similar incidences of discrepancies occur and some having a very wide margin, yet the board of examiners at times may be lacking clear direction especially if its under unclear circumstances on whether to moderate or maintain the examiners final verdict. I concur with the idea of contacting examiners to establish their availability and ability to mark in the scheduled timelines to avoid situations where a thesis is inadequately read and hence graded. I believe supervisors need orientation too on the expectations since there are those who have done it over the years and those that are new to it hence require tips on how best to examine thesis and effectively.
Pakzads thoughts too are concerning, because, a PhD in itself puts a lot of pressure on candidates. Hence publishing and especially without a mentor leaves candidates opting for easier ways of publishing and often fall victims of the so called predatory journals. Despite the fact that the intention may not be bad, since its enables a candidate start practicing writing, it essential that such students are appropriately mentored since this could be their first time attempting to publish.
in reply to: Module 4, Session 4: Food for thought #6045It is interesting to note the challenges cut across the continents especially considering thesis examination is a very emotional besides being academic and intended to be very objective. I saw many similarities in the paper by Holbrook et. al on consistency and inconsistency. As a matter of fact, similar incidences of discrepancies occur and some having a very wide margin, yet the board of examiners at times may be lacking clear direction especially if its under unclear circumstances on whether to moderate or maintain the examiners final verdict. I concur with the idea of contacting examiners to establish their availability and ability to mark in the scheduled timelines to avoid situations where a thesis is inadequately read and hence graded. I believe supervisors need orientation too on the expectations since there are those who have done it over the years and those that are new to it hence require tips on how best to examine thesis and effectively.
Pakzads thoughts too are concerning, because, a PhD in itself puts a lot of pressure on candidates. Hence publishing and especially without a mentor leaves candidates opting for easier ways of publishing and often fall victims of the so called predatory journals. Despite the fact that the intention may not be bad, since its enables a candidate start practicing writing, it essential that such students are appropriately mentored since this could be their first time attempting to publish.
in reply to: Module 4, Session 3: Coaching and Mentoring #6043Both coaching and mentorship are very important and essential for research students at different levels of their study. A supervisor needs to effectively use both interchangeably to allows the candidates have a nice academic experience throughout the programme. As some of the colleagues have noted, there is often a disconnect between candidates and supervisors especially when there seems to many differences between the two (supervisor-student). Such a relationship is often strained and hence makes students lag behind in progress. It is important that as basic ground rules are set from the onset of the program, each party must be clear of their roles and go an extra mile to support the process.
in reply to: Module 4, Session 1: Ethics in Research #6042Ethical considerations are pertinent in social sciences and particularly, we are concerned about: receiving consent from the participants; reporting data as received and not changing the respondents ideas; citing or acknowledging other authors work and also one must be keen on how this knowledge is used.
In order to nurture ethical responsibility, students must be taught on the basic principles of adhering to ethical standards. There must be stages of approving the work to ensure the ethics committee is satisfied that the work meets expected thresholds set. In my institutions the graduate committees at different levels have been mandated to ensure candidates adhere to set regulations.
in reply to: Module 4, Session 1: Ethics in Research #6041Ethical considerations are pertinent in social sciences and particularly, we are concerned about: receiving consent from the participants; reporting data as received and not changing the respondents ideas; citing or acknowledging other authors work and also one must be keen on how this knowledge is used.
In order to nurture ethical responsibility, students must be taught on the basic principles of adhering to ethical standards. There must be stages of approving the work to ensure the ethics committee is satisfied that the work meets expected thresholds set. In my institutions the graduate committees at different levels have been mandated to ensure candidates adhere to set regulations.
in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Disciplinary differences #6035In humanities and social sciences where i belong leans more towards horizontal structures than hierarchical. The world views mostly are determined by the candidates philosophical assumptions underpinning the research context. However due to the unexplored and widely used qualitative research, constructionism is slowly being accepted. In fact in the recent past, we have seen more students using more mixed methods as they now appreciate the contribution of the combination of the approaches to the outcome.
in reply to: Module 2, Session 4: EPE resources’ assessment #6033most of the resources were very good and especially that on publishing, predatory journals and how to spot. i also liked the idea of time management. I think its also important to include requisite skills for a successful researcher and also support the idea of including not only the academic perspective of the research process, but also the perceptions and human relations component.
A scholar is any person who engages themselves in scholarly writing in an area of interest and have over time mastered the art in the specific field. Such persons have authority over the literature and widely have an impact with the drawn work.
I think a scholarship entails / means funding of education/ study. The payment made is meant to support the candidate complete the course and undertake other activities as may be stipulated in the benefits. The benefits vary depending on the body offering the scholarship.
As a supervisor i may introduce the student as they start off their research work through: first encouraging them to attend conferences as they present their preliminary work and or interact with the scholars; second, they may also try to interrogate the literature and learn from the key authors in the field thoughts and writings; third, the can also attend seminars and invite the scholars to interact with them one on one for a richer engagement; fourth, if students are co-supervised then these scholars can be engaged if available so that they can journey with the students in research. If such could be used the it might assist students build a network for their students too.
If students are supported and made to be independent, then the issue of jealousy will not exist. The challenge in the ‘African’ context, we write to grow through ranks or promotion at work in the mantra ‘publish or perish’ hence many end up not making an impact or remain scholarly. In this event, if competition reigns between a talented candidate and the supervisor, the latter may feel intimidated and may not effectively nurture the candidate. I believe, as scholars, we should assist the students and enable them grow into confident writers. Many of the issues may not be raised hence go unresolved since many students fear victimization by the same supervisors who play key examination through their years of study.
A scholar is any person who engages themselves in scholarly writing in an area of interest and have over time mastered the art in the specific field. Such persons have authority over the literature and widely have an impact with the drawn work.
I think a scholarship entails / means funding of education/ study. The payment made is meant to support the candidate complete the course and undertake other activities as may be stipulated in the benefits. The benefits vary depending on the body offering the scholarship.
As a supervisor i may introduce the student as they start off their research work through: first encouraging them to attend conferences as they present their preliminary work and or interact with the scholars; second, they may also try to interrogate the literature and learn from the key authors in the field thoughts and writings; third, the can also attend seminars and invite the scholars to interact with them one on one for a richer engagement; fourth, if students are co-supervised then these scholars can be engaged if available so that they can journey with the students in research. If such could be used the it might assist students build a network for their students too.
If students are supported and made to be independent, then the issue of jealousy will not exist. The challenge in the ‘African’ context, we write to grow through ranks or promotion at work in the mantra ‘publish or perish’ hence many end up not making an impact or remain scholarly. In this event, if competition reigns between a talented candidate and the supervisor, the latter may feel intimidated and may not effectively nurture the candidate. I believe, as scholars, we should assist the students and enable them grow into confident writers. Many of the issues may not be raised hence go unresolved since many students fear victimization by the same supervisors who play key examination through their years of study.
in reply to: Module 1, Session 4: National Policies #5775I am in agreement with my colleagues on the Kenyan regulations. Each university has a key role in developing their curriculum hence play a critical role in guiding their postgraduate policy documents.
in reply to: Module 1, Session 3: Models of supervision #5774In my university and most that i have interacted with, co – supervision is dominant in my discipline. It works well however as a novice supervisor learning from the older faculty, lots of challenges are experienced relating to conflicting ideas whilst directing candidates. There seems to be a senior supervisor whose ideas supersede that of a junior supervisor. Often a student is left wondering which direction to take. In case of the unfortunate demise or departure of supervisor either on leave or circumstances that will allow them to continue with the supervision a candidate has to form a new relationship with a third supervisor.
I appreciate the other models and hoping that institution policies would be more open to other collaborative methods what ease students postgraduate training and supervision. In many occasions, students do not have a choice since the model is stipulated in university postgraduate study policies.
I agree with the insights shared in the power point slides. I think its very important as we admit students to p/g studies, to understand their background, interest and hence capacity to pursue the course to completion amidst the pressure and expectations that come with the program. In many instances, we assume that a first class / pass students at p/g will easily pursue the course in the scheduled time frame hence missing the gaps that could ensure 100% support to the candidate noting they are different in strength and weaknesses. For P/G candidates to be knowledge adept, it would be essential to encourage the candidates to be critical thinkers and also be able to appreciate the new world undertakings in research work
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