Important themes in postgraduate research supervision and examination for communities of practice

Abstract

This paper analyses the themes arising from two Community of Practice (CoP) projects focused on supporting postgraduate research supervisors. One project was undertaken in New Zealand and the other in Queensland, Australia. The aim of the analysis is to provide interested readers with advice on important aspects of Postgraduate Supervision and Examination. The motivation for these CoP projects comes from increased demand for postgraduate supervision and also the notion that academic support is needed for all students and not just the traditional academic elite. This paper describes the background which prompted the projects, then details the activities undertaken. Following this discussion, the themes identified by two similar postgraduate supervision and examination CoPs are reported and compared. The analysis of these results suggests that there are core themes that might be common to all institutes and also unique themes specific to the context of the university or group where the CoP has been established. We call for further universities to set up a CoP and share their results in order to add to our comparison of the two universities and form a framework of themes significant in Postgraduate Supervision and Examination.