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Research Methods

Research Methods. Supervision. Advisor vs. Supervisor. Supervisor Identified in your offer letter. The faculty member(s) that helps get you through your program Long-term commitment to you Advisor A faculty member who helps you find a supervisor 1 term or less. What do Professors Want?.

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Research Methods

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  1. Research Methods Supervision

  2. Advisor vs. Supervisor • Supervisor • Identified in your offer letter. • The faculty member(s) that helps get you through your program • Long-term commitment to you • Advisor • A faculty member who helps you find a supervisor • 1 term or less

  3. What do Professors Want? • Some characteristics: • Most have over10 years of post-secondary education • Experts in their fields • the field may be very small • Were once grad students • They have forgotten this • Pressure to • publish new research • teach • provide service • They want to supervise you! • They may not know you exist.

  4. If you didn’t exist they could not become…

  5. What are they looking for in grad students?

  6. What is expected of Graduate Students? • devote the necessary time and energy to complete their academic requirements • within the expected time frame, • while adhering to university policies and • program guidelines. • By agreeing to work with a supervisor, graduate students agree • to show their supervisor respect, • seek their advice and give it serious consideration, and • seek additional guidance from their supervisory committee or program director as needed.

  7. Strategies to find a supervisor

  8. On Supervision • You need it! • Inspirational statement • The supervisory relationship is the foundation of graduate education • particularly in a doctoral program. • Cautionary statement • The supervisory relationship can be the source of many of the problems in graduate education

  9. What is expected of Supervisors? • The big ones • Guide your development and intellectual growth • Assist you to complete the program successfully • Others • Assess your progress • Determine your suitability to continue • Help select and Chair your thesis supervisory committee • Work with you to select appropriate courses • Help you select a research topic • Guide your research effort • Guide you in the preparation of your thesis arguments in document form • Sit on your examination committee

  10. Knowing your supervisor • Helpful characteristics • Funded research program(s)? • Expertise is something you are interested in • Available • Compatible • Plays well with others • Track-record of success

  11. Informal Roles of a Supervisor • Connection Maker • Industry contacts, grants, local resources • Sounding Board • Provider of the “cold light of day” • Snapper of whips • Deadlines, progress, direction • Informal Cheer Leader • Saying the right things at the right time

  12. The Supervisory Committee • meets regularly with you • reviews your thesis proposal • recommends its approval to the Program Director • reviews your progress on the thesis at least once a term • evaluates a thesis readiness to be examined • makes a recommendation to the Program Director regarding a date for the defence; • ensures that a copy of the student’s thesis is sent to each member of the student’s Examining Committee • as far as possible in advance of a scheduled oral examination, but no less than three weeks prior to the date scheduled.

  13. Identifying Expectations • Need clear, shared expectations with your supervisor. • Set timelines for each stage of work. • Identify preferred methods of communication. • Discuss intellectual property issues. • Identify publication expectations, and • other matters.

  14. Know Your Deadlines • Who knows them • http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/dates/` • Your supervisor knows few of them • The GPD knows some of them • The GPA knows all of them • Some deadlines are critical • Grant applications • Intent s to apply for funding • Grades • Some are Machiavellian • Defence dates • YSGS dates • Qualifying Examination Dates

  15. When Problems Arise • Resolve problems when they are small • “problem getting bigger” succession • Supervisor • Grad Program Administrator • Grad Program Director • School of Graduate Studies Functionary • Dean of Graduate Studies

  16. Guiding Principles from Canadian Association of Graduate Studies • Identify supervisors in a timely fashion • Establish the supervisory committee early • Expectations, roles and responsibilities made clear early • Supervisor must be available and monitor progress with feedback • Maintain a professional relationship • Intellectual debate and challenging of ideas should be encouraged • Supervisors should be mentors • Intellectual property and Authorship issues should be made clear early • Resolve conflicts at the lowest level possible and move on • Continuity is important • Alternate supervision should be available • Students have a substantial responsibility for managing themselves

  17. Homework • Read the following article: • “How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors” by Marie desJardins (http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/advice1.html) • Class Assignment 1: Due next week • Write a 1 paragraph description of who you are that is syntactically and semantically correct. Also explain why you want to be a graduate student. Please include other goals if you can.

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