Project: Understanding supervision experience to inform academic development teaching

Participant Information Sheet (For doctoral supervisor)

Researcher: Susan Carter
Senior Lecturer
Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education

This 28-question questionnaire should take you about 5 - 10 minutes. It will be part of a study of the current challenges of supervision. You are being invited because your presence on the Postgraduate Supervisors mailing list identifies you as a supervisor. This survey is for supervisors of doctorates.

Purpose
I've recently taken up the academic development supervision portfolio of the Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education and would like to fine-tune the teaching we provide for academic staff who supervise. I want to know whether there are faculty differences in the challenges to supervision, so that I can tailor sessions to specific needs, probably STEM and non-STEM. 

I am also curious as to whether supervisory comments on research writing, or maintaining a healthy professional relationship or overseeing the research project are the most challenging to supervisors. Data from this research project will direct me to what to develop first.

Anonymity
The questionnaire is anonymous to the extent that the software (CourseBuilder) delivers the data without revealing who submitted it. Nonetheless, there is never a safeguard against possible future software hackers. 

You are not obliged to participate, and there are no consequences for non-participation. However, you may also be interested in finding out more about the patterns of perceived supervision challenges-the results from this data gathering exercise will be available to you through the Postgraduate Newsletter once they are analysed. Publication in a journal for other academic developers is likely to follow.

Data Retention
I will keep the data in a digital folder requiring code access that I will delete once I have finished using it, so within three years. Once you submit your questionnaire you will not be able to withdraw from this study; submission of the questionnaire will be taken as consent to participate.

If you have any queries about this research, please contact: