Supervision
About
The purpose of this site on supervision is to give advices and ideas to supervisors on handling supervision of projects. The site illutrates a short overview and it contains some concepts on how project work and handling of supervision is supposed to be conducted at CBS. It illustrates some pitfalls and ways to avoid these pitfalls.
The material presented is not conclusive, but is created for discussion and dialouge between students, between supervisors and between students and supervisors. As s supervisor please feel free to bring this material to your students' attention.
The first meeting
Suggested agenda
- Presentation round
- Formal constraints
- Student expectations
- Supervisor expectations
- Discussing process of groupwork
Matching of expectations
Below you will be able to download a cartoon. The cartoon describes a project work situation, where expectations between students and supervisor have never been matched. Here we have no heroes, no villains. Only students who loose an opportunity for a better and more giving process.
Five signs of good supervision
The students have improved their skills and understanding so they will improve their capabilities to:
- Handling the formulation of their research question
- Be aware of the necessity of limitations
- Be aware of the necessity of constant writing
Due to the students and the supervisors understanding of the demands:
- The students understand the final grading of their performance.
- The students understand the attitudes and the behavior of the supervisor during the process and the exam.
Corporation
Supervisors and students are equally responsible for a good coroporation. In order to ensure a good coroporation, Here are some recommendations for tasks for both supervisors and students in every loop of supervision.
Student Tasks
Before
During
After
Supervisor tasks
Before
During
After
Student capabilities
The capability matrix shows what normally can be expected from students in their 1st, 3rd, and 5th year as students. It is provided to give inspiration to match expectations between students and supervisor.
1. Year Students
Student's role
Formulate ideas that can develop into problem formulation and project design based on supervisor feedback.
Supervisor's role
Students have seldom experiences with the importance and the status of the research statement. Help students to develop their own problem and intensively and repeatedly discuss the formulation.
Students are not familiar with project supervision at all. So overall expectations and the meaning of formalities and structures have to be discussed. It has to be underlined what the supervisor is supposed to do and what not. The supervisor has to meta communicate his/her acts! – Especially the change of role from supervisor to examiner/assessor.
Information competencies
Expectations of students
Can use literature from courses and make basic library searches.
Supervisors role
Help students understand when literature from courses is sufficient and aid in search when necessary.
Analytical competancies
Expecations of students
Can mobilize data and concepts to substantiate conclusions.
Supervisors role
Aid students to distinguish and couple data and concepts.
Method Competencies
Expectations of students
Apply given methods.
Supervisors role
Help the students with the choice and use of method.
Feedback Competencies
Expectations of students
They got to be familiar with simple principles for constructive feedback and gradually be able to give and receive it.
Supervisors role
Some of the given feedback on texts is directly useful for changing the texts.
Expectations of students
Can produce a plan for the group work. Can produce agendas for meetings.
Supervisors role
Discuss mutual expectations. Discuss plans with the students, and be aware the students track is realistic. Complete the agendas for meetings.
Conflicts in groups and lack of tools to solve them can destroy the work of the students. It can be necessary for supervisor to ask the students how their cooperation works, and help them with smaller struggles. If their problem turns out to be really conflicting, supervisor can recommend the students to consult the student counselling service.
3. Year Students
Students role
Independently connect project ideas with relevant concepts and theories.
Supervisors role
In the introduction phase: Discus the students ideas, and the needed limitations of the whole project. During the work now and then ask the students if they find it necessary to change it.
Students are familiar with the process. They are supposed not to set up completely unrealistic expectations neither to themselves or the supervisor. They are supposed set agendas for meetings. Regarding the supervisors work: It might be necessary to discuss prioritizing and the fact that there might be limitations in the amount of supervisor’s readings.
Information competencies
Expectations of students
Can find and use literature to develop and understand a problem.
Supervisors role
Facilitate student search for relevant literature to develop and understand problems.
Analytical competancies
Expecations of students
Can mobilize data and concepts to substantiate conclusions with a view to contributing to business and academic discourse.
Supervisors role
Aid with a view to rigorous arguments, their limitations and contributions.
Method Competencies
Expectations of students
Select and apply methods and evaluate their usefulness.
Supervisors role
Help the students with the choice and use of methods. Discuss limitations and alternatives.
Feedback Competencies
Expectations of students
They know simple principles for constructive feedback and are able to give and receive it.
Supervisors role
Feedback is mostly given for discussion.
Expectations of students
Have an idea of linear and iterative parts of the process.
Supervisors role
Discuss mutual expectations. Be aware the students track is realistic and intervene if the students run out of track.
Since the students have experience with group work, conflicts which students can’t solve, on this stage most likely are serious. – So student counselling service will be needed.
5. Year Students
Students role
Independently encircle and formulate drafts for research questions containing relevant concepts and theories.
Supervisors role
In the introduction phase: Discus the students ideas, drafts, final formulations and needed limitations of the whole project. During the work now and then ask the students if they find it necessary to change.
Students know their own strength and weaknesses, and know where and how in the process they are in need for supervision. They automatically set up agendas for meetings, and they are able to prioritize the work of the supervisor and ex guide the supervisor’s reading of the drafts.
Information competencies
Expectations of students
Can search research literature systematically and discuss shortcomings of particular perspectives.
Supervisors role
Keep an eye on and inquiry in to information search and use of literature and information.
Analytical competancies
Expecations of students
Can strategically make and unfold a research design with a view to intervening in business and academic discourse.
Supervisors role
Aid with a view to rigorous arguments, and their contributions/limitations vis-à-vis bodies of literature
Method Competencies
Expectations of students
Select and apply methods and evaluate their usefulness.
Supervisors role
Help the students with the choice and use of methods. Discuss limitations and alternatives.
Feedback Competencies
Expectations of students
They know simple principles for constructive feedback and are able to give and receive it.
Supervisors role
Feedback is mostly given for discussion.
Expectations of students
Are fully able to manage the process. Have an understanding of the different parts of the process and how they interfere and are able to act when the process is out of track.
Supervisors role
Discuss mutual expectations. If students run out of track discuss different ways to get back.
Since the students have experience with group work, conflicts which students can’t solve, on this stage most likely are serious. – So student counselling service will be needed.
The capability matrix is constructed by Christian Frankel, Thomas Rousing, Sof Thrane and Jens Tofteskov
Instructions from students to supervisors
Below we have provided two examples of students telling their supervisor how to read and give response on their texts:
Group A
Hallo Jens,
Here you have a draft for some analyze. Will you look at it and give us some feedback. We have of course not finished it, but we hope it will give you an idea of what we intends to do. Finaslly we hope your feedback will give us some ideas to improve our text, so it can be even better.
Best
Group A
Group B
Hallo Jens,
In this mail we have attached the material we hope you will look at before we meet you tomorrow. To give you an overview, we have sent you a draft for the whole project. But we only want you to focus how you think we answer question 2: Which focus are central in "Code of Conduct for employees"? The passages in the text are covred with yellow.
Then we hope you will quickly read question 3. We have only made a draft with a lot of ideas, and it is not finished at all. Tomorrow we want to create a dialogue with you as an inspiration for the further work. If you have any questions before the meeting please send us a mail.
Best
Group B
These supervisor instructions differ a lot. The first one does not tell what the supervisor should focus on, and which problems the meeting should contribute to solve. To optimize the outcome of a supervisor it is important to instruct the supervisor on specific questions and tell which passages in the text he/she has to focus on.
Learn more
Below you will find some suggestions for recommended litteratur on supervision. Two of the examples are only available in a danish version.
Following Chapters: 3.5, 4.2, 4.6.1, 5.1., 5.2., in Rienecker, Lotte m.fl. (ed): University Teaching and Learning Samfundslitteratur, 2015.
Riencker, Lotte. m.fl.: Vejledning af specialer, bacheloropgaver og projekter, Samundslitteratur, 2019.
Olsen, Poul Bitsch & Pedersen, Kaare: Problemorienteret projektarbejde, Samfundslitteratur, 2018
