Examination of a research degree involves scrutiny of the submitted dissertation by experts in the field who also conduct a viva voce examination of the candidate. The purpose of this is to confirm the authorship of the dissertation and also to provide an opportunity for examiners to explore issues that may not have been fully or satisfactorily discussed in the dissertation. This second aspect can be particularly stressful for students as it is very likely that they have not experienced such a prolonged and intense scrutiny of their ideas and arguments before. Supervisors have a key role to play in preparing students for this examination by providing opportunities for them to present and defend their ideas. Many institutions now appoint independent chairs for viva examinations to ensure that students are treated fairly and that all questions posed are relevant and appropriate. The University of Birmingham has been doing this for a number of years.
They reassure students that: ‘the chair is not an examiner. He or she ensures that the viva is run properly and fairly, taking notes and helping where necessary to clarify misunderstandings’ (University of Birmingham, 2006). For further information on the examination of doctoral degrees, see Tinkler and Jackson (2004).
Career development
For many supervisors, a measure of success of the doctoral training will be that the student is capable of applying independently for grant funding. However, it has to be recognised that although the ‘education sector ’ is the largest employer of Ph.D.s immediately after graduation, over 50 per cent of Ph.D. graduates take employment outside the HE sector (Metcalfe and Gray, 2005). Accordingly, Codes of Practice quite often say something about supervisors supporting students in finding a job. Interestingly, over ten years ago, PPARC (1996) in its good practice guide on supervision stated that supervisors should ‘advise and help students secure a job at the end of it all, remembering 182 ❘ Teaching, supervising, learning
Supervising research students ❘ 183
that many will move away from academia’. Finally, the supervisory relationship fre- quently continues after the viva, shifting and becoming a professional relationship between peers.
OVERVIEW
This chapter has presented an overview of the changing world of supervision of research degrees. It has aimed to highlight points in the research student life cycle that require careful attention by the supervisor. It has viewed the student–supervisor relationship as key to success of the Ph.D. A particular feature of this chapter is the attention given to creating a culture of completion which has much relevance not just for new supervisors but for those staff responsible for managing research degrees at departmental or school level.
REFERENCES
Aberystwyth University (2007) Code of Practice for research degrees – registration and induction. Available online at ,http://www.aber.ac.uk/postgrads/en/Code per cent20Research per cent20PG per cent20E.pdf.(accessed 5 February 2008).
Delamont, S, Atkinson, P and Parry, O (1997) Supervising the PhD, Buckingham: SRHE and the Open University Press.
HEFCE (2007) Research degree qualification rates. Available online at http://www.
hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2007/07_29/ (accessed 5 February 2008).
HESA. View statistics online, Table 14 HE qualifications obtained in the UK. ,http://
www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/component/option.com_datatables/task,show_
file/defs,1/Itemid,121/catdex,3/disp,disab0506.htm/dld,disab0506.xls/yrStr,20051to12 006/dfile,studefs0506.htm/area,disab/mx,0/.(accessed 5 February 2008).
Imperial College London, Graduate Schools. ,http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/graduate schools.(accessed 5 February 2008)
James, R and Baldwin, G (2006) Eleven Practices of Effective Postgraduate Supervisors, Centre for the Study of Higher Education and The School of Graduate Studies, Australia: The University of Melbourne. Available online at ,http://www.sche.unimelb.edu.au/
pdfs/11practices.pdf.(accessed 5 February 2008).
Metcalfe, J and Gray, A (2005) Employability and Doctoral Research Postgraduates, Learning and Employability Series Two, York: The Higher Education Academy. Available online at ,http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/tla/employability/i d431_employability_and_doctoral_research_graduates_593.pdf.(accessed 5 February 2008).
Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. ,http://www.oihe.org.uk. (accessed 5 February 2008).
Owens, C (2008) New PhD students explore the student–supervisor relationship. Available online at ,http://www.esd.qmul.ac.uk/acprac/research/Owens_Case_Study.pdf. (accessed 5 February 2008).
184 ❘ Teaching, supervising, learning
Park, C, Hanbury, A and Harvey, L (2007) Postgraduate Research Experience Survey – Final Report, York: The Higher Education Academy. Available online at ,http://www.
heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/research/surveys/pres/PRES.pdf .(accessed 5 February 2008).
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (1996) An Approach to Good Supervisory Practice for Supervisors and Research Students, Swindon: PPARC.
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (2004) Code of Practice for the Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Education: Postgraduate Research Programmes, Gloucester: QAA. Available online at ,http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/
codeOfPractice/section1/postgrad2004.pdf).(accessed 5 February 2008).
Roberts, Sir Gareth (2002) SET for Success, HM Treasury. Available online at http://www.hm- treasury.gov.uk/documents/enterprise_and_productivity/research_and_enterprise/ent_
res_roberts.cfm (accessed 5 February 2008).
Taylor, S and Beasley, N (2005) A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors, Abingdon: Routledge.
Tinkler, P and Jackson, C (2004) The Doctoral Examination Process, Maidenhead: SRHE and the Open University Press.
UK GRAD programme. UK PhD degrees in context. Available online at ,http://www.
grad.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Resources/What_Do_PhDs_Do__publications /What_Do_PhDs_Do_/UK_PhD_degrees_in_context/p!ecdXXji.(accessed 5 February 2008).
UK Research Councils (2001) Joint Skills Statement of Training Requirements. Available online at ,http://www.grad.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Policy/National_policy/
Research_Councils_training_requirements/p!eaLXeFl#Joint per cent20Statement per cent20of per cent20Skills per cent20Training per cent20Requirements per cent20of per cent20Research per cent20Postgraduates per cent20(2001).(accessed 5 February 2008).
University of Birmingham (2006) School of Computer Science, Research Student Handbook.
Available online at ,http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/internal/research_students/submitting _a_thesis.php.(accessed 5 February 2008).
University of East Anglia (2005) 2005–2006 Calendar, Regulations PhD, Norwich: UEA.
University of East Anglia (2007) Research Degrees Code of Practice, Norwich: UEA. Available online at ,http://www1.uea.ac.uk/cm/home/services/units/acad/ltqo/pgresearch/
copandregs.(accessed 5 February 2008).
University of London (2007) Regulations for the Degrees of MPhil and PhD, London: Senate House. Available online at ,http://www.london.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/students/
-postgraduate/phd_regs_200708.pdf.(accessed 5 February 2008).
University of York (2006) Code of Practice on Research Degree Programmes. Available online at ,http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/gso/exams/researchcode.htm#Supervision. (accessed 5 February 2008).
FURTHER READING
Finn, J (2005) Getting a PhD: An Action Plan to Help Manage Your Research, Supervisor and Your Project, Abingdon: Routledge. Useful to students and their supervisors, taking a project management approach.
James, R and Baldwin, G (2006) See above. A detailed practical guide on supervision from Melbourne.
Taylor, S and Beasley, N (2005) See above. A comprehensive and practical handbook outlining all aspects of supervision and well researched.
Supervising research students ❘ 185
❘ 186 ❘
Teaching quality, standards and
enhancement
Judy McKimm
INTRODUCTION
Managing and ensuring educational quality is one of the key responsibilities of educational institutions and of those who work in them. Demands from external agencies define part of what is considered to be good practice, and these demands combine with discipline-based practices and institutional culture and requirements to set the context for lecturers.
This chapter aims to offer an overview of current thinking about quality and standards from a UK perspective, and demystify some of the terminology. The intention is to provide a context within which lecturers can develop their understanding of quality issues in higher education, and consider their roles and obligations in relation to maintaining and enhancing quality and standards.