Blass, E. & Bertone, S. (2013). Developing a toolkit and framework to support new postgraduate research supervisors in emerging research areas.
There is no use denying the fact that nowadays society constantly undergoes different and very important changes. Processes of modernization and computerization lead to increase in the tempo of life and, as a result, many traditional fields of science have to develop some new ways of investigations and training in order to remain modern and effective. The sphere of doctoral supervision is not an exception. This important institution of the modern educational system should also be changed to provide new and effective methods of teaching and career-building for students. The report Developing a toolkit and framework to support new postgraduate research supervisors in emerging research areas is devoted to this very question. The reason for the further investigation of this sphere and this work is the appearance of a great number of new sciences. Connected with a blistering development of society, these sciences very fast create their own theoretical basis and transform into research-based domains of knowledge (Blass & Bertone, 2013). That is why, the necessity of applying some changes to the existing doctoral supervision system is obvious, as it should be ready to prepare specialists under new conditions. Students, who are interested in researches and scientific activity, should be supplied with a good basis for them to continue their development and build a successful career. That is why the main aim of this work is to investigate the process of creation of a new toolkit for postgraduate research supervisors for them to be able to work efficiently within the framework of new emerging areas of science. It is based on collaboration between senior academics at five institutions (University of Southern Queensland, Edith Cowen University, Central Queensland University and Victoria University) (Blass& Bertone, 2013). The report investigates current practice in order to understand better advantages and drawbacks of existing system. Basing on the data obtained with the help of survey, the authors come to conclusion that the necessity to apply new tools for supervisors exists. That is why, a great part of the investigation is devoted to development and piloting of new tools which will be useful for supervisors. Moreover, not only creation of new tools is described, however, the process of implementation of newly created remedies is analyzed and recommendations of the most effective usage of concrete tools are given. Having suggested implementation of new methods, the authors also introduce discussion connected with the approbation of new approaches. The work suggests the description of the workshop, which was created in order to show in practice new methods and explain different aspects of doctoral supervision of the future. In the end of the report conclusions are made. The authors give useful recommendations about professional development of a supervisor and his following education.
Having analysed the work, it is possible to admit its great practical utility. The authors just not only cogitate about the new methods and ideas for supervisors, however, they give practical pieces of advice which can lead to the professional growth of a person. Moreover, this work is very important for the further development of our project entitled Developing an institutional framework to support and improve supervision of honors and higher degree research students as this report contains a great number of different ways to improve efficiency and skills of supervisors and guarantee their conformance to modern requirements. All tools, described in this work, can be used within the framework of our project.
Reference
Blass, E. & Bertone, S. (2013). Developing a toolkit and framework to support new postgraduate research supervisors in emerging research areas. Web.