Research and supervision

Providing Effective Research Supervision

Learning about Supervision

Research supervision is a core activity of academics, whether this relates to supervising small undergraduate projects, a masters' dissertation or a doctoral thesis. 

Providing good supervision takes time, effort, patience and understanding your students needs and abilities.  It requires you to make use of your subject discipline expertise and current research activities as well as being able to form and maintain a good working relationship with a student for what may be a considerable length of time. It also requires you to keep your student on track, both in terms of their scope and focus of research as well as the time available for them to complete their studies.

New and newly arrived academics are required to take the following  doctoral supervision workshops offered by CLEaR (the Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education). These workshops will help you to identify what is involved in being a good supervisor.

• Orientation to Doctoral Educational Policy and Process (mandatory for those new to supervision at the University of Auckland) takes you through the University of Auckland’s expectations, with the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies emphasising what is significant and available to answer your questions.
• Art of Graduate Supervision (mandatory for those new to supervision) focuses on practice within the supervisory relationship, pointing out potential sources of tension and suggesting ways to pre-empt possible difficulties.

See also: 

• Research support :Resources and links in support of research at the University

Tips, tools, checklists and policy

Have a look at the checklists and guidance on supervision at the Supervision   page provided by the University. Reading these documents and discussing them with colleagues and students will help you better understand the supervision process.

At the University of Auckland, the School of Graduate Studies has overall responsibility for the policies and procedures for graduate programmes, for the promotion of graduate study, and advocacy for graduate students. The University provides resources to support your supervision activities which include policies and procedures and tools and workshops to help you be a more effective supervisor. 

• University of Auckland Postgraduate Policies and Guidelines
  
  Masters and Doctoral policies and guidelines.
  

• University of Auckland School of Graduate Studies
  
  The School of Graduate Studies has overall responsibility for the development and oversight of policies and procedures for graduate programmes, and for the promotion of graduate study and advocacy for graduate students.

• University of Auckland Supervision Information and Tools
  
  A page of links and information about supervision - essential for getting started in postgraduate supervision.

Research support at the FMHS

• Research support : for staff on the FMHS intranet

Good Supervision

The Graduate School has this to say about supervision:

Supervision is the distinctive teaching and learning process used for graduate research education at The University of Auckland and most universities worldwide.

Supervision can be challenging for both supervisors and students. It is useful to review practice and try new techniques. Reflecting on what happens may help to bring to the surface differences between supervisor and student understandings and expectations, or to clarify thinking at critical moments in the process.

Research literature indicates that good communication is fundamental to supervision. It plays an important role in building trust and goodwill, and helps to prevent misunderstandings between supervisor and student. Good communication will ensure the effectiveness and enjoyment of supervision as well as the progress of the student's research. Communication skills are an aspect of our interpersonal functioning that can always be improved to meet the demands of different situations. In the early stages of supervision especially, regular meetings will help to establish effective communication.

Research supervision can be immensely rewarding for both supervisor and student, but it can equally be frustrating and dispiriting. Not all students will be appropriate for you to supervise and equally you will not be an appropriate supervisor for all students. You will need to know enough about the topic of research, research methods and current literature to be able to support the student effectively, you may need to involve another supervisor to support the student. Student learning styles, need for direction or support or even their personality will all impact on your decision to supervise and how well the relationship will work. Also consider your own workload, possible periods of study or absence and how many students you are supervising.

As with any professional activity, being prepared and undertaking professional development can help you be more effective, facilitate the supervisory process and enable your students to achieve their potential.