Masters Supervision

Workshop
Dr Kay Fielden
Contents

• So, you want to be a supervisor

• Supervisor role
• Research process
• Research content
• Research skills
• Supervision skills
• Relationship building
• Supervision training
• Solving problems
So, you want to be a
supervisor

• Skills required
• Supervision style
• Supervision process
Supervisor style
• Controlling – task-focussed – aimed at
accumulating knowledge
• Controlling - person-focussed – learning
takes place through task application
• Guiding and task-focussed – guide
exploration and application of knowledge
• Guiding and person-focussed - facilitate
learning that enables application of
knowledge
Supervisor role

• Project manager
• Quality assurer
• Mentor
Supervisor as Project
Manager

• Manage student’s independent research

projects
• Monitor time line
• Manage institutional rules and regulations
• Bring the ‘project to an end’
• Reflect on experience
Rules and
regulations
• Supervisors duties
• Guide students in Ethics proposal
• Select examiners
• Students obligations
• Do own research
• Institutional requirements
• Ethics
• Final examination
Supervisor as
Quality assurer

• Know how to keep student work on track

• Know when enough work has been done
• Know whether the student work is ‘good
enough’
• Be able to publish with the student
Supervisor as
Student Mentor

• Supervision process
• interconnected learning and
development process that takes place
within a relationship
• Multi-faceted phenomenon
• Postgraduate students are all different
• Many international students
Research content

• Supervisors responsibilities
• Students obligations
• Institutional requirements
Research skills
(supervisor)
• Knowing what a main research question
should look like
• Knowing what is an appropriate topic
• Knowing how to scope research
• Knowing how to moderate, monitor and
guide student research

• DO NOT DO THE RESEARCH

Supervision skills

• Relationship building
• Empathy
• Patience
• Rigour
Relationship
building
• Building rapport
• Building trust
• Getting on with the other supervisor
• You are not a friend – you are friendly
• Dynamic
• Multi-dimensional
Getting over the line

• Knowing when the student has done

enough to pass
• The final edit
• Interacting with the institution about
examination
Supervision training

• Apprentice
• Formal training
• Co-supervision
• Mentoring
Solving problems

• Difficult students
• Personality conflicts
• Difficult co-supervisors
• Different world views
Worldviews
Questions