Guides on Postgraduate Issues: Series 1

  

   

The Guides on Postgraduate Issues are quick reference booklets, primarily for staff involved in postgraduate research, supervision, training and management, particularly at PhD level. Following my formal retirement, I am delighted that the Postgraduate Issues Network is continuing them as a new series published jointly with the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). Details of this second Series are available on the SRHE website. Below is a brief overview of the series as I set it up and the titles which I commissioned and edited.

    

Guides on postgraduate issuesThe series [Series 1] is a useful one, pitched just right in terms of scale and style. The writers manage to steer a course between being too directive and too bland, and the booklets are nicely written and attractively presented.

UK Council for Graduate Education Newsletter

About the series [Series 1]

The series is designed for supervisors, postgraduate tutors, heads of department, deans, members of committees on postgraduate and research matters, student union officers, technical and academically related staff - in fact anyone who in any way contributes to or is responsible for the support of postgraduate students. The Guides will also be useful for anyone involved in supervising projects at undergraduate level.

The Guides are short and practical handbooks which are designed to be helpful and easy to dip into. A range of alternative courses of action are presented, along with their pros and cons, and readers are left to make up their own minds about what is best for them in the light of the norms and requirements of their disciplines, departments and institutions, the needs of their students and their own personal predilections.

Considerable effort has gone into ensuring that Guides are as useful and relevant as possible. To this end, each one is peer reviewed to maintain standards.

Titles in the first series under the editorship of Professor Pat Cryer

No. 1. Supervising International Research Students by Eunice Okorocha

      ISBN 0946 376 01 8

No. 2. Handing Common Dilemmas in Supervision by Pat Cryer

      ISBN 0 946 376 02 6

No. 3. Developing Postgraduates' Key Skills edited by Pat Cryer (ten contributors from five institutions)

      ISBN 0 946 376 03 4

No. 4. Supervising Students on Industrial-based Projects* by Alan Smith and John Gilby

      ISBN 0 946 376 04 2

No. 5. Supervising Students from Public Sector Organisations* by Pam Denicolo

      ISBN 0 946 376 05 0

No. 6. Setting up Peer Mentoring with Postgraduate Research Students by Emma Coe and Carole Keeling

      ISBN 0 946 376 09 9

No. 7. Delivering Core Training for Postgraduate Research Students over the Web by Sue Clegg and Margaret Alexander

ISBN 0 946 376 09 9

*Guides 4 and 5 complement each other and together form a substantial part of a notional Guide which could be entitled Supervising Part-time Students or Supervising Students based outside Academia.

Obtaining Guides and further information

SRHE handles all administrative matters in connection with the Guides, which are not available through other retail outlets. Contact details are on its website.

Contents list of Guide 1: Supervising International Research Students

  • Foreword

  • Preface

  • About the author

  • Introduction to the Guide

  • Enrolling international students for postgraduate research

  • Recognising and dealing with common misunderstandings about the role of a supervisor

  • Recognising and dealing with undue demands

  • Recognising and dealing with misunderstandings due to differences in culture

  • Dealing with language problems

  • Helping students overcome problems associated with their religious beliefs and practices

  • Helping international students cope with prejudice and discrimination

  • Recommendations

  • Further reading

Contents list of Guide 2: Handing Common Dilemmas in Supervision

Foreword, Preface, About the author, Introduction

PART ONE: The Three Most Common Dilemmas

  • Originality versus conformity: How far should I encourage my students to aim for originality and how far for conformity? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • Control versus autonomy: To what extent should I guide students' work closely and to what extent should I give freedom for independent work? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • Copy editor versus guardian of standards: When 'passing' theses, what should be my balance between correcting spelling, style and grammar and dealing with academic and scholarly matters. Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

PART TWO: More Sources of Dilemma

  • On what basis should I make decisions about accepting and rejecting applicants for research degrees? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • What balance should I strike between informal chats with students and formally documented supervisions? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • To what extent should I advise students to plan in detail or in outline and in the short or long term? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • How far should I involve myself in students' personal problems? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • How should I handle students where language difficulties and cultural differences are interfering with the work? Extract available, but read the introduction to the extracts first.

  • How should I handle students who complain to me about other supervisors?

  • Where is the right balance between owning the work myself, sharing it and giving ownership to my students?

  • How far should I allow my students' work to stray outside my own area of expertise?

  • How should I handle suspected plagiarism and fraud?

  • What balance should I strike between working with students to help them impress examiners and remaining detached and impartial?

Further reading, Useful resources, Useful contacts

Contents list of Guide 3: Developing Postgraduates' Key Skills

  • Foreword

  • Preface

  • About the authors

  • Introduction

  • Developing key skills indirectly within a departmental research training programme

  • Helping students to identify and capitalise on the skills which they develop naturally in the process of their research degree programmes

  • Developing key skills through formative assessment

  • The 'National Graduate Schools Programme' of the UK Research Councils

  • Developing key skills through outdoor activities

  • Institution-wide provision to develop key skills

  • Reviewing the training and support available across an institution

    • Further reading

Contents list of Guide 4: Supervising Students on Industrial-based Projects

    Foreword, Preface, About the authors

  • Introduction

  • Why supervise a student working in industry?

  • Starting new partnerships

  • Agreeing projects

  • Recruiting and selecting students

  • Managing joint supervision

  • A structured approach

  • Handling remoteness

  • Handling conflicts of interest

  • Handling assumptions about flexibility

  • Handling assumptions about division of labour and responsibilities 

  • Concluding remarks

    • Useful contacts, Further reading

Contents list of Guide 5: Supervising Students from Public Sector Organisations

    Foreword, Preface, About the author, Introduction , Purpose of the Guide

  • Students from the public sector - identification of organisations and roles; potential research topics and their relevance 

  • Identifying potential students and developing their ideas towards research proposals - making contact with potential students; from a 'burning issue' to a project proposal 

  • Preparing to supervise a student from the public sector - similarities to traditional students; pertinent differences from traditional students 

  • Managing pervasive tensions in the supervision process - the pressures of change; flexibility and firm negotiated obligations; role and status issues; innovation and conformity; obtaining ethical consents 

  • Issues that arise at particular stages - the purposes of the research; the philosophy of the research; fieldwork issues - access to people and data; fieldwork issues - role conflict; sensitivity of outcomes; confidentiality 

  • Collaborative supervision - limiting problems by sharing expertise - extending familiar practices; contributions and benefits; roles, remits and meetings, the importance of foresight

  • Beyond the research process/ other issues for consideration - potential unforeseen effects on the student; dissemination of findings; potential unforeseen effects on the supervisor 

  • A cost-benefit analysis of supervising a student from the public sector   

  • Further reading 

Contents List for Guide 6: Setting up peer-mentoring with postgraduate research students

Foreword, Preface, About the authors

Part I: Theoretical Foundations

  • Peer mentoring for postgraduates: an overview
  • What this Guide does
  • Who the Guide is for
  • How to use the Guide
  • The benefits of peer mentoring for mentors
  • The benefits of peer mentoring for mentees
  • The benefits of peer mentoring for supervisors and other staff
  • The benefits of peer mentoring for departments and institutions
  • What peer mentoring involves for mentors
  • What peer mentoring involves for mentees
  • Costs and resources for a peer mentoring scheme

Part II: Implementation

  • Getting started
  • Getting agreements to run a scheme
  • Assigning responsibilities
  • Drawing up a network of professional support for mentors
  • Recruiting mentors
  • Training the mentors
  • Assigning mentors to students arrving after the start of the year
  • Letting the scheme progress
  • Assigning any newly arriving postgraduates to mentors
  • Setting up evaluations
  • Awarding the mentor certificates
  • Maintaining and developing the peer mentoring scheme

Websites, Further reading

Contents List for Guide 7

Foreword, Preface, About the authors

Part 1: About the Guide

  • What this Guide does

  • Who the Guide is for

  • How to use the Guide 

Part 2: General information on web-based education

  • What is web-based learning?

  • How effective is web-based learning educationally?

  • How should the training be designed?

  • What hardware do students need for access?

  • Which virtual learning environment/software tool?

  • What are the pros and cons of password protection? 

Part 3: Developing, running and maintaining web-based core training for research students 

  • Why deliver core training for research students over the web?

  • What is the student experience?

  • What are the first steps in preparing the material?

  • What are the staffing requirements?

  • What about staff training?

  • What about resourcing?

  • How should the students be prepared for the virtual environment?

  • How can the training be maintained and improved?

Part 4: Specific challenges and practical issues

Part 5: Further information - Useful websites, Further reading

More on this site for academic managers and training personnel

Frequently asked questions about training PhD supervisors | A full training programme | A single training event | Accreditation of training | Guides on postgraduate issues | SRHE Postgraduate Issues Network

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