Successful postgraduate supervision? Enhancing HDR students’ quality of life by Professor Chihiro Thomson, Scientia Education Academy Fellow

Postgraduate Research students, otherwise known as HDR (Higher Degree Research) students, are here at UNSW to be trained as future researchers and academics.

Unlike undergraduate programs, which have been shaped into systematic and articulated processes with ample support for student campus life, HDR programs are largely dependent on each supervisor, only regulated by the yearly progression review process. This leaves some HDR students at a loss, especially in humanities disciplines in which traditional supervision practices have heavily depended on one-on-one consultation between students and their supervisors.

In this talk, Professor Thomson introduced an alternative supervision practice model of the HDR Study Group, based on the concepts of Communities of Practice (CoP,Wenger 1998), and Boundary Crossing (e.g., Engestrom 2012), using her own practice of hosting a Japanese HDR study group and extending the activities of the group beyond the boundary of her discipline and UNSW. The model has worked well in supporting HDR students in the timely completion of their degrees as well as in offering quality HDR life. This practice has been recognised in the form of the Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award in the category of HDR supervision in 2017.

Author:	Remi Hatsumi (via theBox)
Created:	27/03/2018
Updated:	01/05/2019
Theme:	Default
Copyright:	All Rights Reserved

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