The GPRSS (Geology Postgraduate Research Supervision Survey) is being conducted as an elective research topic in the author's Masters of Higher Education degree at the Queensland University of Technology .

GPRSS is a survey of geoscience research students. Its principal focus is on the quality of supervision, with secondary foci on quality of the wider degree, and problem areas experienced by students during their research. This survey is not in any way a ranking survey, and will not be used to compile a list of good or bad institutions. Through this survey I hope to identify and highlight both problem areas and "best practices" with respect to the supervision of postgraduate students in the geosciences. It would be a brave supervisor who would believe their postgraduate program was totally perfect, and could in no way be improved. By documenting areas in which there are problems, and highlighting areas of innovation or excellence, I believe most academics will be able to identify with and improve their own practices. I hope that the findings of this survey will benefit all supervisors in some small way, and hence also benefit their students.

Design of the Survey

Pages 2 and 3 of this survey are largely based on QUT's SEPS (Student Evaluation of Postgraduate Supervision) survey (Edwards et al, 1995), while DETYA's PREQ (Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire) (Australian Council for Education Research, 2000), and The National Doctoral Program Survey were also sources for inspiration for some questions. Each of these surveys have different focuses, despite covering the same broad area.

Overall, SEPS (Edwards et al, 1995) was seen the preferred base of the survey, as it possessed strengths the other surveys do not have. Specifically, SEPS is focused more on the mechanical processes of the nature and practice of supervision. It is more about the supervisor/student relationship than degree/institutional, and is also effective as a diagnostic tool for during study, rather than just after the degree is completed. Both the PREQ (Australian Council for Education Research, 2000) and The National Doctoral Program Survey are exit-surveys, and analyse the postgraduate experience after the degree has been completed. The National Doctoral Program Survey looks largely at the departmental or degree level, whereas the PREQ tends to look at the overall experience, and has a greater institutional slant. Because of the institutional focus of the PREQ and the National Doctoral Program Survey, both have the potential (if not purpose) of being used as a comparative rating tool. Forming a somewhat discontinuous three level hierarchy, SEPS targets the supervisor/student, The National Doctoral Program Survey the student/degree, and PREQ the student/institution. SEPS and GPRSS are designed to look closely at individual experiences rather than comparative institutional performances.

References

AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH, 2000. Evaluating and Validation of the Trial Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaires, Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs, Canberra, 143p.

EDWARDS H., ASPLAND T., O'LEARY T., RYAN Y., SOUTHEY G., & TIMMS P., 1995. Tracking Postgraduate Supervision, Academic Staff Development Unit, Queensland University of Technology, 27p.