Received:
2024-05-11 | Accepted:
2024-08-07 | Published:
2024-09-30
Title
Enhancing quality through postgraduate supervision remodeling in higher education institutions
Abstract
The demand for a postgraduate qualification in South Africa has increased due to the Department of Higher Education and training requirement for a Master’s degree as the minimum qualification for teaching in universities. However, low completion rates and inferior quality dissertations and theses suggest that these ideals may not be achievable. This study juxtaposed research supervision models and suggested a framework envisaged to promote quality in the exercise. The world’s countries, including South Africa, are paying far more attention than ever to supervising postgraduate students. This can be attributed to a variety of factors. For example, diversity and massification issues have put doctoral students' supervision at the centre. In response to these demands, some scholars have emphasised the relevance and suitability of supervision models. As part of the qualitative method, document analysis was used to analyse the supervision models most higher education institutions prescribed in their Policies around the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Among the findings, the policies and their Guide focus on two types of supervision: one-on-one and co-supervision. Regrettably, neither the Policies nor the Guide mention group supervision practices. The finding further revealed that no one ultimate model may guarantee optimal productivity. Hence, more is needed to assist supervisors in delivering excellent supervision. The partnership's efficacy and robustness in supervision rely on trust, commitment, and sound communication. Hence, the researchers developed and recommended the Triple C and Double T framework, a comprehensive and dynamic model, for higher education institutions to be considered for supervision. It is further recommended that the variables in the concept be used to develop the hypothesis and research objectives.
Keywords
one-on-one supervision, co-supervision, group supervision, higher education institution, postgraduate students
JEL classifications
I21
, I23
URI
http://jssidoi.org/ird/article/169
DOI
Pages
27-39
Funding
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
References
Bitzer, E. M., & Albertyn, R. M. (2011). Alternative approaches to postgraduate supervision: A planning tool to facilitate supervisory processes. South African Journal of Higher Education, 25(5), 875-888.
Search via ReFindit
Dautel, J. B. (2020). Applying a Collective Academic Supervision Model to the Undergraduate Dissertation. Psychology Teaching Review, 26(1), 18-26. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsptr.2020.26.1.18
Search via ReFindit
Dimitrov, S., & Hadad, E. (2022). Pension tracking system application: A new supervision challenge in the EU. International Journal of Economic Sciences, 11(2), 48-57. https://doi.org/10.52950/ES.2022.11.2.004
Search via ReFindit
Grossman, E. S., & Crowther, N. J. (2015). Co-supervision in postgraduate training: Ensuring the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. South African Journal of Science, 111(11-12), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2015/20140305
Search via ReFindit
Guerin, C., Kerr, H., & Green, I. (2015). Supervision pedagogies: Narratives from the field. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(1), 107-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2014.957271
Search via ReFindit
Hey-Cunningham, A. J., Ward, M. H., & Miller, E. J. (2021). Making the most of feedback for academic writing development in postgraduate research: Pilot of a combined programme for students and supervisors. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 58(2), 182-194. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2020.1714472
Search via ReFindit
Islam, T., Ahmad, S., Kaleem, A., & Mahmood, K. (2021). Abusive supervision and knowledge sharing: moderating roles of Islamic work ethic and learning goal orientation. Management Decision, 59(2), 205-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-08-2019-1069
Search via ReFindit
Knowles, C. (2015). Reflections on the decolonisation of knowledge in the strengthening postgraduate supervision course. Department of Higher Education and Training, RSA. (Nuffic) Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education.
Search via ReFindit
Laetitia, C.R. (2021). Relationships, power, and accountability: Reflections on transformative postgraduate supervision workshops at a South African University School of Public Health, 2014-2020. Innovation in Education and Teaching International, 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2021.1952888
Search via ReFindit
Louw, I., & Wood, L. (2018). Reconsidering postgraduate "supervision" from a participatory action learning and action research approach. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(4), 284-297. https://doi.org/10.20853/32-4-2562
Search via ReFindit
Manathunga, C. (2012). Supervisor watching supervisors: The deconstructive possibilities and tensions of team supervision. Australian Universities' Review, 54(1): 29-37.
Search via ReFindit
Masinde, M., & Coetzee, J. (2023). Modelling research productivity of university researchers using research incentives to crowd-in motivation. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 72(5), 1509-1530. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-12-2020-0669
Search via ReFindit
McFarlane, J. (2010). Group supervision: an appropriate way to guide postgraduate students? Acta Academica, 42(4), 148-170.
Search via ReFindit
Mhlahlo, A. (2020). Reflecting on supervision experiences: honours students' research projects in development studies at the Nelson Mandela University. South African Journal of Higher Education, 34(2), 164-176. https://doi.org/10.20853/34-2-3565
Search via ReFindit
Miladinovic, I., & Schefer-Wenzl, S. (2017). A highly scalable IoT architecture through network function virtualisation. Open Journal of Internet of Things (OJIOT), 3(1), 127-135.
Search via ReFindit
Moin, M. F., Wei, F., Khan, A. N., Ali, A., & Chang, S. C. (2022). Abusive supervision and job outcomes: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 35(3), 430-440. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-05-2020-0132
Search via ReFindit
Mojica, E. R. (2022). Mentoring Undergraduate Research in Different College/University Settings. African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies, 4(si1), 57-67. https://doi.org/10.51415/ajims.v4i1.1027
Search via ReFindit
Nash, C. (2021). Improving mentorship and supervision during COVID-19 to reduce graduate student anxiety and depression aided by an online commercial platform narrative research group. Challenges, 12(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe12010011
Search via ReFindit
Nelson, L. K. (2019). To measure meaning in big data, do not give me a map; provide me with transparency and reproducibility. Sociological Methodology, 49(1), 139-143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081175019863783
Search via ReFindit
Neupane Bastola, M., & Hu, G. (2021). Supervisory feedback across disciplines: Does it meet students' expectations? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(3), 407-423. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1780562
Search via ReFindit
Ngulube, P. (2021). Postgraduate supervision practices in education research and creating opportunities for knowledge sharing. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 79(2), 255-272. https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/21.79.255
Search via ReFindit
Nkoane, M. M. (2014). Revisiting pedagogic practices: A case for sustainable learning environments for postgraduate supervision studies: Part 1: Exploration of the critical relationship between higher education and the development of democracy in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher Education, 28(3), 697-706.
Search via ReFindit
O'Donoghue, K., & Engelbrecht, L. (Eds.). (2021). The Routledge International Handbook of Social Work Supervision. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429285943
Search via ReFindit
Phillips, E., & Johnson, C. (2022). Ebook: How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors 7e. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Search via ReFindit
Powell, W. W., & Snellman, K. (2004). The knowledge economy. Annu. Rev. Sociol., 30, 199-220. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100037
Search via ReFindit
Roach, A., Christensen, B. K., & Rieger, E. (2019). The essential ingredients of research supervision: A discrete-choice experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(7), 1243. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000322
Search via ReFindit
Throne, R., & Bourke, B. (2022). Online research supervisor engagement: Fostering graduate student researcher positionality. In Research Anthology on Doctoral Student Professional Development (pp. 398-412). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-5602-6.ch026
Search via ReFindit
van Rooij, E., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & Jansen, E. (2021). Factors influencing PhD candidates' success: the importance of PhD project characteristics. Studies in Continuing Education, 43(1), 48-67. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2019.1652158
Search via ReFindit
Walter Sisulu University. (2019). Postgraduate Research Guide. https://www.wsu.ac.za/
Search via ReFindit
Walter Sisulu University. (2020). Walter Sisulu University Higher Degrees Policy. https://www.wsu.ac.za/
Search via ReFindit
Watts, J. H. (2010). Team supervision of the doctorate: Managing roles, relationships, and contradictions. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(3), 335-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562511003740908
Search via ReFindit
Wilmot, K. (2022). 'Fail early and fail fast': the value of group supervision for doctoral candidates. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(6), 2108-2121. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1969543
Search via ReFindit
Zaheer, M., & Munir, S. (2020). Research supervision in distance learning: issues and challenges. Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, 15(1), 131-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAOUJ-01-2020-0003
Search via ReFindit
RSS 1.0