A multi-level researcher development framework to address contrasting views of student research challenges

  • R. Albertyn Stellenbosch University
  • S. van Coller-Peter Stellenbosch University
  • J. Morrison Stellenbosch University

Abstract

Ensuring quality and completion of students’ research places pressure on postgraduate supervisors. Postgraduate students’ primary interest in theoretical and practical knowledge rather than research, influences the completion of qualifications. Student research challenges were explored using an Interactive Qualitative Analysis research design. Through conducting student and supervisor focus groups and individual interviews, issues emerged related to educational input, support and identity development. There were differences in the perspectives of student and supervisor indicating that students are less dependent on supervisors than supervisors thought they were. Supervisors indicated support strategies, such as an awareness of learning styles, adaptive support and strengthening researcher identity. Researcher development needs to take place on multiple levels to enhance quality and relieve pressure on the postgraduate supervisor in changing educational contexts.

Author Biographies

R. Albertyn, Stellenbosch University

Research Associate

Dept Curriculum Studies

Research Fellow

Stellenbosch University Business School

S. van Coller-Peter, Stellenbosch University

Programme Manager: MPhil Management Coaching

Stellenbosch University Business School

J. Morrison, Stellenbosch University

Senior research consultant

University of Stellenbosch Business School

References

Abrandt Dahlgren, M.A., H. Hult, L.O. Dahlgren, H.H. Segerstad and K. Johansson. 2006. From senior student to novice worker: learning trajectories in political science, psychology and mechanical engineering. Studies in Higher Education 31(5): 569–586.

Alauddin, M. and A. Ashman. 2014. The changing academic environment and diversity in students’ study philosophy, beliefs and attitudes in higher education. Higher Education Research and Development 33(5): 857–870.

Albertyn, R.M., P. Machika and C. Troskie-de Bruin. 2016. Towards responsible massification: Some pointers for supporting lecturers. African Education Review 13(3&4): 49–64.

Albertyn, R.M., S. van Coller-Peter, & J. Morrison. (2016). Aligning student and supervisor’s perspectives of research challenges. In Postgraduate supervision: Future foci for the knowledge society, ed. M. Fourie-Malherbe, R.M. Albertyn, C. Aitchison and E.M. Bitzer, 171–187. Stellenbosch: Sun Media.

Barnett, R. 2000. Supercomplexity and the curriculum. Studies in Higher Education 25(3): 255–265.

Basturkmen, H., M. East and J. Bitchener. 2014. Supervisors’ on-script feedback comments on drafts of dissertations: Socialising students into the academic discourse community. Teaching in Higher Education 19(4): 432–445.

Biesta, G. 2012. Have lifelong learning and emancipation still something to say to each other? Studies in the Education of Adults 44(1): 5–20.

Boehe, D.M. 2016. Supervisory styles: A contingency framework. Studies in Higher Education 41(3): 399–414.

Blum, L.D. 2010. The ‘all-but-the-dissertation’ student and the psychology of the doctoral dissertation. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy 24(2): 74–85.

Brodin, E.M. 2015. Conditions for criticality in doctoral education: A creative concern. In The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education, ed. M. Davies and R. Barnett, 265–282. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Boyd, B. and C. Smith. 2016. The contemporary academic: Orientation towards research work and researcher identity of higher education lecturers in the health professions. Studies in Higher Education 41(4): 678–695.

Buissink-Smith, N., S. Hart and J. van der Meer. 2013. ’There are other people out there?’ Successful postgraduate peer groups and research communities at a New Zealand University. Higher Education Research and Development 32(5): 695–705.

Burke, L.A. and H.M. Hutchins. 2007. Training transfer: An integrative literature review. Human Resource Development Review 6(3): 263–296.

Carlile, P.R. 2004. Transferring, translating and transforming: An integrative framework of managing knowledge across boundaries. Organization Science 15(5): 555–568.

Christie, H., M. Munro and T. Fisher. 2004. Leaving university early: Exploring the difference between continuing and non-continuing students. Studies in Higher Education 29(5): 617–636.

Clegg, S., M. McManus, K. Smith and M.J. Todd. 2006. Self-development in support of innovative pedagogies: Peer support using email. International Journal for Academic Development 11(2): 91–100.

Cloete, N., J.M. Mouton and C. Sheppard. 2015. The Doctorate in South Africa: Discourse, Data and Policies. Cape Town: African Minds.

Croussard, B. 2013. Conceptualising doctoral researcher training through Bernstein’s theoretical frameworks. International Journal for Researcher Development 4(2): 72–85.

Dall’Alba, G. and R. Barnacle. 2007. An ontological turn for higher education. Studies in Higher Education 32(6): 679–691.

Dysthe, O., A. Samara and K. Westrheim. 2006. Multi-voiced supervision of master’s students: A case study of alternative supervision practices in higher education. Studies in Higher Education 31(3): 299–318.

Edwards, A. 2011. Building common knowledge at the boundaries between professional practices: Relational agency and relational expertise in systems of distributed expertise. International Journal of Educational Research 50(1): 33–39.

Engebretson, K., K. Smith, K. McLaughlin, C. Siebold, G. Terret and E. Ryan. 2008. The changing reality of research education in Australia and implications for supervision: A review of the literature. Teaching in Higher Education 13(1): 1–15.

Evans, L. 2011. The scholarship of researcher development: Maping the terrain and pushing back boundaries. International Journal for Researcher Development 2(2): 75–98.

Evans, L. 2014. What is effective research leadership? A research-informed perspective. Higher Education Research and Development 33(1): 46–58.

Fenge, L-A. 2012. Enhancing the doctoral journey: The role of group supervision in supporting collaborative learning and creativity. Studies in Higher Education 37(4): 401–414.

Frick, B.L., R.M. Albertyn and L. Rutgers, L. 2009. The Socratic approach: Adult leaning perspectives. Acta Academica Supplementum 1: 75–102.

Golde, C.M. 2005. The role of the department and discipline in doctoral student attrition: Lessons from four departments. The Journal of Higher Education 76(6): 669–700.

Hodge, S. 2014. Transformative learning as an ‘inter-practice’ phenomenon. Adult Education Quarterly 64 (2): 165–181.

Hopwood, N. 2010. Doctoral experience and learning from a sociocultural perspective. Studies in Higher Education 35(7): 829–843.

Hornsby D.J. and R. Osman. (2014). Massification in higher education: Large classes and student learning. Higher Education 67(6): 711–719.

Kearns, H., M. Gardiner and K. Marshall. 2008. Innovation in PhD completion: The hardy will succeed (and be happy!). Higher Education Research and Development 27(1): 77–89.

Kiley, M. and G. Wisker. 2009. Threshold concepts in research education and evidence of threshold crossing. Higher Education Research and Development 28(4): 431-441.

Lee, A. and B. Green. 2009. Supervision as metaphor. Studies in Higher Education 34(6): 615–630.

Lovitts, B.E. 2005. Being a good course-taker is not enough: A theoretical perspective on the transition to independent research. Studies in Higher Education 30(2): 137–154.

Manathunga, C. 2005. The development of research supervision: ‘Turning the light on a private space’. International Journal for Academic Development 10(1): 17–30.

Meyer, J.H.F. and R. Land. 2005. Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education 49(3):373–388.

Mezirow, J. 2000. Learning as transformation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Northcutt, N. and D. McCoy. 2004. Interactive qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Raiker, A. 2010. Creativity and reflection: Some theoretical perspectives arising from practice. In Teaching creativity; Creativity in teaching, ed. C. Nygaard, and C. Holtham, 121–138. Faringdon, UK: Libri Press.

Reid, A. and P. Petocz. 2004. The professional entity: Researching the relationship between students’ conceptions of learning and their future profession. In Improving Student Learning: Theory, Research and Scholarship, ed. C. Rust, 145–157. Oxford: Oxford Rewley Press.

Samuel, M. and R. Vithal. 2011. Emergent frameworks of research teaching and learning in a cohort-based doctoral programme. Perspectives in Education 29(3): 76–86.

Sinclair, J., R. Barnacle and D. Cuthbert. 2014. How the doctorate contributes to the formation of active researchers: What the research tells us. Studies in Higher Education 39(10): 1972–1986.

Tymon, A. and S. Batistic. 2016. Improved academic performance and enhanced employability? The potential double benefit of proactivity for business graduates. Teaching in Higher Education 21(8): 915–932.

Waghid, Y. 2015. Are doctoral studies in South African higher education being put at risk? South African Journal of Higher Education 29(5): 1–7.

Wagner, C., M. Garner and B. Kawulich. 2011. The state of the art of teaching research methods in the social sciences: Towards a pedagogical culture. Studies in Higher Education 36(1): 75–88.

Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning andIidentity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Published
2018-03-21
How to Cite
Albertyn, R., S. van Coller-Peter, and J. Morrison. 2018. “A Multi-Level Researcher Development Framework to Address Contrasting Views of Student Research Challenges”. South African Journal of Higher Education 32 (1), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.20853/32-1-1639.
Section
General Articles