Facilitator: Prof Eli Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Stellenbosch University (SU). He has successfully supervised more than 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined over 50 senior studies and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education.
Target Group: Both novice and experienced supervisors who want to improve the supervision process with their students. Honours, Masters and PhD level supervision - RD particularly wishes to encourage all new academics/research supervisors to attend.
The following topics will be covered:
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The ‘bigger picture’ of supervision
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Supervision practices
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Supervising the conceptualisation aspect of a study by providing feedback on submitted work
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The assessment of students' works, and
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Other important tasks of study supervisors
Topic 1 covers study supervision within context, including international and local trends, models of supervision, supervisor responsibilities, agreements between students and supervisors, as well as the difference between supervising at the master’s and the doctoral level.
Topic 2 looks briefly at guiding students’ critical reading, helping them to build sound argumentation structures and promoting students’ development of their theoretical perspectives.
Topic 3 covers how to guide doctoral candidates in developing a conceptual/theoretical framework or model for their study and how to provide constructive feedback on the work students submit.
Topic 4 enquires into how supervisors can properly assess students’ work before theses/dissertations are submitted for examination as well as how to interpret doctoral examination criteria and support students’ writing and publication efforts.
Topic 5 addresses the role of supervisors in promoting the timely and successful completion of research as well as casting an eye to students’ post-qualification and future career options and opportunities.
Pre-workshop Requirements: In addition to completing the online registration form, interested participants are also required to download, complete and submit the Participant Information Sheet to Jadine.Januarie@mandela.ac.za by Wednesday, 5 February 2025.
This workshop is funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) through the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG)