Project sponsorship and community learning

1
Project sponsorship and community learning

• Professor Rachel Parker
• Faculty of Business

2
Project sponsors communicate

• Shared expectations
• Frequency of meetings
• Nature and extent of feedback (ongoing)
• Goals and timelines for thesis tasks (ongoing)
• Developmental opportunities (conferences,
  publishing)
• Principles of co-authorship
• Skills gaps and training opportunities

3
Project sponsors provides structure in the early
stages

• Assistance with reading focused, productive
• Development of skills in analysis and synthesis
• Clarifying topic fit with expertise and research
  strengths

4
Project sponsors provide feedback

• Substantive advice on theory (causal
  explanations) and method
• Advice on writing
• How to structure a thesis
• How to write for different outlets (journals)
• Advice on oral presentations
• Deep and timely
• Written

5
Project sponsors monitor progress

• Regular meetings
• Timelines observed
• Use annual reports
• Monitor not just thesis progress but capabilities
  development
• Confront impediments (personal problems)

6
Project sponsors can provide access to a
community context for learning

• Central role of supervisor as expert in
  traditional model
• Expectations of supervision are too high?
• An open / community approach to learning as a
  means of supplementing the student-supervisor
  relationship

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Case study 1APAI

• CI of large ARC linkage project
• Two PhDs focused on different aspects of topic
• PhDs work as RAs conducting research at industry
  partner offices
• Cross-institutional supervision
• Regular independent student meetings
• Regular workshops with industry partners
• Regular project meetings
• Each student is engaged in coursework methods
  training has a conference/publishing plan

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Advantages of Case Study 1

• Integration (with current work of supervisors)
• Students learn in multiple sites
• 2 universities
• 3 industry partners
• Project workshops
• Project meetings
• Academic conferences
• Coursework training
• Project team (including academics RAs)
• Student cohort

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Case study 2A scholarly writing group

• Learn about writing through its practice in a
  group context
• Groups of 4 meeting fortnightly over 12 weeks
• Work on scholarly writing project
• Self-identify project and deadlines
• Maintain reflective journal
• Review each others work
• Receive feedback and discuss response
• Incorporate feedback

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Case Study 2 Weekly Program

• Meeting 1 rules agreed (including
  confidentiality, commitment), readings journal
  distributed
• Meeting 2 reflections on features of good
  scholarly writing, themselves as scholarly
  writers
• Meeting 3 evaluating scholarly writing
  generation of criteria for different types
• Meeting 4 progress on projects, problems
• Meeting 5 workshop on giving and receiving
  feedback (expectations and fears)
• Meeting 6 discussion of insights gained from
  reviewers comments and the way comments would be
  incorporated

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Case Study 2Advantages and problems

• Participants reported positive characteristics of
  program were shared experience, confidence
  building, reduced isolation and solitude,
  improved networks
• Participants reported having learned about
  writing from both giving and receiving feedback
• Limitation many participants were undecided as
  to whether program improved their writing
  possibly because of short time frame of program
  indicating need for further learning opportunities

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Discussion questions

• How would you change your current supervision
  practice if you were to approach supervision as a
  project sponsor?
• How can you better integrate postgraduate
  research students into your current and future
  research agenda?
• Can you identify the range of learning sites from
  which your postgraduate students acquire skills
  and knowledge?
• If you were a project sponsor, adopting a
  community approach to learning, how would you
  approach the following supervision tasks
• Helping students to complete within 3-4 years?
• Helping students to become independent
  researchers?

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Learning sites

• Places
• University, industry (research partner, hospital,
  school)
• People
• Peer groups (postgraduate research seminars,
  learning groups)
• Other academics (academic seminars)
• Professional or industry partners
• Contexts
• Coursework training
• Academic or professional conferences, workshops,
  seminars

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Community approach to learning completion and
independence

• Diffusion of authority from teacher to group
  engage in practice, reflect on practice
• Completion
• Problem solving peer group to address obstacles
  to progress (including motivation)
• Independence
• Participation in practice research assistance,
  tutoring, seminar presentations
• Participation in community academics,
  experienced researchers, peers