getting the most from your supervisor

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of TechnologyCRICOS Provider Code 00301J

Associate Professor Lynne Roberts

Getting the Most from Your Supervisor

National Teaching Fellow

Supervision


Overview

Introductions and ground rules

‘Good’ supervisory experiences (activity)

Supervision as negotiated practice

‘Poor’ supervisory experiences (activity)

Dealing with supervisory issues

Developing and practicing your own strategies (activity)

Summary and evaluation


Who Am I?

PhD Supervisor

Honours Supervisor

Undergraduate Dissertation Supervisor


Who Am I?

OLT National Teaching Fellow

Identify, Develop and Disseminate Best Practice In

Supporting Honours And Coursework Dissertation

Supervision


Who Are You?

I am currently enrolled at:

A. Curtin

B. ECU

C. Murdoch

D. Notre Dame

E. UWA

F. OtherCurti

nECU

Murd

och

Notre Dame

UWA

Other

32%

24%

8%8%

3%

24%


Who Are You?

I am currently enrolled in:

A. Masters by research program

B. PhD

C. Other postgraduate course

D. None of the above!

Maste

rs by re

searc

h pr... PhD

Other p

ostgra

duate course

None of the ab

ove!

14%3%0%

83%


Who Are You?

Year of study in current program:

A. 1st year

B. 2nd year

C. 3rd year

D. 4th year

E. 5th year (or more…)

1st ye

ar

2nd year

3rd year

4th ye

ar

5th ye

ar (or m

ore…)

59%

26%

6%6%3%


Who Are You?

Your broad disciplinary area?

A. Science & Engineering

B. Humanities

C. Social Sciences

D. Health Sciences

E. Business

Science

& Engineerin

g

Humanities

Social S

cience

s

Health Sc

iences

Business

27%

16%

8%

41%

8%


Rules of Engagement

Source: http://seo-advisors.com/online-reputation-management-what-it-is/


Source: http://www.phoenixisstrategic.com/pr-protects-reputations/


Your Supervisor: Student relationship most closely resembles

A. Master: Slave

B. Mentor: Mentee

C. Teacher: Student

D. Parent: Child

E. Colleagues 6%

56%

21%

3%

15%


Is this style of supervisory relationship working for you?

A. Definitely not

B. Sometimes

C. Definitely yes

Definitely not

Sometimes

Definitely yes

13%

48%

40%


‘GOOD’ SUPERVISORY EXPERIENCES

Activity One:


‘Good’ Supervisory Experiences: Individual Activity

1. Jot down notes about a time when, from your perspective, supervision has gone well

What happened? (2 mins)

2. What did your supervisor do that contributed to this? (2 mins)

3. What did you do that contributed to this? (2 mins)


Were you able to identify a good supervisory experience?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Not sure

YesNo

Not sure

97%

3%0%


Were you able to identify how your supervisor contributed to this?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Not sure

YesNo

Not sure

100%

0%0%


Were you able to identify how you contributed to this?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Unsure

YesNo

Unsure

84%

16%

0%


Good Supervisory Experiences:Table Activity

List supervisors contributions on one half of the paper

List students contributions on the other half

Asterisk those contributions identified by more than one person


Good Supervisory Experiences:Supervisor’s Contribution* Listening enthusiastically

Focused and organised

Honest feedback – being blunt

Transform ideas to academic words

Drawing on supervisory network and experts

Asking for feedback

Emotional intelligence – feeling valued

Synergy of discussion

Setting realistic expectations

Availability

Constructive feedback

Accessibility

Encouragement

*This slide consists of ideas presented by workshop participants


Good Supervisory Experiences:Supervisor’s Contribution*

*WORDLE developed from workshop participants’ ideas noted on butchers paper


Good Supervisory Experiences:Student’s Contribution*

Showing passion for research

Asking the right questions??? (what are they?)

Finding a niche for research

Not personalising the feedback of supervisors

Being proactive

Active patience – keep going

Being open

Being prepared

Committed and focused on research

Adaptability

Resilience

Initiative

Listening

Taking on supervisors comments – even if negative



Good Supervisory Experiences:Student’s Contribution*



Student Supervisor Relationship

Shared passion for topicClear expectations

Open communication

‘Good’ Supervision Meetings

Relaxed spaceConcerns listed to

Guidance and supportSynergy

Meeting Outcomes

Remotivated studentsFocus and clarity

Agreed course of actionReduced stressPreparation

OwnershipManagement

AvailableApproachableSupportive

Good Supervision: Student Perspectives


Student Perspectives

Supervisor Contribution

Approachable

Available

Supportive

Interest in student as person

Sensitive to student’s

emotions

she’s just really helpful and I always feel like I can go to her for help

and I never feel like I’m a burden … and she’s always so welcoming and helpful and there

and available

there is an element of knowing that you can

access a bit of emotional support as well, not therapy, but

just having that understanding and

someone who’s sort of compassionate and

flexible and understanding

She takes interest in my life outside of uni, so

she’s like, “How are you going?” And whatever,

and she’s always like, “If you have any other

problems?” … I know that if anything comes up, that door is open,

that I can communicate with her about that stuff



Student Contribution

Coming prepared

Taking ownership of project

‘Managing’ supervision

process

I had everything planned, had questions

and they all got answered and

addressed in the session, so that was good because I could

progress as I wanted to and most of those

questions were addressed where

needed

I can truly say that my research, this current project, is my own. [Supervisor] offers

guidance but it’s done so cleverly that it’s all

coming from me

I have like set questions that I need answered and I go in there and I

go, “This is what I wanna know and I

wanna know it now,” and that’s when I probably

get the best information when I take charge of

the structure




Shared passion for topic

Clear expectations

Open communicationAsking questions

Discussing problems

She’s so passionate about this area and so

that makes it interesting and sort of fun to work

alongside her in everything was very organised and they

knew exactly what we should be doing and we

were told what we should be doing

I was confused about a few things and that was

sorted out, talked through. And we discussed what

approach I might be able to take




Relaxed space

Concerns listened to

SupportGuidance

Reassurance

Synergy

I’m like this new fresh lamb and these are my shepherds. <laughs>

They’re helping me along like, “Here’s the best grass over here.” Without telling me what

to do

…she says, “Hang on. You need to stop for a

second. Think about what you’re doing. Think about this, this and this; you’re on the right track,” you know, “Just stay on the

path you’re on,” and it sort of allowed me to come

back and continue

it was all of us thinking together and working as

a team. It wasn’t just coming and saying, ‘Oh

here’s my idea.’ ‘Oh yeah that’s good okay’

It’s like a very relaxed space and I think when you

feel relaxed, I can be myself within the

boundaries of the teacher-student – and I think that

really helps ‘cause I know if I get stressed, my brain,

cognitively, just shuts down



Meeting Outcomes

Remotivated student

Focus and clarity

Agreed course of action

Reduced stress

I was just lacking in motivation and I didn't have anything to say about the dissertation but then when

I left, I was like, “Oh, I actually do have my head around this,” because she brought it out of me with our discussion and she

was just asking questions and I’d found myself saying

all these things

we’d resolve that particular issue or it was in the process of being resolved, and I came out feeling a lot more

relaxed and less stressed about the

project

when we had meetings together, we would

come out and say, “Oh, gee, I feel great. I feel so relieved we’ve had

this meeting.”


Does this model fit for your level of program? What is your opinion?

A. Strongly Agree

B. Agree

C.Somewhat Agree

D.Neutral

E. Somewhat Disagree

F. Disagree

G.Strongly DisagreeStro

ngly Agre

eAgre

e

Somewhat Agre

e

Neutral

Somewhat Disa

gree

Disagre

e

Strongly

Disagree

39%

33%

17%

0%0%0%

11%



Shared passion for topicClear expectations

Positive relationship/group dynamic


GuidanceClarification

Positive feedback

Meeting Outcomes

Personal growthSkill development

Student satisfactionInterestOwnership

SupportiveProvide structureResearch knowledge

Good Supervision: Supervisor Perspectives


Supervisor Contribution

Providing structure

Supportive

Ability to explain

Research knowledge

Supervisor Perspectives

being able to connect with the person on a

personal level as well as a professional level

making it seem relatively straight forward … They were sort of seeing it as this big year long haul, and trying to break it

down to show that it was doable, and this is how we were going to do it

talking about their variables in real terms,

instead of scientific terms, so this is what it is all about, this is what we know about it, this is

what we can do

it’s really your experience in terms of what can be

done in the time that you’ve got



Student Contribution

Interest in topic

Student ownership of project

it was their first choice topic and I think that that is always an advantage. So I think they were just naturally interested in the

area

the supervision I like is when the students are

able to steer it



Shared passion for topic

Clear expectations

Positive relationship/

group dynamic

Supervisor PerspectivesI think that that

interpersonal process facilitates the teaching

process, but unless you have that supportive

interpersonal relationship between the

student and the supervisor, if that’s not there, then I don’t think that the end result is as

good

it’s all a matter of getting those [expectations]

sorted between the two people at the beginning

and sitting down

[cosupervisor] and I were a bit of more

upbeat because it’s like, “Hey, look. It’s [type of

project]; this is our thing.” And the group

feeds off of that, and it’s also because they are

upbeat so this is a really nice atmosphere



Discussion

Guidance

Clarification

Positive feedback


look to facilitate what the students are and

accommodate their interests and try and

guide them without sort of taking over or

dictating what it is that they should do

We give them like, “Hey. You guys are doing really

well. You should be proud of yourself. You’re

getting this blah blah blah.” And they were

like, “Oh, yeah.”

clarification in terms of goals and stuff like

that ...[to] “yank them [students] out of that

swamp or quagmire of uncertainty


Meeting Outcomes

Personal growth

Skill development

Student satisfaction

Supervisor Perspectiveswhen I see the research

group and they’re all, “Oh yes. This is so much fun! I totally get it.” And see

them change

They’re saying that all they want to do is they

just want to do their project, and they’ve got all this coursework but

they just want to do their project

I’m just satisfied when the student seems satisfied or I feel like I’ve been helpful or been able to guide students

and they seem to have moved forward … it’s when I feel like

I’ve been competent in the sense of not necessarily giving

answers but in providing instruction that helps the students move along and acquire skills themselves



Open communicationShared passion for topic

Clear expectationsPositive relationship/group

dynamic


Relaxed spaceConcerns listed to

Guidance and supportSynergy

ClarificationPositive feedback

Meeting Outcomes

Remotivated studentFocus and clarity

Agreed course of actionReduced stressPersonal growth

Skill developmentStudent satisfaction

PreparationManagementOwnershipInterest

AvailableApproachableSupportiveProvide structureResearch knowledge

Good Supervision: Supervisor & Student Perspectives


Supervision as Negotiated Practice

University/Faculty/School Guidelines

Negotiated Practice


Some Advice from Supervisors on Getting the Most from Supervision

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po_UlRlLu0A




‘POOR’ SUPERVISORY EXPERIENCES

Activity Two


‘Poor’ Supervisory Experiences: Individual Activity

1. Jot down notes about a time when, from your perspective, supervision has NOT gone well

What happened? (2 mins)

2. What did your supervisor do that contributed to this?

(2 mins)

3. What did you do that contributed to this? (2 mins)


Were you able to identify a poor supervisory experience?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Not sure

YesNo

Not sure

78%

16%5%


Were you able to identify how your supervisor contributed to this?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Not sure

YesNo

Not sure

87%

13%

0%


Were you able to identify how you contributed to this?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Unsure

YesNo

Unsure

73%

6%

21%


Poor Supervisory Experiences:Table Activity

List supervisors’ contributions on one half of the paper

List students’ contributions on the other half

Asterisk those contributions identified by more than one person


Poor Supervisory Experiences:Supervisor’s Contribution Disinterested in student

Too busy to be approached

No response to emails

Too many ideas and then say its your project

2 or more supervisors – miscommunication or contradictory advice (supervisors fighting)/ lack of communication

Academic workload

Delayed meetings

Authorship disagreements

Unprofessional – cancelled appointments/ inappropriate relationships/ agitation and anger/ boozers

Ignorant of topic/ everything???

Intimidating

Power imbalance

Self interest to benefit them/not you

Not getting feedback

Not caring about personal circumstances

Inexperience



Poor Supervisory Experiences:Supervisor’s Contribution



Poor Supervisory Experiences:Student’s Contribution

Lack of commitment

Incompatibility – style

Facebook

Trying to satisfy everybody

Giving too many excuses

Too dependent or too independent

Lack of initial skills

Poor communication

Not doing what your supposed to

Lack of confidence in raising issues – in person

Trying to outsmart supervisors



Poor Supervisory Experiences:Student’s Contribution



CHANGING SUPERVISORY PRACTICE


Commit to Having a Discussion:When

Annual review (Curtin students- this is now!)

Next supervision meeting

Arrange a joint meeting with supervisory team


Commit to Having a Discussion:How to Broach the Topic

“I went to InSPiRe last week and have been reflecting on my PhD progress and the way I work best …”

“I’ve been struggling with X and would like to discuss with you some strategies ...”

“Completing the annual review form, I realised that ….”


Having the Discussion…

Assertive communication: variations of the DESC model

DESCRIBE: describe the situation

EXPRESS: express how this makes you feel

SPECIFY: what you would like

CONSEQUENCES: consequences if this doesn’t happen


Example: Supervisors Arguing

DESCRIBE: “When you two disagree I go back to my desk confused about what to do next”

EXPRESS: “When I am confused I get stressed I find it difficult to write anything”

EMPATHISE: “I realise you both have strong views and want to give me your best advice”

CONSEQUENCES: “But if I stay this stressed and confused I am going to get behind in my work”

SPECIFY: “It would be very helpful if you could agree in advance on the options which are possible and then explain their advantages and disadvantages in a way that helps us all make a collective decision on what to do”

Source: Adapted from http://thesiswhisperer.com/2014/01/29/mum-and-dad-are-fighting-what-should-i-do/

http://thesiswhisperer.com/2014/01/29/mum-and-dad-are-fighting-what-should-i-do/


Issue 1: Non-availability of Supervisor(s)

Symptoms Infrequent meetings

Supervisor not responding to emails or phone calls

Possible contributing factors Supervisor travelling

Supervisor workload

Power imbalance

Student reluctant to instigate meetings


An issue I have faced is the general non-availability of my supervisors

A. True

B. False

True

False

58%

42%


I have resolved the problem of supervisor non-availability

A. True

B. False

True

False

61%

39%


Issue 1: Non availability of supervisors(In)frequency of Meetings

PreparationFind out allocation of supervision time recommended for your university

Decide what frequency of meeting is appropriate for the stage of your project

Consider alternatives to meeting face-to-face

ActionSuggest regular meeting times and schedule in calendar for next 6 months


Issue 1: Suggested Meeting Frequency

Stage of PhD Recommended Meeting Frequency

Newly enrolled Weekly or fortnightly

Exploring literature Fortnightly to monthly

Exploring methodology Fortnightly

Data collection Monthly

Data analysis Fortnightly to monthly

Writing up Weekly to monthly

Source: Supervision of Higher Degree by Research Students: Supervisor Resource Book, adapted from p. 36 http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/resources/ID11_2091_Blass_resource_ebook_2013.pdf

http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/resources/ID11_2091_Blass_resource_ebook_2013.pdf

http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/resources/ID11_2091_Blass_resource_ebook_2013.pdf


Issue 1: One Student’s ExperienceI actually wrote an email saying, you know, we’re supposed to have this amount of time every week. We deserve this amount of time. We need to figure out some kind of – And so then after I sent that out, you know, right away they made sure that there was enough time.

And I tried really hard not to come across as mean when I wrote the email but it was definitely very effective. And even at the next meeting he was like, “Oh I don’t want you to think I don’t have time for you. I have time for you.” And I said, “No that’s okay. I’m not complaining. I’m just saying we need to find a common ground because I’m not – I don’t feel like I’m getting the supervision I’m supposed to have.”

Evidence of preparation

Use of ‘I’statements

Assertive, not aggressive


Issue 2: Not Enough Feedback

Symptoms Drafts returned with ticks or limited comments

Long waits for feedback

Feedback not specific enough

Feedback not understandable

Possible contributing factors Supervisor unclear on type of feedback student is seeking

Supervisor workload


http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Gojq9E0ctDsIWM&tbnid=0_YYOPfh5WvYRM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://studyinuk.universiablogs.net/2013/09/23/you-and-your-supervisor/&ei=6CDxUo6bGMejlQXQhYCACg&bvm=bv.60444564,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNH9aNdcR9Jfbb3PUoVDeHS6MvcRbg&ust=1391620606453654


Issue 2: Non Enough Feedback

PreparationDetermine the specific types of feedback you are seeking

ActionAttach a note to draft specifying the type of feedback you are seeking

Renegotiate expectancies surrounding times for turn around of drafts

Request meeting following return of draft for further discussion

…they’d ask, “Is that paragraph good?” And I’m

like, “What do you mean with ‘good’?” And something, a question like, “Did I address this well,” or “Did I refer it to

the literature in the right way or made the connection between something?” That would be a good question but not just “Is this good?” or something like

that.


Important to discuss expectations of each other when commencing Masters/PhD

BUT expectations change over time and may need to be renegotiated periodically


DEVELOPING PERSONAL STRATEGIES

Activity Three


Developing StrategiesIndividual Activity 1. Select issue

Write down one thing about your supervisory relationship you would like to change

2. PreparationWrite list of things you might need to do in preparation

3. ActionDevelop an action plan

Prepare a script using DESC

DESCRIBE: describe the situationEXPRESS: express how this makes you feelSPECIFY: what you would like to happenCONSEQUENCES: consequences if this doesn’t happen


Developing StrategiesPaired Activity

Select a partner

One person: supervisor; one person: student

Student practices DESC script on supervisor

Supervisor listens, then provides feedback

Swap roles


Some Take Home Thoughts

Supervision is a negotiated practice

Know your entitlements

Ask assertively for what you need to succeed

Take an active role in managing the supervisory relationship

Prepare for supervision meetings to maximise effectiveness

Reassess expectations with your supervisor periodically


Website: http://www.dissertationsupervision.org/

getting the most from your supervisor

Documents

jcurtin university

evaluationcurtin university

iscurt university

minscurtin university

supervisory issuesdeveloping

student relationship

olt national teaching

year of study