Short Course 1
‘Evaluation and examination of postgraduate work’
Date: 10 and 11 February 2022 (10 February: 9:00 – 15:00; 11 February: 9:00 – 12:30)
Closing date for registration: 18 January 2022
Facilitation: 5 interactive Microsoft Teams sessions over 1.5 days
Costs: R 6 450 per participant
Facilitator: Prof Eli Bitzer, Centre for Higher and Adult Education, Stellenbosch University
Background and programme content:
How to effectively evaluate and examine postgraduate work remains an ongoing and debatable issue. This short course aims to equip postgraduate study supervisors and examiners at the master’s and doctorate level with relevant knowledge and skills to evaluate and examine senior degree studies. The focus will be on: How to self-assess for synergy and coherence in a study; How to assess the structural elements of a thesis; How to select examiners and submit students’ work for examination; How to apply examination criteria to different parts of a thesis; How to write the narrative of an examination report, and how to approach and conduct postgraduate oral examinations. The short course will include hands-on examination exercises applied to master’s and doctoral theses.
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Facilitator:
Eli Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education at Stellenbosch University and currently Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Studies. He has successfully supervised over 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined more than 50 theses and dissertations and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education. His latest co-edited book with Peter Rule and Liezel Frick (2021) is The global scholar - Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision.
DRAFT PROGRAMME: Evaluation and Examination of Postgraduate Work
Thursday, 10 February
9:00 Session 1: Introductions and welcome
10:30 Morning break:
11:00 Session 2:
12:30 Lunch break:
11:00 Session 3:
15:00 Adjourn:
Friday, 11 February
9:00 Session 4: Writing quality examination reports
10:30 Morning break:
11:00 Session 5: Oral examinations (the viva vocé) – procedures and caveats
12:30 Adjourn:
Short Course 2
Introduction to Postgraduate Supervision
Target Group: Relatively inexperienced senior degree supervisors. The participants would typically be academic staff with doctorates who are supervising or have supervised at the master’s level but are less familiar with doctoral supervision.
Date: 24 – 25 February 2022
Closing date for registration: 01 February 2022
Facilitation: Online (Microsoft Teams), consisting of 5 sessions of 1.5 hours each over 1.5 days
Costs: R 4 850 per participant
Facilitator: Prof Eli Bitzer, Centre for Higher and Adult Education, Stellenbosch University
Background and programme content:
This short course addresses five topics: (1) The ‘bigger picture’ of supervision; (2) Supervision practices; (3) Supervising the conceptualisation aspect of a study and providing feedback on submitted work; (4) The assessment of students’ work, and (5) Other important tasks of study supervisors.
Topic 1 covers study supervision within context, including international and local trends, industrial and community relevance, the ultimate purpose of supervising senior degrees; increased group and team supervision; less face-to face supervision; more doctorates by publication; increased access and mobility restrictions; the ultimate purposes of doctoral research supervision. It also briefly addresses models of supervision, supervisor responsibilities, agreements between students and supervisors, as well as the difference between supervising at the master’s and the doctoral level.
Topic 2 looks briefly at guiding students’ critical reading, helping them to build sound argumentation structures and promoting students’ development of their theoretical perspectives.
Topic 3 covers how to guide doctoral candidates in developing a conceptual/theoretical framework for their study and how to provide constructive feedback on the work students submit.
Topic 4 enquires into how supervisors can properly assess students’ work before theses/dissertations are submitted for examination as well as how to interpret doctoral examination criteria and support students’ writing and publication efforts.
Topic 5 addresses the role of supervisors in promoting the timely and successful completion of research as well as casting an eye to students’ post-qualification and future career options and opportunities.
(The short course is accompanied by notes and a list of useful literature sources that include books, articles and websites relevant to senior degree supervision)
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Facilitator:
Eli Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education at Stellenbosch University and currently Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Studies. He has successfully supervised over 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined more than 50 theses and dissertations and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education. His latest co-edited book with Peter Rule and Liezel Frick (2021) is The global scholar - Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision.
DRAFT PROGRAMME: Introduction to Postgraduate Supervision
Thursday, 24 February
9:00 – 10:30 Topic 1: The ‘bigger picture’ of doctoral supervision
10:30 – 11:00 Morning break:
11:00 – 12:30 Topic 2: Some supervision practices I
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break:
13:30 – 15:00 Topic 3: Some supervision practices II
15:00 Adjourn:
Friday, 25 February
9:00 – 10:30 Topic 4: Assessment and evaluation of doctoral work
10:30 – 11:00 Morning break:
11:00 – 12:30 Topic 5: ‘Other’ important tasks of doctoral supervisors
12:30 Participant feedback and end of workshop
Short Course 3
Writing for Publication (Introductory)
Date: 1 – 4 March 2022
Closing date for registration: 18 February 2022
Facilitation: Interactive Microsoft Teams sessions over 4 days
Costs: R 6 300 per participant
Facilitator: Dr Rose Richards
Background and programme content:
The programme is aimed at novice authors who want to publish single- or multi-authored articles from their dissertations, theses or research projects. The programme covers four topics.
Topic 1 addresses the aim and requirements of a scholarly article, where to start, reporting and discussing research results as well as some organising techniques. Topic 2 deals with the introduction, body and conclusion sections of an article and possible ‘writing recipes’ to deal with literature and creating argumentative flow. Topic 3 covers some specifics such as sound paragraphing, writing an abstract and finer detail, while Topic 4 provides guidelines on revising and polishing an article, stylistic issues, maintaining momentum in your writing and dealing with reviewer feedback.
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Facilitator:
Dr Rose Richards, heading the Unit for English Writing at the Language Centre, Stellenbosch University (SU). She has published extensively in the field of language, writing and higher education and have facilitated numerous writing for academic purposes workshops for over more than 15 years. Dr Richards are supported by critical readers and advisers from the SU Language Centre. The short course will be presented via Microsoft Teams.
DRAFT PROGRAMME: Writing for Publication (Introductory)
Tuesday, 01 March
9:00 Brief introduction and welcome (Prof Eli Bitzer)
9:15 Session 1, Getting started: What is an academic article? Where to start? Organising techniques (Dr Richards)
10:30 Break
11:30 Session 1 continues: Parts of the article: Overview of sections; Material and methods; Results; Discussion.
13:00 End of Session 1
14:00 Individual writing and consultations
16:30 End of Day 1
Wednesday, 02 March
9:00 Session 2, Introduction and conclusion: Purpose; Possible writing recipes
10:30 Tea Break
11:30 Session 2 continues: Using literature, purpose, challenges, ethics.
13:00 End of Session 2
14:00 Individual writing and consultations
16:30 End of Day 2
Thursday, 03 March
9:00 Session 3, Creating flow: Paragraphing
10:30 Tea Break
11:30 Session 3 continues: Abstracts, purpose, nature, techniques.
13:00 End of Session 3
14:00 Individual writing and consultations
16:30 End of Day 3
Friday, 04 March
9:00 Session 4, Revising and polishing: Revision strategies, style, sentences.
10:30 Tea Break
11:30 Session 4 continues: Maintaining momentum and dealing with reviewer feedback.
13:00 End of Session 4
14:00 Individual writing and consultations
16:30 End of Day 4 and short course
Short Course 4
Writing for Publication (Advanced)
Date: 28 March – 14 April 2022
Closing date for registration: 9 March 2022
Facilitation: Interactive electronic writing and feedback sessions over 14 days
Costs: R 8 650 per participant
Critical readers and language editors: Prof Eli Bitzer, Dr Vincent Bosman, Ms Ella Belcher and Ms Sanri Theron.
Background and programme content:
This short course provides the structure (guidance, feedback from critical readers and from language editors) and sufficient writing space over a period of two weeks to complete an article for publication. It involves dedicated and concentrated writing time and interaction among authors, critical readers and language editors to complete and finalise an academic article for submission to an accredited scholarly journal.
Participation rules:
The writing pace will be largely determined by individual participants, but the timeline below will more or less be followed.
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Critical readers and language editors:
Prof Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Stellenbosch University (SU). He has successfully supervised more than 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined over 50 senior studies and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education. His latest publication as co-editor with Peter Rule and Liezel Frick (2021) is ‘The global scholar - Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision’ and he has participated in the National Review of the Doctorate in South Africa in 2020/21.
Dr Bosman is an experienced researcher, postgraduate supervisor and examiner interested in and contributing to the proper theorisation and conceptualisation of senior degree studies. His most recent work as senior academic, who has retired from full-time teaching in higher education, include teaching at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and presenting on conceptual frameworks in the Doctoral Research Training Programme at Stellenbosch University’s School of Business. His most recent article is: Liberating the oppressed consciousness of preservice teachers through critically reflective praxis: Educational research for social change. He is currently also doing the training and development evaluation reports for the HIV/AIDS Unit at UWC. His interest is in the development of theories/conceptual frameworks as lenses for sense-making, also of own lived experiences.
Ms Belcher and Theron are accredited and highly experienced professional language editors who have edited many articles, books, theses and dissertations for authors and students alike. They regularly contribute to writing retreats and academic writing retreats and have built a sound reputation for thoroughness and accuracy in their work.
WRITING TIMELINE: Writing for Publication (Advanced)
28 March: Introduction of participants and facilitators. Sharing information on writing guidelines with participants. Explanation of procedures for participation. This involves an MS-Teams session from 9:00 to 10:30 and more information on the session will follow.
29 March: Participants submit a draft introductory part of the article. Critical readers provide feedback to participants on article introductions.
31 March: Participants write and submit a draft of the main body of the article to critical readers.
4 April: Critical readers provide feedback to participants on the main body of the article.
6 April: Participants submit a draft conclusions part of the article to critical readers and receive feedback.
8 April: Participants submit the full article to critical readers and finalise the article by adding the abstract, keywords and reference list. Critical readers provide feedback on the completed article.
11 April: Participants submit the full article to language editors for language editing. The short curse ends, but communication between participants and language editors continue for a maximum of one week (up to 18 April) until the article is ready for submission to a targeted journal.
Short Course 5
Supervising research paradigms
Target Group:All senior degree supervisors across all fields of research and studies wherein research paradigms play an important role. The participants would typically be academic staff with doctorates who are supervising master’s and/or doctoral students.
Date: 21 – 22 April 2022
Closing date for registration: 1 April 2022
Facilitation: Online (Microsoft Teams), consisting of 5 sessions of 1.5 hours each over 1.5 days
Costs: R 4 850 per participant
Facilitators: Dr Vincent Bosman and Prof Eli Bitzer.
Background and programme content:
The course aims to equip higher degree supervisors, mainly those in economic sciences, social sciences and humanities, with knowledge and skills to guide higher degree students through the paradigmatic assumptions and their implications in senior degree studies.
The main issues addressed are: (a) Why paradigmatic assumptions, and explicating them, are important in senior degree studies; (b) A typology of the most prominent research paradigms, their differences and implications; (c) Examples of studies where paradigmatic assumptions are clarified and employed for different parts of a study; (d) Why study supervisors need paradigmatic versatility to supervise different types of studies in their field of research; (e) The implications of ignoring or neglecting epistemological, ontological, methodological and axiological assumptions in a study.
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Facilitators:
Dr Bosman is an experienced researcher, postgraduate supervisor and examiner interested in and contributing to the proper theorisation and conceptualisation of senior degree studies. His most recent work as senior academic, who has retired from full-time teaching in higher education, include teaching at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and presenting on conceptual frameworks in the Doctoral Research Training Programme at Stellenbosch University’s School of Business. His most recent article is: Liberating the oppressed consciousness of preservice teachers through critically reflective praxis: Educational research for social change. He is currently also doing the training and development evaluation reports for the HIV/AIDS Unit at UWC. His interest is in the development of theories/conceptual frameworks as lenses for sense-making, also of own lived experiences.
Prof Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Stellenbosch University (SU). He has successfully supervised more than 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined over 50 senior studies and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education. His latest publication as co-editor with Peter Rule and Liezel Frick (2021) is ‘The global scholar - Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision’ and he has participated in the National Review of the Doctorate in South Africa in 2020/21.
Short Course 6
Supervising conceptual frameworks
Target Group: All senior degree supervisors across all fields of research and studies wherein conceptual frameworks and advanced conceptual capabilities play an important role. The participants would typically be academic staff with doctorates who are supervising master’s and/or doctoral students.
Date: 5 – 6 May 2022
Closing date for registration: 11 April 2022
Facilitation: Online (Microsoft Teams), consisting of 5 sessions of 1.5 hours each over 1.5 days
Costs: R 4 850 per participant
Facilitator: Dr Vincent Bosman and Prof Eli Bitzer.
Background and programme content:
Many senior degree students battle to get to a decent conceptual framework for their studies. Often, also, less experienced supervisors are not able to assist or not be clear on how to guide a student towards such a framework. Absence of a sound conceptual framework leads to a weakly or under-theorised study - often with bad consequences for candidates.
In most fields of inquiry conceptual frameworks guide research projects. Such frameworks thus serve as thinking tools that impact on all aspects of a study. In their excellent book (2012): Reason and Rigor – How conceptual frameworks guide research, Sharon Ravitch and Matthew Riggan explain eloquently how and why conceptual frameworks play such an important part in senior degree research.
Reality is always more complex than any theory or model can completely capture. The ‘slice of reality’ that the researcher works in and with is, in most cases, contextually sensitive. Researchers thus need to construct tools that take account of such complexity and avoid oversimplification. Conceptual frameworks thus serve as lenses, most useful when they incorporate complementary theories that promote the theoretical understanding of phenomena or research issues under scrutiny.
Conceptual frameworks are not simply an assortment of ideas and theoretical perspectives. The elements of a conceptual framework should relate to one another to exhibit coherence, thus contributing to a strong main argument for any study. Such an argument needs to be developed and clearly communicated to readers and examiners to justify why thát understanding, and nothing else, provides the best approach for the study or research project. And, importantly, how it informs research questions and guides the researcher’s methodological decisions.
This unique short course provides guidelines to senior degree supervisors on why conceptual frameworks are important, how the construction of a conceptual framework can be guided and, most importantly, how they assist senior degree students to produce sound, scholarly work.
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Facilitators:
Dr Bosman is an experienced researcher, postgraduate supervisor and examiner interested in and contributing to the proper theorisation and conceptualisation of senior degree studies. His most recent work as senior academic, who has retired from full-time teaching in higher education, include teaching at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and presenting on conceptual frameworks in the Doctoral Research Training Programme at Stellenbosch University’s School of Business. His most recent article is: Liberating the oppressed consciousness of preservice teachers through critically reflective praxis: Educational research for social change. He is currently also doing the training and development evaluation reports for the HIV/AIDS Unit at UWC. His interest is in the development of theories/conceptual frameworks as lenses for sense-making, also of own lived experiences.
Prof Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Stellenbosch University (SU). He has successfully supervised more than 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined over 50 senior studies and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education. His latest publication as co-editor with Peter Rule and Liezel Frick (2021) is ‘The global scholar - Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision’ and he has participated in the National Review of the Doctorate in South Africa in 2020/21.
DRAFT PROGRAMME: Supervising Conceptual Frameworks
Thursday, 5 May
9:00 – 10:30 Introduction and orientation (Prof Eli Bitzer)
10:30 – 11:00 Morning break:
11:00 – 12:30
12:30 Lunch break:
Afternoon No presentations during this time.
Friday, 6 May
9:00 – 10:30
10:30 – 11:00 Morning break:
11:00 – 12:30
12:30 Short Course ends
Short Course 7
Supervising literature reviews
Target Group: All senior degree supervisors across all fields of research and studies where literature reviews play an essential role. The participants would typically be less experienced academic staff with doctorates who are currently supervising master’s and/or doctoral students.
Date: 2 – 3 June 2022
Closing date for registration: 11 May 2022
Facilitation: Online (Microsoft Teams), consisting of 5 sessions of 1.5 hours each over 1.5 days
Costs: R 4 850 per participant
Facilitator: Prof Eli Bitzer and Dr Vincent Bosman.
Background and programme content:
Many senior degree students often battle to arrive at a decent literature review in their field of inquiry that might result in sound theoretical perspectives for their research and studies. Sometimes novice supervisors may also not be able to guide students in writing a good literature review. Questions that arise might include:
Most senior degree studies, if not all, require literature reviews prior to and during the course of study as a key step in the research process or as part of developing a sound basis for their research methodology. For novice researchers such actions are often seen as a difficult undertaking that demands a complex range of skills. These include acquiring the skills of literature searching and retrieval, determining knowledge gaps, defining topics for exploration, developing a conceptual framework, developing sound methodology for a study, developing the ability to relate to literature and discuss findings from a study as well as to draw on literature to discuss the conclusions of a study. How to write a proper literature review, while at the same time adhering to scholarly and argumentative principles, might also provide for becoming adept at writing and reporting - often within a limited time scale. To advise on and guide such activities might also provide challenges for novice supervisors or study promoters. This focused short course will offer guidelines to early career senior degree supervisors (and their candidates) on why literature reviews are important, how they can be planned and written and, most importantly, how they can guide senior degree studies towards sound scholarly contributions worthy of being awarded such a degree.
For registration enquiries, contact the short course administrator: Ms Rhoda Van Rensburg at vanrensburgrhoda@sun.ac.za
Facilitators:
Prof Bitzer is past Director of the Centre for Higher and Adult Education and Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Stellenbosch University (SU). He has successfully supervised more than 90 Master's and PhD graduates, has examined over 50 senior studies and has published extensively in the field of postgraduate supervision, doctoral education and different aspects of assessment and quality promotion in higher education. His latest publication as co-editor with Peter Rule and Liezel Frick (2021) is ‘The global scholar - Implications for postgraduate studies and supervision’ and he has participated in the National Review of the Doctorate in South Africa in 2020/21.
Dr Bosman is an experienced researcher, postgraduate supervisor and examiner interested in and contributing to the proper theorisation and conceptualisation of senior degree studies. His most recent work as senior academic, who has retired from full-time teaching in higher education, include teaching at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and presenting on conceptual frameworks in the Doctoral Research Training Programme at Stellenbosch University’s School of Business. His most recent article is: Liberating the oppressed consciousness of preservice teachers through critically reflective praxis: Educational research for social change. He is currently also doing the training and development evaluation reports for the HIV/AIDS Unit at UWC. His interest is in the development of theories/conceptual frameworks as lenses for sense-making, also of own lived experiences.