Supporting Taught Programmes – Dissertations & Projects

Supporting Taught Programmes

– Dissertations & Projects

Dr Marita Grimwood

In their shoes…

Thinking back to your own experiences as UG or PGT project students, what were the benefits and motivations for you?

What motivates students? Relevance and realism Career orientation Ownership, choice and responsibility Assessment and feedback Peer pressure and team working Presenting work to others An interested and enthusiastic

teacher

Case study Read the case study and, as a small

group, tease out the issues in project supervision raised by it.

Using your thoughts, prepare a poster with bullet points showing: What students have a right to expect of

supervision Ways in which you could contribute to

this

Giving Feedback

Consider environment and timing Express standards clearly Communicate your views about progress

clearly in relation to standards Using examples is helpful Providing written and verbal feedback helps

Be encouraging but honest Check understanding and views

Supervisor’s Roles Director Facilitator Advisor Teacher Guide Critic ?

RolesBrown, Smallwood & Bragan-Turner, 1996

Freedom-giver Encourages and supports students in making

decisions Critical friend

Gives encouragement and advice, shows interest Friend

Extends concern to non-academic aspects Manager

Develops plans, checks & records progress

Further support

The Staff Development Unit runs further workshops on supervision.

If you are a researcher with more substantial supervisory responsibilities and would like to know more, please contact Rosalind.Beaumont@ncl.ac.uk