Effective Supervision of HDR Candidates: Principles, Responsibilities, and Best Practices

1. Supervision of HDR (Higher Degree Research) Candidates is a complex teaching task; and like all teaching tasks, can be approached in a variety of ways depending on the personalities and individual requirements of candidates and supervisors and their discipline area/s. Nevertheless some common principles and responsibilities apply to all supervisory arrangements and practice. Supervision is a shared experience in which both the supervisor and the candidate have an intellectual investment. Supervisors must have the theoretical and practical expertise to offer the candidate proper supervision, an interest in the research project, and adequate time for supervision. Supervision also involves concern and a measure of pastoral care for the candidate. In the best cases, the relationship between the supervisor and the candidate develops during the candidature in a mutually supportive collegial fashion

2. A higher degree by research is awarded on the basis of supervised research that: • makes an original, significant and extensive contribution to knowledge and understanding in the relevant field of study (Doctor of Philosophy) • that makes an original, significant and extensive contribution to knowledge and understanding in the relevant field of study in the context of professional practice (Professional Doctorate) • presents the results of original research in a scholarship form demonstrating the Candidate’s knowledge of the research topic and the discipline/s it embraces (Masters Research) The supervisor’s role is to guide, advise and support HDR candidates to make this significant independent contribution in their own right. Supervisory teams provide tailored guidance and constructive feedback to HDR candidates in relation to the design, conduct and timely completion of the research; support in publications and dissemination of research findings; and advice on the acquisition of a range of research and other skills as appropriate to the discipline and the background of the candidate.

3. Primary supervisor The Primary Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that all administrative and regulatory requirements prescribed in iGRad and relevant Higher Degree by Research Policies and Procedures are met. A Primary Supervisor is responsible for sign off on behalf of the supervisory team via iGRad (the University’s online candidature management portal) when mandatory candidature requirements have been completed. A Primary Supervisor may or may not have an equal leadership role with other supervisor/s; and will not necessarily be the most experienced member of the supervisory team. In performing their duties, Primary Supervisors will take into account the views of the other Supervisors.

4. The Primary Supervisor is responsible for coordinating, communicating and managing the candidature, for guiding, directing and advancing the thesis and for ensuring that the Candidate is informed about the quality of the thesis. Primary responsibility for the overall project, research processes and the production of the thesis remains with the Primary Supervisor even where advice is sought from others about the thesis structure and content. The Primary Supervisor must be registered and suitably qualified to oversee the Candidate’s research project.

5. Supervisor-candidate relationship The supervisor-candidate relationship is important to the success of a candidate’s research journey and their overall research experience. It is essential that supervisors and candidates understand and establish needs, motives and expectations from the beginning: what is expected of each other; what a candidate can expect from others within the University; and the requirements of the degree as set out in University rules, policies, procedures, guidelines and codes of conduct. The supervisory team and candidate must establish (and regularly revisit and reaffirm) common understandings of: • key project aims; • key milestones; • proposed timetable; and • methods of working together

6. Supervisors and Candidates must: • treat each other fairly and reasonably and should respect the social and intellectual diversity of the University community; • not engage in, or tolerate, harassment and discrimination; • recognise that every supervisory relationship is unique and will reflect the particular needs, preferences and work styles of those involved; • recognise that intellectual and practical input from other supervisors is necessary and desirable, and is to be encouraged; and • exercise professional discretion in their relationship, maintaining confidentiality where appropriate.

7. In addition to the primary relationships a supervisor will have with their candidate/s and fellow supervisors on the supervisory team, other important relationships must be, maintained with: • Graduate Research Coordinators; • Heads of Schools; • industry partners; and • professional associations as appropriate.

8. Supervisors are collectively and individually responsible for: 1. Supporting the Candidate to develop their research project so that it is of the quality and standard required for the qualifications sought by ensuring: evaluation of the research proposal scope is undertaken with the candidate and during confirmation processes; • they have the necessary theoretical, methodological and disciplinary knowledge to support the candidate’s research; • advice and support are given about the typical stages and management of the research project including confirmation, ethics and data collection and any additional training required; • inadequate progress in the research project is brought to the candidate’s attention and documented and the candidate is given the opportunity to improve the pace and/or quality of research; and • they facilitate discussions about the necessary resources and minimum infrastructure, and approval of same, with the Head of School or nominee.

9. 2. Showing that the research meets the standards of the Australian Code of Responsible Conduct of Research by ensuring that: appropriate ethics approval is sought and granted; • the candidate’s research data and materials are held with appropriate security; • ethical practices are maintained throughout the candidate’s research project; and • the candidate is directed to key and binding documents relating to ethics, responsible research, authorship, intellectual property and publishing.

10. 3. Providing guidance of the thesis by ensuring: the candidate is directed to appropriate literature and other research materials; • milestone meeting outcomes are recorded in a manner that facilitates the continuing progress of the candidate (e.g. email records); • inadequate progress in written work is brought to the candidate’s attention and documented and the candidate is given the opportunity to improve the pace and/or quality of written work; • timely feedback is given on written work, focusing on the content and style of the thesis drafts and the candidate is informed about the quality of the thesis; • the candidate understands the procedures for the preparation, submission and examination of the thesis or creative equivalent as per the Higher Degree by Research Thesis Preparation, Submission and Examination Policy and Procedure.

11. 4. The candidate gaining the necessary generic attributes and completes within the maximum degree period by: developing in the Candidate a sense of professional identity as a researcher and a scholar; • ensuring performance of the candidate is monitored carefully relative to the standard required for the degree and milestones laid out in iGRad; • facilitating the candidate’s development of skills, capacities and attributes consistent with the AQF learning outcomes specified for Level 9 (Masters) and Level 10 (Doctoral) qualifications; • ensuring Candidates are assisted to develop solutions to problems or issues as they are identified; • ensuring candidates are encouraged to participate in research and skilling activities within available financial means; and • inducting candidates into scholarly, research and professional communities and activities, such as conference presentations and writing research publications.

12. 5. maintaining high level research training and mentoring skills by ensuring they: • maintain up-to-date knowledge concerning graduate research policies and candidature; • follow graduate research policies and provide accurate information as required during supervision to the Head of School, the Graduate Research Coordinator and the Dean of Graduate Research as required • demonstrate a commitment to professional development in their supervisory practice; and • maintain engagement in research theory and practice in their field. 6. for creating and promoting inclusive research training environments for candidates by being aware of, and complying with, the University’s commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity; • fostering an inclusive and vibrant culture for candidates that respects and values diversity; • ensuring research training practices and environments are free from discrimination and harassment; and • Recognising diversity and ensuring the research training and social and cultural environment of the School enables and supports the participation of all students; including those experiencing disadvantage.

13. Supervisor professional development completion of an approved external supervisor training workshop; • completion of the Equal Opportunity on-line training program: Fair Play on Campus; • participation in the Graduate Research Conference in an academic capacity i.e. as a judge of poster defences; • delivery of elements of Graduate Certificate in Research core units; • completion of a recognised University training module; • attendance at two sessions of the Supervisor Colloquium series; • delivery by the author of a published paper on supervision at a relevant conference or within the University; • serving as a Graduate Research Coordinator; • serving as a panel member on a supervisor colloquium; or • organising a supervisor workshop.

14. Higher Degree by Research Candidates are responsible for: • undertaking research activity as agreed with their Primary and Co-Supervisors related to their research project; • to work in collaboration with their Supervisors to produce a thesis which fulfils the relevant degree requirements and is presentable according to the accepted practices of the University; • becoming familiar with the rules and expectations as set out in the University Rules, Policies, Procedures and Guidelines relevant to Higher Degrees by Research; • being proactive in setting up meetings with their Supervisory team and individual supervisors (either face to face, or using electronic media); becoming independent researchers with supervisory guidance resulting in the self-regulation of research activity;

15. • organising regular formal and informal reviews of progress with supervisors; • providing formal progress reports as required, through the Primary Supervisor, at periods specified by the University; • research quality and practices, safety, personal ethical responsibility; • developing a research budget in consultation with the supervisor; • acquiring information about relevant research funding schemes; • being an active participant in the research life of their School and University. READ Student perception of research supervision

16. Research-led teaching has a number of strands.  A teacher can engage in research-led teaching in the following ways: • Make your students aware of faculty research and its importance • Include courses in your curriculum on research skills • Facilitate your students to engage in research projects • Design learning activities around research issues • Engage yourself in research on learning and teaching or student learning • READ Appraisal of research led teaching

18. A number of key features of interface between scholarly and research activity and learning and teaching: • The circular structure was intended to symbolise the all encompassing nature of the relationship. • The four quadrants were intended to indicate that all types of research activity whether it be primary research, applied or action research, creative research or scholarly activity were valued equally. • The fact that the various types of research activity cut across the ‘division’ between subject and pedagogical research symbolised the equality of status accorded to both. • The use of concentric circles with learning and teaching at the heart of the diagram indicated its central importance within the institution, and the use of arrows between the quadrants stressed the impact of subject or pedagogic research on learning and teaching.

19. Research informed supervisory training Skills include: • Playing an appropriate part in ensuring that the student, the supervisor, supervisory team and research topic are suitably matched. • Guiding the student in developing a research proposal. • Agreeing an appropriate research supervisory team and process. • Using an appropriate range of teaching and supervisory skills. • Providing appropriate support on academic and pastoral issues. • Using an appropriate range of methods to monitor and assess. • Reflecting on their own practice, assessing and planning for their future needs.

20. The node of values includes commitment to/concern for: • Student development and achievement. • Student progress towards independence. • Ethical issues. • Equal opportunities. • One’s own scholarship, academic excellence and integrity. • Working with and learning from colleagues. • Continuing reflection on one’s own professional practice.

21. Collecting data The Postgraduate Certificate is assessed primarily by portfolio which can include: • Reports from shadowing of and interviews with experienced staff (and possibly students). • Appropriate reading, plus other items as appropriate. • Evidence of grasp of regulations. • Evidence of postgraduate supervision e.g. an account of a session shadowing a supervision with critical analysis

22. This evidence can be: • Registration form, showing division of duties among supervisory team such as the relationship of all individuals, indicating respective responsibilities and how the team will interrelate. • Annual report forms through to upgrade and examination. • Supervision Record Sheets (showing attendance at supervisions, etc). • Short CV showing expertise in relation to disciplines and transferable skills. • Email correspondence with students where this relates to knowledge, skills or values.

23. • Slides from PowerPoints, etc, demonstrating input to presentations. • Records of supervisory sessions. • Email correspondence with tutors. • Paperwork relating to committee participation. • Solicited references – to be used sparingly. • Documented observations from shadowing experienced staff. • Quotations from interviews with staff and students. • One minute video or audio clips. • Extracts from literature

24. What is feedback? Academic feedback may be defined simply as the process of staff providing written and/or verbal constructive, encouraging comments to students on the quality and quantity of their submitted work. The comments should include any corrections and detail on how the work could have been improved, so the students can act positively and develop future work. Feedback should also clarify the mark or grade awarded for the work

25. Feedback should: • Be for learning, not just of learning • Be a continuous process • Be timely • Relate to clear criteria • Be constructive • Be legible and clear • Be provided on exams • Include self-assessment and peer-to-peer feedback • Be accessible to all students • Be flexible and suited to students’ needs

26. M2M: the how M2M seeks to deconvolute the students’ understanding of selected maladies (diseases) to develop a way of thinking about any disease. Students are led through an exploration of the key molecules associated with diseases, where the module champions (leaders) and their fellow lecturers describe the development of current treatments and look at the possibilities for future treatments that target relevant molecules, allowing students to develop a thought The M2M subject touches on elements of many of the majors that students are undertaking, while remaining relevant to the class as a whole in its holistic approach to the understanding of disease. The topics and methods of presentation, e.g. patient interviews, were selected to complement rather than overlap the teaching and learning provided in the BBiomed majors

27. The continuing belief that both teaching and research are important elements of academic work has led a number of higher-education researchers to advocate the need for developing explicit links between research and teaching in university policies and practices (Jenkins & Zetter 2003; Brew 2003). However, Robertson & Bond (2001, 2005) found that disciplinary understanding of knowledge appears to influence whether academics believe that research can be integrated with undergraduate teaching. Teaching-research links in undergraduate teaching appear less likely in disciplines where knowledge tends to be viewed as hierarchical and cumulative (such as the physical sciences), than in those with more interpretive approaches

28. The two research-led education approaches involved the lecturer’s research providing the basis for an innovative case-study assessment activity, and (2) students conducting a research-based learning project in a practical business context. These approaches were intended to be relevant to a broad range of learning goals and student aspirations as future researchers and business practitioners.

29. Principles to guide implementation of research-led teaching. Principle Action by university Principle 1 The university acknowledges that despite the current research findings that suggest a negligible relationship between teaching outcomes and research outcomes that it nonetheless supports strengthening the links between research and teaching across the university. Principle 2 The university encourages and resources faculties and discipline areas to develop an evidence base to provide exemplars of research-led teaching. Principle 3 The university accepts that the relationship between research and teaching is complex and dependent upon disciplinary approaches to knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Principle 4 The university acknowledges there is no ‘one best way’ to embed research-led teaching across all faculties, departments and/or disciplines.

30. Activists like to ‘do’ in order to learn. They don’t care much • for reading or looking at their notes. • If you are an 'Activist Learner', revision activities that may suit you • are such things as: • Writing practice essays or exam questions (and you will almost certainly find that your tutor or teacher will be delighted to mark your practice essays for you if you ask them nicely). This will also work for kinaesthetic learners. • Summarising notes in the form of mind maps or other memory-jogging diagrams. There is more about mind-mapping and other picture techniques on our page on Creative Thinking that will work for visual learners. • Taking part in a group discussion or debate on the subject that allows you to explore the ideas and subject with other people, which will be helpful for auditory learners. • Especially if you’re revising a subject like English Literature where you’re studying a play or poem, walking around the room reading it aloud, or acting it out, either alone or with a friend, can be a great way of getting parts of it to stick in your mind

31. Revision for Pragmatists • Pragmatists, more than any other group, are interested in what works. That’s • the case for the subject that they’re learning, but it’s also the case for the style • of learning too. • One good way for pragmatists to revise is to try to find out what the exam will • be like, and then prepare for that. • If you are a 'Pragmatist Learner', revision activities that may suit you are such • things as: • Working through old exam questions (your teacher or tutor will probably be • happy to mark them or comment on them for you). • Working out what topics might come up in the exam, based in previous years’ • papers, and preparing practice answers for those topics.

32. If you’re preparing for language examinations, you might want to prepare for your oral exams out loud by speaking your answers, particularly if you’re an auditory learner. • If you’re going to have a five-minute conversation, for example, make sure that you have enough to say on each possible topic to last the five minutes. • Again if you’re an auditory learner, arrange some discussion groups on particular topics that you think might come up and debate them with friends. • Case-based learning can also be a useful way to check whether you’ve understood the principles and are applying them sensibly in practice, which will appeal to pragmatists

33. Revision for Reflectors • Reflectors like to read, and think, and read some more. They like to • reflect on their experiences and fit things together. • More than any other type of learner, a reflector staring out of the • window may still be working! • If you are a 'Reflector Learner', revision activities that may suit you • are such things as: • Reading over notes and textbooks, and thinking about the content. • Writing practice essays or exam questions, but only on subjects on which you’ve already done some reading. • Summarising your notes and thoughts into a page, perhaps as a mind-map or similar picture to show yourself that you have consolidated your learning. Again, our page on Creative Thinking gives more information about this.

34. Revision for Theorists • Theorists like to go back to first principles and really understand the • theoretical framework into which their work fits. • If you are a 'Theorist Learner', revision activities that may suit you • are such things as: • Additional research around a subject to explore theoretical background and set your work in better context. Although this sounds like making work, it will make you, as a theorist, feel more comfortable that you understand the subject and can work out the answers from first principles if necessary. • Creating structured notes that fit everything together logically, which may help you to build the connections in your mind. Mind-mapping may be a helpful technique for this. • Building your own models, or applying known models to case studies as practice for exams. • Discussion groups may be a helpful way to work through the application of theories with like-minded colleagues. Asking a tutor to facilitate will ensure a more practical and less wholly theoretical focus

35. Revising Different Subjects Effectively Some subjects lend themselves much more to certain revision styles. For example, nobody has yet come up with an effective substitute for practising mathematics problems, or reading your English Literature set texts carefully. There are, however, always ways to tailor your learning, such as getting a group of friends together to act out your English Literature play and discuss its meaning, or recite your poems to each other to learn them for useful quotation later. Experimenting with lots of different options will both keep you interested, and Also help you find the method(s) that work best for you for different subjects.