Engendering good supervision ethos

1
Engendering good supervision ethos
Project supervisors exert considerable influence
over the students assigned to them. A capable and
interested supervisor can help a student develop
very significantly, both academically and
personally. Projects is the place where students
get closest to staff and find out what academic
life is like. They will be turned on or off
further research by the experience with their
supervisor. The ethos in SoC should be of a
research apprenticeship incubating,
supportive, confidence-building,research is
fun. Role of a supervisor to guide the student
towards successful attainment of the module
learning outcomes and to help the student
achieve the best performance s/he is capable
of. Supervision is a teaching activity it can
be thought of under the following four headings.
All supervisors should be able to offer a good
standard of supervision in the first three areas,
inspirational supervisors will be rarer.
Inspirational
Procedural
Academic
Attitudinal
This is to do with administrative matters and
with guiding students through the Module
processes. For example Follows the module
procedures and processes Meets with the student
regularly Helps student plan and manage
time Helps student prepare for module
milestones Keeps records Is responsive to
communications from student Provides detailed
and timely feedback on written material Reports
problems to module leader
This is to do with developing in the Student the
generic skills associated with level 4 7
project work. For example Project planning and
management Problem-solving Academic
writing Critical thinking Literature
reviewing Plagiarism avoidance Choosing
appropriate research methods Data collection and
analysis
This is to do with the ethos and spirit of
project supervision in SoC. For
example Always welcoming Friendly but
formal Intellectually stimulating Interested in
student and project Puts students interests and
aspirations before their own Is generous in
giving ideas, making connections, suggesting
information sources Helps students find topic
that marries their interests with career
aspirations Sympathetic to competing
pressures through the project life cycle
This is to do with the less tangible but often
deeply influential qualities that a student can
pick up from an exemplary supervisor. For
example Professionalism Academic
integrity Honesty courtesy ethical
standards respect for the work and opinions of
others multidisciplinarity love of the subject
Alison Crerar 5/12/03