Global Utilities

La Trobe University
Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

Postgraduate supervision

La Trobe University has well set out guidelines and resources for both candidates and supervisors. These can be found on the Research and Graduate Studies Office.

Below are several sections containing descriptions of strategies which might be useful in the supervision of research students. They were developed from the following sources.

Useful books and websites

Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) (2005) Code of Practice Universities and their Students: Principles for the Provision of Education by Australian Universities,
Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Becher, T. (1989) Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. SRHE and Open University Press, Milton Keynes.

Bowen, W.G. & Rudenstine, L.N. (1992). In Pursuit of the PhD. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Connell, R. (1985) How to supervise a PhD, The Australian Universities' Review 28, 38-41.

Conrad, L. (Ed.). (1994) Developing as Researchers. Brisbane: Griffith Institute for Higher Education, Griffith University.

Websites for students

Encouraging Writing

Tasks which Encourage Writing

Annotated bibliographies, previews, conference reports, journals, and reading logs are all tasks that could be used to encourage your students to develop and maintain writing as a habit. Some supervisors advise their student to write 500 words each day. Sharing these smaller pieces and improving them by some (limited) editing gets students into the frame of mind that writing is useful for working out ideas, recording stages of development and does not have to be finished or polished in order to fulfil a purpose. Joint conference papers or articles for journals can be used as an introduction to scholarly writing: the supervisor leading the writing process, the student providing most of the data. If these tasks are requested early in the candidature, major problems with writing can be pinpointed before they become mixed up with the expression of the substance of the thesis. Developing the craft of writing can be addressed as a separate issue.

Discussing the Purposes of Writing

Both supervisor and student might benefit from discussions about the purpose writing actually serves. Why is a thesis necessary, what is its role? How do the skills of writing relate to the value of the thesis? Emphasise that theses communicate original ideas so that people can understand and use them. For that to be possible the writing needs to be clear. The thesis transfers the author’s ideas to the minds of an audience.

Prioritising Writing Tasks

Writing tasks that go into a thesis are hierarchically structured. An overall focus and coherence may be more important than grammar or punctuation. In your encouragement focus first on the major tasks i.e. overall coherence and focus, logical flow of information between sections, matching figures with sections in the text. Once the flow of the argument seems to be developing, focus on finer issues: ordering paragraphs and their links, headings, links between sentences. At the final stages emphasise the need for correct spelling and punctuation etc.

Writing Groups

Another excellent way to encourage writing is to organise a Writing Group. The aim of a writing group is to maintain the writing momentum, to improve and encourage good writing. Participants meet regularly to discuss, to exchange drafts and to share problems, sometimes even just to be in a room where other people are also writing. The group feeling provides new energy and support. Academics who supervise many students can suggest this mutual support.

Role Perception

In order to clarify the roles of supervisor and candidate it is important to communicate what the expectations each has of the other. The Role Perception Exercise below is quick way to achieve this.

Both the supervisor and student should do the exercise separately and then compare their results. This initiates a useful discussion about how the differences in perceptions might be overcome.

Role Perception Exercise
(After Ingrid Moses and Peggy Nightingale)