scholarly journals Student-supervisor-university expectation alignment in the undergraduate engineering thesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Brad Stappenbelt ◽  
Abheek Basu
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scale ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Research Supervision ◽  
Undergraduate Thesis

Given the lack of student research experience, the undergraduate thesis is necessarily focussed primarily on development of research skills (i.e. it is process oriented). Since postgraduate supervision is research output focussed, the lessons learnt from this field are not always directly transferable. In contrast to the vast body of work in the field of doctoral research supervision, there exists a dearth of literature on undergraduate dissertation supervision. To address this shortcoming, the present study examined the alignment of university, supervisor and student expectations regarding responsibilities in the undergraduate engineering thesis. University expectations, having undergone rigorous review, outline the sound pedagogical practice that should be applied to undergraduate supervision. Expectations of academic staff supervisors and thesis students were obtained through the use of survey tools and post-survey discussions. The surveys used in the present study were adapted from the Role Perceptions Rating Scale (RPRS). Alignment between student and university expectations regarding undergraduate thesis responsibilities in the present study was generally poor. The discrepancy between supervisor and university expectations was even greater, with academic staff generally assuming the bulk of the responsibility for many core thesis tasks. Post-survey discussion indicated that the driver for this behaviour were supervisor expectations that that undergraduate thesis research would contribute to publications. Taking primary responsibility for core thesis tasks away from the student, although improving the likelihood of successful research output, diminishes the ability for an accurate assessment of adequate academic performance. The learning that is intended to result from the undergraduate thesis is devalued when research outcomes are prioritised over research process.

Research and Supervision

2017 ◽  
pp. 23-80
Keyword(s):  
Research Process ◽  
Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Doctoral Studies ◽  
Doctoral Level ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Research Supervision ◽  
The Social

Doctoral studies are often viewed as a “journey”, with expectations that students will be transformed into independent scholars. Various strategies and approaches are taken to this end, as discussed in Chapter 1. The research performed in doctoral studies is considered by many as the hallmark of such a terminal degree, a type of “rite of passage” for the rest of a scholar's career. This chapter reviews types of research areas, provides a background to mentorship, and engaged scholarship first introduced in research in the social sciences, arts and humanities. The context of research supervision in CS and IT is addressed, and a generic research process is elaborated, with consideration to developing critical thinking in, and imparting knowledge to, a research candidate. Some measures for doctoral research supervision are presented, as well as doctoral level research norms. Frameworks for research supervision are examined, and what is regarded to be successful supervision. Lastly some trends that have emerged in research supervision are reviewed.

Doctoral Research Supervision

2016 ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
Margaret E. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Doctoral Degree ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Research Supervision ◽  
Supervision Strategies

Supervisors generally recognize the complex capacities needed to complete the doctoral degree. However, pressures from management practices in universities for rapid completions have time-compressed the leisurely research experience of a bygone intellectual age. The need for focused supervision strategies that bridge candidate and supervisor expectations seems clear. At the same time articulating supervision “pedagogies” poses a philosophical and theoretical conundrum. Whilst supervision expertise can be intuitive, and often based on personal experience, the research candidate will have different lived experiences. Their respective world views can be dialectically opposed to that of their supervisor with the decision making landscapes caught in subjectivities, stubbornness and non-recognition of “other.” Paradigmatic shifts can be an integral part of the development process. In the context of increasing internationalization of the doctoral experience “downunder” these arguments are cause for reflection on how supervisors and candidates can deepen their philosophical, and meaning-making constructs of “knowing,” and seek transformative intellectual positions.

Learning through a Reunion of Mind-Body-Emotion-Spirits

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-431
Author(s):  
Chizuru Nobe-Ghelani
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Critical Qualitative Research

While reflexivity has been taken up as an important concept in critical qualitative research, there are few texts that illustrate explicit approaches to practicing reflexivity. Drawing on my doctoral research experience, this article fills this gap and explores how the practice of mindfulness may guide us to a rich engagement with reflexivity during the critical qualitative research process, in particular within the context of interactions with research participants. More specifically, mindfulness is put forth as a practice to invite an embodied and holistic form of learning that goes beyond cognitive knowing. I argue that a mindfulness-based reflexivity has the potential to open up a space to learn from the messiness and discomfort experienced in the research process and deepen our understanding about the operation of power relations in critical qualitative research and beyond.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Research Capacity of the Centers for Health Development, Philippine Department of Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carmen C. Tolabing ◽  
Maylin C. Palatino
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scale ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Management ◽  
Health Development ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Capacity Level

Background. In 2012, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) established the Health Systems Research Management (HSRM). One of the HSRM components is increasing the research capacity of the Centers for Health Development (CHD) which is the regional office of the DOH. Objective. To determine the research capacity of CHDs and to describe research input, research process, and research output. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaire with the Regional Director as the CHD respondent. The research capacity level was determined using rating scale measurement. Based on the ratings, each CHD was assigned a score with the corresponding capacity level: excellent (85-100%); good (70-84%); fair (51-69%); poor (<50%). Results. Fourteen (82%) of the 17 CHDs participated in the study. The institutional capacity level of the CHDs was poor in the areas of research management (43.0%) and in structure/ organization/ monitoring/ evaluation (30.0%), while it was fair in the area of resource mobilization (54.5%). Research input, research process, and research output were found to be lacking. Conclusion. The capacity level of the CHDs in the various aspects of institutional research ranged from poor to fair. Specific areas under research input, research process, and research output that need improvement were identified which can be used as benchmark for capacity-building activities and as information-base against which the effectiveness of these activities in the CHDs can be evaluated.

Students' Independent Professional Activity in Pedagogical Practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-58
Author(s):  
Aina Strode
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Criteria And Indicators ◽  
Study Process

Students' Independent Professional Activity in Pedagogical PracticeThe topicality of the research is determined by the need for changes in higher education concerned with implementing the principles of sustainable education. The article focuses on teacher training, highlighting the teacher's profession as an attractive choice of one's career that permits to ensure the development of general and professional skills and an opportunity for new specialists to align with the labour market. The empirical study of students' understanding of their professional activity and of the conditions for its formation is conducted by applying structured interviews (of practice supervisors, students, academic staff); students and experts' questionnaire. Comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative data and triangulation were used in case studies. As a result, a framework of pedagogical practice organisation has been created in order to form students' independent professional activity. The criteria and indicators of independent professional activity have been formulated and suggestions for designers of study programmes and organisers of the study process have been provided.

LEGAL RESEARCH AT AHMAD IBRAHIM KULLIYYAH OF LAWS, INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA: TRENDS AND POLICIES

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hunud Abia Kadouf ◽  
Umar Aimhanosi Oseini ◽  
Ainul Jaria Maidin
Keyword(s):  
Research Output ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Institution ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
The Status

The primary function of Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Laws, at the very beginning of its inception, was that of teaching civil law and Sharî’ah subjects. As it matured, its vision has been varied from teaching to that of research with the aim of attaining the status of a full research institution that provides both quality research and best legal education in the region. Similar to other institutions of higher education in Malaysia, the responsibility of research is a shared function of both graduate students and the academic staff. The research output, on the part of the students is mostly composed of either Master Dissertations or PhD Theses. The academic members of the Faculty, however, are involved either in direct research, individually or jointly, supervision, and publications of their findings. By investigating and analyzing factors influencing research activities at AIKOL in the past twenty years, the researchers will be able to identify the general trends and development of research as it unfolded over years. The researchers hope that the policymakers, at both Faculty and University levels, will use the findings to improve research quality by boldly addressing the problems hampering research progress at AIKOL.

scholarly journals Mixed Methods Research in Developing Country Contexts: Lessons From Field Research in Six Countries Across Africa and the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
pp. 155868982110328
Author(s):  
Jamelia Harris
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
The Caribbean

Mixed methods research in developing countries has been increasing since the turn of the century. Given this, there is need to consolidate insights for future researchers. This article contributes to the methodological literature by exploring how cultural factors and logistical challenges in developing contexts interplay with mixed methods research design and implementation. Insights are based on the author’s research experience of using mixed methods in six projects across three African and three Caribbean countries. Three lessons are provided to aid researchers using mixed methods working in developing countries. First, cultural factors call for more reflexivity. Second, adopting a pragmatic research paradigm is necessary. And third, the research process should be iterative and adaptive.

EU-China Student and Academic Staff Mobility: Present Situation and Future Developments

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Mathou ◽  
Jin Yan
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Comprehensive Information

Abstract The objective of this study was to provide comprehensive information about student and academic staff mobility between the European Union (EU) and China as well as the main strategies and policies in place to promote mobility. Based on quantitative and qualitative data provided by national authorities and various stakeholders consulted throughout the research process, the study aimed at taking stock of the situation and identifying trends regarding EU-China learning mobility over the past ten years. It also aimed at drawing recommendations to improve current and future mobility actions between the two regions.

scholarly journals Enhancing the roles of information and communication technologies in doctoral research processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Stein ◽  
Kwong Nui Sim
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Doctoral Study ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
The People ◽  
Information And Communication

Abstract While information and communication technologies (ICT) are prominent in educational practices at most levels of formal learning, there is relatively little known about the skills and understandings that underlie their effective and efficient use in research higher degree settings. This project aimed to identify doctoral supervisors’ and students’ perceptions of their roles in using ICT. Data were gathered through participative drawing and individual discussion sessions. Participants included 11 students and two supervisors from two New Zealand universities. Focus of the thematic analysis was on the views expressed by students about their ideas, practices and beliefs, in relation to their drawings. The major finding was that individuals hold assumptions and expectations about ICT and their use; they make judgements and take action based on those expectations and assumptions. Knowing about ICT and knowing about research processes separately form only part of the work of doctoral study. Just as supervision cannot be considered independently of the research project and the student involved, ICT skills and the use of ICT cannot be considered in the absence of the people and the project. What is more important in terms of facilitating the doctoral research process is students getting their “flow” right. This indicates a need to provide explicit support to enable students to embed ICT within their own research processes.

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