Supervision within the Discipline of Nursing

This resource folder is for use by staff and students in the Discipline of, Faculty of Health Sciences, Adelaide University. The purpose of this folder is to provide staff and students with information about supervision that is specific to our discipline and which outlines and emphasises the disciplines commitment to excellence in supervision of higher degree students.

Each member of staff who supervises higher degree students and each higher degree student will receive this resource package as an adjunct to the information already supplied, in hard copy and on the Intranet, by the university.

An additional support for staff with supervision responsibilities is regular meetings with the discipline post graduate coordinator. In addition, group supervisor meetings for all discipline staff supervising students takes place four times per year to discuss issues relevant to all supervisors and to review and revise current supervision practices.

Comments about the contents of the resource package and suggestions for the inclusion of additional information are encouraged.

Post Graduate Coordinator
Discipline of Nursing

What is Supervision?

Supervision is a very personal thing and unless a supervisor attends formal training supervision provided by them is likely to be based on their experience rather than based on sound principles. For those of you who have not undertaken supervisor training, I recommend attending the ACUE sessions for supervisors.

Below is some information on supervision. Take some time to acquaint yourself with the information. Then reflect on your style of supervision, the techniques you use and how that is reflected in the success of your students.

Supervision may be private, intimate or secret and you need to make a deliberate choice about which of these best suits you and your student.

What should supervision be about? One might be forgiven for thinking that supervision is just about overseeing your students research and giving sound advice, however there is more to supervision than this, namely:

• education
• training
• pedagogy

It is important that you understand that there is a requirement when supervising a student that you take on board the commitment to ensure your student and you are involved in all three components of supervision.

There are a number of different styles of supervision and the one style may not be suitable for the one student throughout their candidature. Styles of supervision are contrastive rhetoric where you supervise in the same way you were supervised or facilitator, director in which case you need to be aware of having a master apprentice style relationship compared with being very casual.  Alternatively, you may have little if any contact with your student in which case the student is neglected in terms of education, training and pedagogy.

There is no single method of good supervision practice. Supervisor/student relationships can and should change over the course of the candidature. In the early stages you may need to be a director, then move to facilitator and perhaps in the final stages both director and facilitator.

In some university departments, different types of supervision are encouraged, such as single supervision, or dual. In some universities, team and panel supervision is also practiced. These models of supervision have advantages and disadvantages for the supervisor and the student.

Styles of Supervision

What supervisors do?

• Facilitating - cognitive apprenticeship, facilitation of learning which includes scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration. The supervisor operates at a meta-level
• Coaching - assisting with the practical learning
• Mentoring - concerned here with developing sound intellectual reasoning in the student
• Reflect - on their and the student's ways of doing things
• Access to research community - how the supervisor enables the student to be part of a research group that works together.

Current management of students undertaking research.

1. We have four categories of higher degree research students
• PhD
• D Nurse
• Master Clinical Science
• Master  Nursing Science
2. PhD and Master Clinical Science are research only degrees and both have a structured program for the student in the early part of their candidature.
3. The D Nurse has research and coursework, as does the Master of Nursing Science.
4. Supervisor determined by student's topic, student's abilities and area of expertise – allocation of supervisor undertaken by RAHDS taking account of student preferences where possible.

Development of Supervision within the Department

1. Rationale for supervision development
• changes in research training policy
• student employment issues
• concerns about the quality of research training and education
2. Learning outcomes for supervisors
• greater awareness of their own conceptions of research and supervisory practice
• develop an understanding of what constitutes a productive research learning environment
• appreciation  of a range of good practice supervision skills
• develop a range of strategies for negotiation, coaching, mentoring and critical reflection
• can differentiate between what is supportive feedback and what is challenging
• knowledge and skills in IT mediated communication strategies for finding and accessing material
• knows the institutional requirements for supervision and research education and training
• maintains contemporary knowledge of the scholarship of supervision
• be aware of industry requirements ie graduate qualities
3. Issues for ongoing discussion and debate
   • your own style of supervision
   • your goals as a supervisor
   • your experience as a student
   • selecting students for research degrees
   • what is a reasonable time limit
   • the components of a productive research learning environment, on or off campus
   • stages of supervision
4. Specific issues on quality
• record keeping
• sharing of information - student guide, thesis guide and structured program
• discussing expectations of the student and the supervisor
• discussing frequency of meetings
• up front information on poor progress
• using the university and departmental resources - AGC, academic staff
• regular meetings of supervisors
• enhancing the research culture of the department, JBI and RAH

Student Structured Program
Department of Clinical Nursing, Adelaide University

Students please note that fulltime students are required to complete the list of activities within four weeks of your enrolment and the structured program within six months of enrolment. Part time students should complete the list of activities within eight weeks of your enrolment and the structured program within twelve months of enrolment.

Orientation

1. Introduction to Head of Discipline
2. Introduction to Post graduate coordinator
   • Receive copy of departmental resource folder containing
     • study guide and thesis guide
     • information on research schools
     • information on seminar series
     • advice on photocopying, computers and other facilities
     • newsletter - student should prepare a brief introductory note for next issue
     • money/grants
3. Introduction to departmental administration staff and information on
   • telephones
   • mailbox
   • stationery supplies
   • faxing facilities
   • first aid
   • after hours access
   • OHS matters
4. Introduction to computing officer
   • advice on computing and e-mail
5. Information about AGC
6. Information about library tours and library facilities

Academic Matters

1. Discipline researchers
   • students should arrange to meet with three members of the discipline staff who are active researchers to discuss staff research interests, research methodologies, methods and ideas about approaches to research.
2. Seminars
   • research students should attend at least 80% of all the advertised discipline seminars
3. Research schools
   • research degree students must attend all the research schools conducted by the discipline each year
   • in the first year they will be required to present their research proposal
   • in subsequent years present work in progress
4. Visiting scholars
   • encourage to meet and discuss their research with the discipline visiting scholars
5. Publication
   • annual attendance at a conference and presentation of a paper which is subsequently published in a refereed journal.
6. Specific work as determined by your supervisor
   • your supervisor will have assessed any additional needs you may have in terms of your academic preparedness for the research degree and as such may require you to participate in one or more subjects.

Supervision Guidelines

It is important that both student and supervisor keep a record of their meetings. There are a number of reasons for doing this but mainly because it provides an avenue for ensuring, both parties are clear about what is expected of each person before their next meeting. For the student it provides information on what the supervisor expects them to do before they meet again. For the supervisor it provides an opportunity to recap with the student their progress to date problems that have arisen and issues about performance. This record of meeting should be typed on the supervision meeting template provided and a copy given to the student at the end of each supervision meeting.

Sharing of information is vitally important to the success of the student/supervisor relationship. Therefore, both the student and supervisor should check at the beginning of each academic year that higher degree students have current copies of the departmental student guide, thesis guide and structured program.

Discussing expectations of the student and the supervisor is something that should take place at the first meeting and should be agreed upon by both parties and be documented so that both parties can refer to the document if the supervision/student relationship is faltering.

Discussing frequency of meetings is something that should occur throughout the student’s candidature. The frequency of meetings should be mutually agreed upon and will change throughout the student’s candidature and in line with their progress.

Up front, information on poor progress and decisions about candidature is vital if the supervision/student relationship is to be successful. Honesty with the student is important, however care should be taken when discussing issues of poor progress or inadequate performance. The information should be documented and discussed openly with the student and the student provided with a copy of the issues discussed during the meeting. For supervisors with limited supervision experience it is appropriate to discuss your concerns with the post graduate coordinator and seek advice or guidance on how to best assist the student.

For students who are dissatisfied with their supervision it is important that they discuss this with the supervisor and or the post graduate coordinator, in order to facilitate early resolution of the problems.

Using the university and departmental resources is vital to the educational training and pedagogical success of the student’s research. There are many services offered by ACUE and the postgraduate student’s association for both students and supervisors. Visit the following sites:

• http://web.acue.adelaide.edu.au/acue/pg.html#anchor355267
• http://www.adelaide.edu.au/PGSA/).

Regular meetings of supervisors will take place every 4 weeks with Postgraduate coordinator and every 8 weeks as a group to provide support for new supervisors and to discus issues arising during the year.

Bibliography

Brew, A (1998) Understanding research: exploring different conceptions. In Higgs, J & Cant, R.  Writing Qualitative Research, Sydney, Hampden, 9-20

Malfroy, J & Webb, C (2000) Congruent and incongruent views of postgraduate supervision. 2000 International Conference, Adelaide 13-14 April, Quality in Postgraduate Research.

Pearson, M (1999) The changing environment for doctoral education in Australia: implications for quality management improvement and innovation, HERD, 18,3

Phillips, EM & Pugh, DS (1987) How to get a PhD. Milton Keyes: Open University press.